The cavern's blue glow pulsed softly, a heartbeat beneath the earth as Elias Varn slumped against a jagged stalagmite, its cold stone grounding him after the chaos. His oversized boots rested in a dusting of coal, the faded jacket hanging loose on his trembling frame, and his bare hands clutched the notebook, its damp pages crinkling under his grip. Without his glasses, the Shroud's crystalline core blurred into a shimmering mass at the chamber's center, but his eyes glowed faintly, a light tethered to the ember in his chest—a heat he'd shaped, a spark he'd claimed. The air hung thick with dust and the faint hum of the Beneath, a presence that watched, steady under his tentative command.
Rory Tate sank beside him, his patched hoodie streaked with grime, his red hair dulled by the mines' grit. His skateboard lay propped against the stone, its wheels still, and his freckled face glistened with sweat as he caught his breath, green eyes flicking to the tunnel where the Order had retreated. "That was nuts," he panted, a grin tugging at his lips despite the exhaustion lining his features. "You went full superhero—blasting those creeps like a pro. Told you you're a badass."
Elias's chest heaved, a weak laugh escaping as the ember pulsed, warm and controlled. "I—I don't feel like one," he rasped, wiping his face with a sleeve, the dust smearing into streaks. "I just… didn't want them to win." His eyes dimmed, the glow settling, and he nudged the ember—a gentle pulse rippling toward the core, tendrils curling in response, a dance he directed. The Shroud's voice whispered, soft but resonant: "You are its heart." He shivered, the weight of it settling deeper.
Rory rocked back, digging into the duffel and tossing Elias a granola bar. "Well, you won—round one, anyway. Eat, man—you're shaking like a leaf." He pulled out the rusted knife, spinning it absently, then glanced at the core. "So, you and Glowy McCreep are buddies now? What's the deal—gonna start a club?"
Elias tore the wrapper, the sweet crunch steadying his nerves as he squinted at the core's blur. "Not buddies," he mumbled, swallowing hard. "It's… mine, but it's still—it's still huge. It's the Beneath—been here forever, waking people like me." He nudged the ember again, a stronger pulse shaping the tendrils into a spiral, a control that felt fragile but real. "It wants me to ignite stuff—potential, it said. Not sure what that means yet."
Rory's grin faded, his knife pausing mid-spin. "Ignite, huh? Like stone lady, orange guy—all the weirdos popping up?" He leaned forward, voice dropping. "That Order jerk said they've been shutting it down for centuries—sounds like they're not thrilled with your new DJ skills."
Elias nodded, the ember flaring faintly as the Order's red light flashed in his mind—cold, precise, silencing. "They're—they're different," he said, voice trembling but firm. "Not like Voss—she wants to study me. They want me gone—want the Shroud gone." The core pulsed, tendrils brushing the air, and he steadied them, a heat he held. "I—I don't know how to fight that."
"You just did," Rory said, clapping his shoulder, vibration humming faintly in his hand. "You've got juice now—use it." He rummaged in the duffel again, pulling out a crumpled map—creased and faded, coal dust smudged across its edges. "Found this with the notebook—mines layout, maybe. Look—tunnels go deeper, some marked 'sealed.' Bet that's where Glowy lives."
Elias squinted at the blur, trusting Rory's eyes, and the ember flared, his glow illuminating the paper. "Sealed?" he asked, tracing a finger over the smudged lines. "The Beneath said they buried it—maybe that's what it meant." The Shroud's voice stirred: "They come." He flinched, the pulse rippling outward, rattling loose stones, and Rory frowned.
"Voice again?" he asked, folding the map. "What's it saying now?"
"They're coming," Elias whispered, tears pricking his eyes as the ember pulsed sharper. "The Order—they're not done." The core flared, tendrils coiling tighter, and the chamber hummed, a warning in its rhythm.
Before Rory could reply, a sharp crack echoed—not drones, but stone splitting, and a figure emerged from a side tunnel—not black-clad, but cloaked in tattered green, the stone woman, her cracked skin glowing faintly as she staggered in. "Beacon," she rasped, voice gravelly, her green eyes dim but piercing. "They're close—deeper ones, not her." She clutched her side, a crack weeping dust, and sank against the wall.
Rory leapt up, vibration humming as he gripped his skateboard. "You're alive—thought those goons got you!" He edged closer, wary but relieved. "Who's 'deeper ones'?"
The woman's gaze locked on Elias, the ember flaring in response. "The Order—old keepers," she said, her glow pulsing weak. "I fought—slowed them—but they've got… something new. Red light—stronger." She coughed, dust spilling, and pointed at the core. "It's waking too much—they'll break it, break you."
Elias's stomach dropped, the ember surging, and he stood, nudging a pulse toward her—a gentle wave, warm, brushing her cracks. Her glow steadied, faint but firm, and she nodded, a ghost of gratitude in her stony face. "I—I can help," he said, voice shaky but growing. "I claimed it—sort of."
"Sort of's enough," she rasped, pushing off the wall. "They're coming—tunnels sealed long ago, reopened now. Red wakes the quiet—silences us." The core pulsed, tendrils flaring, and the Shroud whispered: "Choose your fire."
The chamber rumbled, a low whine cutting through—drones, sharper, faster, swooping in with red lights blazing, followed by the gaunt man in gray, his staff crackling red, his lenses glinting cold. "Enough," he said, voice a blade as he raised the staff, red light flaring—a pulse stronger, deeper, locking Elias's limbs, dimming the ember, the core trembling under its weight.
Rory swung his skateboard, vibration pulsing, cracking a drone midair, but the man pulsed again, red knocking him back, the duffel spilling across the floor. "Elias—fight it!" Rory shouted, scrambling up as the stone woman lunged, green light clashing with red, cracking the stone beneath her feet.
Elias's eyes blazed, the ember surging—a heat he shaped, a pulse he aimed, breaking through the red's grip. The wave hit, blue and gold, slamming the man back, his staff sparking as he staggered. "I—I won't let you!" Elias shouted, the pulse rippling, tendrils flaring from the core, bolstering his light. The drones crashed, sparking, and the stone woman pulsed, green shattering the red wave, driving the man to his knees.
"Recalibrate—deploy the shroudbreaker!" the man barked, his voice tight as he retreated, a figure tossing a device—a sleek orb, pulsing red, landing at the core's base. It flared, a crimson wave washing over the chamber, and the Shroud's glow dimmed, tendrils recoiling, the ember stuttering in Elias's chest.
"No!" Elias cried, the pulse faltering, and the core pulsed weak, its voice a whisper: "They silence me." Rory grabbed him, vibration flaring as he dragged him back, the stone woman collapsing, her green fading. The man vanished into the tunnel, the orb's red deepening, a shadow over the Beneath.
"We've gotta move!" Rory panted, hauling Elias toward a sealed tunnel on the map, the ember flickering as the core's light waned. Elias clutched the notebook, tears streaming, the Shroud's heart under siege—a fight he'd claimed, but not yet won.