epic quest not working in my game

got to the last stages of my first game.  went the questing route and for some reason non of the epic quest locations were working.  In one quest I was able to get to the combat and after defeating my foe was able to continue delving deeper.  Finally, after a few rounds of fighting and going deeper into the dungeon the quest just quit on me.  it said "now it's time to explore the castle"  or something of a very very similar nature.  however, nothing happened.  no new area spawned and no more options or even a reward.  the other quests just vanished when i would click on the button that tells the game you want to do the quest.