Jayo lingered in the room where the statues dictated the possibilities of the split paths. For a while, he stared at the sphinx, then to the other creature, one more repulsive that the glowing woman followed. Her light had almost vanished from his sight before he too, followed slowly behind her.
Around and around the pathway wove, going up higher and higher inside the unknown tower they were climbing. No steps lit the path, just the gradual but evident grade. With the hallway growing tighter, Jayo paused a moment to tuck his wings in more closely pressed against his back side, and once the pair reached the top, a peculiar smell came up through vents within the ground.
This path was made of grated, vented iron, and a massive room opened up below them. But it was darker than night, and nothing could be seen, but it's presence could be felt through the winds that swept through the slats below.
And so the path continued, Jayo following after the girl before he paused and noticed a sound. It was faint at first, but a light scraping could be heard within the darkness below. The pair had made it to the center of the iron-grated path to where iron grates also lined one side of the path's wall, to where Jayo now peered out into the nothingness...
and then the first strike came.
A sharp puncture of it's tail struck at the rotting iron and broke clean through, and now the path way separated between them- keeping Lumira on one side, and Jayo ont he other; and as the tail slid away, the creature below let out a terrifying caw, and what sounded like the creature scaling the walls could be heard scraping against the stone wall sides.
With his mind jarred, Jayo tried to make sense of the situation but with the iron path now open to the pit below them, it seemed they had little choice but to either continue forward, or drop down into the pit below with the angered monster.