Neddryn ducked and rolled as soon as the portal spit him out at its destination, using the magic's warp to propel himself forward. He heard two other slaps on the ground as Solae and Taz came through, and ducked behind a column until his head had cleared enough from the dimensional journey to piece together what was going on.
Besides the last shuffling footsteps as Solae and Taz scuttled into position, it was silent. And dark, very dark. Even his akor’mar night vision was of no use here. Neddryn bit back a curse at the anomaly — unnatural as the darkness was, there was nothing he could do about it now — and stretched out with his other senses instead.
Under his fingertips, the floor appeared to be made of stone and engraved heavily, as was the column before him. The air smelled of dust and newly opened tunnels, that egg-like tang only a subterranean creature like an akor’mar would be able to pick up on. Neddryn closed his eyes and listened, falling back into the old akor’mar way of feeling vibrations and echoes to "see" around the room, or cavern, or wherever they now were.
Besides his two companions, the place seemed deserted. It was large, too, and squarely cut, if the faint returning echoes of his breathing were anything to judge by.
After a tense moment, Neddryn left the shelter of the pillar, letting his boots slap the floor loud enough to give away his location. Nothing stirred, beyond a frightened little squeak in Solae's direction at the noise. Neddryn paused next to another pillar, running his fingers along the grooves of the carvings like a blind man reading the raised letters of a street sign. He traced a nekru — a cat-like subterranean beast often favored by Althrasia — a sun, and several aristocratic figures dressed in a style he didn't recognize.
"Taz, get Pyrick on the badge if ya can. We still on Talmenor?"
