The group made their way into the cool, damp tunnel with thoughts of beetles and other monsters on their minds. The tunnel showed signs of age and disuse, the reinforcing beams rotted in places and portions of the walls collapsed, but not dangerously so. It was a straight shot, with no side passages other than the occasional burrow abandoned by some creature or the other. The adrenaline rush of the unknown faded after some time, falling into the tediousness of trekking through the dark. They continued as they had to fill the lantern with oil once, then twice. The oil ran low in the lantern once again and the tunnel showed no sign of doing anything other than continuing on as it had.
"I can't claim to understand the mind of a gigantic beetle," Arachne whispered, "but I have to wonder what that goblin was thinking, going all the way up to Ranchefus's lair."
"Um, we've been down here a long time," murmured Rumer, "And it doesn't look like there's any sign of stopping. Should we go on or maybe rejoin the rest and try to talk them into joining us down here?"
"Woods-loving elves, a warrioress who's interested only in the shortest distance to the Gleaming Glade and a wizard who gets all starry-eyed about a town-stuck colleague," Arachne whispered softly. "You really think you could talk them into coming down and inspecting this _fascinating_ excavation?"
"Um, nope. I think unless it involves Jana's girlfriend or her new boyfriend," Rumer shuddered, "then we're pretty much on our own. I should have told her Ranchefus kidnapped her instead. That's what I get for not lyin'."
"Well, it's good that you see the truth of it." Lasiar said as he smirked and shook his head slightly. "Once the Lady reigns, we have 3 full days to meet the others. It will take us a couple days to reach them, if I miss my guess. I would like to press on for a while more, even if it means setting up camp down here." He paused for second. "We have come down here to find Ranchefus. I would not like to have spent a full day and have only empty oil jars for our efforts."
Rumer nodded, "I want him dead. I want to sleep again." Her hand tightened until it was white-knuckled around the hilt of her short sword.
"You all have the right of it. Let's press on until we find something, for all we know this tunnel ends at the Gleaming Glade. Remember Ranchefus had to come this way." Blacky said "Arachne, I've heard dwarves speak of always knowing where they are underground. Gnomes are related to dwarves, are they not? Can you tell where we are in relation to the surface?"
"Below it," Arachne said confidently.
Rennirolas smiled as he stooped to refill the lantern. "Such levity," he said as he left the lantern on the floor of the tunnel. "Laisar, you had said it will take us two days to join the others, correct? So then are we to continue our exploration for the remainder of this day, camp down here, and then head back up to the surface to make our way to the meeting place?"
"It's the dreams. I don't want to sleep because of the dreams." Rumer replied, her eyes haunted.
"Those were my thoughts." Lasiar nodded. "Hopefully we will find some rewards to our efforts, though it is getting pretty depressing finding nothing so far."
