The passage ahead remained shrouded in darkness. Even with Su Ming's eyesight, he could not see where it wound toward, much less with side paths branching off from time to time. For now, they could only follow the route marked by the reliefs.
The stone-carved decorations repeated in a cycle. Once the sequence reached "Praise the Sun," it ended, then began again from the first image.
In what should have been the first scene, the Necrons still possessed flesh-and-blood forms. They looked somewhat like taller, more robust humans, except they clearly commanded formidable technology.
Sixty million years ago, they had already built mechanized planetary cities. The images even depicted people piloting hovering vehicles between spires and columns.
The second scene showed the Silent King and the Pharaohs of numerous Dynasties. This marked the birth of a city-state Empire, and several subsequent images recorded their campaigns against Dynasties unwilling to "huddle together for warmth."
"Were these the predecessors of the Necrons?"
Though the Sister had phrased it as a question, she was already nearly certain. After all, she had information from the Black Library to compare against, though the Eldar records were obviously written from an enemy's perspective.
Su Ming shrugged and continued onward with light steps.
"Keep looking. How the Necrons came into being isn't important. At least the order of the carvings is correct, which means we aren't heading the wrong way. I already know how their Empire formed. What matters is seeing why this Dynasty sealed itself away at the height of the Empire's power after winning the War in Heaven."
The Sister nodded and looked ahead. The relief's images unfolded before her, specks of green light seeming to react to her psychic power as they broke free from the wall and began to flit about like fireflies.