The passage was nothing like the Hall of Ancestors.
Gone were the polished marble floors.
The statues.
The glowing constellations.
Here, the walls were rough stone worn smooth by centuries of flowing water.
Tiny crystals shimmered inside the rock, casting just enough silver light to guide our steps.
Kael's hand remained around mine.
Neither of us spoke.
The farther we walked, the quieter the mountain became.
Eventually, even the whispers of the ancestors disappeared.
There was only us.
And the darkness.
Clarissa stirred.
"I don't like this."
"You've said that about almost everything we've discovered."
"Yes, and I've been right an uncomfortable number of times."
Fair.
I glanced at Kael.
"Ronan sensing anything?"
"Water."
"That's it?"
"And something old."
I stopped.
"O
