He was pulling himself up Norbert's hand, passing through the air. With one hand outstretched, I felt a ledge curved and going higher up to the left. Carefully, Norbert placed the dagger of the outstretched hand back in its belt before raising it again.
Fumbling around, Norbert grasped onto the ledge, shaking it, confirming it wouldn't crumble under his grip. Norbert hoisted himself up, taking the dagger out of the wall and quickly placing it in, getting the elbow over the ledge as Norbert held his legs together, still grasping the torch.
Looking around in the dark confines, Norbert carefully pulled himself up, flopping on the ledge he found himself. Now properly illuminated, Norbert looked around the room he found himself in.
Siting up on the ledge, leaning to the side so as not to fall, Norbert looked at where he was now. Leaning forward, Norbert saw steps cut out of the stone. Looking up and down the spiral, Norbert realised he was on a staircase, specifically the handrail for the staircase.
He looked down at the steps, each going halfway up his torso, seemingly being made for giants and not someone his size. Standing up carefully, Norbert looked up at the centre of the staircase, seeing it spiral around him.
They looked back down and saw the crimson glow bellow him, licking up the sides of the hole, flicking out into nothing, darkness consuming it. Confused for a second about what happened, Norbert quickly scrambled up the railing, seeing the black ooze still following him.
Holding the torch over the side of the stairs, Norbert continued to clamber up, not to get dizzy. As he climbed further up, particles of dust in the air would catch alight before blazing out to be replaced by the next one.
The steps, no longer mainly looking clean, were now covered in dust, bits and pieces cut and chipped out of them, rocks fallen over, blocking parts of the steps as Norbert continued to run up the railing. Happily enough, the railing was mainly intact, the dust only making it slightly slippery for him, only slightly more difficult than normal to gain some traction and continue his trek.
Continuing to clamber up, Norbert occasionally checked on the other side, unable to tell his progress, whether the torchlight illuminated enough to see the black creatures following after him. Since he could still climb up further, the path leading down, he was sure, was now blocked. Norbert continued his revolving around and around the passageway.
Finally, Norbert made his way to the top; on the way up, he needed to put a piece of fabric over his mouth to stop the dust from coming in, causing him to cough endlessly.
The fabric tickled at his nose, Norbert hopped off the railing; looking around the room as he continued to battle with his nose, not wanting to sneeze and disturb the dust even more so. Realising that his previous thought hadn't been the correct word for where he was. Norbert looked around, darkness and dust blocking his vision as it extended in both ways.
Standing still, Norbert held the torch high up into the air. Walking along, following his nose as he looked at the hall he found himself in.
Finding himself in the centre of the hallway, Norbert ran to one of the sides closest to him, holding the torch out as he looked around at the wall.
Nothing out of the ordinary shows itself to Norbert, just a blank wall with no writing or inscriptions. Kicking the dust on the ground, watching it puff up, Norbert wondered if whatever he kicked up just then used to be on the wall. Brushing his hand along it, the trails of dust swirling around as Norbert coughed up, as it tickled his lungs.
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He backed away and continued to cough, bending over as it wracked him. Norbert tried to compose himself as he started stumbling away. Regaining himself, Norbert looked at the dust swirl he had created.
Instinctively, Norbert's body shook under him, the feeling of someone watching you, hidden away and trying to be inconspicuous. Looking around the hall, he found he did not see anything that would arouse his suspicions. Dismissing the feeling, Norbert looked lengthwise down the hallway, wondering which route would be best for him.
Spinning around on the spot, Norbert looked both ways, neither looking any different compared to what he had seen before. Remembering the outside of the mountain and trying to imagine where his position would be within the range, Norbert chose a direction, taking the path he thought would be the longest, wanting to cover the most distance away from the black sludge possible.
He jogged down the hallway, not going as fast as he could, or the torch, his only slight source, would be snuffed out. Continuing down the hallway, Norbert found the same hallway across, no changes in the distance as he ate through the distance.
He looked up at where he assumed the ceiling would be, imagining that there would be another one of these halls above. Norbert was surprised that he hadn't hit any stairs so far in the centre, leading further up or lower down than where he was now.
Not wanting to turn back, Norbert continued, going close to either wall as he continued down the hallway, not wanting to miss any offshoot that he could find, a way to move off this floor and onto another one—at this point, he did not care if it was either up or down, mostly wanting to get away from the dust that was constantly attacking him.
Norbert found his reprieve, another staircase spiralling up into the ceiling. Coming to a halt, Norbert looked up, following the spiral with his eyes as it steadily climbed into the air.
With a nod of his head, a decision was made. Norbert quickly climbed the staircase, hoping to leave the dusty confines below him. Reaching the top, Norbert lifted the torch, hoping that nothing would come for him.
He was looking above and seeing his dreaded enemy still there. The dust on this floor seemed even thicker than the one he previously went on. Carefully, Norbert, holding his breath, climbed up, looking at the state of the hall he found himself in.
This one, Norbert could see destruction rampant here—signs of a scuffle of a large magnitude are shown here.
Half in a trance, Norbert walked forward, imagining what this hall would have last seen. Walking through, the dust following him, Norbert saw pieces of metal jutting out of the stone.
Walking forward, Norbert tapped it with his hand, hearing the solid thud of the massive piece of metal. Looking around, Norbert confirmed that it was still there and not something else.
Stepping back, Norbert grasped what he saw: a massive axe head embedded itself into the stone; Norbert imagined whatever was using it as a weapon, smashing it into the ground, missing their target.
Walking further down, Norbert saw the remains of a helmet, large enough to be a hut for Norbert, pieces of it having rusted through, the brown metallic of it bumpy on his skin.
Taking a dagger out, Norbert hit the pommel against the metal helmet, watching as it flacked off, the water in the air or something having deteriorated the metal to such an extent.
Climbing on top of the helmet, Norbert looked around at the hallway he found himself in; holding the torch up into the air, Norbert could finally see it.
A battle had taken place right where he was; Norbert did not know how long ago it would have been, but as he looked around, spinning atop the helm, other equipment came out to him.
He previously thought rocks were spearheads or other weapons sprinkled about and covering everything. Sliding off the helmet, Norbert traipsed through the dust, kicking pieces into the air, hand earing something go with it.
Running after it, Norbert saw it was a splinter of bone; as he picked it up, Norbert watched as it disintegrated under his fingertips. Taking a step back, Norbert looked across the battlefield, the graveyard for so many, having been forgotten far below the mountainside.
Looking back at the stairs he came from and comparing them to the size of the helmet, whoever or whatever used them could not have used those stairs or followed the same path as him. Norbert hadn't seen unless there was some magic to change the size of a group of people.
Dismissing it out of his head, believing he would have seen some other signs of something like that by now, Norbert went to the next possibility. That there was some way to escape from the mountainside and the hallways he found himself in.
His confidence rebuffed Norbert, walking forward down the hallway, following the armour before stopping and turning around, going the other way. His curiosity improved as he thought he heard a voice whispering, "Come hither."