The descent into the underground chamber had been a frantic blur of shadows and sharp, jagged breaths. Gillian’s side throbbed with a rhythm that matched his frantic pulse, a constant reminder of the price he had paid to pull them from the jaws of the fire. The air down here was stagnant, tasting of damp earth and ancient stone, miles away from the chaos that had consumed the surface. He slid the heavy iron deadbolt into place, his hands slick with a mixture of his own drying blood and the grime of the tunnels.
Gillian slumped against the cold masonry, his eyes tracing the flickering light of the single emergency lantern he had managed to salvage. The room was sparse, a relic of a life he had once intended to discard. He stared at his trembling hands, seeing the dark smears of his own e
