We didn't have enough time.
To get through the door, we would have to stop the beastman.
Phil had covered down and started to bury something between the cracks in the floor.
Did he have a plan?
Ghorhaln now had reached the corner.
But what appeared from behind the corner was not Ghorhaln.
His body had swollen even more, his hair now grew everywhere on him, covering him like thick dark fur.
His chest and arms had become so big he wasn't even walking on two legs anymore, but instead on his arms too, like an ape.
He didn't look human anymore; he was more of a bizarre mix of bear and gorilla.
Phil had stood up and closed his eyes to focus.
Something on the floor moved; no, it grew.
A wall of mushrooms raised upwards, slowly crawling up the walls and reaching towards the low ceiling.
I doubted that this would stop Ghorhaln for long.
Thessa was already trying to kick down the door, with very little effect.
I hurried over to her.
"Let me try."
Instead of using raw force, I used one of my daggers to poke in the keyhole of the door.
A piece of mushroom hit my back as the wall Phil had created exploded.
Ghorhaln had reached us.
His animalistic face was torn with anger as he slowly stepped closer.
I turned back to the lock, now desperately stabbing the lock.
Suddenly, it clicked, and the door swung open.
Sunlight fell down the dark hallway as the huge plaza leading into the upper kingdom opened to us.
The light was piercing and...different than before somehow.
The three of us rushed through the exit, but the beastman didn't follow us.
He seemed bothered by the sunlight, blinded by it.
He backed away into the darkness until, finally, he was gone.
The pressure fell off of me like the weight of a mountain.
Phil giggled.
"That was close!"
He grinned at me like we had just played a stupid prank instead of barely escaping with our lives.
Thessa didn't really seem bothered either. Her expression looked cold, almost bored.
"We should get going. The day is still long, and we still have a long way ahead of us."
After I had caught my breath, I looked around the light hall we stood in. It was vast, with few humans and even fewer other creatures scattered around.
The architecture looked even more magnificent than before; wide arcs and decorated columns stretched across the hall.
Thessa had started marching towards some wide stairs leading further up the city.
Phil and I quickly followed her to not lose her among the people randomly striding through the hall.
The stairs lead up a couple hundred meters, then they suddenly open up into what looks like a small strip of grassland.
Paths lead through the small strip of grass and the handful of trees. We decided to rest here for a while.
I walked over to the stone railing, only to be struck by the most mesmerizing view I had ever seen.
Mountains of soft clouds formed an ocean of white, blue filling the gaps like a cluster of calm lakes.
The view seemed like something from another world, something that didn't belong in this ugly world.
It seemed peaceful, like nothing violent could ever happen.
I imagined being able to fly, to soar over the sky, white wings carrying me into waves of clouds.
And to never fall.
I was ripped out of my daydream by Thessa tapping my shoulder.
"What are you thinking about?"
I pondered for a moment.
'What WAS I thinking about?'
"Clouds. I've never seen them from above."
"Me neither. It looks so peaceful."
For a moment, both of us just stood there, over the white ocean.
I looked over to her.
Until now, I had never really taken a look at her face.
Her forehead slightly wrinkled, like she was thinking about something.
"Are the adventurer headquarters far up from here?"
She caught my eye for a second, so I quickly looked into the clouds again.
"Maybe a couple of days. I just hope we find someone to learn from there. Maybe a strong hero or a knight?"
I raised an eyebrow at the excitement that had crept into her voice.
She blushed a little.
"I think we should get going."