Chapter Twenty-OneThe wall illumined by the ethereal glow of the Luxanary was not the natural sides of the cavern, but a fortification constructed with huge blocks of grey and black stone that towered upward to meet the ceiling of the cavern overhead and stretched outward to the sides of the cave. It entirely blocked the way. The cavern ceiling was formed of one solid piece of stone; like the base of a mountain resting precariously atop an empty tomb. The floor of the chamber was laid with enormous squares of similarly hued stone and in the center of the mammoth wall before them, fashioned of heavy iron that shimmered in the phosphorescent radiance illuminating it, a massive black gate stood in the darkness.
Beyond the gate, a path strewn with rough gravel led beneath a continuation of th
