Sunward

Like all members of his tribe, Sixte and his daughter have never seen the sun. Black-carapaced monsters called courettes stalk those who dare leave the salt lines which mark the confines of their home, killing any who dare to leave. They subsist on a diet of mushrooms nurtured by the glowstone which is also their only source of light. Everything changes when a courette manages to enter the village, poisoning Sixte's daughter with a venom that the healer doesn't know how to fight. Sixte leads a group of volunteers on an expedition to the surface, where they will find the sun and (presumably) a way to save their loved ones. A dark fantasy horror short story of survival, sacrifice, and forbidden hope, this tale plunges readers into a lightless world where monsters guard the boundaries of life itself. As Sixte ventures toward the sun, the journey becomes more than a rescue. It is a confrontation with truths his people were never meant to face, and with horrors far worse than the courettes lurking in the dark. Tense, atmospheric, and unsettling, this story will appeal to readers who love claustrophobic worlds, desperate choices, and the creeping dread of what waits just beyond the known.