The Descent
760 Words
The entrance to the Deepening's realm was a crack in the earth north of the Glass Sea.
Silver light pulsed from the darkness below—not warm like the void's new light, but cold. Empty. The air smelled of rust and old bones.
Elara stood at the edge, her hand on her sword.
Taylor stood beside her. James waited behind them with a team of twenty soldiers.
"We go together," Taylor said.
"We go together," Elara agreed.
The void inside her stirred.
The Deepening knows you're coming. It is waiting.
"Let it wait."
She stepped into the darkness.
---
The descent was steep and treacherous.
The walls were smooth, unmarked, like polished stone. No symbols. No carvings. Nothing to hold onto. Elara slid more than walked, her boots scraping for purchase.
Taylor caught her when she stumbled.
"You okay?"
"Fine. The void is... nervous."
"The void gets nervous?"
"It's learning."
They reached the bottom after an hour.
The cavern was vast—larger than any Elara had seen. The ceiling was lost in darkness. The floor was black glass, reflecting the silver light that pulsed from a crack in the far wall.
"The Deepening's heart," Elara said.
"Can we destroy it?"
"The void doesn't know. No one's ever tried."
"Then we try."
---
The crack in the wall was just wide enough for a person to enter.
Elara went first.
The passage was narrow, winding, cold. The silver light grew brighter. The air grew thinner.
Stop, the void said.
"Why?"
The Deepening is close. I can feel it.
"Then we're going the right way."
It wants you to find it.
"Good. I want to find it too."
---
The passage opened into a chamber.
At the center, a pulsing mass of silver light—darker than the void's heart, colder, emptier. The Deepening's core.
And standing before it, a figure in black robes.
Grell.
"You," Elara said.
"The Deepening called me," the former Inquisitor replied. "It knew I was looking for proof. It offered me answers."
"The Deepening lies."
"The Deepening doesn't lie. It doesn't need to. The truth is empty enough."
Grell raised her Null-blade.
"The void has corrupted you. The Deepening will cleanse you."
"The Deepening will erase me. There's a difference."
"No. Erasure is the only truth."
---
Grell attacked.
Elara dodged, rolled, drew her sword. Their blades clashed—steel against Null-steel. The void inside Elara flared, golden light pushing back against the blade's anti-magic field.
She is strong, the void said.
"So am I."
She is determined.
"So am I."
Grell swung. Elara blocked. The Null-blade bit into her sword, cracking the steel.
"You can't win," Grell said.
"I don't need to win. I just need to delay you."
"Delay me from what?"
"From doing something you'll regret."
---
Taylor appeared in the doorway.
She threw her knife. It embedded in Grell's shoulder. The former Inquisitor stumbled.
Elara kicked the Null-blade from her hand.
"It's over."
"It's never over." Grell smiled—a thin, cold expression. "The Deepening will wake. The world will end. You can't stop it."
"Watch me."
Elara turned to the pulsing heart.
---
The void spoke.
The Deepening is not like me. It does not want to consume. It wants to unmake.
"Can you fight it?"
I can try. But I need you to hold the light.
"The golden light?"
Yes. Feed me your memories. Your hopes. Your love. I will use them as weapons.
"Do it."
---
Golden light poured from Elara's hands.
It struck the Deepening's heart. The silver light screamed—not in pain, but in fury.
You cannot unmake me, the Deepening whispered. I was here before you. I will be here after.
"Maybe. But not today."
Elara pushed harder.
The golden light surged.
The silver light faded.
---
The heart cracked.
Not shattered—cracked. The Deepening was not destroyed. But it was wounded. Weakened.
You have delayed me, it whispered. Not stopped me.
"Delaying is enough. For now."
I will remember you.
"Good. Remember that you lost."
---
Grell lay on the floor, her shoulder bleeding.
"You've doomed us all."
"I've saved us. For now."
"The Deepening will wake again. Stronger. Angrier."
"Then we'll be ready."
Elara helped Taylor lift the former Inquisitor.
"Let's go home."
---
The climb out of the chasm took three hours.
James met them at the top.
"Grell?"
"Alive. The Deepening is wounded. It'll sleep for a while."
"How long?"
"I don't know. Years. Decades. Maybe longer."
James looked at the silver light fading in the crack.
"Then we prepare."
- Writer
