Much of the walk along the tunnel was uneventful. Sir Carter lamented that they did not have more in the way of shields, primarily when they approached one of several arrow traps. The young Lord Ridley helped them to keep the traps from triggering, but their progress was slow and nervous nonetheless. They also crossed two small streams that flowed across the man-made tunnel, supposedly to keep some of the monsters from getting too far.

“It weeds out some of them,” Ridley told Cerys when we questioned them. “Besides, this stream– and the other one that you saw– are naturally-occurring. It did not make sense to block them up or divert the tunnel over them.”

His explanation seemed to satisfy her. They went over a few other barrier walls, moving faster now that most of her questions had been answered. She wondered sometimes if the men were having a hard time keeping up with her questions and the extent of her curiosity. They had to explain to her about the false doors and the narrow hallways that turned back on themselves, as well as some of the other traps and tricks that had been set up.

They met no wild creatures until Ridley mentioned that they were nearing the entrance– or, from her perspective, the exit. It seemed that not even rats had an interest in the tunnel, since there was nothing to eat in there. What they did find was hanging from the ceiling, clinging to the roots that had found their way down through the ceiling.