"Can't smell much more than age and dirt." He hesitated, then glanced past me to the right. "It smells a bit fresher down that direction, though."
It did? I studied the lilac-lit shadows dubiously, then glanced to the left again. There wasn't a chance I was heading down there, so that left only Jak's choice.
With Amaya's fire lighting the way, we crept forward. The tunnel continued to narrow, until the bits of rock and debris in the soil were tearing into my shoulders and the scent of blood stung the air.
If there were hellhounds ahead, it would call to them.
I swallowed heavily and tightened my grip on Amaya. Her hissing ramped up, and I didn't know whether she was reacting to something I'd yet to see, or merely echoing my tension. I hoped it was the latter, but I had a horrible suspicion it was the former.
At least I was better off than Jak—even as awkwardly bent over as he was, he kept hitting his head against the roof.
"Fuck," he said eventually, "I really think we need to turn back."
"No. There's something down the other end of this tunnel—" I yelped as a particularly sharp rock sliced into my arm.
"At this rate," he muttered, "we'll bleed to death before we ever reach an exit."
"I think I'd rather bleed than chance whatever is at the other end."
"It can't be any worse—"
"I wouldn't bet on it."
The words were barely out of my mouth when I burst out of the tunnel like a cork being popped from a champagne bottle. I stumbled to gain my balance and took a quick look around, once again using Amaya for illumination. No hellhounds, nothing that appeared immediately dangerous—just two innocuous-looking stones that stood like petrified soldiers in the middle of a cavern. Which didn't mean we were out of trouble, but wherever the hell we were, it had to be better than the tunnel. Jak all but exploded out of it three seconds later and came to a halt beside me.
"Fuck me!" he said vehemently. He swept the sweaty strands of hair from his forehead with hands as bloody as mine and looked around. "Where are we?"
"I have no idea. And not in a million years."