The heavy iron door groaned, a low, desolate shriek echoing through the corridor as Matthias pushed it open. Serene stepped into the dim, suffocating stench of the dungeon, a foul mix of decay and stale blood that instantly clawed at her throat. The moment her eyes adjusted to the gloom, her knees nearly buckled.
There, in the dampest corner of the cell, was Elvira.
She no longer looked human. Bound tightly by thick, rusted chains anchored deep into the stone walls, she resembled a rabid dog left to rot. Her body was a broken, twisted wreck; parts of her limbs had already been crudely severed and discarded, left on the stone floor like scraps of spoiled meat.
