The room Isaac and Nat stood in had a very high ceiling. They couldn’t actually see it as the minimal torchlight at the bottom couldn’t ever hope to reach the top. Four tall pillars stood all over the room with staircases attached to them. The stairs wound around them as anyone who climbs them would have their heads spin. At the bottom was a thick layer of dust, which was disturbed by every movement the duo made.
‘This place… forebodes a strange energy,’ Ilivir told Isaac as he observed the surroundings, ‘everywhere else is darkness and silence.’
“Isaac… where are we?” Nat asked him as she stood next to him.
“I don’t know… but we seem to be in the witch’s basement,” Isaac said. Isaac didn’t like the dust that had clouded around them, but he didn’t pay it much mind as he slowly walked up the stairs. Nat followed soon after but with a fireball in her hands for light.
Every few steps, there was an unlit torch, which Nat promptly lit up every time they saw one. The silence only seemed to linger in the room as the sounds of their steps reverberated throughout the room; even Ilvir and Dark Isaac were silent on the ascent. They hoped that the climb was all they had to do.
‘Hey,’ Dark Isaac broke the silence, at least in Isaac’s head.
‘What is it,’ Isaac responded, still remaining vigilant.
‘You know… it’d be easy for you to take Nat as your spawn now—’
‘No, Dark Isaac, I’m not doing that. Not ever, even when the situation becomes dire.’
‘Look, I have a good feeling that witch put some monsters here, and honestly, she’s not even a great fighter! She would’ve been dead if you or Marry didn’t step in…’
‘Dark Isaac, shut up. Look, I get that she’s not the best magic user, but in the Deities’ honor, I will protect her no matter what.’
‘Heh, suit yourself. You paladins are just riding on high horses,’ Dark Isaac said when Ilvir took offense.
‘What did you say!’
‘Oh, look, it’s the hypocritical bastard who gave everything for lust,’ Dark Isaac said before chuckling.
‘As if you aren’t vulgar enough!’ Ilvir was seething in rage.
Isaac knew the two of them were going to quarrel once more, so he ignored them as he continued rising.
Just as when they’ve risen to quite a height, Isaac and Nat heard the loud ringing of a bell. Each ring it made echoed around the room, the loud clangs only amplifying one after another. The two covered their ears as the sound become too loud for them before they they uncovered them.
“I have a bad feeling about this…” Isaac said as he looked downwards.