The stairs went on forever.
Kaelen counted them at first...one hundred, two hundred, three...but somewhere past four hundred, he lost track. The steps were steep and uneven, carved from the living rock with no thought for comfort. His thighs burned. His calves screamed. The cold air grew colder with every step, until his breath came out in white plumes that hung in the darkness like ghosts.
Behind him, he could hear the others. Lysander's steady tread. Alistair's lighter step. The soft murmur of Aldric and Caelus speaking in low voices. Aliar's crystal cast pale blue light that danced across the walls, throwing shadows that seemed to move on their own.
Then, without warning, the stairs ended.
