Breaching the Summit

Hand over hand, I cleared the final riser of the main staircase and hauled myself onto the wooden landing. The vertical ascent was grueling, but mission failure was never an option. I immediately looped the trailing braided bootlace twice around the base of a carved banister spindle, securing our rappel line for a rapid extraction vector. From this high plateau, the upper corridor stretches ahead with closed doors lining both flanks. Hostile presence is likely within these quarters. I crouched behind the spindle base to scan for floorboard vibrations and door gaps. I have breached the high ground; hold your position, I am closing in.