The descent began not with a step, but with a choice. There was no path, only the overwhelming, starless void of the chasm and the single, tenuous thread of hope I clung to a silver, ethereal line only I could see, stretching from my own soul down into the impenetrable dark.
"I can't see a way down," Shi stated, his voice a low rumble of stark practicality. He stood at the precipice, his massive form a solid silhouette against the nothingness. "The walls are sheer. A fall would be… final."
"We're not falling," I said, my gaze fixed on the shimmering thread. It pulsed with a faint, steady light, a lifeline in the abyss. "We're following."
I took a deep breath and stepped off the ledge.
