HOTEL LEX - FLOOR 4 (34/?) (Patreon)

Your exhausted body tells you that taking the easiest option would be best. You pick up the torch the bunny dropped and look around for yours, but don't see it. You recall swapping it for treasure on your way into this room and sigh. You light it with a small puff of fire and the bunny looks impressed. You surprise yourself as it was such a natural reflex. You try again but cough and puff black smoke.

You and the bunny walk toward a wall and start scanning along it. You press brick after brick, hoping for some hidden passageway to open. You kick away treasure along your path to avoid stepping on any sharp or pointy objects. One kick sends pain up your leg. Cursing under your breath, you look down to see a handle of some sorts. You quickly call the bunny over and both of you heave coins and goblets off a wooden trapdoor. Once cleared, you stand over the plate of wood and use your new found strength to pull. Dust and bits of stone pop up amid the creaks and groans of a passageway long forgotten. You lift up the plank to reveal stairs into a very narrow crawlspace. You both exchange looks. Clearly this was made for kobolds and your size isn't very kobold-esque anymore.

"Well...?" he says, shifting nervously as he looks at you.

Sensing his anxiety, you reassure your companion with a smile before volunteering to head into the darkness first. You begrudgingly leave the torch behind as you don't see it surviving the damp walls. You shiver as a gust of cold air meets your face. Feeling such a breeze fills you with confidence as it hints at the outside. At first, you stoop down to avoid scratching the ceiling with your horns but eventually, you find yourself on your hands and knees. You only make it a short distance before you have to army crawl. If it gets any tighter, you might not be able to proceed. The bunny holds onto the tip of your tail for support and guidance in the pitch black. You feel your way around in the dark and wonder now if the path you took was the correct one. Regardless, you follow the gentle breeze against your snout. You push what feels like a slight right into a left, back into a right and then a slightly further right. Then...

As you are crawling, you feel the material beneath you start to change. What should have been the sound of stone and dirt slowly becomes more... metallic? You stop to tap the ground with your claw and the sound reverberates. And then in the dark, you bump your head against something before you. You stop and so does the bunny.

"W-what is it?" he squeaks.

You tell him there's a wall. And as you feel around, you notice that it splits into two directions. You push to the left and the space seems to be slightly wider and more comfortable to continue advance through. The other seems to twist and turn with the space getting narrower. You feel the breeze coming from the latter. With your new size, there's no way you'll be able to head in that direction. As you consider your situation, you jump as you hear banging and metal clanking coming from the larger entryway. It sounds like machinery.

"That doesn't sound g-good!" a whisper from behind says.

No, it doesn't. In fact, just looking in that direction sends shivers down your spine. You want to head back the way you came but you fear getting lost in the numerous turns you took to get here.

> Take the bunny and proceed through to the larger crawlspace.> Split paths with your companion and try to meet up later.

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