Chapter 41
The storeroom must have been deep underground because they climbed up about a hundred steps. The wide landings had bannisters decorated with delicately carved ivy leaves. It got so chilly during the climb that they could see their breath, but eventually they arrived in a vast hall.
Ben was one of the last people to enter the ornate room, and looking around he could hardly believe his eyes. Gnarled trees grew out of the floor, their roots penetrating and ensnaring the granite stones, their branches reaching up towards the crystal chandelier as if it were the sun, while a domed roof loomed almost out of sight, seven or eight metres above them. The air was tropically hot and humid, and a thick mist hung around the trees and bushes. They seemed to have stumbled into an enchanted f
