The door groaned open, heavy iron scraping against stone, and a gust of stale air poured out from within. The sound echoed hollowly in the long, narrow corridor, reverberating like the groan of something ancient being disturbed after far too long. Dust swirled in the faint shaft of light that fell across the threshold, stirred from its slumber.
It was not the stench of rot that met them—it was something far worse: the suffocating stillness of abandonment. The air was dry, stagnant, as if even time itself had forgotten to flow within these walls. Every breath carried the taste of neglect, of hopelessness, of years piled on top of years with no change, no voice, no life.
