With a yip of excitement and pride, I wrenched the door open sliding years of dust along with it.

“Take that you stupid old dungeon with your dumb old doors,” I yelled out. Quiet, I needed to be quiet I reminded myself.

I composed myself and nervously peered into the room. In front of the doorway lay a sword snapped in two. Kneeling to look at it I could see that the iron had mostly been eaten away by rust. It must have been being used as a barricade. Hopefully, judging by all the dust, whoever had put it there was long gone. Grabbing my torch from the wall I entered the next area.

The ceiling of this chamber was visible unlike the entrance and stood around two stories high. Tattered banners with crests I didn’t recognize from any books hung from each pillar and abandoned spider’s webs clung delicately to them. They shimmered against the torchlight. It was beautiful in a creepy kind of way. Visions of ghosts in shining armor and fine dresses danced through the room swirling about before shifting into ones of cloaked figures conducting dark business in hushed tones. If the mural at the entrance had been any indication of the original purpose of the dungeon, this room had never entertained such loveliness.

Removing the ghost from my mind I ventured further into the room past the pillars on the right side making sure to walk carefully. After a few moments, I realized nothing was happening. This room was as still as the one before. Dungeons were supposed to be filled with all sorts of traps and dangerous creatures. Questioning whether I should be grateful or if the emptiness of the dungeon was in itself an ill omen, I continued forward. The sinking loneliness I felt earlier gripped my heart again. This time I couldn’t shake it away.

Past the pillars, were a set of seven wooden doors evenly placed along the wall. I put my palm against the center one. The rot of the wood was rough to the touch. I could tell by the remaining thickness that the doors had once been sturdy. Now, like everything else, they were covered in dust and age. I got the sense that if I dug my hand into the wood it would crumble into nothing. I took a step back eyeing the doors. Which to choose?

At least there were no annoying creatures there telling me to guess what door was safest based on a lie. I had heard too many stories growing up where some riddle had to be solved to determine the wisest course. Still, a clue wouldn’t hurt.

While I stood there pondering, my eyes caught the slight opening of the sixth door. Turning towards it I could see that the dust at the base had been cleared away. I froze. The heavy mix of fear and excitement that ran through me was paralyzing. My mind raced as I tried to urge my feet onward, but they wouldn’t budge. What if it was someone trapped like me? We could help each other. A darker thought crossed my mind. It could have been someone who had recently been lost but now their body lay waiting there to be found. Horror shot up through my core. Skulls I could take, rotting corpses were an entirely different matter. Then there was the chance it could be a monster. I was in a dungeon. I looked around for any signs of footprints, but none were present. Come on feet. I forced them towards the door, sniffing. I didn’t smell rotting. At least there was that.