Darkness loomed overhead and he had nothing but welcome arms to greet it closer.
“Let it come,” he whispered. “Let darkness hide what evils I will encounter tonight.” His head bobbed slowly with the rhythmic tides of the sea and with each stroke of his oar he came closer to the stone-laden chateau. Shadows danced in the evening light, ceremoniously inviting him to tread where man had not dared to for the past three hundred years. His arms pushed forward and with one gentle glide he felt the sand beneath his rowboat, stopping his vessel and allowing him to depart quietly into the sand and up towards the spiral staircases. He let his fingers run across the surface of the sea, lest it be his last. He murmered a thankful prayer to Poseidon for allowing his journey to be swift and gentle. As the last words left his lips, he felt the western Zephyr blow, and he knew that the Gods were watching him, on his side for now.
He turned now to the menacing behemoth, and began to climb.