Chapter 8 – Introductions

• I breathe out slowly as I look around at the high obsidian arch that Anton and I walk through, moving into the palace itself. Whatever points this place loses for being dark and barren, it certainly impresses with its size and grandeur. The palace hall looms cavernous before me as we walk forward, lit entirely by flames that don’t do much to enliven the atmosphere or get rid of the persistent chill.
• Indeed, I shudder as we move towards the center of the room, where there are sounds and life.
• To my surprise, the marble floor dips inwards at the center of the room, a set of wide stairs slowly spiraling around to an ornate shallow pit at the center. At the far wall of the pit is, of all things, a simple black door, unadorned but the undeniable center of the space.