Room18b
Jora reaches for the black mirror and it engulfs the small group. Laughter, screams, and howls fill the swirling darkness around them until the cold of the transition passes. The mirrors have disappeared and the group stands in the center of the room.
On every wall the paintings now move. Howls and screams assail them from every side. The smells of body odor and the less than human smells of the creatures permeate the room. The paintings are no longer flat images but windows into actual cells whose occupants reach through the bars attempting to reach the cowering youngsters.
“Does Faustus really think we’re going to open one of these cages?” Conrad draws his sword, nervously.
“Please help me.” A voice draws their attention. One of the pictured men grips the bars of his cell. His clothing is of a better quality than the other men and he does not rave at the youngsters.
“Please, I’ve been trapped here for so long. Can’t you help me?”
Jora looks quizzically at his companions and then approaches the painting where the man resides.
“Were you an adventurer?”
“Yes, my companions and I were lured here years ago and the wizard imprisoned me in this cell. I don’t know what became of my friends. Please, set me free.”
“The mirror showed me freeing him,” Jora says. “I guess this is why.”
He digs in his pack and extracts a handful of tools.
“I think I can pick the lock with these. It looks pretty simple.”
Jora sets to work on the cell door. The lock yields to his efforts after several minutes and he pulls the door open.
The man steps over the threshold and into the room. He immediately enfolds Jora in a bear hug.
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“It was the least I could do sir. Um, sir, you’re hurting me.”
Jora grunts as the man squeezes harder. His continued muttered thanks devolves into a rumbling growl. Jora is lifted from the floor as the man grows in stature. The sound of tearing cloth fills the air as the man expands beyond human proportions. His arms sprout fur and his breath on Jora’s neck becomes hot and animalistic.
Safir screams.
Jora turns his head through a haze of pain to see that the man’s head and face have transformed into to some hellish cross between a man and a wolf. The monster’s green eye regards Jora for a moment and then the beast’s arms cease squeezing and instead rip sideways, tearing Jora in half.
Conrad screams his friend’s name and swings his sword at the wolf monster. The blade bounces off the creature’s fur without effect. The monster lashes out with a clawed hand and tears open Conrad’s chest. The boy collapses to the ground in a spray of blood. The beast turns toward the two girls and, with a demonic howl, leaps upon them and begins to feast.