Amon kept staring into the abyss.
Seconds passed. Then minutes. His breathing slowly steadied, but his mind refused to calm down. Then he heard it.
Thump...
It was faint. So faint that at first he thought it was just his own heartbeat echoing in his ears.
Thump...
Amon froze. The sound was slow. Heavy. Deep. Like the beating of a massive heart buried far away. He hadn't noticed it before. But now, as he tried to focus more, he could hear it.
Thump… thump…
It wasn't coming from below. Amon swallowed and slowly lifted his head. Above him, there was no ceiling.
The inside of the tree was hollowed completely, stretching upward like a colossal vertical tunnel.
The inner walls of the trunk spiraled endlessly, disappearing into darkness far above. Even the light from his lighter couldn't reach that height.
And that sound… it was coming from above. Far, far above.
