The cave was dark initially, but as Jorghan's eyes adjusted, the neon lighting fungi began to glow with increasing brightness, responding to his presence. The light was gentle and blue-green, casting everything in ethereal illumination that made shadows dance and stone surfaces seem to pulse with inner life.
The passage descended at a gentle slope, wide enough for comfortable walking, the walls smooth from water erosion that must have taken millennia to achieve. And everywhere, carved into the stone, were symbols similar to what had appeared on the barrier, writing that communicated meaning directly to consciousness rather than requiring linguistic interpretation.
Jorghan had taken perhaps twenty steps when the spirits appeared.
They materialized from the walls themselves, emerging as translucent figures that glowed with soft white light.
