The stone door groaned, its weight shifting after what must have been centuries upon centuries of stillness.
Dust cascaded from its edges, vanishing into the mist pooling at his feet. The man choked as some of it reached his face.
The deep, grinding noise of stone against stone echoed through the cavern.
A breath of cold air covered him, carrying with it the scent of damp earth and something untouched by the surface world. It was not the stale, suffocating air of an enclosed space resembling a tomb, but something more vast.
Beyond, in the horizon, the ground sloped downward into darkness forming a rough path. The cavern walls stretched high above him, disappearing into shadows, so high he couldnt even see the ceiling while below, a sea of thick mist concealed what the valley looked like.
He started walking forward .
The ground beneath his feet was old and dusty leaving marks as he walked . Thin veins of crystal wove through the rock, their pale glow casting a dim light along the path. It was just enough to guide his way, but not enough to illuminate the valley beyond.
The passage twisted downward, carved into the cavern wall like a forgotten road. The descent was steep, the air colder with each step. The mist swirled below, shifting as if breathing, parting in places to reveal glimpses of what lay beneath—tall spires of rock, half-ruined structures that may have once been buildings, and distant pools of still, glass-like water reflecting the cavern's faint glow.
It was such a strange scenery
A valley, impossibly vast, hidden beneath the world.
He moved forward carefully.
Whatever this place was, it had existed long before him. Perhaps long before the city he had left behind.
It didnt feel human in any way though, it didnt resemble something they would built.
---
The path stretched onward for what felt like hours.
At times, thhe way grew narrow, forcing him to carefully pick his footing along crumbling ledges. In other places, the rock had collapsed entirely, leaving gaps he had to leap across.
This occurence was common throughout the whole path, strangely
Even in this place, life had carved its way through the stone.
After another stretch of walking, the path widened. The mist grew thinner, revealing more of the valley below.
And there, in the distance, he saw them.
Ruins?
Scattered throughout the valley floor, half-buried beneath layers of rock and dust.
Structures that resembled buildings littered the landscape . Some leaned against jagged formations of stone, held together by little more than stubbornness. Others had collapsed entirely, their remains swallowed by the land.
It was not a city, not like the one he had left.
There were no streets, no sense of order to the placement of the buildings. They were scattered, rising wherever the land allowed.
Some stretched high, their spires piercing the mist like skeletal fingers. Others were squat and angular, their designs unfamiliar.
They didn't look like something habitable but rather, strange, realistic shapes formed naturally. The "buildings" had no semblance of doors or windows. As if they had formed through erosion, naturally.
And in the heart of the valley, looming through the mist like a monument to something long forgotten, was a structure unlike the rest.
Massive.
Towering above the ruins, half-carved into the valley's rock.
A pillar. It reached high above the mists until it banished into the darkness.
The dagger pulsed once in his grip.
A quiet heartbeat, guiding him forward.
---
The descent took longer than he expected.
By the time he reached the valley floor, the mist had settled at his ankles, curling around the ruins like a restless tide. The air was still, carrying the scent of damp stone and something faintly metallic.
His footsteps echoed in the silence. The ruins stretched endlessly in every direction, vanishing into the mist. He moved carefully, walking though the irregular streets that seemed to have no sense in their architecture. Streets ended up before they started, blocked by other building like shapes.
The man continued his path towards the centre.
---
The pillar loomed ahead, its entrance a gaping void in the rock.
Up close, it was even larger than he had thought— a massive stone slab that reached to the great heights, its surface worn but unbroken. Unlike the ruins outside, this place had withstood the passage of time.
This place had no door , its entrance resembled more of a cavernes entrance.
He hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the air shifted.
A silence so deep it pressed against his ears, swallowing even the sound of his own breath.
The chamber beyond was immense, stretching high above him, the ceiling lost to darkness. Crystals jutted from the walls, casting pale light across the stone floor.
At the center of the room, a great stone altar stood.
The man approached it. In there he could see something shining.
Yet as he walked towards it, something strange began to happen.
The ground shaked in his feet.