55
I don’t know how long I lay panting in the darkness. It might have been minutes or hours before I realized I was not dead.
I unclenched my hand, and my knife fell with a clatter. The ground beneath me was smooth as I rolled over and pushed myself to my hands and knees.
My palm stung where the tree had ripped open my skin. My fingers trembled as I pulled the lae stone from my pocket.
The blue light gleamed off the black rock surrounding me. A wide tunnel with a high, perfectly-carved arch in the peak of the ceiling stretched out in front of me.
I looked to the rock behind me and pressed my b****y palm to the stone. The mountain did not budge.
