The Colorless Land

Chapter 28: Due South

Before noon they found themselves in the basement of the tower, a place they hadn't even guessed to exist. But here they were, with their belongings packed and the horses still outside, standing in a dimly lit, empty room of blank stone.

Zamrod had still been occupied with a pile of boxes when he had sent them here, but now he, too, came down the ladder with a pack on his back. Also strapped to him was a large, short but very broad sword that looked too heavy for any human to wield.

"Ready?" he asked them.

They all nodded.

Grumbling something unintelligible, the dwarf knelt and felt the stones in a certain spot before pushing one of them.

Where the wall had looked perfectly ordinary just a moment before, a door opened. Stones moved aside to reveal a narrow, dusty tunnel leading away into the uncertain gloom.

"A hidden door!" Evariel gasped out. "They do exist!"

"Talk any louder and you'll alert the guards outside, pointy-ears," the dwarf replied, making Evariel clap a hand over his mouth. "This is the way out. Follow me."

"Where does it lead?" Jolette asked with sudden suspicion.

"Away."

"Away where?"

"To safety," Lisha replied from behind her. "Not to worry; the dwarf-tunnels of this tower are as ancient as they are safe. I myself have passed through them, though I haven't been here in a few hundred years."

Aithal motioned for Zamrod to lead the way, turned to follow, and hit his head against the doorframe. With a grimace he ducked and stepped after the dwarf into the dark.

Lisha followed after him, and then Evariel. Saryana remained behind them with her hand on her sword, listening for any suspicious noises from above. Jolette remained with Edmian at the doorframe, watching his growing hesitation with worry.

"You all right?" she asked quietly.

Edmian peered into the gloom. "It's so dark," he said.

Right, Jolette thought, he wasn't used to darkness. The normal darkness of the night he still seemed to handle, more or less; but the pitch-darkness of the tunnel was clearly too much for him. "Do we have a lamp?" she called out to Zamrod.

"No," said the dwarf. "Don't need it."

"Edmian's scared of the dark!"

"Nothing to be scared of," the dwarf grumbled. "The tunnels are safe."

Jolette wanted to argue, but Edmian shook his head. "It's fine," he said. "I can manage."

"You always say that. C'mon, at least take my hand. It's less scary that way."

For a moment she almost wondered if he would decline again, then Edmian reached for her hand, and followed by Saryana they ventured into the tunnel.

"Ready?" Zamrod asked them. "Have everything?"

They nodded.

Without further explanation the dwarf pressed another stone, and the door behind them fell shut.

They were left in pitch-blackness. Her own companions disappeared in front of Jolette's eyes. Only Edmian's hand in hers and the other's quiet breathing proved that they were still there.

"Good," said Zamrod. "Follow me."

One by one they took up their trail. Following the sound of the dwarf's heavy boots, they walked deeper and deeper into the mountain, seeing nothing, hearing nothing except the noises they made themselves. The tunnel was straight, stuffy and dry. There were no chambers, no caves, no other tunnels branching off; no bats or other creatures living in the dark. The air smelled of ancient dust, thick and unstirred in many years.