The portal yawned open like a wound in reality, its edges crackling with energies that predated creation. Maya pressed herself against a concrete pillar as waves of heat and sulfur rolled up from the depths, carrying with them the distant sounds of screaming and the clash of metal on bone.

The red glow from below painted the construction site in hellish light. In that crimson illumination, she could see things moving in the depths—massive shapes that defied description, wreathed in flames ...