Nyxar and Ember walked into the hidden chamber expecting treasure, bones, glowing artifacts… something.
Instead, they found:
A room full of empty stone pedestals.
Just blocks.
Sad, lonely, disappointing blocks.
Ember squinted. "Wow. So dramatic. Truly the pinnacle of ancient culture. Rock furniture."
Nyxar walked around. "Maybe everything decayed."
"That would make sense," Ember said—
—until they reached the center.
On two pedestals stood objects that had NOT decayed.
Or moved.
Or aged.
A flint.
And a steel.
Perfectly preserved.
Both carved with intricate patterns — lines, runes, spirals carved so precisely they almost hummed.
Ember stared.
"…You've got to be kidding me. The only things that survived for centuries were the ancient equivalent of a lighter?"
Nyxar picked up one of them and felt an electric shiver run through his hand.
"These don't feel normal."
Ember inspected the steel.
"I mean… the carving is pretty, but no way decorative grooves improve ignition quality."
Nyxar walked toward the mural behind them, staring at the carved image of a robed person striking the flint and steel. Sparks flew onto the heart of the shrine in the picture.
The narrator said:
"Oh no.
Oh gods no.
They are absolutely going to ignite the death portal."
Ember placed her hands on her hips.
"So… are we supposed to ignite the shrine? I mean… stone doesn't burn."
Nyxar shrugged.
"I think we should try it."
Ember whirled on him.
"WHY?!"
"Because the mural shows a person doing EXACTLY that! And nothing decays here except organic stuff. There must be a reason."
Ember, against every instinct in her brain:
"…There might not be a reason. Maybe it's just a weird ritual."
Nyxar lifted the flint.
"Have we found a single corpse?"
Ember blinked.
"No?"
"No bones?"
"No?"
"No exit?"
"…No?"
Nyxar smiled.
"Then let's see why this cult is extinct."
Ember sighed.
"Well… testing it would show if this was just a bunch of crazy people being crazy together."
Narrator:
"Ember… no. It WILL hurt. It will hurt EVERYONE."
Nyxar held up the flint. Ember held up the steel.
They started walking toward the main shrine.
Cut to: Vespera & Sylas Running
The inner city was huge. The outskirts felt like a maze. Their footsteps echoed off stone walls as they sprinted.
Sylas huffed, "Why are we RUNNING to find them again??"
Vespera, still sprinting:
"BECAUSE if I know Nyxar and Ember — and I do — they are already doing something stupid."
Sylas wheezed.
"We've only known them for weeks!"
"Exactly! That's MORE than enough time to know how dangerous they are!"
As they ran, Sylas spotted something carved into the cavern wall — an entrance.
"Vespera! There!"
They rushed inside.
Pedestals everywhere.
Footprints in dust.
A broken door.
And the mural.
Vespera and Sylas froze as they stared at the carving of a person hitting flint and steel on the shrine.
They both looked at each other…
…and knew.
They were too late.
Way, WAY too late.
They sprinted harder.
Back at the Shrine
Nyxar and Ember stood on the platform directly in front of the shrine's massive central surface.
Ember stretched her arms.
"If this is real, let's not mess up on the one-use doom lighter, okay?"
Nyxar nodded.
"Agreed."
"Why am I doing it again?" Ember demanded.
"Because you know how to handle fire," Nyxar said. "And if it blows up, you probably won't die."
"…That's comforting."
They both readied themselves.
Far behind them, Vespera and Sylas could finally see the shrine.
Time slowed.
Vespera inhaled sharply.
"No… oh no no NO—"
The Ignition
Ember swung the flint and steel—
CHNK!
Sparks exploded.
They flew—
They drifted—
They touched the shrine—
And—
VESPERA (screaming with her whole soul):
"NYXAR!!! EMBER!!! RUUUUUUNNNNNN!!!"
Nyxar and Ember snapped their heads around.
The sparks already hit.
Too late.
Dead silent.
Nothing happened.
Ember exhaled. "See? Nothing. Ritual does nothing. We're fine—"
BOOOOOM—THRUMMMM
The shrine lit up violently.
Black and cyan energy spiraled outward.
The stone trembled.
The air vibrated.
A tear in reality ripped open like paper.
A portal burst into existence:
A swirling doorway into a world of infinite black
dotted with tiny cyan lights
like glowing stars in a dead void.
Ember's eyes blew wide.
"…Oh. Oh no."
Nyxar grabbed her by the waist.
"WE ARE LEAVING."
He leapt off the shrine platform, Bella catching them with a soft landing thud.
Vespera and Sylas reached the base of the shrine just in time to see the portal expanding.
Their faces said everything.
Pure horror.
Pure "why are our friends like this."
They all ran.
Full sprint.
Ember yelled as she ran, "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"
Nyxar: "YOU HEARD VESPERA! WE DID SOMETHING BAD!!"
Ember risked a glance back.
The portal pulsed.
The cavern shook.
Stone dust rained down.
Ember whispered, "Oh no… oh no… we really messed up."
Narrator:
"Well folks, they've officially opened the cult portal.
And may have summoned the 'savior.'
Place your bets on who dies first."