He stepped onto the slick, translucent surface, sweating despite the bone-chilling cold.
A stalactite wiggled loose and dropped from the ceiling, and its razor-sharp point clipped the edge and took out a chuck half-way to the column.
A deep laugh shook the cavern.
Marl looked at the ceiling to see if other stalactites threatened to fall.
“Farther,” the deep voice intoned, and Marl couldn"t resist the compelling command, stepping farther and farther along the brittle bridge.
At the midpoint, he hesitated, the ice below him cracked where the stalactite had removed a chunk.
The figure gestured with the quill-clad hand, and Marl walked past the cracked point as though without a fear. The bridge held somehow, Marl not knowing whether to be more afraid of the figure waving him onward or of
