[Arc 1— No Light Left for Us]
…..
A light waited at the end of the tunnel– or in this case, the bottom of the descent.
Pale and red like an open wound. The gleaming light reflected in their eyes, evoking excitement and fear. Raven felt it the instant he saw it— a dread too large to name. It was vivid, visceral, and cold enough to come from the very floor of Hell.
He couldn't trace its origin. The fear had no memory, no logic—only presence.
His breaths shortened, turning shallow and jagged. Desperate, he reached for the cold walls, seeking warmth in the most unlikely place. That didn't help.
His mind began to twist and turn.
'Turn back. Run away. Retreat to the chamber!'
Raven reached up and swiped at his face. His hand came wet. A dark line of blood smeared across his fingers.
He stared at it.
This… this was real.
Something was wrong with this place. Wrong in a way that predated him. The fear gripped him with the strength of a furious mother, and any trace of excitement vanished.
Raven let out a wry smile. 'Am I going to die here?'
His steps slowed as he descended towards the ground floor.
'That's fine," he murmured under his breath. 'That works, as well.'
...
Ground floor.
The students stepped out of their first dwelling. A beautiful picture came into view.
Grey grass stretched endlessly in every direction, each blade as tall as the tallest man to ever draw breath. A forest without trunks. The land was nothing but grey to the horizon where it dissolved in a silver haze.
Above, the moon hung low and swollen. Red and pulsing like a bleeding heart. It bathed the land and grass in a celestial, crimson glow, its rays frolicking across the horizon under the rhythmic, throbbing embrace of the Mother Moon.
"Wow. This might just be the most beautiful sight I've ever seen," Mist whistled.
"On that I agree," Raven nodded.
The beauty was undeniable. Absolute. Too perfect.
But beauty and peril were old companions
Looking around, Raven didn't know what to expect. No roads. No structures. No ruins. There were no signs of human settlement, which was never a good sign.
"There is something wrong with the moon!" someone shrieked.
The students caught sight of the trembling red moon. The pulsations were intensifying. Across its surface, the redness rippled like disturbed water.
Suddenly, a low sound rolled through the sky. Not thunder. Not wind. A moan. A beastly moan that vibrated in their very marrow.
The moon exhaled.
A ray of light shot out, latching onto a patch of grass not far ahead. Instantly, the grey withered. Rot spread from impact point, turning the grey grass into black, liquefying filth. It began spreading outward in violent veins, corrupting everything it touched. The puddle of rot squirmed and heaved, and familiar moans echoed from within its vibrant darkness.
Raven felt a wave of dark emotions surge within himself. An instinct, alien and intimate, urged him to walk forward. Closer. Just a little closer to the moon's rot.
'Isn't this what I was hoping?
As the impulse took hold, thoughts began to bubble up. But the craziest element about this madness was just how familiar they felt.
The words slipped into place so naturally that he almost nodded.
'Death. It is finally here. I just have to be brave enough to grab it!'
'It is time.'
They weren't foreign. They were his. Buried thoughts. Thoughts he'd never thought he would confront in a long time.
Raven's eyes widened in terror as his body continued its walk. A raw, primal fear arose in him. Revulsion quaked in his bones, but even that wasn't enough.
Humanity's deepest fear was violation.
Violation not merely of flesh—but of will.
And now, this darkness was stepping in the bodies of the students.
Raven could feel it adjusting his posture. Relaxing his muscles. Steadying his breath. Making him ready.
Suddenly, Raven slammed his fist into his face. Pain detonated behind his eyes, offering enough will to regain control over his body. He tore his gaze away from the puddle.
'Fuck, that was disgusting.' Raven fell to his knees, retching out bile from the depths of his body.
Around him, the other students were snapping out of it too. They all shared the same look of pure, sickly disgust.
It took a long time for the shivering to stop, and an even longer time before anyone spoke.
"Move away from the puddle." Jesse said, "We cannot afford to be enthralled again. Let's make a clearing far away from it."
"Shouldn't we continue moving?" asked Jordan, glancing nervously at the horizon.
"No. We are exhausted. We need to recover before moving again. Plus, I'm sure we have a lot to think about, a lot to process. What do you say?" Jesse shot an inquiring look at the group of students.
Everyone agreed. A moment of quietness and recovery was much needed. Especially after everything they had experienced.
They moved as a group, careful not to look back at the corrupted patch. Even from a distance, it seemed to shift, as though disappointed.
They eventually chose a stretch of grass far from the rot, and began the awkward process of building a camp. There was no cinematic triumph in it. Beds were nothing more than flattened patches and bundled stalks. Camping in an alien land, as it turns out, isn't nearly as cool as it looks in the movies—more frustrating, more humiliating.
Still, it was something.
Hours passed by.
Eventually, a black-haired youth approached Raven and Mist.
"My shift is over. It's your turn to take over, " he said quietly.