Volume 1: Rebirth Arc
Chapter 12: The Descent
The air on the ridge grew instantly foul, thick with the unmistakable stench of sulfur, decayed ozone, and wet, rotting organic matter.
From the immense crater below, the sickly violet luminescence intensified, casting long, writhing shadows across the jagged rock walls of the collapsing valley.
The ground beneath Shu and Kai’Sa’s hands continued to shudder, a steady, rhythmic pulsing like the heartbeat of a colossal, buried titan.
“Shu…” Kai’Sa whimpered, her small body trembling violently as she buried her face against his shoulder.
Her fingers dug frantically into the fabric of his shirt.
“My father…
everyone was still down there when the ground fell…”
Shu’s mind raced with cold, desperate calculation.
He looked down at the gaping abyss.
The village was gone—swallowed entirely by the upper strata of the subterranean tunnels.
In the original lore, this was the exact catastrophic catalyst that would plunge young Kai’Sa into the dark.
Crack.
With a sudden, explosive pop, the ledge of rock directly beneath their feet fractured.
There was no time to think, no time to plan a tactical retreat.
The stable stone ridge they trusted gave way under a fresh wave of subterranean pressure.
“Look out!” Shu yelled, his voice cracking as he lunged forward, throwing his entire weight against Kai’Sa to knock her clear of the breaking edge.
His intervention saved her, but it cost him his own footing.
As the shelf of rock sheared off into the void, Shu’s hands scrambled desperately against the loose shale.
He caught the edge with his fingertips, his body dangling over the dark, smoking chasm, while Kai’Sa tumbled backward onto a safer, protruding slab of solid granite higher up the slope.
“Shu!” Kai’Sa screamed, scrambling back to the edge and reaching down with both hands.
Shu looked up.
Below him, miles into the choking darkness, a sea of glowing, predatory eyes blinked open in unison, accompanied by the horrific, clicking screech of thousands of hungry Voidborn.
Above him, Kai’Sa’s small hand was stretched out as far as it could possibly go.
“Grab my hand, Shu!
Don’t let go!” she cried, tears carving clean lines through the thick layer of dust on her cheeks.
Shu stared at her, then down at the abyss.
His fingers were already slipping, the sharp shale cutting deep into his callused palms.
He knew the brutal reality of the physics involved: a child’s arms could not support the dead weight of another falling body against this kind of downward suction.
If she tried to pull him up, the ground would shear further, and they would both plummet into the dark.
Click-clack.
A massive, shadowy form surged upward from the violet mist below, its razor-sharp chitinous limbs snapping toward his dangling legs like a pair of iron shears.
“Shu!
Please!” Kai’Sa sobbed, leaning dangerously far over the crumbling ledge, her fingers brushing against his outstretched wrist.
With a final, desperate surge of will, Shu didn’t wait for gravity to make the choice.
He pushed off the vertical rock wall with his feet, using the last ounce of his strength to lunge upward, crashing heavily onto the ledge beside Kai’Sa.
For a split second, they lay tangled together, gasping for air.
Then, the entire slope beneath them groaned.
A titanic pressure wave erupted from the depths of the trench—a roaring geyser of compressed air, dust, and dark, writhing shadows that blew outward with the force of a hurricane.
Neither of them could anchor themselves in time.
Caught in the violent blast wave, Shu and Kai’Sa were swept off the ridge, tumbling uncontrollably down into the yawning, lightless maw of the collapsing earth.
The last thing Shu registered before the deafening roar of the falling mountain swallowed their screams was the absolute, crushing darkness of the Void rising up to catch them.