The breath of relief that Solace took was audible to the whole crew.

No one had really known what to expect when they walked through the door on the right, but it somehow wasn't the quiet, empty room on the other side. There hadn't been much going on in that room, and except for the large hallway sloping down and away into darkness, the walls were blank. It had taken very little discussion for them to decide to stay there for a night, with their shaking limbs and all the adrenaline running through them they all knew it wouldn't be a great idea to just continue on.

Unlike their fellow companions, Solace and Hawkes stayed up late into the night cycle, sitting in silence and listening to the walls. But nothing moved. Nothing creaked, and the walls never shifted. There wasn't even the usual noises of the dungeon around them settling, it was peaceful. And if not for either of the two courser's anxiety, it would've been safe to say that they all felt well rested at the dawn of the new day. It was easy to say their spirits had been lifted considerably, and even their pets were feeling in a good mood. Euele's Acherna was chasing Leiken's golden hound around, the two zooming in circles with Hawkey and Dusty in tow. 

Once they had managed to sort out their pets, the party was once again prepared to move on.

It was a quick, but unsettling discovery to find that just a few feet down the hall there was a mound of rubble stopping them from continuing on. A large grate had been displaced from the nearby wall and was obstructing most of the way through. Only a much, much younger courser could get by without having to move it, and even then they'd have to take all their packs off and squeeze through to do so. 

"Should we move it?" Hawkes asked, ears pricked. They were currently eyeing it with an expression that made Solace and Euele nervous. Especially since they had a habit to rush into things without thinking.

"It's that or we go back." Leiken replied, watching Que snuffle about under the bars. 

Hawkes scowled and stepped forwards to try and plant their shoulder squarely against one side. "Well I'm going to-"

"Pleassssseee let me join youuuu. Pleassssee little adventerersssss." A deeply unsettling voice purred out of the dark, the pale hollows of a dark skull slowly coming into view as it pushed through the bars. 

"Oh- Oh that's awful. Absolutely not!" Euele couldn't stop herself as she spoke, ears pinned against her skull as she watched the darkness surge around them at the sudden shadow blocking some far off light. 

"Maybe we ought not- OW! IT BIT ME!" Hawkes had begun to defend the creature when the skull lunged forwards and grasped them in its teeth. They stood there staring with giant eyes at the others. "You shouldn't have been so quick to say no!" They called out sounded exasperated, though the pain was very obvious in their eyes. Their pet hawk squawked, flapping her wings and clawing at the skeleton with her razor sharp talons.

"Oh Voices we'll have to get them out of there." Solace spoke from far off. 

"How do you think we should go about it?" Leiken stared at the darkened skull, ears flicking uncertainly as his eyes flicked down to the teeth digging into Hawkes' shoulder. Blood was starting to well up around the strangely sharp and long teeth of the horse's skull. Que growled menacingly, standing between him and the skull as he stared. 

Euele scowled and stepped forwards, removing a scroll from her pack. "Leave it to me."