A surgery room?

A few moments later we arrived at another closed door, Esther and I did the same thing as before, she tossed in a torch as I kicked it open. The room was brightly lit with magic glow stones attached to the walls embedded within lanterns. A large altar-like stand sat in the middle of the room, and another cluttered table by the wall on the left of it. We slowly entered the room, awaiting any sounds that might suggest a triggered trap, but like the last room, nothing happened.

The stand was huge, it could easily fit two full grown men lying down side to side. I placed my hand on the surface, it felt cold like a coin in the middle of winter. Then I walked towards the messy table where Esther was inspecting a scalpel that was one of many of the utensils scattered on the floor. Scriptures and detailed descriptions with drawings of anatomies of people, animals, and monsters were scattered everywhere, swept across both above and below the workspace. Esther mentioned that the bed room they saw earlier belonged to an alchemist, this place probably belonged to the same alchemist.

“Looks like someone was rushing to leave.” I said, still scavenging through the notes, trying to collect them into a bundle.

“Yeah, but what could possibly scare an alchemist this much?”

Esther was right, very few threats should be able to intimidate them. I suddenly felt a shock of coldness coursing through my body as I shuddered, thinking of all the different mythical creatures that could have scared the alchemist and the potential for the creature to still be in this dungeon somewhere.

As I collected the last of the writings, books, and tools, there was nothing but the altar and the table standing baron beside each other. I signaled to Esther that I’m done, and we turned towards the lifeless hallway once again, continuing our exploration.

It was odd to think that someone used to live here isolated.

The only sounds around were our footsteps that echoed off from the dungeon walls, the fatigue of seeing and hearing the same scene and sounds were starting to weigh me down like a heavy coat. Since the second door, no other doors have appeared so far so it seems like the loop has ended, but the exit has been nothing more than a distant hope.

“I think it’s a good time to take a break.” I turned around, anticipating an answer but behind me was the void of the hallway, Esther was nowhere to be seen.

“Esther?”

Nothing.

The dampness and the emptiness of the dungeon sent another shiver down my spine.

Since when did she disappear? Where did she go? How long have I been walking along? I need to find Esther right now! All this time I haven’t been talking because I was exhausted and I thought Esther was the same, I didn’t realize that she was gone. This didn’t make sense, how did she disappear without a noise?

I could feel my face heat up, my brain starting to be swamped with possibilities. Going in the same way will probably not give me any results, so should I go the direction I came from?

There’s only one way to find out.