Kaileer heard nothing at either of the wooden doors. A quick check revealed that neither of the doors was locked. Jana presented the idea of making haste before they were ambushed. Etienne presented the idea of proceeding with caution. The keep was still unnervingly quiet.
Aloysius tapped Blacky on the shoulder. "Eric?" he whispered, "with Janathell's injuries, thou art our strongest fighter. Perhaps thou shouldst dictate our direction for the time being for the sake of efficiency."
He glanced at the others. "Is that agreeable?"
"Fine by me. Since we have no way of detecting any traps, magical or otherwise, I'd say we continue exploring until we find our companions or get badly wounded and use Arachne's portal to retreat.. I'll open the doors. Etienne, you keep that bow handy to shoot anything on the other side that is not Echo or Rumer. If we encounter resistance I suggest we drop back and let it come to us while Kaileer and Etienne pincushion it. In our present condition, that's the best plan I can come up with. Shall we proceed?" Blacky said moving to the door to his left.
Looking around at the place, Arachne nodded distractedly at both the wizard's nomination and Blacky's plan of action.
Aloysius clutched his daggers and stood far enough away from the door so that Etienne and Kaileer had room to fire arrows if the need arose.
The door in the northeast corner of the room opened into a dark hallway. The corridor extended past the light coming from the large room they stood in. A few steps down the hall on the left was another door.
"Does anyone have a torch?" asked Aloysius. "If so, I'll carry it." He glanced down at his feet. "I'm good for naught else at this point."
Etienne cocked his head to the side and was real quiet for a moment. "I just heard someone screaming, but I couldn't tell who or where." He started to move on down the hallway, not looking to see if anyone was coming with him or not.
As the mage stood waiting for someone to hand him a torch, he suddenly turned his head towards the door Blacky had just opened. "Moons and stars!" he exclaimed in a voice above his earlier whisper. He looked frantically at the others.
"Did you hear that? It sounded like the cry of death itself." Obviosuly shaken, the mage looked pleadingly at his companions. "Let us proceed. Methinks that some face great horrors in this place."
"Blast it," Aloysius implored, "doth no one have a torch? If not, let us follow Etienne."
Jana followed close behind Etienne. "C'mon," she whispered at those behind her.
Blacky folllowed close behind Etienne, not hearing the scream, but trusting the other's ears.
"I've got a few in my pack, but I doubt we have time right now." Blacky replied, "Just keep those daggers handy."
"Dagger not be good if Aloysius not can see. If Jana and Blacky not can see, sword and axe not be better." Kaileer moved behind Blacky and motioned Aloysius forward. "Where be torch in pack?"
Aloysius watched as Jana, and then Blacky, headed off down the hall without benefit of a good light source. He sighed weakly and then looked at Kaileer. "After thee, brave one," he said, pointing towards the door with a flourish. "Stargazer, Arachne and the Silverstar shall follow thee." The mage then stood next to Lasiar, placing a hand on his shoulder, and waited for their "turn" to go through the door.
With Etienne now in the lead and Kaileer digging through Blacky's backpack for a torch, the group set off down the hallway. The hallway was very short and a few more steps brought them into a round room that was very likely the base of the watch tower. A staircase against the southwest wall of the room spiraled both up and down. There was no light source in this room, rendering Jana, Blacky, and Aloysius effectively blind again.
Aloysius folded his arms protectively around himself. "I like not the notion of advancing in the darkness," he whispered. "Let us take a moment to light one of Eric's torches. I am willing to bear it."
"Alright someone's going to have to light a torch. They're in the right side of my pack." Blacky said to Kaileer.
When Blacky stopped for a moment, Kaileer was able to find a torch. He ran quickly and quietly to the other room and touched the oil soaked head against the embers in the hearth.
Once the torch had been lit, he silently stalked back to the base of the tower.
Jana waited impatiently for Kaileer to return with the torch. "Do you hear anything?" she whispered anxiously to Etienne.
"The dungeons are usually below in places like this. That's the most likely place for them to have taken Rumer and any other prisoners." Blacky said once he could see. "Kaileer, do you want to listen at that door before we proceed, just in case."
Etienne looked down the stairwell then back to the others, "I'm not hearing anything right now. I'm sure that's going to change though. Aloysius, that torch will protect you better than your daggers if the undead walk these halls. Keep that in mind. I guess it's down we go from here." Etienne drew a scimitar and moved slowly down the stair well.
Jana, her second "appropriated" sword in hand, followed Etienne down the stairs.
Aloysius took the torch from Kaileer and then looked upon it as a long-lost friend. He waited until the others had started down the stairs, then followed in his place. He had the torch in one hand and a dagger in the other.
