I swallow the ache and get again on my ft, speeding again in direction of the staircase.

27

HANNA

As I stare down the darkened passage, a chill crawls up my backbone just like the legs of a thousand bugs. My arms ignite with tremors, I rapidly rub them to calm myself down.

My father needs to be down there. I simply hope he’s…

I’m not able to discover a corpse, however I would like to seek out him both means. Swallowing laborious, I draw a deep breath and mentally put together myself.

I put my foot ahead, feeling the chilliness of the chilly, laborious stone steps even via my sandals.

A sconce unseen to me earlier than all of a sudden lights up on the wall, then one other, then one other. It continues deep down the slim passageway, illuminating a claustrophobic staircase forward.

Should be lit by some kind of magic.

I hesitantly proceed, the scent of mildew rising heavy within the air. It’s so pungent that I’ve no selection however to pinch my nostrils shut.

My breath bounces off the partitions given how tight it’s right here. Bugs scurry alongside its floor, coming a bit too near my face for my liking.

One other door comes into view, aged with rust that’s peeling off. I push down on the deal with, assembly a resistant drive that prompts me to shoulder via the edge.

Wiping rust off my palms, I step right into a pitch-black house, unable to see a rattling factor round me.

Then extra sconces mild up, giving dim mild to an enormous, open house. It appears greater than Zathex’s home itself someway.

Strewn round are bins and barrels, most of that are coated by a tarp. The glow of the flame faintly displays off of the clouded floor of an ale keg, the tap is clogged up by one thing dangerously foul.

“It’s too huge to be an everyday basement,” I mutter. “And why would Zathex conceal it behind a secret door? There’s one thing extra to this place, he needs to be hiding one thing right here.”

I flip round, seeing the reply up forward; a row of deserted cells. I rush ahead, startled by the sight of rotted skeletons in them, rodans scurrying away at my strategy.

“Sick bastard,” I whisper, disgusted by the sight. “I’ve received to seek out my father.”

The row of cells extends past the nook, confusion hitting me after I come throughout additional storage models and wine cellars.

The place is a maze. I sink in opposition to the wall, attempting to calm myself down as my respiration turns into erratic.

“What if I get misplaced right here?” I blurt.

Glancing again the best way I got here, I can see the exit from right here however I have to go deeper if I’m to seek out who I’ve come for.

“I may name out to my father and see if he responds, perhaps that’ll make discovering him simpler.”

However I instantly pull my father’s identify again into my mouth, fearing he gained’t reply, that it’d already be too late. I might be calling to a rotting, insect-ridden physique.

“Cease,” I inform myself, close to hyperventilation. “Pull it collectively. It’s essential to discover him and get him out, it doesn’t matter what occurs.”

Kazrith, the one demon who has saved me going all through all of this, flashes in my thoughts. He has been my power, my anchor, and my companion.

It’s him who’s confronting Zathex, the enemy behind all of this insanity. I can’t let him down by cowering in worry. I’m a lot stronger than that.

I get to my ft with a renewed sense of dedication, prepared to seek out my father.

My search ultimately takes me to a different row of cells, the air right here particularly thick with mildew and feces.

I desperately look in all of the cells, discovering discarded clothes, extra stays, and issues I don’t even know find out how to describe.

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