The Double Death

The world died twice.
Once by sickness.
Once by fire.

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The first death

It came quietly.
And it emptied the cities.

A sickness no one could stop. Streets fell silent, borders closed, and the world turned on itself.

The second death

Then came
the fire.

Weakened and afraid, the nations reached for their last weapon. In a few hours, the old world burned.

A heavy steel hatch closing at the top of a deep concrete shaft

Below

The doors
closed behind them.

The war drove people underground. But only those with money could buy their way into the bunkers. They live in safety, but sealed off from the world. Ordinary people were left outside.

Below the ground

Light, order
and gardens without sky.

Above

Those who remained
had to survive.

If the pandemic did not kill you, the war might. And if you survived both, the years to come were waiting.

A young woman survivor in a worn helmet, her face covered in dust

The years after

Radiation. Famine.
A fight for what is left.

Those who cannot fight will not survive.

Searching for a new home

They walked away
from the ruins.

Carrying what was left, looking for a place to start over.

Starting over

They built settlements
in the ruins.

They purified the rain, grew their own food and caught the sun for power.

Four hundred years later

The world healed.
The people changed.

Generations lived on poisoned rain and in the radiation. Many did not survive. But some grew stronger. They resisted the radiation, and some even thrived on it. They developed powers no one had seen before.

The world of the books

Where do
you belong?

LeviathansAbove. They started over, free and wild.
LightbringersThey follow the True Light.
The CollectiveBelow. They carry humanity forward.