Darkness enveloped them momentarily until Ren's armor and the light lines of the ring began to glow, even in the absence of his mischievous beast's mushrooms, providing sufficient illumination to see the tunnel stretching before them.
"Tell me you know where this leads," Lin murmured as they advanced, her voice hushed. Her fingers brushed the tunnel wall, testing its stability.
"I'm not entirely sure," Ren admitted, the crystalline light revealing his furrowed brow. "But when I had my mushroom on my head, I did know, and the memory of that will have to suffice for now."
In the depths, barely visible in the tunnel's penumbra, a small luminous point moved rapidly, bobbing along like an errant firefly.
The tunnel narrowed as they descended, forcing them to bend increasingly lower. The damp earth released an ancient aroma that Ren found strangely comforting, like a half-forgotten dream suddenly recalled.
