Chapter 4 Part 25

It had taken only three hours before the passage made a sharp turn to the west. Avery was leading the way with a torch, while Marlena followed and Armegon, pushing the floating form of Seymore, brought up the rear. The mine had been travelling slightly downhill and the going was easy.

"I expect the others will be waiting for us at the end of the tunnel," Avery said during a rest stop. He filled a bowl with water from a wine sack. Removing a needle from the lining of his cloak, he stuck it through the winesack's cork stopper and then placed it in the bowl. With his makeshift compass, he checked the direction.

"The tunnel leads west by southwest," he announced.

"That presumes that there are no magnetic fields in this mine," Armegon reminded him.

"Right," Avery agreed. "But Regalus said this was a silver mine and silver is non-magnetic."

"How do you feel, Marlena?" Armegon asked.

"I'm okay. I wish you two would stop fussing over me," she replied irritably.

"Listen lady," Armegon scolded. "We're all healers here. There is no need to be shy or to talk around the subject. You are pregnant and we are guessing as to the gestation period."

"You’re getting very large fast," Avery added. "I think you’re going to go into labor within a month, maybe less. Any heavy stress may make you go premature."

"We know that you’re strong," Armegon said respectfully, "but the child isn't."

"I get the message," Marlena said. After a moment she stood. "I’m ready to go again."

Two hours later the tunnel opened upon a beautiful double sunset over a huge mirror that stretched from horizon to horizon. "I had expected the name of the Glass Desert to be a figurative one," Armegon said in awe. "I never thought to see anything like this."

All three stood gawking for almost ten minutes before another word was said. "I wonder how this was formed?" Avery murmured.

"I noticed that we don't have any company," Marlena observed still looking out at the picturesque scene.

"I didn't see any merging passages with airflow marks other than the one we were in. I figure they’ll emerge from another exit," Avery explained. "In any event, I think we should move on. If we don't see them between here and Allentown, we can wait for them at the University. They know the destination."