Chapter 1: Descent
The ocean swallowed the last trace of sunlight as the submersible plunged deeper into the abyss. The rhythmic hum of the engines was the only sound in the crushing silence, a fragile barrier between the crew and the endless dark.
Dr. Elise Varen adjusted the controls, her gloved fingers steady despite the weight of history pressing down on her. If the legends were true, they were descending into a graveyard of gods.
"Depth at 4,800 meters," came the voice of Tobias Rhys, her co-pilot and longtime skeptic. His tone was flat, but Elise knew him well enough to hear the flicker of unease beneath it. "We should start seeing the ridge soon."
She nodded, eyes scanning the murky depths beyond the glass. The expedition had been a gamble, a desperate attempt to prove what the world had long dismissed as myth.
The Lost City—an ancient civilization swallowed by the ocean, erased from time. It had been a ghost story, a sailor's nightmare.
Until now.
A flicker of movement caught her eye. Not a fish, not a shadow—something else. Something massive.
"Did you see that?" she breathed.
Tobias frowned, adjusting the external lights. The beams cut through the gloom, illuminating jagged rock formations and the faint outline of what looked like… towers.
Structures.
The breath caught in Elise's throat. "My God…"
The Lost City was real. And they were not alone.