"Meeooowww…"
The sound was fragile at first, a silken thread stretched across the silence, echoing strangely in the vast dead air. The cat's cry did not belong here—soft, domestic, ordinary—yet it cut through the oppressive weight of Hell like a crack in stone. It sat on its haunches, tail swaying lazily, licking its paw as though nothing about this place mattered. Its fur shimmered faintly in the dying light, every stroke of its tongue catching the dim glow, as if the creature were its own lantern.
Lara's voice broke next. It was brittle, tight around the edges, carrying weariness wrapped in steel.
"Well, here we are… what now?"
Her eyes were lifted upward, to the wall that rose before them like the carcass of a mountain. It was no natural cliff, no mere collection of rock. The dark stone stretched on endlessly, its surface marred by scars—vast holes gouged into its hide as though some ancient beast had raked claws across it. The air smelled faintly of ash and old iron.
