“I do not believe so.” Ushahin glanced into the darkness at the rear of the larder, where the chamber narrowed into a winding tunnel. “There is no one there to heed Oronin’s Horn. The passages are too low, even for my madlings.” He shrugged again. “Even if they were not, the tunnels leading from here link to the Vesdarlig Passage, and it is blocked, now. No one travels to or from your homeland, cousin.”

“I pray you are right.” Vorax stamped on the smoldering pile with a booted heel, grinding the remnants into harmless powder until nothing remained but a faint sooty smear. “There,” he said with satisfaction. “All evidence of our conspiracy is gone.”

Ushahin considered him. “Then we are finished?”

“Aye.” Vorax met his gaze unflinching. “I lack the courage of your madness, Dreamspinner. Already, you have shielded me from his Lordship’s wrath. I will not risk facing it a second time.” He shook his head. “Haomane’s Prophecy is no certain thing. His Lordship’s fury is. Do you cross his will again, there will be no mercy. I would sooner die in his name than at his hands.”

Ushahin nodded. “As you will, cousin.”

“URU-ALAT!” DANI WHISPERED. “A ROCKFALL?”

There was a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. Beside him, Uncle Thulu was silent, staring in disbelief. By the wavering torchlight, the pile of boulders before them reached all the way to the ceiling.

“No.” Thulu spoke at last, his voice heavy. “No, this was done on purpose. There’s no damage to the tunnel itself.” He gave a hollow laugh. “Of course it was. Why wouldn’t they block it? One less entrance to guard.”

It was too much to encompass. How many days had they been traveling beneath the earth? Weeks, at least; it may have been longer. Each step filled with fear and trepidation, each curve in the tunnel harboring the potential of a Fjel attack. All for nothing. There had been no Fjel. There was no egress. The tunnel was blocked.

“Can we move them?” Dani asked. “Or climb over it?”

Uncle Thulu squared his shoulders, shaking off the yoke of despair. “I don’t know, lad. Let’s try.”

They wedged the torches into the pile and began working, shifting the smaller rocks and digging out around the larger, concentrating their efforts on one several feet off the tunnel floor that appeared to be supporting the weight of others.

“Ready, lad?” Uncle Thulu asked, once he could wrap his arms around it.

Dani nodded grimly, taking hold of the boulder. “Ready.”

On a count of three, they hauled together, tipping it. The massive stone’s weight did the rest, rolling loose. As they leapt clear of its path, a small section of the pile shifted, other boulders settling in a cascade of smaller rocks.

Otherwise, it was unchanged.