Your friend Alexis leads you into the area called “The Inferno.”
You understand immediately where the name came from. The surroundings are very hot, and hewn from solid rock. A long spiraling staircase carved from the
stone face leads into the seemingly endless pit.
“Dante’s Inferno,” you say, remembering the story of Hell from your college English courses. You ponder the implications as you and Alexis willingly descend into
the abyss. As you move farther, you can begin to make out faint sounds through the rock walls. They sound human, but are nearly impossible to make out; you
could swear they are telling you to turn back.
You tug on Alexis’ arm. “Maybe we should go somewhere else.”
“Maybe,” she sneers, “and maybe not. What’re you so freaked out about? C’mon, we’re almost to the bottom.” Shrugging, you follow her to the end of the stairs.
The heat at the base of the stairs is overwhelming, and you sweat profusely. You step onto the landing, and see four heavy iron doors with words carved in the
rock above them. One of the doors bears script you have never seen before; you've studied many languages, but try as you might, you are unable to decipher it!
A rumbling from behind startles you both. When you look back, the stairs have receded into the wall!
“Damn!” Alexis yells, eyes wide. “Guess we have to pick a door.”
But which one?