Chapter 62: Deep Within the Dark
They pushed deeper into the darkness, the flames casting jittery shadows on the walls that danced with every step they took.
Dylan, being the instigator of this night-time expedition, led the way. He moved cautiously, almost counting each step, fingers tight around the torch handle. The flickering light cast a shaky cone ahead of him, revealing a passage that grew narrower the further they went.
The path seemed perfectly straight. But human eyes have their limits, and despite the illusion of linearity, the end of the tunnel remained out of sight. A vanishing line, leading to something... or nothing.
Behind him, Élisa and Maggie’s footsteps echoed faintly, dampened by the walls. No more breeze. Just this creeping feeling of moving through something closed-in — like the digestive tract of a long-dead creature.
Then Dylan frowned. Something felt off. He scanned the walls.
"These walls... they’re not natural," he muttered, mostly to himself.
Maggie raised her torch higher, and Élisa stepped closer to inspect the rock.
Where before the walls had been rough, jagged, like any natural formation, they were now oddly smooth. Too perfect. Too regular. The ceiling curved precisely, and the floor had flattened out as if polished by millennia of passage — or something far more intentional.
They weren’t in a cave anymore. They were inside a cylinder.
The walls gradually arched around them, enclosing the space. The torchlight bounced off the surface like it was slightly damp... or breathing.
Then the straight path morphed into a spiral. Not abruptly — subtly. They only noticed when their weight shifted, their steps starting to slip.