Location: Surface World – 3 hours after The Descent
It started with the birds.
Across New York, Mumbai, Cairo, Santiago—flocks of birds fell mid-flight. Skies once blue turned gray, then copper. The air crackled, as if the atmosphere itself was under strain.
Then came the earthquakes.
Not natural ones.
These were rhythmic.
Pulses. Like drums beneath the ground.
Governments blamed solar flares. Social media blamed aliens. Conspiracy forums screamed about "The Hollow Prophecy."
But no one had answers.
Just panic.
---
Location: Suburb of Giza – 11:43 PM
Sara Haroun clutched her son's photo to her chest, breath ragged. Her car had flipped two blocks from the hospital. The ground had split open on the highway like a wound.
Her boy—Youssef—was inside the children's wing, alone.
He was only eight.
He had been hearing the "drums" for days.
No one believed him.
Now they were all gone.
The wind howled with sand and smoke. Fires licked the sky in the distance.
A figure ran toward her—uniform torn, blood down one arm.
A police officer.
"Ma'am! You need to move! The hospital—"
"I can't leave him!" Sara shouted. "My son's inside!"
The officer's eyes flicked to the horizon. Lights flickered over Cairo like some ancient god had turned on the switchboard of the sky.
Then came the scream.
From inside the hospital.
A deep, inhuman sound—not loud, but felt.
The officer gritted his teeth. "Get behind me."
They reached the doors. Shattered glass. Lights strobing.
Inside—shadows moving on the ceiling, wrong and fast.
They made it to the children's ward.
Youssef was curled in a corner, holding his ears, eyes wide. He looked up—and when he saw his mother, he screamed louder.
"They're coming!"
The officer stepped between them and the hallway just as something rounded the corner.
It looked like a priest. A figure in linen and bone armor.
But it moved like smoke. Its face was a black void, and its hands were made of gold.
The officer pulled his sidearm. "Back the hell off."
The figure hissed, stretching its arm forward—marking the air with burning glyphs.
The gun fired.
Once.
Twice.
Nothing.
The creature stepped forward.
Sara screamed, shielding her son.
But then—
The ground beneath the creature cracked open.
A burst of light surged up, and the figure vanished in smoke.
The building groaned.
Sirens wailed across the city.
And the skies… cracked.
---
Location: Below – The Forgotten City
Mike felt the tremor.
Adam dropped to one knee. "Something's happening. Up there."
Before Mike could speak, the chamber darkened.
Then lit again—red.
A figure stood at the far edge of the room.
He wore robes that shimmered like oil. His skin was metallic.
His face hidden behind a mask shaped like a jackal.
But he was breathing.
Alive.
Adam stepped back.
The priest raised a single finger.
> "The world above has begun to rot.
You've broken the silence.
You've awakened the blood.
And now… we come to collect.