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Lazarus and his fellow travelers walked the Caves of the Dead with Shannol in the lead. The elf checked her map whenever they arrived at several different pathways to choose to go through. By and large, the specters never bothered them.
Grace said, "How long have we been walking?"
"Not long, Mistress Grace," Shannol said.
They stood before a large cavern with several tunnel pathways angling away in different directions. Lazarus wore the jacket the trappers gave them. It was cold and in the dim light of the torches he saw his breath in the air. "Do you need a break?"
He also felt tired, but he wanted to get to the Blessed Isles as soon as he could, because he sensed Merlin was running out of time. The Vvong Queen was doing something to keep Merlin in a twilight dream of his own past, and Lazarus was not sure if the combined might of the Alpha Mages could awaken the Great Mage.
"Yes," Grace said.
Lazarus saw panic in her eyes. He was not sure how she was keeping her fears abated. A steady flow of icy air came from the bowels of the tunnels and flowed around them.
"Shannol," Lazarus said, "let's have a short break here. We need food and water."
They stopped and sat in the middle of the cavern. He saw the ghosts had flowed out of the surfaces of the rock and were roaming around the area.
"Be careful. Stay close to us."
The specters didn't seem to notice them and when they tried to float close to them they would suddenly change direction. He took from his sack a dried beef stick and his water skin. Sniffing the beef stick, he took a bite. It was good.
Cindy glanced behind him. "Look at that ghost."
They all turned around. A specter was floating along the tunnels. It was a young elven girl. She was transparent and wore a pained and haunted expression. She was mouthing some words.
Cindy almost stood but stopped herself and sat next to Lazarus.
Lazarus spoke. "Shannol, what do you know about the Caves of the Dead?"
The elf sighed and turned to him. "Master Lazarus, the Caves of the Dead are a place for ghosts trapped between Valhalla or the Blessed Isles."
Grace was still looking at the pained elven ghost.
Cindy said, "Why are they trapped?"
"The ghosts are either waiting, or searching for, their loved ones who are still alive. They cannot go back and talk to them."
"That’s sad. Don't you have a priest or wizard who could help them?"
"No," Shannol said in a stern manner. "That magic is forbidden. We don't have any Necromancers in our lands. They are evil and were vanquished eons ago."
Cindy turned to Shannol and was about to say something, but just shook her head. Lazarus understood. The Elves were just like them. They didn't like anything that was scary or foreign, and would destroy anything they didn't understand.
Yet, Lazarus thought it odd that the Elves didn't persecute them for talking to Merlin, who was also trapped in the Blessed Isles.
Shannol took out the map was looking at their next direction. "We are almost halfway toward the entrance."
"Thank you," said Lazarus. He should have already told Shannol his idea about her entering the Blessed Isles.
"Shannol," Lazarus began, "I'm not sure if you could enter the Blessed Isles. I'm not sure that we could enter ourselves, but I think we can, since Merlin wanted us to help him."
Shannol nodded, but kept looking at the map, concentrating on the topography of the chart.
Shannol said, "I know. We will have to see."
Lazarus nodded too. He vowed that if she couldn't come with them he would give her the figurine and instruct her to leave.
They all stood, and Shannol led them into the middle tunnel. The air was more pungent and smelled like yeast and mold.
"Yuck!" Cindy said.
Lazarus said, "Is this the right way?"
"Yes," Shannol said. "Master Lazarus, this is the only way."
Lazarus instantly felt something was watching them. He turned to Royce and looked at him. They knew something was in those tunnels.
Lazarus spoke telepathically to the Alpha Mage. "Everybody, I feel somebody or something is watching us. We have to be careful. Royce, do you sense them?"
Royce telepathically said, "Yes, but there is more than one of them and I don't think it is human."
Shannol didn’t hear them took out her weapon. "Be wary, Alpha Mages. Something is odd here."
The pathway started to veer downwards and the air began to get warmer. Lazarus and the others took off their coats and stuffed them into their sacks. Then a brighter light than the specters around them appeared far away down the tunnel. They had no choice, and had to transverse toward the light.
They moved toward it for what seemed several hours, but the light was still further down the tunnel. Lazarus felt the others were nervous and fearful.
Shannol said, "Master Lazarus, do you want me to scout ahead?"
The elf must have felt their fear.
"No, we need to stay together. We don't know what we will encounter."
They continued along the caves, as the pathway kept moving down. Lazarus noticed the ghosts and specters didn't congregate around this area, and he felt more terrified and didn't want to tell the others his idea. Grace's hand took hold of his and he almost yelled out in fright.
Then he heard a noise. It was not a wailing ghost noise, but a chittering that sounded familiar.
Lazarus said, "Vvong?"
"No, I would have smelled them," Royce said. "It is something else."
The sound grew steadily louder.
