On the wrong side of the gate

Passing through the ancient gate of the civilization was… a weird experience.

On one hand, it was just a simple stroll through a dark, shadowy tunnel, one only made slightly weird by the knowledge that above everyone's heads, there was pretty much as much stone, as much weight, as the modern people used to construct the kingdom's capital in its entirety!

Then, every few steps or so, Callane couldn't help but tense up when a cold shiver would move up her spine, with an overwhelming sense of foreignness, alienness filling her up to the brim.

Finally, there was the aspect of insignificance.

Who was she, even with her group of ten elite mercenaries, each a master of their craft, to challenge the lands that the ancients blocked so thoroughly with such a massive gate?

And finally, when the shadows of the tunnel finally started to dissipate under the light coming from the tunnel's other end…

Darkness.