The corridor feels wrong the moment we step into it.
Not dangerous in the obvious way. Not humming with magic or glowing with runes or dripping with ancient menace. This wrongness is quieter. Worse. Like someone took the soul out of the cave and left the shell behind.
Nathan’s hand tightens around mine as if he feels the same void settle over us. His fingers lace with mine, warm and steady, but the air around us is cold enough that my breath fogs faintly in front of my face.
The stone passage is narrow, stretching forward into shadow that seems thicker than normal darkness. Dust swirls in the faint torchlight, but there is no magical glimmer in it. No shimmer. Nothing that suggests the cave is awake.
I swallow, my voice barely a whisper. “Why does it feel like the cave turned itself of
