"I really hope this isn't a dead end," Teegan said, voicing the thought that was on all their minds. The echos from her words bounced around the walls, then died. They were in a tunnel, the kind of damp, earthy tunnel that smelled of decaying vegatation and wet soil. A drip, drip, drip, could be heard, as water trickled in a far distant cavern.
They had started the last leg in the morning, and had maneged to get within a good distance of Kerr's fortress before the watchers fired warning arrows. Twice they had walked around the fort, keeping behind the few huge boulders that jutted from the otherwise barren landscape. At noon, still no means of entrance had been found, and the guards were becoming more and more wary. At about one, the sun had gotten too hot, and they had taken refuge in a little cave next to one of the rocks.
It was Sukrae who had had the idea of tunnels, and also he who had dug out the back of the cave, with the girls standing by and giving him helpful advice which many people would have thought sacastic. They had come over and helped him dig though, when he had fournd what he was looking for: a system of tunnels that might lead from the fortress. As many castles had underground escape routes through which the inhabitants could run in case of danger, Sukrae had thought it a fair chance that this might be the same thing.
They had been walking now for a good time, with the tunnel twisting and turning, but mostly going in the right direction, and Taena judged that the fortress should be no very long distance from where they stood.
After Teegan's comment, the gloomy air that had hung over the party deepened, and Sukrae sighed. "Well, we may as well keep going," he said. "It's not too far now, or shouldn't be if there's anything to these tunnels."
"Yes, might as well," Taena said, brushing dirt off her staff. Teegan walked foward, and the others followed.
17-Jan-2007 03:29:08
- Last edited on
19-Jan-2007 00:37:32
by
Anne Lauten
