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I swallow the pain and get back on my feet, rushing back towards the staircase.
27
HANNA
As I stare down the darkened passage, a chill crawls up my spine like the legs of a thousand insects. My arms ignite with tremors, I quickly rub them to calm myself down.
My father has to be down there. I just hope he’s…
I’m not ready to find a corpse, but I need to find him either way. Swallowing hard, I draw a deep breath and mentally prepare myself.
I put my foot forward, feeling the chill of the cold, hard stone steps even through my sandals.
A sconce unseen to me before suddenly lights up on the wall, then another, then another. It continues deep down the narrow passageway, illuminating a claustrophobic staircase ahead.
Must be lit by some type of magic.
I hesitantly proceed, the smell of mold growing heavy in the air. It’s so pungent that I have no choice but to pinch my nostrils shut.
My breath bounces off the walls given how tight it is here. Insects scurry along its surface, coming a bit too close to my face for my liking.
Another door comes into view, aged with rust that’s peeling off. I push down on the handle, meeting a resistant force that prompts me to shoulder through the threshold.
Wiping rust off my hands, I step into a pitch-black space, unable to see a damn thing around me.
Then more sconces light up, giving dim light to a vast, open space. It seems bigger than Zathex’s house itself somehow.
Strewn around are boxes and barrels, most of which are covered by a tarp. The glow of the flame faintly reflects off of the clouded surface of an ale keg, the faucet is clogged up by something dangerously foul.
“It’s too big to be a regular basement,” I mutter. “And why would Zathex conceal it behind a secret door? There’s something more to this place, he has to be hiding something here.”
I turn around, seeing the answer up ahead; a row of abandoned cells. I rush forward, startled by the sight of rotted skeletons in them, rodans scurrying away at my approach.
“Sick bastard,” I whisper, disgusted by the sight. “I’ve got to find my father.”
The row of cells extends beyond the corner, confusion hitting me when I come across further storage units and wine cellars.
The place is a maze. I sink against the wall, trying to calm myself down as my breathing becomes erratic.
“What if I get lost here?” I blurt.
Glancing back the way I came, I can see the exit from here but I must go deeper if I’m to find who I’ve come for.
“I could call out to my father and see if he responds, maybe that’ll make finding him easier.”
But I immediately pull my father’s name back into my mouth, fearing he won’t answer, that it might already be too late. I could be calling to a rotting, insect-ridden body.
“Stop,” I tell myself, near hyperventilation. “Pull it together. You need to find him and get him out, no matter what happens.”
Kazrith, the one demon who has kept me going throughout all of this, flashes in my mind. He has been my strength, my anchor, and my companion.
It’s him who is confronting Zathex, the enemy behind all of this madness. I will not let him down by cowering in fear. I’m so much stronger than that.
I get to my feet with a renewed sense of determination, ready to find my father.
My search eventually takes me to another row of cells, the air here especially thick with mold and feces.
I desperately glance in all the cells, finding discarded clothing, more remains, and things I don’t even know how to describe.
