Prompt: Portal (a five-minute #freewrite)

It's Day 535 of @mariannewest's five-minute #freewrite challenge, and this is my tenth or eleventh or somethingth prompt that I've integrated with my almost-finished novel-of-my-life. Today's prompt is -- portal -- but I didn't actually include the word in this segment, just the allusion.

Also, it's my birthday today! Happy birthday to meeee. Did you know that I forget how old I am sometimes? "How old are you?" - "Hold on, let me get a calculator and subtract my birth year from this year,... there we go!"

Anyway.

You can find today's prompt at the following link and JOIN IN TOOOOOOO!
https://steempeak.com/freewrite/@mariannewest/day-535-5-minute-freewrite-monday-prompt-portal

The image used for my header is CC0 and courtesy of Pixabay!

Today's Prompt: Portal
Today's Character: Lyria

Lyria crept down the stairs, guided only by a faint gleam that dimmed before it re-alighted then dimmed again. She swallowed, placed her hand where a railing should be, and almost plummeted into the dark nothingness below --there was no railing.

Two black orbs circled overhead, a vague imitation of the two moons, and their shadows darkened the already dark area impossibly further as her feet at last found the solid ground of the bottom floor. The darkness of the descent engulfed her, even in these under-depths.

The faint gleam strengthened then dimmed once more. It was only several paces away but her lethargic legs could barely find the power to move through the sudden weight that burdened the air, that burdened her body. She fell to her knees, crashing to the ground as loud as the crack of the carrack as it crashed into the pier... it seemed so long ago now.

A rush of wind escaped the dimming and re-alighting gleam, though it did not push out at her, it swept around her and pulled at her, inviting her into its maw. She had no choice; she allowed it to take her.