Auren hurriedly entered the dark and cold prison labyrinth beneath the Austerra castle with anxious eyes, his breath misting faintly in the stale underground air.
The pitch-black corridors stretched endlessly before him, every step swallowed by silence until the smells reached him- thick, suffocating scents of rotting flesh, human waste, and the metallic tang of rusted iron. The old prison cells whispered of centuries of despair.
He clenched his jaw and whispered, "I am coming, Father."
A fireball flared to life in his hand, its glow pushing back the shadows.
But the moment light touched the walls, silence shattered like glass. Bats shrieked and scattered above him, their leathery wings brushing the ceiling stones.
The fire woke the dungeon's other residents as well- gaunt prisoners stirred, eyes wide and desperate, voices breaking into chaotic uproar.
"Hey! Over here!"
"You're not Jessie… are you here to let us out!?"
"Kind sir, please! I'm innocent! Set me free!"
