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Virtus turned to run with the others, but he couldn’t help glancing back just once to see what their leader was doing.

There was a flash, then the archway crumbled into a pile of rubble. Virtus restrained a surprised yelp and sprinted faster, through an opening and into a dark, arched-ceilinged tunnel. No windows.

“That should tie him up for at least a half hour,” Isaac remarked, appearing beside Virtus. He looked satisfied.

The passage they were in was made of stone, like the rest of the place. No torches fizzled on the walls, not even so much as an arrow slit offered any sort of light. Instead, odd stones that glowed lined the walls, giving off eerie luminescence. There was a kingdom that made glowing rocks, Virtus remembered, but he couldn’t recall which one.

Water was trickling somewhere, and the sound of scraping metal limbs echoed through the  tunnel from time to time, a constant reminder of their danger. Virtus blew out a breath, raking his left hand through his hair. If this wasn’t a life-or-death situation, it would almost be fun. Or if Marina were here.

“It could be worse,” the lad offered, somehow sounding melodramatic and deadpan at the same time. “We could all be estranged from our homes, being chased by some metal monstrosity, trapped in an enchanted stone castle that is bent on our own demise.”

Virtus smiled distractedly. The boy had some sense of humor, after all. Yet his mind was on other things. What other traps might this place throw at them? How was he supposed to get back to the Keepers – to Marina? Were they all going to die? The book had said that they’d need food, water, and rest, none of which had come with Virtus when he’d fallen from the solid ceiling. The book! Why hadn’t he remembered to grab it? It would have most certainly come in handy.

Another thing. Virtus was still worried about what Isaac had said: that the castle rearranged itself. If that was the case, it might be safest to just wait in one spot, instead of being redirected wherever this crazy building wanted them to go. He glanced at their leader. It was his choice. Virtus was determined to trust the strange man’s experience.

The lad had turned to Nithel and was speaking with him in soft tones, so Virtus approached Isaac. “You said we should get to the ground level,” he said. “How exactly are we going to do that again?”

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@rusted-knight