Chapter 3: Darkness Beckons


    Kira leaned against the observatory railing, arms folded, gaze locked on the abyss beyond the glass. Beside her, her grandfather stood in silence, pipe in hand, its ember flickering weakly before fading into embers.


    The sky was divided.


    On one side, the Abyss churned, its endless darkness writhing in restless motion—deep indigo bleeding into black, shifting like a living thing. It pulsed, vast and unknowable, a hunger without form. Beyond it, a thin band of stars clung to existence, a fragile corridor of light stretching across the void. Their radiance was distant, small against the devouring dark.


    It was a sight Kira had known her entire life. And yet, tonight, she hoped—no, she knew—all that would change.


    Neither she nor her grandfather spoke. They simply watched.


    Waiting.


    Hoping.


    The silence between them was as heavy as the sky itself.


    Then—the darkness shifted.


    At first, it was subtle. A ripple. A flicker at the abyss’s edge. A shudder through the void’s fabric.


    Kira exhaled, barely realizing she had been holding her breath.


    The abyss swelled.


    Slowly, impossibly, it bulged outward, as if something was pressing against it from the other side. The shadows thickened, fighting to hold their ground.


    Her grandfather stiffened.


    The abyss trembled—and Alune emerged.


    At first, the moon was just a shadow pushing against the dark, struggling to break free. A slow, imperceptible shift in the vast nothingness.


    Then, the writhing shadows began to resist. Kira’s heart pounded as the Abyss clung to its prey, tendrils of darkness slithering across Alune’s surface, stretching, coiling, grasping.


    It did not want to let go.


    But it had to.


    Bit by bit, the abyss peeled away, its inky mass retreating in slow, agonizing waves. The battle was silent, but she could feel it—the moon struggling forward as the darkness recoiled.


    Finally, a massive globule of shadow sloughed off, breaking apart like liquid void. The last strands of the Abyss collapsed into themselves, revealing what had been hidden for seventy years.


    Alune stood bare before them.


    The sight stole Kira’s breath.


    A gaping crater lay at the heart of the moon, vast and unhealed, as if Alune itself had been hollowed out by something beyond mortal reckoning.


    She knew this place. Everyone did.


    This was where Faust had made his stand. Where his fury had torn the heavens apart. Where, in the wake of that cataclysm, only silence remained.


    Then, as if the void had one last secret to unveil, something new emerged.


    A crystalline structure—tall, jagged, impossibly pristine—rose from the depths like a monument forged from the Abyss itself.


    Its facets shimmered with shifting hues of green, blue, and violet, each pulse defying the darkness that had tried to bury it.


    A silent tombstone, standing against oblivion.


    Her grandfather exhaled, the sound heavy with something unspoken.


    "My God..."


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    His voice barely carried, barely more than a whisper.


    His gaze never left the crystal, the reflection of its glow flickering in his eyes. Kira had seen that look before—but rarely, if ever, on him.


    Awe.


    She hesitated, caught between the raw magnificence of the moment and the weight of her grandfather’s silence.


    His rough beard framed a scowl she had seen a thousand times before—the kind that masked something deeper than frustration.


    A memory.


    A wound.


    A loss that had never fully faded.


    Without waiting for an argument, she declared, "I''m coming with you," shattering the observatory’s stillness.


    She spun on her heels and bolted for the corridor, her breath sharp against the cold station air. Her boots pounded against the metal floor, the sterile glow of emergency lights streaking past in her peripheral vision.


    "You''re bringing a damned mask and an oxygen tank!" her grandfather''s voice chased after her, edged with equal parts exasperation and concern.


    "Fine!" she shot back over her shoulder, barely slowing.


    Behind her, the old man sighed and took a long, deliberate puff from his pipe. The ember flared in the dim lighting. "Damn kids," he muttered, shaking his head. "Never think anything through." He exhaled a stream of smoke before trudging after her.


    Kira reached the shuttle bay in record time, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession. She slammed her palm against the hatch control, her pulse hammering just as loudly as the mechanism''s metallic groan.


    As the heavy door began its slow descent, she leaned against the shuttle’s cool hull, letting out a ragged breath. The chill of the metal seeped into her flushed skin, a stark counterpoint to the adrenaline surging through her veins.


    "Station AI," she barked sharply, eyes fixed on the widening gap. "Initiate a full-spectrum scan of that crystalline structure on Alune and patch the results directly into shuttle seven."


    In that instant, holographic displays sprang to life inside the cockpit, mirroring the quick-fire pace of her thoughts. With a half-grin and an exasperated roll of her eyes, she added, "And figure out where my grandfather hid my backpack—haul it down to the shuttle bay ASAP."


    Kira bounded through the shuttle door and slid into the co-pilot’s seat, her boots clanging on the metal floor. Almost immediately, she tapped the diagnostic controls on the panel, her fingers flying with practiced precision.


    The diagnostic feed scrolled across the holographic display, and her eyes narrowed as the AI droned on in its characteristically clipped tone:


    "No atmosphere, ab-sall corruptions level 42.7% recommend calibration of propulsion systems and shield oscillators before departure."


    Kira couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh. "Ab-sall what now?" she muttered, her fingers dancing over the touchscreen. Rolling her eyes at the AI’s glitchy shorthand, she added, "Alright, calibrate the ion drive and the shield oscillators." She let out a sigh. "Better do the warp drive as well."


    A beat of silence passed, and then she barked, "Do it now!"


    "Understood, beginning field calibrations," the AI replied. The shuttle finally began to hum as the calibrations began.


    Moments later, the AI’s measured tone returned:


    "Full-spectrum analysis complete. Detected a subterranean structure at the base of the crystalline formation; it extends at least 500 meters into the crater."


    As the diagnostic data settled, the cockpit transformed into a window to another world. A vivid 3D holographic display materialized before her eyes. The projection rotated slowly, unveiling a labyrinth of shadowed tunnels and intricate energy conduits carved into the crater walls—a hidden realm beneath the dazzling crystal. A bright, pulsing marker highlighted a promising landing site near the structure’s edge, silently beckoning her to explore its secrets.


    Kira leaned in, a half-smirk tugging at her lips as she took in every detail. The shuttle''s steady hum vibrated beneath her fingertips, echoing the rapid beat of her heart. In that electric moment, long-forgotten memories and whispered legends surged back—reminders of a mysterious presence that had beckoned her since childhood. This was it—the moment she''d been waiting for her whole life.


    Breaking her concentration, a small drone buzzed in from the rear of the ship, carrying a well-worn backpack. Kira arched an eyebrow. "Where was it?" she asked.


    In a snarky mechanical tone, the AI replied, "It was under your bed where you left it."


    She rolled her eyes. "Just drop it on the seat," she said curtly, then added with a wry smile, "and go get a mask and oxygen tank to make the old man happy."


    The drone didn''t reply, but obediently dropped the backpack on the seat before buzzing out the rear of the hatch.


    A few moments later, she felt his presence at the edge of the shuttle bay. "Where is that old man anyway?" she said loudly, a small smirk creeping onto her face.


    Then she felt it, Magic, a spell; no there was many, too many.


    She darted out the rear of the shuttle and there he was—her grandfather. His eyes were closed, his right hand forming a sigil as hundreds of spells twisted around him like living ribbons of magic. She’d known he was powerful, but this… it shouldn''t be possible.


    Her attention then shifted to his left arm, where an ancient Ark AI device pulsed with energy as streams of magic converged, interlacing to form intricate plates adorned with white glowing filigree. One after another, these plates emerged, assembling into a suit of sleek, light blue armour that shone with a soft, otherworldly glow.


    Her breath caught as the last plate of armor locked into place—until a buzzing sound snapped her attention away. The maintenance drone wobbled into view, jerking up and down as if it, too, was trying to comprehend the impossible sight before it.


    In an instant, her gaze snapped back to her grandfather, who now wielded a newly formed sword along with his armour. "Amazing," she said with a big smile, clapping, trying to pretend the drone didn''t exist.


    That moment of levity was shattered by a loud crash as the drone flew into the side of the shuttle and careened to the ground. Unbothered, it released its payload, sputtered back into the air, and then flew off.


    "Without missing a beat, she darted back into the shuttle, grabbing the tank and mask as her grandfather bellowed, ''The station''s maintenance drones are not to be used to fetch stuff!''"