The young men stepped out of the portal and were immediately plunged into a dense fog, a damp, suffocating veil that clung to their skin. It was so thick that they could barely make out shapes or distances beyond an arm's length. The air was heavy, redolent of the smell of wet earth and something metallic, damp droplets coating their skin and hair.
A disturbing silence hung over them, so absolute that it echoed in their very bones. Any sound, a boot scraping, a sigh, disappeared in that white, voracious veil, swallowed instantly.
Nilla reacted first. She frowned, a flicker of suspicion in her eyes, and she raised her left hand and released a thin thread of energy, cautiously scanning the mist ahead. She moved forward with deliberate steps, each foot landing carefully on the invisible ground, straightening the hood that shielded her face from the sticky moisture.
