The corridor sloped even more sharply into the belly of the earth. The deeper they marched, the more the world around them seemed to lose its sound—an unsettling, unnatural silence. Tap... tap... The sound of their boot soles, which usually echoed loudly, was now muffled. Their own breathing sounded too loud in their ears, ragged and close.
Khulafa suddenly stopped. His back stiffened.
He raised a clenched fist into the air, giving the absolute signal for the entire team to freeze. His head tilted up slowly, staring at the vaulted ceiling that curved tens of meters high—so dark that their helmet lamps appeared as nothing more than helpless, tiny dots.
"Hmm? What is it?" Thorne whispered, his hand reflexively moving toward his weapon's hilt.
