Collapse Eternia

Fallen Fortress Arc p.3

"This place seems to be made of stone. I don't know what to expect, but it should be fine." He said.

The passage had a rough looking ceiling and the walls were made of crumbling stone, far from the pristine condition of the library they were in. The light of the torch barely reached the end of the corridor.

"The further we go the darker it gets, the place is pretty deep." Luth exclaimed.

"It doesn't feel great being at the front, I have a bad feeling about this one." Karlplate added.

The party had advanced slowly, as they were afraid of the unknown that was ahead. The deeper they went, the more uncomfortable the atmosphere grew, with an eerie silence that seemed to emanate from the walls, as though they had been built by dead hands. Karlplate was at the front, followed by Luth, Maia and Plagia. The passage twisted and turned, it got tighter and wider. It grew and shrunk as they moved forward, the limp and stale air lunged back and forth alongside the dust that it carried, it was as if the passage was breathing. At moments the path got so small that it was hard for Karlplate to pass through. It felt as if they were being digested, slowly squeezed tighter and smaller by a larger being. And yet, there was no doubt, that this hallway was not alive.

"I think I've heard of this kind of dungeon, it's called a maze, a labyrinth, I don't know the exact name. It's a place where monsters lurk and attack you." Karlplate spoke.

"There's no such thing as a maze. Labyrinths are a dungeon with a lot of paths. And, that is not what this is." Plagia responded.

"This is one straight path, just because it's weird does not equate it to a dungeon or labyrinth. Should you not know this, as an adventurer?" Plagia added.

"Take it easy on the big guy, it's all just semantics to him. A place with treasure is a treasure trove. Nothing else really matters to him." Luth responded.

"There will be a day you all will be sorry for not listening to me." Karlplate grunted.

"But, you should realize that maybe our torches are not the best idea in this closed space. It also feels like they give off less light anyway." Karlplate continued.

Everyone had realized that the torches didn't shine as bright as when they entered. The musky air must have deprived the torches of some of their luminescence, that much they understood. But, Plagia realized, that regardless of the torches strength, it was as if the walls themselves consumed a part of the light that touched them, and they deeper they went, the hungrier the walls got.

Plagia lit a flame in her palm and slowly increased and decreased it's strength.

"What are you doing?" Maia pondered.

"Hold on." She responded.

She stood in the middle of the corridor and turned her palm to face her, she put her hand against the wall and let the flame loose. In an instant the flame was absorbed and a strange smell was released from the walls.

Karlplate coughed.

"Damn it, could you at least consult us before doing something like that?" Karlplate spoke in between his coughs.

Plagia looked at him

"Now we know, we're getting close."

"ITS A STRAIGHT PATH, WE WOULD HAVE BEEN CLOSE REGARDLESS OF YOUR *COUGH* DARN *COUGH* THINGS" Karlplate barely finished his loud disagreement before being consumed by an intense cough. It took him a minute to recover once the smell faded.

"She was curious, its fine to want to understand how something works. That's just how we are." Maia popped up into the conversation.

"Your curiosity will be my undoing." Karlplate grunted before grabbing his shield and continuing.