They kept climbing.
The central staircase was longer than it had looked from below, broad enough that ten people could have gone up side by side if they had wanted to. Neo and Snot stayed close to the inner edge instead, weapons in hand, boots quiet against old white stone.
Halfway up, they were still not out of that floor.
Balconies curved around them at different heights, broken in places, whole in others, and every one of them held something waiting. Vagabonds stood in little clusters beneath cracked arches. Spiders clung to corners and ceilings where torchlight barely reached them, their bodies folded tight as if patience was part of their hunting method. A few Night Walkers moved farther back between collapsed sections of wall, black limbs slipping in and out of view.
The whole floor felt awake without quite moving.
Snot kept his voice low. "I'm going to be honest. This gives me a terrible feeling. There are only two of us, Neo. Shouldn't we turn around?"
