The passage beneath the circular chamber descended far beyond the original foundations of the ruins. Whatever had once existed below had been torn apart by centuries of shifting earth, leaving broken stairways, cracked pillars and enormous roots that had forced themselves through ancient masonry.
The Deepburrow Obsidian Crawler had opened a path through one collapsed section, and after Iris reinforced the damaged ceiling with Earth Magic, the five descended nearly two hundred feet before Rowan raised his hand.
He crouched beside a fracture running across the passage and touched the black residue coating its edge, his expression tightening as he rubbed it between his fingers.
"Something large passed through here recently," Rowan warned, studying several deep grooves carved into the stone. "The Crawler came through afterward, but these marks aren't its claws. Whatever made them was dragging something heavy."
