Tordor maneuvered cautiously through the narrow hallways, just over five feet in width. Wide enough to allow two people to walk side by side, but not wide enough to fight beside one another effectively. The hall was dark despite the interval of torches now and again. Tordor recognized them to undoubtedly be magical in nature - for they produced no smoke and had to have been burning for who knew how long.
"So, what do you think of the mission, mister Tordor?"
Tordor pondered the answer to that question before shrugging. “Go into an ancient ruin, find then retrieve a long lost book? Deceptively simple task to be sure, or at least we can hope so. Would be a real shame if we found nothing but gubbins and got all knackered for nothing. How about you?”
Nearing the center of the room, the distinct sound of something clicking could be heard over the footsteps of himself and his companion. He raised his hand to call for a halt and paused - perplexed.
“Above!” hissed one of his spirits, the drowned child he realized.
“Move!” Tordor warned before he quickly sprung into action as the very rock from the ceiling came crashing down. He dropped into a forward roll, tucking his head and hands close to his body as he did. The rock came crashing down behind him just moments after he had cleared the danger zone. Falling with enough force to crush bone and turn them both into mush. He hoped his companion was as quick on her feet as he was.
He ended his roll in a crouch as the wind from the displaced air flicked the ends of his greatcoat up around him along with dirt and pieces of debris. The dust settled, but the rattling boom of the trap echoed throughout the fortresses halls. The block of stone slowly slid up again as it reset itself for another unsuspecting intruder. Tordor had a feeling he was not going to like this place much.
The disembodied skulls of his spirit companions floated into existence as they danced around his form as he stood to his feet brushing dust off, each of them gleaming with amethyst light. His fellow undead souls usually didn't say much, but now and again they pulled through. Rillagrim remained silent and asleep in his sheath seemingly oblivious to the world around them. His own blood vibirating through his body, berating him for not executing the dodge quicker and more fluidly. The Black Blood was hardly ever impressed anyway.
“Damned bloody close that. You alright darling? Would be a dead shame if you got squashed before we really even started.” He inquired of his corporal companion. He nodded head to where the hall lead to a kind of spiral staircase that went directly up. “Least wise it seems we’re not far from that tower.”
He flashed her a reassuring grin of surprisingly white teeth. “Lets go, quicker we get this done less chance of us getting offed by some ancient contraption.”
He lead the way to the stairs, hoping to use himself as bait to spare his new ally any unnecessary grievous wound. Probably unnecessary yet he couldn't help but play the gentlemen. It was the few anchors to the humanity that remained within him. Thanfkully no new traps presented themselves. The rounding staircase seemed to go on forever, but soon ended out in a large oval chamber some 40 feet in diameter and with an arching ceiling over 30 feet high. More statues circled this grand room, but the most telling feature of this place unlike the rest of the fortress they had been so far was that it possessed large archway windows some 6 feet high and 4 feet wide. Wind blew fiercely through these large windows, bellowing Tordors coat about him.
At least it probably was not nearly as bad in here as it was outside, he decided, as he moved to the center of the room. Noting the murals and grand depictions set in stone in beautiful works of art that remained breathtaking even considering their age. A hand before his face he walked to one of the large doorway sized windows and beheld the remains of this ancient fortress. Hoping to spot the the library from this high vantage point. Thankfully, it would not take long.
