From the start, Dawson's dialogue gave me a very clear impression of his character, and his relationship with our character. The way that changed over time as we went deeper was a genuinely impressive bit of narrative you constructed, I'm really impressed with the writing here!
The choice of just the canary singing and the footsteps made the whole trip even more ominous, honestly. And the use of the canary enhanced the narrative even more still! Well done!