the sun burns (6)

The carvings grew more intricate the deeper she ventured. Walls still standing told stories in their stone, depicting figures draped in flowing robes, their hands raised in supplication.

The spiral-and-rays symbol appeared again and again, sometimes surrounded by other, smaller figures, their postures a mix of awe and fear. She found the entrance to an underground chamber hidden beneath a collapsed archway.

Clearing the debris was painstaking work, her fingers raw and bleeding by the time she pried the last stone free. The opening gaped like a wound in the earth, cool air wafting up to meet her. It smelled of damp stone and something faintly metallic.