The room didn't change. Not when the door shut behind us, not when the light settled. It just… stayed still.
The torchlight on the walls flickered low, casting warm gold across the stone. Everything smelled faintly like ash and old dust. But it wasn't rotting here. The air was dry. The ground wasn't shifting under our feet. Nothing had tried to kill us in ten minutes.
That felt like a win.
Chains sat down first. She let out a quiet hiss as her legs stretched in front of her, stiff and bandaged. Her forearm was raw and angry, burned in more than one place. She leaned her head back against the wall and closed her eyes for a second, just breathing.
I stayed across from her, knees pulled to my chest, arms looped tight around them. I hadn't said anything since we got here. I didn't know what to say. The torches flame helped, a little. I kept watching it, like maybe it would answer something. It didn't.
Chains was quiet for a while. I could hear her shifting, trying to find a spot that hurt less.
Then her voice came, low and dry.
"This place sucks."
I blinked slowly. Still staring at the flame.
She didn't follow it up. I think she just wanted to say something, even if it didn't matter.
The silence came back.
I let it.
Eventually, I spoke. "You fought well."
She lifted her head and looked at me, surprised. I wasn't sure why. It was true.
"Thanks," she muttered. "Wasn't pretty."
"No," I agreed.
She gave a soft breath that might've been a laugh. "Still counts."
I nodded once. It did.
Another stretch of quiet. Not tense. Just tired.
Then I said it.
"My trial… it was a hallway. It never ended. Every time I walked forward, it looped. Same walls. Same corners and no way out."
She frowned. "You mean literally the same space?"
I nodded. "Exactly the same. I walked for hours that felt like days."
She straightened up a little. "That's cruel."
"It worked."
She looked at me for a second, quiet. I didn't know what she saw.
Then she asked, "What about yours?"
I watched her jaw shift before she answered.
"Heat, collapsing ceiling, falling rocks. I thought it was trying to crush me." A pause. "Maybe it was."
"Did you get out the same way?"
She shook her head. "No. I think I broke something. Not just in the room."
She didn't explain. I didn't ask.
More silence.
Then she spoke again, quieter than before.
"Why was I the only one cuffed?"
I didn't flinch. "I don't know."
That was the truth.
She stared at me, like she wanted to push. But she didn't. After a second, she leaned her head back again.
"Feels like a punishment."
"Maybe."
"For what?"
I met her eyes. "Existing."
She blinked. Then nodded. "Yeah. Could be that."
The torch cracked behind me. The light shifted slightly. The cold crept in.
"You think this is it?" she asked. "The end of the world or something? Or just another nightmare in a long list?"
"I don't know."
"You think there are other people in the tower?"
I hesitated. "There were. Maybe still are. But I don't think they started where we did."
She let out a long breath. "Lucky us."
I didn't reply.
Time kept moving. The fire burned lower. I adjusted my arms, pulling my knees tighter. She tried to move her arm and winced, then stopped.
I looked over again.
She had her eyes closed. Her breathing was uneven.
Not asleep.
"Do you think we'll make it out?" I asked, quietly.
She didn't open her eyes.
But I heard her answer.
"…I think we'll sure as hell try."