Aurelia hit something not earth, not stone, not water, something that swallowed her like a lung taking breath. For a heartbeat she floated, suspended in thick darkness, weightless and helpless. Then the darkness released her, dropping her onto solid ground with a force that knocked the air from her lungs.
She gasped, coughing, fingers clawing into cold dust.
Silence surrounded her.
A silence too complete to be natural.
Aurelia forced herself up on shaking elbows. The fall should have shattered her bones… but something cushioned her at the last moment. Something aware.
Her eyes adjusted slowly, revealing faint blue light pulsing along the walls like veins under skin. The chamber around her was massive circular, ancient, carved from stone so dark it looked like a frozen shadow. Symbols
