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But I must go on. Another cry rings out through the hallways downstairs, recognizable as Hanna’s.
I descend to the lower floor, looking around in desperation for any signs of her.
“What the?”
I spot an open doorway which seems to have been hidden behind a bookshelf. From the threshold comes a lingering chill, layered with the stench of mold and mildew.
As I draw closer in caution, my skin feels the prick of the bitter, cold temperature. The lit sconces illuminate a narrow stairwell, its width too small for my liking.
“She must have gone down here. I better get a move on.”
In the blink of an eye, I descend the stairwell without wasting time trying to squeeze through it, thanks to my shadow powers.
“What on Aerasak…”
I peer around in shock and awe, finding myself in a basement far bigger than the house itself.
There’s nothing but junk all around me, littered with too many directions to take. The more I search, the more routes I find.
“What kind of labyrinth is this? Shit… Where could Hanna have gone?”
I don’t know where to start with this damned maze. Her voice rings out again, luckily pointing me in the right direction.
But then there comes another exclaim, one belonging to a man. It’s too quick for me to analyze, there’s no way of determining who it was.
I hope that’s her father… If it’s a guard, it might already be too late.
“I’m coming, Hanna! Just hold on!”
As I run, the worst scenarios force their way to the front of my mind. Visions of guards standing over a bruised and beaten Hanna haunt me. Then I see her as a lifeless corpse.
Could this all have been for nothing? Taking her to safety, plotting her father’s rescue, and scheming Zathex’s murder?
No, stop thinking like that, I think to myself, my heart pounding in my chest as I traverse the basement.
A cold sweat breaks out, and I feel sick to my stomach. It doesn’t help that the stench in the air is borderline unbearable.
My fears bubble in my throat. It hurts to swallow the possibility that I may just stumble upon my worst nightmare.
The sight of rotting skeletons in their forgotten cells and blood stains on the walls only amplifies my anxiety.
“Kazrith!” she calls out again.
“I’m almost there!” I yell, following the close proximity of her voice.
It certainly doesn’t sound like she’s in danger, but I have to be sure. I turn a corner and meet with a dead end at the rear and cells on each side of the wall leading to it.
The final cell is where I spot Hanna, hunched over as if in pain.
“Hanna!”
She looks over her shoulder at me, then moves, revealing a frail figure resting in her arms.
Upon first glance, I think it is a stray enemy she has bested, but as I draw closer, I see the stranger is a human.
Then it clicks. It must be her father.
He looks up at me with a strained face of agony. I glance between him and Hanna, tears streaming down both their faces.
