The ruined corridor was quiet, save for the dripping of water seeping from cracked stone. Dust drifted through the shafts of light above, and every step echoed like a whisper of warning.
Khael paused mid-stride, his eyes narrowing. Something scratched against the edge of his perception not sound, but a pulse, faint and unsettling. He crouched, brushing his fingers against the ground.
"...What is this?" he muttered, his voice low.
Ceyla, trailing behind, frowned at the way Khael's hand trembled over the stone. She leaned in, her stormy Shinrei flickering faintly in her eyes. What she saw made her curse aloud.
"What the fuck…"
The floor, the walls even the ceiling were carved with jagged marks. Dozens of them. Not random scratches, but spiraling sigils that seemed to writhe if stared at too long. They pulsed faintly with void energy, like veins feeding into some unseen heart.
