Phei felt absurdly pleased with himself when he sensed the Dragon Lady's reaction beneath him. The rage that had haunted her ever since they entered the abyss had sharpened now that the creature responsible for centuries of misery finally floated before her, and underneath that rage sat something more complicated, a hesitation she would probably deny if Phei ever accused her of it.
Together, they hovered inside the lightless depth while the abyss around them remained utterly black. The crystalline veins illuminating the upper reaches had vanished long ago, leaving even Phei's enhanced sight with little to cling to except the thing suspended farther ahead.
Its own existence provided the only illumination, a sickly blue-white radiance throbbing from somewhere deep within its spectral chest and spilling faintly across the darkness.
