Darkness swallowed them.
Only the faint red symbols carved into the walls remained.
They descended deeper.
The stairs twisted beneath the earth in long, uneven turns. Water dripped from the ceiling. The walls were carved directly from black stone, but they were not natural. Ancient markings covered them from floor to ceiling, some faded by time, others sharp enough to suggest they had been cut recently.
Nathan ran his fingers near one symbol without touching it.
The shape resembled an eye.
Below it, dozens of smaller figures knelt around a larger shape with horns and multiple arms.
Genzo noticed where he was looking.
"They look very old."
"They are," Nathan nodded.
The markings continued.
They showed people carrying offerings into darkness. They showed bodies laid before an altar. They showed black shapes rising from a circle of blood.
And farther down, Nathan saw another image.
A man kneeling before a shrine.
Behind him, a city burned.
