A few minutes after the strange ocean of spiritual power washed over them, the neverending tunnel finally came to an end. There, just a few hundred meters away, the cave opened up into some kind of massive chamber.
Alina turned to Leor with a heavy frown.
But there wasn't much else to be done. They both knew that they needed to save Rynn, and that was what they were going to do.
When they reached the opening, they found themselves stepping into an enormous cavern. It was the largest room Leor had ever seen, as if the mountain itself had been hollowed out. Their torchlight failed to illuminate the vast darkness in every direction, with the exception of up above.
The cave tunnel had let out at a small platform on the top of a massive cliff inside the great hollow. Since they were up so high already they were able to see the vast dome of the hollow far up above them.
Alina's brow furrowed as she glanced at the distant roof, uncertainty plain on her face. "It's a perfect dome. I was right, this place is not a natural formation," she whispered, still staring at the incredible sight above. "But who could build something so large? It's got to be half the size of the mountain itself!"
Leor cast his light down the edge of the cliff, wondering how they were supposed to move forward now. He kicked a rock over the ledge and watched it tumble away. It cracked against the side of the cliff, sending a dull echo through the vast open chamber. He thought he might get an idea of the size of the place from the sound, but it was useless. The chamber was too vast for such a simple trick.
He opened his mouth to suggest climbing down, when the air around them began to vibrate and grow heavy. As he looked into the darkness his brow began to furrow, there was something wrong, he squinted his eyes as he held his torch up before him.
It was almost as if… The darkness was moving.
He went pale the next instant as he realized that it really was. A great mass of darkness was sweeping towards them like a tidal wave. By the time they realized what was happening it was already too late, they couldn't make it back to the safety of the tunnel in time.
As the great wave of shadow loomed over them menacingly, Bone reverted to his full size, not bothering to remove his cloak. The expensive enchanted fabric shredded apart under his bulging frame. The massive ape threw his thick arms around his companions just a heartbeat before the wave of shadow crashed across the high platform.
Leor's world became a blur of pain and dizziness, as if all of existence had been submerged under an angry sea of darkness. Strange sounds filled his ears, like voices that had been stretched out and warped, speaking in scattered and broken tones that could not be understood.
He felt himself spinning through the air rapidly, while only the pressure on his chest let him know that Bone's arm was still around him. His vision had been completely swallowed by the darkness. Leor clenched his torch in his hand as his body was painfully jerked back and forth. No matter how much Will he directed into it, not a single spark of light could be seen in the endless dark sea.
Then, he felt a sudden pain rush through his body, like being hurled into a rock at high speeds. A moment later, the strange muffled sensation faded from his ears, and the wave of darkness receded just as swiftly as it had come. As the wave of shadow moved past them, Leor's sight returned, his Willpower torch burning brightly in his hand just as it had before the darkness had come.
It was a miracle that he hadn't lost his grip on the torch. Probably thanks only to his Body of Will. The dizzying force that was applied to his body felt like being hurled off a mountain and tumbling all the way down. It was not pleasant.
A deep groan could be heard from behind him as the mighty ape released his grip on his three companions. The rest had made it through the ordeal relatively unscathed, but Bone had suffered a deep gash down the back of his left shoulder. Probably from the sudden crash at the end.
The wave of shadow had washed them all the way down from the cliff platform. Now they found themselves standing on a smooth black floor. It didn't appear artificial like the domed ceiling, only because instead of a uniform shape it was filled with natural bumps and ridges. But it clearly wasn't rock either, being far too smooth. It almost resembled a great stretch of dark bone.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah. Just a little shaken up. I knew this place was dangerous, but I didn't expect to get swallowed by darkness the moment we stepped foot inside." She responded.
"We should keep moving, we don't want to get caught in the open if another one of those waves comes for us." Leor suggested warily.
Thankfully he hadn't lost the crystal compass either, so he took it out and set their course once again. The group set off across the strange black surface in search of Rynn, keeping a close watch on the darkness around them.
Leor enlarged the flame on his torch, while Alina did the same, spreading their light out as far as it could reach, to give them a better chance of noticing the dark wave's approach before it got too close. It was a good thing too, because it didn't take long before it came once again.
This time, the companions were much better prepared. Now that she had some experience with it, Alina was able to use her instincts to predict the incoming wave a few seconds before it hit, and warn her companions.
Unfortunately, there was only the endless smooth floor beneath their feet, with nothing large to shelter them.
As the massive wave of darkness approached, Bone once again wrapped his mighty arms around his companions, grabbing a ridge in the floor with his ape-like feet. As the darkness covered them, the same awful reality distorting chaos overwhelmed Leor's senses, making it impossible for him to see his own hands just a few inches away from his face.
Thankfully the wave passed without any injuries this time. The bad news was that only ten minutes had passed since the first wave, creating a dreadful suspicion that they would need to endure many more shadowy waves before this was over.
Worse yet, as they continued to move deeper into the vast chamber, it became more difficult to keep their surroundings well lit, as if some unnatural force was trying to devour the light from their torches.
As they rushed to cross over the surface of empty darkness, they eventually came upon a row of vast towering structures. They appeared to be made of different material than the ceiling and floors, these were solid white and almost perfectly round like great towers. The towers were incredibly strange. Leor couldn't think of any reason why someone would ever build such a thing.
The towers themselves were thick at the bottom, tapering off almost into points as they rose into the sky. That wasn't even the oddest part. The towers were not even built straight up and down! Many of them were slightly bowed, all leaning in the same direction with no clear purpose.
The large towers were built in a single file line that stretched for what seemed like miles. There were no windows or doors, just smooth surfaces all the way up. Lastly, they were lined up in descending order, getting smaller as they moved off into the distance.
The only good news was that they had something to hide behind now. The group rushed toward the closest tower to prepare for the arrival of the next wave, only making it to the base of the structure just in time.
Bone used his large body to shield his three smaller companions as they huddled against the base of the massive tower. The towering structure rumbled as the massive wave of darkness crashed against it. They were soon submerged in the awful sea of shadow once again, but this time the protection of the tower helped to greatly blunt it's force.
Instead of being tossed around like a ragdoll, Leor calmly floated through the quiet abyss, as the dull tones played in his ears like the distant voice of some alien creature.
Once the wave of shadow moved away, the first thing Leor noticed was that something was wrong with Alina. She could be seen pressing both hands against the white tower as her slender arms began to tremble. She was staring at the smooth white surface as if she had seen a ghost.
It didn't take long for Leor to realize what was happening. Alina had clearly used her prophetic talent on the tower itself, likely searching for a clue to the nature of this strange place, and it was obvious that she had found something.
Moving to her side, Leor placed a hand on her trembling shoulder.
"What did you see?"
Leor was almost dreading the answer. The confident young girl wasn't easily shaken, whatever it had been must have been quite bad.
Alina slowly turned to face him, wrapping her arms across her chest to soothe herself as she glanced around in fear.
"T-This isn't a tower." She spoke the words in a hushed tone.
Leor's brows furrowed as he turned to glance up at the round wall of white stretching above him..
"What? Then what is it?"
Alina stared at him with her bright yellow eyes, a deeply uncomfortable frown covering her face.
"It's… a tooth. We are inside the hollow of a gigantic skull." She whispered.