Chapter 85 - Blood Trails

The descent continued, each step taking them deeper into the bowels of the Shadow Path facility. The tunnel had changed character over the past hour, transforming from the precisely engineered corridors of the upper levels into something that looked like a disturbing marriage between natural cave formation and artificial construction, as if the builders had given up halfway through and let nature reclaim what ambition had started. Stalactites hung from the ceiling alongside conduits and pipes, creating a bizarre forest of stone and metal that dripped moisture and occasionally sparked with residual energy. Natural rock walls showed tool marks where they'd been carved to accommodate ancient machinery that had long since corroded into unrecognizable shapes. The floor alternated between smooth worked stone and rough uneven cave floor that threatened to turn ankles with every step, making their progress both physically and mentally exhausting.