The restrained monk had just come to his senses, still in a daze. It was like waking from a strange dream in which he'd done things that were absurd yet perfectly logical, only to find they had all really happened. His fellow monks had bound his hands, and he was being led along against his will. A Holy Emblem of Green's had also been hung around his neck to ward off evil.
"I don't think we necessarily have to go in right now." Green felt a pressure weighing on him. Perhaps it was the psychological effect of knowing there were thousands upon thousands of tons of water directly overhead.
It was like waiting for the results of an exam after doing poorly. A multitude of little details hinted at what was coming, giving you a vague idea of the outcome and a sense of foreboding.
The specifics might vary, but the result was bound to be something they didn't want to see. And judging by the charred smell in the air, it was hard to imagine the scene inside being anything pleasant.
"Otherwise, what? We just turn around and go back the way we came before we figure out where that thing came from?" Kraft combed through his memories, making sure to file away the map from the wall in a mental corner for later.
He studied the door in front of them. The heavy stone door opened toward the corridor. Its surface was plain and undecorated, with no locking mechanism or place to grip. It fit remarkably snugly, and along the edges he could make out a claylike sealing material, like the stuff between the seams of a sarcophagus, hardened by heat.
It had probably been designed to keep anyone from entering this way. It must have been opened