The rumble leads us straight into the widest chamber we have seen yet.
It opens like a stone lung, circular and vast, with jagged pillars rising from the ground like ribs that have been frozen mid-expansion. The roof curves high above us, disappearing into shadow. Our torches flicker, their flames small against the enormous space, and for the first time since entering this cursed cave, the air feels almost warm again.
Almost.
Nathan shoves his arm out in front of me the moment we step over the threshold. “Stay close.”
I do not argue. Mostly because the second we enter the room, something enormous shifts in the center of it.
Stone grinds against stone. The sound is deep enough that it vibrates in my bones. Dust falls from above in thin drifting curtains as if the chamber itself is exha
