Marcus burst through into the chamber, spotted the shivering Kevan, and grabbed her. He dragged her across the short expanse of water to where the others had pulled themselves out and lay resting. Kevan finally gathered enough energy to push herself to her knees, and she looked around to see where they had arrived this time. Something felt different about this chamber, something nagged at her, making her use her newly acquired power, and she felt her heart race with excitement, hoping she wasn’t being fooled by her desire to end this quest.
The ruins stood crumbling and silent, the obit of a bygone era. They watched, as Kayne strode back across the field, and joined them to give his report. “It’s deserted. I’d say that nobody has been here for years,” he informed them
“Good,” Caleb nodded, as he turned to face Tyrone. “You insisted that we come here, so here we are, but before we do one more thing, we need you to tell us why, and what your plan is.” Caleb inquired, “What is so important about these ruins?”
“It isn’t the ruins that are important,” Tyrone told them. “It’s what’s under them that’s important.”
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Niall asked. “What’s under the ruins?”
“It’s a tunnel.”
“Another tunnel?” Caleb asked, as his curiosity was piqued.
“Yes, but not just any tunnel; this tunnel is important because it will take us back into new Elden castle.” Tyrone explained.
“Excuse me?” Caleb questioned.
“This tunnel was built as an escape route for the royal family, in case the city was ever overrun.”
“So nobody knows about it?” Niall pointed out.
“Some members of the royal family know, but I hadn’t gotten around to telling Grey about it before this whole thing started. It’s something that we tried to keep quiet; that way we would have an escape route that nobody knew about.”
“What are the chances that Bart knows about it?” Caleb questioned.
“Fifty-fifty, I would say. I never told him, but I don’t know if his father ever did.”
Caleb nodded, taking what Tyrone said, and processing it.
“So you’re telling us that we have an access to the castle that nobody knows about.”
“I hope so,” Tyrone told him. “I have spent the last four years planning my return, and the one way of getting into the castle, and to the people, is through this tunnel.”
“Planning for four years, huh?” Caleb asked, smiling.
“How was I to know that you would show up here?” Tyrone joked. “We welcome your involvement. Grey has told me a bit about what why you are here, and how you allowed your woman to search for this book on her own, so that you could help him. We will never be able to thank you for this; no matter the circumstances that brought you back to Elden, we would not be able to do this without you.”
“It was luck, that is all, and we are honored to help, my old friend.” Caleb looked back to the ruins. “So tell me, where does this tunnel come out in the castle?”