What appeared before Faina was an abyss. A narrow natural stone bridge connected the two sides, its gray surface only two or three feet wide and stretching straight ahead until it vanished into the shadows.
Cold wind blew in from both sides of the abyss, taking on an almost visible form. Pale, chilly ghosts seemed to emerge from the darkness, shrieking as they swept over and beneath the stone bridge. They whipped up the lace-trimmed front and collar of Faina's dress, covering her face, which had grown pale from excessive blood loss.
The torchlight flickered with the wind, and the girl's sea-blue eyes appeared even deeper beneath the wavering glow.
A long procession was moving across the stone bridge. There were Cruzian and Fanzan people among them. At the front walked Vala, Veronica, Sidney, Silver Horse Knight Order Grand Commander Rodrigo, and several dukes. Behind them came a host of knights and human soldiers.
Faina followed behind Andriga and Mordefis. As they walked, Mordefis introduced the place to everyone. This had once been the homeland of the Alka Dwarves, Anlong Mine. The dwarves had established an ancient kingdom here, but later, tunnels dug deep underground had connected the Great Beehive to the surface world. Countless monsters had surged out of the darkness, and before long, the dwarves' kingdom had been obliterated in the monsters' invasion.
Faina had heard of this terrifying underground city. Wealth and danger lay buried together in the darkness. Many adventurers had passed through the Mehotofen Family to reach this place, only to vanish into its labyrinthine network of underground caverns. Some said that the ones who took their lives were the ghosts of the former dwarves wandering through the mines. Those ghosts lingered in corners untouched by daylight, repeating their incessant whispers and regrets day after