Marcus stepped out of the hidden tunnel and stopped instinctively at the edge of the exit. The passage opened directly onto a sheer cliff face carved into an enormous cylindrical chamber. Smooth stone walls rose perfectly vertical around him, enclosing the space like the inside of a colossal tower.
He leaned forward slightly to take in the scale.
The drop to the bottom was roughly fifty yards. The distance to the ceiling above was about the same, and the opposite wall stood equally far away. Everything about the chamber felt precise and deliberate, as though it had been shaped by something far beyond ordinary craftsmanship.
At the center of the chamber floor lay a circular opening roughly five meters wide. From that hole erupted a violent column of black wind, spiraling upward with a deafening howl. The storm shot straight toward the ceiling before breaking apart into countless fist-sized openings scattered across the rock overhead, disappearing into unseen passages beyond.
