Darkness enveloped them completely as they fell.
For a moment, everything was a chaos of sensations, stomachs contracting from the free fall, air whistling in their ears, the absolute disorientation of not knowing what was up or down. The sudden weightlessness made their bodies feel simultaneously heavy and light.
Ren reacted instinctively. His mushrooms pulsed with increasing intensity, brightening until they illuminated the tunnel through which they were falling.
The walls passed rapidly, an oddly smooth surface that seemed almost polished, reflecting the glow of his mushrooms.
"Hold on!" he shouted to Han, who was falling beside him, the other boy's face a mask of shock and terror.
When they had fallen barely five meters deep, Ren managed to get rid of his backpack, extract his dagger and, with a precise movement, attempted to drive it into the tunnel wall. The blade penetrated the surface, creating a metallic screech as it momentarily reduced his falling speed.
