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He knows at once what they want fro his body

"Pledge to us that which you have held to yourself for so long If you find her, bring her here, and here, fulfill your pledge"

"So be it," he h the ground had dropped out froht the torch before it fell He seehostly whimper and both turned, weapons raised, just as Kel sturian digging furiously by the stone altar Dirt flew, stinging the walls, and ahole revealed a s, Beor tugged it up An ancient stairway cut down into the rock At once, Sorrow descended cautiously Kel muttered imprecations under his breath, but when Alain started down after the hound, he felt Kel head down behind hi up the rear

The stairs were as smooth as if they’d been polished, and they descended in a curving sweep for long enough that theyNocturns and seen the sun rise at Pri the steps, Alain focused his attention past Sorrow so they wouldn’t be a a noise, that Kel bumped into his back The entire party caain It was only water, dripping into an unseen pool

Beor handed round the waterskin and a corner of wayfarer’s bread, enough to slake thirst and hunger

Torchlight flickered on featureless walls The ceiling lay so low that he could easily touch it with the flat of his pal his arms, he could tap the walls with his elbows Truly, the rock had them closed in Better not to think about it Better not to dwell on a force of ar ahead of hirateful that the rock re clammy water all over them It was alise to thank God for sriain What need had he to fear, when he had already suffered the worst that could happen to any ave out abruptly in a landing just large enough to contain the two hounds and the three , now out of arm’s reach Two tunnels opened before theh the rock itself had exhaled Then all was still

They each took a sip of water to wet their dry throats The air had changed, stung with a sharp scent The rock had changed as well; it didn’t precisely look like rock anyunder torchlight

Kel spoke in a frightened whisper, so under the hill Nay, a people who lived under the hill, or so it seeh that Alain was able to pick it out from the others Was there a tribe who lived deep in the earth? Someone had carved these tunnels

Beor answered in his big man’s rumble If he, too, were afraid, it was ie snuffled around the two black openings and chose the one to the right They went on, but soon the tunnel split into two again and two more If not for the hounds, they would have lost themselves, for they had stumbled into a labyrinth that went on and on for what seemed forever Yet the stone walls remained dry and unmarked, oddly warm to the touch, unnaturally smooth Whatever hand had built this place had not chosen to adorn it with any form of ornamentation That ht-hand side of each new turning they took, so that they could, he devoutly hoped, find their way back

The torch, burning low, began to sputter They paused to take water with a bite of dried fish The pitchy sh His eyes streaful of the noxious sht hiainst the cool stone, trying to get steady From deep in the rock noise shuddered up to drown out the pounding of his heart: a grinding ru, like the stroke of a gigantic blacksmith’s hammer

He shut his eyes to stop the dizziness For an instant he hallucinated: his cheek, pressed against the wall, lay against iron, as though he had fallen asleep on his sword

He slid a hand up the wall as understanding struck hied and shaped to form a cloak for the walls in the salove to fit a person’s fingers