“Oh—no, no, no—don’t—don’t do this—” They broke into a run. The passage opened suddenly, spilling them into open space—and both of them stopped short. They had emerged into a vast hollow carved into the heart of the mountain. Sunlight poured in from a jagged opening high above, catching a waterfall as it spilled down the rock face and crashed into a clear pond below.
Mist hung in the air, cool and clean. To one side, a small stretch of land curved gently upward, dotted with moss, low shrubs, and a few thin trees clinging improbably to life. For a split second, the beauty stunned them into silence. Then the voice cut through it again. “Okay—okay, just breathe. Just breathe. You’re not falling. You’re not falling.”