didn’t see me. I just peeked in from above and closed the trapdoor real quick.”
“Was Mardon in there?”
“Uh-huh. He was showing the biggest giant how to train the others.”
Sapphira shook her head. “I’ll bet that was my spawn, Yereq.”
“Yes!” Elam pointed at her. “That was the name he called it. Yereq.”
Acacia took the scroll closer to the firelight and rolled it out on the floor. “Here,” she said, pointing to the upper right portion of the map. “This one’s labeled the mobility room.”
Elam pressed his finger on a room at the bottom left. “We’re way over here.”
“That’s strange,” Acacia said. “The room we’re in isn’t labeled.”
“I remember looking at this a few years ago.” Sapphira tapped her finger next to Elam’s. “I think this was an empty chamber before the museum dropped in. Mardon probably drew this map long before that happened, and he still might not know about it. Morgan never told Mardon anything he didn’t need to know, not even about the abyss.”
“The abyss?” Acacia tilted her head at Sapphira. “What’s that?”
“Something only Morgan, Paili, and I know about. Paili and I found it while mining and almost fell in, but we had no clue what it was.” Sapphira scanned the map. “Where’s the mining level?”
Acacia rolled it out farther. “Let’s see. . . . Laborers’ quarters . . . Ah! Mining level.”
Sapphira slid her finger along dark lines that represented the trenches. “This is an old drawing. We mined past the end of this before I got promoted to the control room.” She pointed at a spot off the map. “If you extended the drawing, the abyss would be about right here. It’s a deep hole, so deep I couldn’t see the bottom.”
“Then I guess you wouldn’t know what’s in it,” Elam said.
“Not for sure. We heard someone moaning, and I read something in a scroll that told me what might be down there. I assumed the scroll was right, so I never went back. One thing’s for sure; Morgan seemed interested in it.”
“Well, I don’t know about you girls,” Elam said, “but if Morgan’s interested in it, I want to know what’s going on.”
“What’s your hurry?” Sapphira asked. “It seems safe enough where we are.”
“Until we learn everything that’s going on here, I won’t assume we’re safe.” He picked up the lantern. “Anyone want to join me?”
Sapphira sighed. “I guess I should. I know exactly where it is.”
“No!” Paili shook her head and grabbed Sapphira’s hand. “Not the deep hole!”
Acacia gently pulled Paili away from Sapphira and hugged her close. “I’ll stay with the girls. If Mardon doesn’t know what’s in this chamber, maybe we should set up a home here.”
Elam nodded. “That sounds perfect.”
Sapphira picked up a scroll from the fire and tapped out the flames. “I’ll use this if the lantern fuel runs out.”
Sapphira and Elam hurried along the corridor, Elam staying a step or two in front. They passed the original portal chamber and wound through the meandering corridor that led to the laborers’ hovels. When they reached the lift platform, Elam paused and stared at the cudgel and metal plate hanging on the wall. “We don’t want to wake Chazaq, that’s for sure, but he might not be down there, anyway.”
Sapphira touched the warped plate, making it swing like a pendulum. “So we’re stuck?”
“Looks that way.” Elam tugged the pulley rope, but it wouldn’t budge. “It’s probably tied at the bottom.”
“Do you know another way to get down?”
“Sure. If you can climb down a rope.”
Sapphira tapped her foot on the platform. “You mean there’s room to squeeze between the wall and this board?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never done it before. But once you get past the passenger platforms, there’s probably lots of room, and going down should be pretty easy.”
“True, but we also have to get back.” Sapphira laid the scroll down and grabbed the rope with both hands. She pulled herself off her feet and dangled in the air. Her arms weren’t as strong as when she was digging for magnetite and chiseling out chambers, but she felt pretty confident she could lower herself to the mining level. Dropping back to the platform, she pointed at the lantern. “What about our light?”
“Not a problem.” Elam unfastened his belt and looped it through the lantern’s handle, then tied it in place. “As long as we get down before it burns a hole in my clothes.” He pulled his sleeves over his hands, latched onto the rope, and began sliding down with his