50: Interlude
Back in the shrine, present day.As you put down the previous tome, the ground beneath the shrine begins to churn. A great rumbling fills the area, and the gutters cut into the floor begin to descend, one by one, deeper and deeper, into what appears to be an uneven spiral staircase. As you descend the steps, you find that the walls are lined with ancient tomes, their names lost to time and stained with blood.
The floor stops suddenly in a final stone slab, but you can hear chanting from below. There is more to be found here, and only deeper to descend. You slowly walk back up the wavering stone-and-tome stairs, eyeing your new surroundings in the dim light of the statue as you go.
When you make it to the top, the Phoenix statue's eyes have fixed upon you. They will not stop watching.
HE IS LISTENING