Darkness swallowed them as they crossed the threshold into the pale tree's interior. Reinhard's boots hit something solid, not ground but roots. Massive intertwined roots that formed pathways spiraling upward through the hollow trunk.
The interior stretched impossibly high, the top invisible in darkness that even their enhanced vision couldn't penetrate.
Golden light from the Melo warriors provided illumination, casting shadows that danced across pale bark. The interior walls showed golden veins of darker wood spreading in organic patterns, pulsing faintly with something that might have been life force.
Reinhard and the others started moving up, their feet finding footing on the roots. The root pathway curved upward at a steep angle, forcing them to lean forward to maintain balance. Ahead, the root split into multiple branches, each one leading higher through different trajectories.
A faint whisper echoed through the hollow space, barely audible over their footsteps.
