Grey was in a wide and huge circular, cavernous vault. But instead of dust and death, the floors, the walls, and every conceivable surface were heaped, piled and overflowing with treasure.
His jaw felt like it was touching the floor.
It was a veritable ocean of gold coins, stacked in perfect columns that had slowly collapsed into glittering, spilling mounds.
Interspersed among the rivers of gold were chests overflowing with cut jewels. Rubies the size of Grey's fist, emeralds that pulsed with soft green light, and diamonds that caught the flambeaux's light and sprayed rainbows across the ceiling.
The light reflecting off the sheer volume of precious metal was blinding, forcing Grey to squint, but his eyes were wide and shining with raw, visceral excitement.
He had stumbled not just upon a tomb, but the legendary treasury of the tyrant Pharomin, a hoard so vast it defied imagination.
