"Here is the way of which I spoke," Shi'ka said quietly. "Though you have torches, if I may offer advice to you, risk no light within the passage unless absolutely necessary. The burrows beneath the mountain have many rambling ways, and it is possible that a light might be noticed by one whom you would not wish to encounter. Keep your voices still and travel as quickly as you can. May the face of Gho'miko shine ever upon you."

Gerrard clapped Shi'ka briefly on the shoulder. He shucked his Jhovall trader's robe and climbed onto the ladder. As he descended, Sisay, Tahngarth, and the sailors of Weatherlight removed their cloaks and followed. Shi'ka closed the trapdoor behind them.

The first part of the climb was made in an intense darkness. After a dozen yards, the ladder ended in a narrow, circular chamber, from which there appeared to be only one exit. Along this tunnel the company passed, hands extended on either side, ears cocked for the slightest sound. Their own footsteps sounded alarmingly loud, rattling and echoing against the stone floor.

The passage was rough and narrow, so that Tahngarth had to stoop to fit through it. The minotaur softly grumbled to himself.

After a few turns, Gerrard felt the floor begin to ascend. The upward slope continued for some time, the passageway climbing in a series of great, sweeping turns. There was still no light, but echoes told of a wider, taller corridor. In one or two spots, the darkness grew less intense. Gerrard made out several side passages that led off to unknown destinations.

Groping along the main passage, his hands fully extended before him, Gerrard encountered a pile of boulders. They felt rough and irregular, and they completely blocked the way. The others crowded behind.

"Well," Gerrard whispered. "I think this is where we take a risk. Sisay, light the torch, but keep it shielded as much as possible."

There was a faint scrape of steel against flint. A spark landed on the torch's head, and Sisay blew it into a flame. Soon, the brand glowed brightly. The party saw they had come to a cave-in that completely filled the tunnel through which they had been traveling. Many of the stones were of great size, and there was little hope of clearing the passage easily or quietly.

Sisay smothered the torch, and they were back in the darkness, their eyes spotting from the sudden light. "Well," she whispered. "What do you think? Do we go back or try to find some other way through?"

Gerrard sensed the sentiments of the others: none liked this dark passage and they would prefer to take their chances with the guards in the lifts. Nonetheless…

"We try to find another way through," he whispered. "It's our best hope of getting into Mercadia without anyone knowing we've come back." He heard a faint sigh in the blackness and led the way back down the tunnel toward the first of the side passages.

The new tunnel felt smaller and narrower than the one they had been traversing. Tahngarth had to crouch to make his way along, and even Gerrard began to feel oppressed by the vast mountain overhead. At last, a faint glow appeared in the distance before them. As they drew closer, Gerrard spied the outline of a wooden door. He reached it and cautiously pressed his weight against it. The door yielded, opening into another passage.

Gerrard peered out. This hall was surprisingly wide and broad. Every fifty feet or so, an iron sconce on the wall held a flaring torch. To the left, the path angled upward. To the right, it bent down around a curve.

Sisay touched Gerrard's arm. "Well?" she asked. "It looks as if this particular road is no secret."

Gerrard nodded. "I think we have to chance it." He looked at the others crowding behind him. "Try not to make much noise, and go as quickly as you can. We've probably climbed about fifteen hundred feet from the base of the mountain, so we've got a long way to go."

The ascent was faster but tinged with urgency and trepidation. From far below, echoes occasionally resounded- machinery at work in the bowels of the mountain. Sometimes, disturbingly, they heard voices.

Dabis crouched and retrieved something from the side of the road. "Sir," he called in a whisper.

"What?" Gerrard stopped, as the others gathered around the sailor.

"Look." Dabis held out his hand.

Gerrard stared at the tiny object in his palm-a ring of green glass. "It's Squee's ring. It would seem he's been down here. But how?"

Tahngarth said disapprovingly, "If there is trouble to be found, Squee will find it."

"He was searching for Weatherlight," Sisay remarked. "Maybe he found it down here."

Gerrard thought a moment. "Yes, perhaps Weatherlight and Squee are both down here somewhere."

His voice found an echo, this time from up the tunnel. Someone approached around the next bend. The party glanced quickly around. The walls surrounding them were solid, unbroken by any nooks or crannies. Gerrard shook his head grimly and loosened his sword.

A moment later, a group of Mercadians appeared and stopped dead at the sight of Weatherlight's crew. Four in front wore the livery of the city guards. The others were courtiers, but Gerrard caught sight of a flash of green skin from the middle of the group. At least one Kyren.

With a shout, Sisay dashed forward, Tahngarth leaping behind her. There was a ringing that echoed up and down the tunnel. The guard drew their swords in time to parry the first attack. Sisay and Tahngarth closed with two of them.

Gerrard engaged the third guard, and Dabis the fourth.

Chamas rushed forward to aid her shipmates but fell with a cry of pain. A silver shaft emerged from her thigh.

The courtiers edged back. Two Kyren lifted blowpipes to their lips. They were aimed at Fewsteem.

With a slashing blow, Gerrard drove his opponent back so that the Mercadian was interposed between the goblins and their target.

Tahngarth meanwhile chopped sword and hand away from a guard. The Mercadian stared in shock. The minotaur's blade finished the job. In a mighty backstroke, it lopped off the man's head and hurled it down the corridor.

Sisay was having a bit more trouble. Unlike most Mercadian guards, her opponent knew how to handle a sword. He delivered a powerful blow that would have forced a lesser foe to her knees. Sisay parried successfully and shoved the man back. The guard aimed a stroke at her head. She ducked just as a shaft from the blowpipes whistled over her to thump uselessly against the wall.

Gerrard's duel was also more prolonged than he had hoped. He forced his opponent back against the wall. Desperate in terror, the man erected a whirling dervish of steel before him. The Benalian's best strokes could not penetrate it.

There was a wild yell from one of the Kyren. A dagger, thrown by Fewsteem, stuck out of the creature's wrist. He clutched his wound, howling in pain. Sword in hand, Fewsteem leaped over the body of the decapitated guard and attacked.

Tahngarth rushed up beside him, grabbed the Mercadian courtiers, and knocked their heads together. They fell unconscious-at the least-to the floor.

Gerrard feinted toward his opponent and brought his sword up in a sharp thrust that finally struck home. He felt the blade enter flesh and grate against bone. Then the man went to his knees. He sank slowly to the floor and clutched at his throat, from which poured a fountain of blood. The Mercadian's eyes rolled back in their sockets. His legs thrashed twice, and he was still.

In the same instant, Sisay came in over her opponent's guard. Her sword made a deep gash in his chest. As he staggered back, she lunged at him, twice plunging her blade through his body. He fell without further sound.

Tahngarth's striva hovered at the throat of the remaining goblin, whose companion had been cut down by Fewsteem. Dabis held Chamas in his arms. Her lips had turned blue, and she was shaking uncontrollably. Dabis looked up, tears in his eyes.