The door's groan still echoed in their ears as Mia's squad stepped into the dark threshold. Cold air spilled over them in waves, thick with the damp rot of forgotten centuries. Shadows twisted along the walls, curling back into the stairwell that descended before them like a throat waiting to swallow intruders whole.
Mia raised her hand. "Stay sharp. We test every step. No one rushes."
The squad nodded. Even Vance, though his smirk lingered faintly, seemed wary now. His hand hovered near his sword, boots crunching cautiously against the ashen floor.
The descent was narrow, walls close enough to scrape armor if one leaned wrong. Torch sconces dotted the walls, but no flames burned in them. Instead, veins of faint red glow threaded through the stone itself, like blood vessels pulsing faintly beneath blackened skin. The light gave no warmth.
They hadn't descended more than twenty steps when it happened.
