We were halfway to becoming Legends. We just had to survive the rest of the descent. And hope the Dragon didn't wake up before we got our paycheck.
The iron bell of the Hush-Keeper lay cracked in the center of the room, a silent monument to Kaelen's brute strength and my fear of tinnitus. I wiped the chalk dust from my hands and signaled toward the heavy iron door behind the boss dais.
Key.
I pointed to the Keeper's Key hanging from Kaelen's belt—a heavy brass object that looked more like a crowbar than a key.
Kaelen nodded, slotting it into the door mechanism. It turned with a vibration we felt in our boots rather than heard. The door swung open, revealing the spiral stairs leading down to Floor 7.
The heat rolled up the stairwell like a physical blow. It smelled of sulfur and old copper.
We descended.
Floor 7 wasn't a combat zone. It was a maze.
