The air outside was cold, the wind brushing against Olivia's face. Her footsteps were light, careful, but each one echoed just enough to make her uneasy. The deeper she went, the fewer students she saw. It was late, and most had long since retreated to their dorms.
She pulled her hood lower, her breath steady but her pulse racing. The underground world. It sounded almost mythical, like a place talked about in cautionary tales. But Abigail had slipped up, and now Olivia knew, it was real. And it was somewhere beneath the eastern part of the fortress.
She had no map, no guide, only a vague direction and a dangerous curiosity that had always been her downfall.
As she approached the fortress's eastern side, the atmosphere seemed to shift. The torches flickered dimmer, and a strange silence settled in. Even the air smelled different, damp, and metallic.
Then… she felt a strange presence. Someone was watching her.
