The subway tunnels offered a grim kind of sanctuary. The ground above them groaned and shuddered, a constant reminder of the chaos at the surface. Elena and Lyra scrambled through the wreckage, the sound of their ragged breathing the only thing they could hear over the distant screams from the city. The Eclipse Codex in Elena's hands was a burden now, not just a book. Its pages no longer pulsed; they glowed with a steady, deep light, a vibrant beacon that hummed in her arms.
"The tear... it makes the book unstable," Lyra whispered, her voice tight with panic. "It's a guide. It points to the source. It's a beacon to them."
"Then we have to hide it," Elena said, her voice shaking. She tried to cover the book with her jacket, but the light was so intense it bled through the fabric, a shimmering pulse that made the shadows dance. The chaos above was a monster, but the book was a lighthouse, announcing their presence to everyone, good and bad.
They rounded a corner, just as a train tunnel collapsed with a thunderous roar. The tracks buckled, the metal screaming under a weight that wasn't just physical. Strange, geometric shadows writhed on the tunnel walls for a brief moment, a terrifying glimpse of something that had bled through from the other side. Lyra, her face pale, pulled Elena back. "This way," she said, her voice more sure now. "The old Weavers' paths. They run underneath everything. We have to go deeper." Elena clutched the glowing book, its weight a constant reminder of the chaos above and the horror they now carried with them, a responsibility she was not sure she could bear.