Chapter 34A brief search brought Isloman and the Cadwanwr to an opening that led on to a wide landing. Where they might have expected stairs, however, was a sloping ramp.
‘Down?’ Andawyr asked rhetorically as he set off purposefully.
The ramp sloped more steeply than the tunnel they had first found themselves in and it was uncomfortable walking. It spiralled steadily downwards, pervaded by a blue light that was sufficiently bright for them to see where they were going without the aid of a lantern. It prompted some comment but no one could find a source.
‘It’s the rock itself,’ Isloman said, his voice strained. ‘It’s screaming. This is a dreadful, dreadful place.’
As Orthlund’s First Carver, Isloman was unusually sensitive to qualities in rock that others were quite unaware of. Now his
