We dug.
I won’t waste space here with describing the process of that long descent underground. Suffice it to say that it was far worse than the crossover into the deep darkness of Ayrien, for it was velvet-black, completely untouched by any form of light, and enclosed to boot. I’ve never felt claustrophobic before, but it came upon me then, so powerfully that I spent a full minute frozen with the desire to escape.
I resisted, and dug, and at length we came upon the first of the bones. I had wondered if we would find them all jumbled up together, so closely had they seemed to be packed from our vantage point above. But closer up, I could sense each one, distinct and separate from the next.
I don’t know how long we spent down there among those pitiful remains. Time passed strangely under
