The scarred man gave no name, only a gesture. He turned down a narrow passage lined with roots as thick as a man’s torso, their surfaces slick with moisture. Aric and the girl followed, torches in hand. The deeper they went, the less the flames seemed to matter. The walls themselves pulsed faintly, casting a dim, sickly light as though veins of sap carried their own glow.
The air changed too. It grew dense, not just with dampness but with a heaviness that pressed against their lungs. Aric’s injured arm throbbed harder. He clenched his jaw, willing his body forward.
The girl whispered, “This doesn’t feel like walking underground. It feels like walking inside something.”
Neither Aric nor the scarred man answered.
They reached a chamber wider than any they had seen so far. The roof arched
