With that he picked up the book, closed its pages, opened his sack and slid the book back inside the safety of his carrier. He picked up the remaining candle, blew out its flicker of light, leaving us in complete darkness. " Begin to move, Elena. " I heard him call in the dark. So I gathered myself up onto my hands and knees and started to move further down into the tunnel with Fledgling and Corcoran not far behind.

" Fledgling, is there anything down here that we should know about?" I called back at him. Fledgling wasn't so eager to speak and in his hesitation, I had the distinct feeling that he was with holding information from me, again.

" Umm. " He hesitated again, sounding slightly guilty, as I heard him take a large gulp at the back of his throat.

" As you get further down toward's the end of the tunnel, you will feel little trickles of running water from both sides of you, don't panic, its nothing to be worried about." He went on to say, as if we was faced with a normal situation.

" MORE WATER" , I shouted , aiming my voice back towards Corcoran. I heard my own echo and realised that maybe, just maybe, it wasn't such a good idea to shout down, into a bed of rocks', after all. We all felt the vibrations' of movement from around us and at that point I felt very vulnerable, indeed.

42.