Explore upstairs

Since Roderick puts it that way, Alex feels immediately ashamed of himself for being so cowardly. If he has any hope of achieving renown, he is going to have to face things a lot more terrifying than being alone in the dark!

“Well, if you’re sure you’ve got this end covered, I’ll scout around upstairs,” he says, hoping that he sounds courageous and sure of himself. “Perhaps in addition to some comfortable bedding, I can find something that will be useful — perhaps some explanation to the mystery that surrounds this place.”

“That’s a good man,” says Roderick, slapping Alex on the shoulder. “Let’s meet up back here once we have finished our explorations.”

With that, the knight stepped into the darkness. Alex caught a brief glimpse of the stone walls and the steps descending away, but as Roderick moved downward, the light of his torch grew dimmer and dimmer.

Shaking off his lingering doubts, Alex grabbed a torch, lit it, and fixed his eyes on the staircases.

“Get ahold of yourself,” he mutters to himself. “It’s just a flight of stairs. You’re acting as if you are about to scale an active volcano inhabited by dragons!”

With a firm grip on his torch — and another firm grip on the handle of his sword — Alex slowly began to climb the stairs.

Each step upward revealed details he was unable to see from the ground floor. What at first appeared to be a large curtain revealed itself to be a faded tapestry. Alex held the torch close to it and saw a scene depicting merriment. The picture seems to be showing some sort of outdoor banquet, where strange, magical beings are interspersed among the humans. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

“Things sure have changed from those days,” thinks Alex, somberly. To even suggest such a gathering these days would be unheard of, and depending on what part of the kingdom you were in, it could even get you arrested. It has been centuries since humans and magical beings had that kind of relationship.

At last, Alex arrives at the top of the stairs and finds himself looking down a long hallway, with multiple doors on each side. With one last look downward to confirm that Roderick has not yet emerged from his mission, Alex takes a deep breath and chooses a door.

He enters and breathes a sigh of relief to find that it is not nearly as dark in the room as it was in the hallway. Windows, high above the trees, and relatively free of encroaching vines, allow the moonlight to flood into the room. He looks around and notices that the most prominent feature of the room is a large bed, and it appears to be unaffected by the centuries of being ignored. Relieved at the prospect of success so quickly, he places his torch in a holder on the wall, grabs a candle from a table, and lights it.

He moves around the room, lighting additional candles in hopes of driving all hints of darkness away. Upon lighting the candles on a writing desk, his eyes fall upon a parchment, with ornate writing. He blows the dust off the document and holds it up to the light to read:

Remember me as you pass by,
For as you are, so once was I.
Perhaps you question this form I take,
But this stone permits me to flee others' fate.
My love I denied while yet I still breathed.
I may find it in you, but be not deceived!
For the one who, like I, felt not a caress,
Of lip against lip or flesh against flesh,
Your touch restores life; your caress restores breath.
Once begun, do not stop, or my fate will be ****!
I awaken when passion’s sword does penetrate
The prize I have guarded that is linked to my fate.
But be warned! If you waken my love in this way,
We shall each be thus bound to so feed every day!

Alex sets the parchment down, pondering the strange words, and finishes lighting the last of the candles before continuing his exploration. He turns to the bed, hoping that it will be suitable so he will not have to explore any other rooms. He sees that the bedcovers are lumpy, as if carelessly tossed onto the bed by the last occupants of the room. He takes hold of the blanket and pulls it back quickly, prepared to run if it turns out that a raccoon or some other vermin had chosen the mattress as its new home.

Much to his astonishment, Alex finds himself looking at a statue, reclining on the bed. He holds a candle closer and sees that it is a perfect likeness of a beautiful young woman. If she were not made of stone, he would swear that he had just encountered someone in the midst of a deep and restful sleep.