Hell's Bane (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty: A Candle and a Fire

The explorers nodded. "Can we come in, then?"

Katilyn shrugged. "Might as well. I'll be leaving the tower anyway if Rowan is really to never return. This place got lonely and desolate quickly, though I can see why he wanted to live here."

They entered, and, looking upwards, marveled at the endless staircase that looped around in spirals, seeming to touch the sky. The chandelier that hung from the top, though radiating bright light, could barely be seen. Joss swallowed and asked, hesitantly: "Do... we have to climb all the way to the top?"

Katilyn nodded. "That's usually why we never put anything in the attic."

Looking around in search for another option, they finally sighed and began their long and tiresome walk into the sky at a plodding pace, knowing that the attic was still far, far away. The explorers, followed by Katilyn, made constant checks to see how close they were to their destination, but it seemed that with every step they took closer, the roof seemed to grow higher and higher.

"Reminds you of the Dustwillow Mountains, doesn't it?" Susan asked. The others groaned.

"That was easier," Hugo said. "The Mountains weren't sloped as bad as this." Yet the flight of stairs only grew worse as they neared the top, every moment tempted to fall all the way down from exhaustion, but fear of climbing it back up again keeping them on full alert.

Hours seemed to pass, and at last, they found themselves standing in front of a small, metal door with the words ATTIC carved into it.

"Well, go in," Katilyn said, gesturing with her arms. "It's not locked."

Drea twisted the knob and stepped in first, where several items, covered in dust and long-forgotten, sat in a dark room. On the end wall, a key hung from a metal chain, and under that, a small leatherwood chest. Above it, a candle flickered, only the littlest wisp of a flame still dancing on top.

"Well, there's the key," Joss murmured, taking it off the chain. "This is actually easier than I imagined."

"The riddles are the hard part," Susan said as the hermit put the key into its place on the chest. "Don't get your hopes up."

The sound of a click was heard faintly, and Joss took the key out of the chest, looking inside. "There's a note inside here. It says... Carried into a dark room, it was set aflame. Weeping, its head fell off... huh, another riddle. Any ideas?"

The moment the hermit was finished, Susan gave a quick laugh. "Clearly Rowan wasn't really in the mood to pose a challenge for us. The candle next to the chest gives the answer away."

Joss raised an eyebrow. "And the answer is... a candle?"

Susan nodded. "Makes sense, doesn't it?"

The hermit's shoulder sagged. "I was expecting something more twisted... and harder."

"Well, don't ruin it now. We know the second set of the password."

Hugo clapped his hands together. "That was fast. But we shouldn't count our chickens before they hatch, as the saying goes. Collecting the sets is one thing, getting the Chest is another." The explorer walked out of the attic, squinting at how bright it suddenly was. All four of the others trailed behind them.

Climbing down the stairs was almost as hard as going up. It was a dizzying corkscrew formation, one misstep meaning plummeting all the way to the bottom. Hugo tried not to think about it – it made him feel self-conscious and muddled his thoughts.