All manner of steam and blinding lights played over us as we passed through a series of antechambers astride our colossal machines.
At last, another of the circular doors opened and we passed through the portal into the befouled gardens beyond.
The sickly sweet stink of this place was nauseating.
We were confronted immediately by a vision of desecration-corpses of the sky-people hung on spikes and scattered about the entrance.
A warning for any remaining interlopers, no doubt.
At my distance from Nida her expression was unreadable, but I could imagine the girl's horror.
This might prove to be all that was left of her crewmates.
I dismounted to join her on the ground after she climbed down from her stryder.
Her face was wet with tears, but she radiated a righteous fury that I identified with all too well.
In silence, we buried her friends in the poisoned earth while our mechanical mounts shifted nervously above us on their bechromed hooves.