Waypoint

Survey Mission 12 part 4: Contact

Mum and Dad,

I don't think I was prepared for what was down there. I wish I could say I handled my first mission well, but I didn't. Everyone says I shouldn't hold myself to that big of a standard, that of course I would be making mistakes. I don't believe that. I nearly got them killed. I discovered something terrible, something that should have stayed buried.

But now the only thing I can do is take responsibility for it, and make sure no one else suffers from my mistake.

Lyra inhaled sharply as consciousness returned, feeling the stuffy air catch in her mouth and coughing. Her whole body ached, and she worried for a minute she was dead.

Don't be stupid Lyra, the dead don't hurt. She sat up tentatively, remembering her training and checking herself. She counted bruise after bruise, and while she felt nothing broken, her tailbone ached tremendously. She began to stand slowly, taking it step by step as she rose to her knees. Bruises on her elbows and knees, some on her shoulders and only a few dotting her back, chest and stomach. Then there were the scrapes to her limbs and face, as well as some tears in her clothing.

As she had sat up, memories began to flood back in. The monster, the stone crumbling beneath her, and her hitting some slanted piece of stone and rolling down. She only survived because the stone she fell onto had a sharp curve. She looked up to see how high the hole was but found only inky blackness above her. That darkness was everywhere, save for the stone beneath her feet. It was similar to the stone outside, cut smoothly into a narrow pathway that extended far away into the darkness. It was to her left, and as she put her feet under her and stood, she was met with a strange sensation. She was used to being in the dark, of staying up late past curfew at the academy, waiting to light a candle so she could continue to read. But while she was in darkness, she knew what it felt like to be closed in by walls.

Here, the darkness did not box her in. It felt massive and open.

She reached for her bag, rummaging through it to find the emergency flash sticks that they brought with them. They were made of a type of wood that burned brightly and slowly but were notorious for their difficulty to light. As her hand touched her bag, however, she felt a hole in the side. Removing it quickly she looked over it and sure enough, some of her things had fallen out. The only things that she still had inside were her parchments and quill, which she had kept tied to the parchments.

She looked around, her mind racing to gather the details. She was hurt but ok, her supplies limited, and she did not know how long she had been unconscious for.

For all she knew, she was alone right now. Hurt and stuck. Lyra sighed, hoping her new team wouldn't report this to Dao. What a perfect way to start your life on the surface, she thought to herself.

Gingerly, she took a few steps forward, and felt chills down her spine as the darkness seemed to follow her. She couldn't navigate like this. With the way she fell, she couldn't be sure whether she'd fall into another hole. She desperately wished for something to guide her way.

Suddenly, a noise pierced the space. Lyra wasn't sure what it was or where it had come from, and for a moment could not decipher its location as echoes sounded, only serving to open the chamber further in her mind. What felt like a small cavern to her had changed as she realized how far the echoes bounced to. Her legs shook, and she let herself kneel down, just as her foot scraped something on the ground. She reached down, and felt something solid and cool to the touch. It was circular and fit in her hand. She picked it up, and as she did, faint silver light reached out from it. The light seemed to bend around the object, luminating an intricate design filled with various rings and needle-like pieces, bordered by a single intricate loop. It was cool to the touch, and the rings and needles twirled faster and faster, creaking and ticking as it rose and fell in pitch. Lyra nearly threw the strange object away, but realized it was her only light source.