“It’s hard to make out,” Evin told him, “but there are scratches in the ground from when this was moved. If the scratches were old, they’d be eroded by rain and wind. These are definitely fresh.” He grinned, then looked over at Betilivatis. “Just a trick my brother taught me so you can know if anyone’s gone through a door recently before you sneak in.”

Betilivatis raised an eyebrow.

“Help me shove it open,” Evin said to Jorick as he bent down to push. Jorick nodded and joined him.

Crouched together side by side, Evin and Jorick leveraged their feet against the dusty ground of the ruins and shoved against the wide copestone. The stony edge bit into Evin’s palm. His back, leg, and arm muscles ached with the effort, but the round stone moved only a few inches. There was a loud screech as it moved over the old, cracked street.

Evin and Jorick leaned back, panting. “Care to help?” Evin asked Betilivatis.

“No, I’m good,” she said.

Jorick rolled his eyes and both boys crouched back down and pushed again.

With three more shoves, the copestone suddenly seemed to open of its own accord, screeching across the ground to reveal a gaping hole. An old set of stone stairs disappeared beneath the long destroyed city.

Jorick stood to his full height and wiped the sweat off his forehead. “Now what?”

“Now we see if that ormyrr was telling the truth,” Evin said. He turned to Betilivatis. “Bring the light—”

But the girl was running off into the darkened ruins. She had left her glowing orb behind to light the boys’ efforts, having cast a second one for herself.

“Where are you going?” Evin called after her. “Bet!”

“My name is not … oh, never mind!” Her voice echoed among the crumbling buildings. She looked back over her shoulder. “I’m making sure the ormyrr actually left. We don’t want it following us, begging for more magic and drawing the gnolls’ attention. Be right back!”

And then Betilivatis—or Bet now, Evin thought, since she seemed through arguing about her name—was gone, her shadowy form and her little glowing light disappearing behind ancient walls.

“We don’t really have time for this,” Jorick grumbled as he came up behind Evin. “That ormyrr wouldn’t be able to fit down those stairs anyway.”

Evin clenched his fists, eyes not leaving the darkened ruins where Bet had disappeared. Her attitude was starting to get on his nerves, and Jorick was right: their families were down there, waiting. It had been a whole day already since the gnolls had kidnapped the villagers, and with every passing minute it became more and more likely that their relatives were being served up as a gnoll feast.

Turning back toward the dark stairway that led underground, Evin pushed past Jorick. “You’re right, we don’t have time for this. We’re leaving her behind.”