The forest stopped this deep inside the Gate, giving way to a hollow of black root and bare stone.
Thin purple light leaked through cracks in the floor, illuminating three figures who did not belong to the beasts above.
None of the three looked fully human either, which was exactly the point of them.
The first stood near the wall beneath a mantle of oil-dark feathers, his long talons clicking against one forearm.
The black roots pulsed at intervals, carrying faint light up from chambers nobody had mapped.
The air tasted of metal, and every breath came out slightly thicker than it went in.
The second figure crouched on a low root shelf, all lean muscle and restless movement, with two pale ears rising above her hair.
Her heel never stopped bouncing, and her eyes flicked toward every small sound in the darkness.
The third lounged at the back, the one who looked most like a real woman, with long dark hair and a striking face.
