Chapter 44: A path forward(3)
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Kai and Kathlyn walked.
Their steps echoed faintly in the narrow underground tunnels. The stone walls around them pulsed with thin lines of light, casting just enough glow to see where they were going. The air was cool, almost stale, but not suffocating
Neither of them spoke much.
Kathlyn walked slightly ahead, map in hand, eyes flicking down to the old markings every few minutes to make sure they were still on the right path. She looked tired the kind of tired that sunk into your bones but her shoulders stayed squared, her steps stable
Kai followed, keeping pace behind her his senses were sharp, on edge. Every small shift in the tunnel walls, every faint flicker in the light made him tense just a little.
They passed through chamber after chamber.
Some were tight, just wide enough for two people side by side Others opened into broad, hollowed-out spaces, with roots twisting through the ceilings like frozen tentacles. The deeper they went, the more worn the ground beneath their feet became. Cracked stone Splintered wood. Debris scattered like something much larger had once moved through here
It wasn’t fast progress.
Their pace had slowed after the last fight. Neither wanted to admit it, but they were tired Pushed past what a normal run should have taken out of them But they kept moving.
They had to