The sanctum opened up like a held breath finally released.
As Akira moved through the descending corridor, the walls simply fell away to reveal a massive lower level, nearly four times the size of the nave above.
The ceiling vaulted into a darkness so deep that even his enhanced vision could not find the top of it. The floor which was made of smooth black stone, remained unbroken except for a single raised dais at the center where an altar should have been.
The light here came from the walls themselves, created by blue-white bioluminescent growth that pulsed slowly, like breathing.
The Tidecaller was waiting.
Eight feet was an underestimate; he was closer to nine. From the waist up, he was humanoid, but the word felt insufficient. His broad chest was covered in blue-green scales that caught the bioluminescent light.
His arms were so thick that Akira couldn't have wrapped his hands around one of them, and his face had once been almost human but had grown past it.
