When Grey's eyelids finally parted, the darkness that greeted him was dense enough to feel physical. It draped over him like a damp shroud. The air inside the cavern was thick with humidity, each breath slightly warm and laden with the scent of wet stone and moss. The ground beneath him felt slick and uneven, cool moisture seeping into his skin. His clothes, already tattered from battle, clung coldly to his body, soaked through as though he had been lying in the cave far longer than he realized.
His mind was foggy, drifting between consciousness and dream for several breaths before awareness slowly settled. The darkness around him shifted, sharpening into vague outlines of curved walls, faint droplets sliding down rock, a soft glimmer of light from somewhere deep within the cavern.
