The tunnel eventually opened into a vast natural cavern that took their breath away. The ceiling vanished into shadow overhead. Below, a forest of stone pillars and arches rose from the cavern floor, their impossible geometry suggesting the work of a mad god.
Amber.
Not the small pieces found in Orellia's commercial mines, but vast sheets of the fossilized resin that covered entire wall sections like golden glass. The lantern's flame struck the amber and shattered, refracting into a thousand honey-colored shards of light. The warm glow threw the cavern's breathtaking details into sharp relief.
"Sweet Mother of the Deep," Raven breathed, her voice filled with awe. "No wonder Moreau wants to control this place."
Embedded within the amber walls were the preserved remains of an ancient ecosystem: massive insects with wingspans measured in feet, flowering plants of species long extinct, and stranger things that defied easy categorization.
