I shoved the door open, the hinges screaming in protest. The room beyond was shrouded in darkness, thick and oppressive, as though the very air had been corrupted.
The faint pulse of energy that had drawn me here thrummed louder, a dissonant heartbeat that resonated through the shadows. My flames flickered to life, casting eerie purple light that licked at the edges of the room, revealing its grotesque contents.
The walls were lined with crude iron shackles, their surfaces marred with deep grooves where something or someone had struggled violently.
The floor was littered with broken chains, dried blood pooling in cracks between the warped wood. The stench of decay and something acrid, chemical, assaulted my senses.
