Back to Page Four
-----"If our 'friends' didn't know where we were before, there's no doubt they do now," Raven slowly says, slightly shaken and angry from the sudden noise. "Thalog, can you warn us before you cast a spell like that again?"
-----Raven reaches down and picks up a few coins from the floor. "Hmm . . . someone left a few coppers behind."
-----"I don't know Raven. Maybe this will make them come to us." Sol chuckles lightly.
-----Raven smiles and slightly nods, sheathing his sword. He once again picks up the carved tree branch looking it over. "Someone had to set this trap by propping this against the door," he says, "but they couldn't leave this room without disturbing the axe."
-----Sol blinks at Raven's revelation. Slowly he walks around the edge of the room, shining the torch against the walls, ceiling and floor.
-----Suddenly a low rumbling and grinding sound commences far down the passage the heroes traveled. Raven drops the branch and it noisily smacks the stone floor. Drawing his sword, he ushers Thalog and Rand on into the room.
-----"I don't like the sound of that," Raven mutters and then he turns to his three companions. "You three go ahead and check out the walls. I'll keep an eye out for anything that moves this way."
-----Sol sets the lantern down in the middle of the room aiming the light toward the wall opposite the door they entered. He then moves to look closer at the wall directly across from the door. Thalog checks out the section just to the left of Sol and Rand looks at an adjacent wall to Sol's right. Raven kneels down beside the door in the shadows watching for any movement out of the darkness. Every now and then, dust filters down from between the stone sections that make up the ceiling. After a few tense moments while the men examine the wall, the rumbling suddenly stops.
-----Raven whispers out from the shadows, "Have you found anything yet?"
-----"Umm...maybe, have a look at this while I take over lookout." Sol replies. He doesn't, however move away from the wall immediately, seeming to inspect a small section of the wall further.
-----Sol takes his knife and scrapes around the wall, looking especially at a hollow space between the stones. Raven walks up and kneels beside him. Sol begins to push on some of the blocks and a section begins to move with his touch. Raven helps him push and the section of stones pushes in to reveal an opening. "Careful now, we don't want any more surprises," Raven says as Sol retrieves the lantern and the light is shone through the opening. "Looks like a smaller room, maybe about ten feet across," Raven says, peering in.
-----After looking in through the opening for a few moments, Raven pushes himself into the next room. As the others follow him, they realize that this "next room" is more of a short corridor. They see another opening in the end wall.
-----Carefully walking forward, the light reveals the corridor opens into another square shaped room. It measures about twenty feet on a side. An opening in the far wall of the room shows another corridor leading off at an angle.
-----For a moment, all four men freeze as the light falls on lumpy shapes lying on the floor. Looking closer, the shapes turn out to be nothing more than about a half dozen blankets thrown about. A couple of backpacks are also seen.
-----As the men filter into the room, the faraway low rumbling sound suddenly begins again.
-----Sol gives a glance at his companions, and continues on towards the corridor.
-----Rand glances around looking for anything unusual as he follows Sol.
-----All four men quickly exit the room moving on down the next passage. As they do, the dust begins to slowly rain down about them. Raven begins to pick up the pace as the passage seems to stretch ahead of them. "Does this damn thing go on forever?" he mutters, as they see nothing but darkness before them.
-----After a few moments, he slows a bit eyeing the stone work of the floor. At one point he nearly stops to test his footing on one stone block. Satisfied that it does not give away, he motions the group forward.
-----Finally after a few minutes, the light picks out the end of the passage. The men stop as they face a wall of stone. Raven carefully feels along the stone blocks and as he does the rumbling stops. He hesitates and then the expression on his face brightens. "Here, Sol," he says pointing to a point in the wall, "I think there's a way through here!"
-----As the two push against the wall, a slight grinding sound, stone against stone, is heard. Raven eases from time to time to examine the opening that forms. When the opening is large enough for the men to pass through, Raven takes the lantern to investigate. After a few moments, he hands the light back to Sol and says, "This looks okay, come on."
Go to Page 6