I eased some energy out of the stream, just enough to start the torch on fire. Not long ago I had had trouble with that spell as well. And a year ago I might have set the entire library on fire trying to light that torch.
“Follow me,” Aahz said, and stepped at the stone wall.
And right through it.
“This place could give a guy a headache,” I said, moving at the stone wall behind him. I had the shovel slightly in front of me in case the stone decided to be stone for me.
I went right through, just as Aahz had done.
Tanda came through behind me.
The tunnel was narrow and carved out of solid rock. Steps led down into the bowels of the earth. More steps than I could see in the torchlight. The place was cold and very dusty. It was clear that no one had been in here in a very, very long time, as our footsteps kicked up a cloud of dust that swirled in the flickering light of the torch.
“Are we shielded?” Aahz asked Tanda.
“Same as in the library,” Tanda said. “Count Bovine didn’t want this tunnel found, that’s for sure.”
“That helps us,” I said.
Aahz nodded, made sure we were both ready, then, holding the torch up so that we could see the steps as well as he could in the dust, he started down.
And we went down for a very, very long time, kicking up thick clouds of dust with every step. I could not imagine how anyone could have carved the tunnel. I could barely walk the steps, and we were going down. Climbing this must be next to impossible for anyone not in top shape.
Finally, after what seemed like a nightmarish eternity, we reached an area of the tunnel that flattened out.