Melinda can't leave her dungeon!

[morganp]

I agree, it is a quirky thing that can lead to confusion, like the OP's, because the mechanic is not obvious. I like the idea of requiring her to be near, so you don't just ditch her in the first room and rush the stairs, but there must be a better way than requiring her to be adjacent when you exit. Maybe just in LOS when exiting? That should be doable with a wider range (but maybe not all) of the level generation/pets scenarios.