"Ancient civilizations left us two things: treasure and warnings. Funny how adventurers always find the first and ignore the second."
***
I shoved the question about Seraphina into the back of my brain. Mysteries could wait. Not dying came first.
The tunnel started sloping downward, and the sound of our footsteps changed as we moved from newer stone to older construction. The rock beneath our feet became smoother. Worn by generations of miners' boots rather than carved by academic excavation teams. The walls here showed tool marks from a different era. Deeper cuts. More deliberate spacing. These passages were built to last centuries, not decades.
The air grew heavier as we descended. Our torchlight threw long shadows across the ancient stonework. Shapes that seemed to move when I looked at them directly but held still when I caught them from the corner of my eye.
That's not creepy at all.
