Lannon felt a surge of excitement at the prospect, but then it gave way to darker feelings. "Maybe we could, Vorden. But the bars were placed here for a reason-to keep something from coming through. And it must be something powerful, or they would have just used steel or iron. Glaetherin is probably pretty rare. "
"I don't believe those fairy tales," said Vorden. "They used Glaetherin because they wanted to keep people from seeing the Divine Essence. Look at it this way, Lannon. Something down here killed Kuran Darkender, right? Well, his armor was made of Glaetherin. So that metal couldn't stop the evil creatures, anyway. The Knights must have destroyed the beasts and put the bars here to keep people out!"
Lannon thought it over, and could not find fault with Vorden's logic. But at the moment his thinking wasn't perfectly clear, either. "Maybe you're right," he said. "I'll try the Eye. If it works, we'll keep going. But any sign of danger, Vorden-"
"And we turn back of course," Vorden finished. "I'm not a fool, Lannon. I don't want to die down here anymore than you do."
"Let's just leave," Timlin said again, peering into the stone cavern beyond the bars. "I don't like this at all."
Vorden glowered at him. "At least help Lannon call out the Eye. Then, if you want to be a coward, you can go back. But don't you dare get us caught, Timlin! Just wait in the shadows somewhere by the door."
"I can't go back in the dark!" said Timlin, shivering.
Vorden shrugged. "Looks like we go on together, then."
"How can we go on?" said Aldreya. "I just told you-no one can open a wheel lock without knowing the combination. It is impossible."
The boys took position on either side of Lannon. It took several tries to get their words and taps to synchronize, but eventually Lannon's mind split in two and the Eye of Divinity came out. He directed it on the lock and the answer was revealed-and much more. He glimpsed a mind-numbing process of mathematical calculations, trial and error, and sorcery behind it all. He knew exactly what to do.
Lannon stepped forward, applied a slight pressure to the wheel, and gave it a hard spin. When the wheel stopped, a click could be heard-very loud and intrusive in the stillness of the stone chamber. The gate split, coming partly open.
A moment of silence followed, interrupted only by tense breathing.
Then Vorden whispered, "You actually did it!"
"Goodness!" Aldreya gasped. "How did you do that?"
Lannon shrugged, unsure if he should tell her.
Vorden stepped through the open gate, leaving the others in the shadows. Hurriedly they swallowed their fears and followed. The Eye of Divinity probed the darkness of the cavern, revealing the echoes of centuries. It gave glimpses far into the past-of dark and bloody affairs in vague yet horrifying detail, mingling with the moans of the dying in the deep places of the mountain. Olrog pickaxes clanged fiercely against the stone, driven by powerful grey-skinned bodies, as dark things crept through the caverns and up the mineshafts in search of flesh.
It might have showed Lannon more, but he frantically drew it back inside himself and decided it was time to get out of here. The images had been too horrible to be ignored. He turned away, pushing Timlin and Aldreya aside, and started back towards the gate. But as he left the torchlight behind, the darkness closed around him, gripping him to the soul and leaving him helpless. Down here, the dark seemed alive and hostile.
With a violent shudder, Lannon turned and raced back to the torchlight.
"What was that all about?" Aldreya said.
"I was just checking behind us for danger," mumbled Lannon, blushing.
He lacked the courage to face the dark, and so there was no turning back now, until Vorden decided it.
The cavern widened some and then split into three tunnels. Vorden gazed at the tunnel mouths for several moments, scratching his head, while Lannon, Timlin, and Aldreya fidgeted about impatiently. Finally he shrugged helplessly.
"I guess we take the left one."
No one questioned his decision, and they found themselves moving down a long, sloping course that eventually leveled off again. They passed the remains of some mining tools, including a broken cart and a rusted pickaxe, and piles of rotten rope. They also encountered yellowed bones and even a couple of oddly shaped skulls with wide teeth.
"Olrog skulls, I'll bet," said Vorden, nodding towards them.
Furlus Goblincrusher's kinfolk, Lannon thought.
At the sight of the skulls, Timlin almost lost his nerve, and stood paralyzed for a time while Vorden chastised him.
"Quit being such a coward, Timlin!" Vorden whispered harshly, "and act like a Blue Squire for a change. Those skulls are obviously ancient, and who knows how they got here? And remember, if you go back-you do it in the dark."
But Vorden's words seemed hollow, and the lad from Gravendar suddenly didn't look so confident anymore. His eyes darted back and forth into the shadows, and his knuckles were white as he gripped the handle of his axe.
Suddenly the cavern widened into a chamber so large the torchlight could not reveal the walls or ceiling of it. The Squires instantly felt exposed in the open space around them that was swallowed in darkness. Anything could be watching them from the shadows beyond the torchlight-yet they would not be able to see it. Their own light source gave them away, making them easy targets.
And at this point Vorden halted, and Lannon could tell by the expression on his face he was considering turning back. But then that expression faded into one of determination, and he trudged forward into the unknown.
After about a hundred feet they came to a stone wall, and the torchlight revealed the very edge of a tunnel mouth to their left. Vorden led them into it. This was a crudely hewn tunnel, the walls and floor uneven. The Squires had to be careful not to trip. A gloomy, desolate feeling hung in this particular cavern-different somehow, more dreadful, than what they had encountered thus far. This tunnel seemed old and cramped, leading them into a place where only fools would dare go.
"Vorden, this is crazy!" Lannon whispered. "We can't go on anymore. It's too big down here, and the Divine Essence could be anywhere."
"But we must be close," said Vorden. "I think I can feel it somehow. Are we just going to leave now, with the Essence somewhere nearby? This might be our only chance to ever catch a glimpse of it."
Lannon sighed. "I really don't care anymore. I just want to get out of here. We can come back later, when we have more torches and we're better trained. Listen-we need to go back right now, before we get ourselves lost or killed! And maybe they've already discovered we're missing. We could lose our chance at Knighthood!"
Lannon felt sickened by the whole affair, his mind overridden with gloomy thoughts and terror. And yet Vorden seemed so foolishly stubborn. Lannon deeply regretted his decision to come down here, and if he could have taken it back and lost Vorden's friendship forever, he would have. None of this seemed worth it in the least-despite his dream of the Divine Essence. And still Vorden trudged onward, holding the only torch. Vaguely Lannon considered making a grab for that torch and running. But Vorden held it in a death grip, perhaps anticipating such a maneuver.
Timlin remained silent at this point, obviously overcome by fear. He pressed close to Lannon, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor, and he was trembling all over. Through all his dismay, Lannon felt extreme irritation over Vorden's selfishness. Timlin looked ready to fall apart at any moment, and still Vorden refused to give in.
Aldreya stopped. "I don't think I can go on," she said. "I feel horrible, like I'm being smothered down here. Lannon is right, Vorden. We need to get out of this place and never come back."
"Get going then," said Vorden, "or stand there and wait. But I'm moving on, and that's the way it is."