"Faster." Wadin unconsciously lowered his voice.
But it was no use. The clanging and hammering couldn't be masked. If anything was nearby, human or ghost, it should have been drawn over by now.
There was no sound from the other side. That could only mean it was all over long ago, and they had arrived too late.
After an interminable wait that felt like a whole year, they finally cleared enough rubble to make a passage someone could crawl through. Wadin went in first, with Kraft following behind.
The ceiling was less than four handbreadths from his back, and sharp-edged stones pressed beneath his chest and abdomen. He had to use his arms to hold himself up slightly while turning his head sideways to keep from scraping his chin.
They had covered barely two meters when Wadin's breathing grew labored. The flat, cramped space gave the impression that they could suffocate at any moment, so he instinctively began taking deep breaths to ease the constriction.
But expanding his chest squeezed the space even tighter. In the narrower spots, a deep breath made it difficult to get through, and the edges of the rocks struck his rising and falling ribs.
Their only significant light came from the unsteady torch behind them. Blocked by obstacles, it cast a wavering glow, making it seem as if they were crawling between a set of grinding jaws, with an unfathomable throat ahead.
"Relax. Control your breathing. You can squeeze through." Hearing the man in front breathing heavily and gradually coming to a stop, Kraft easily guessed what was wrong.
The claustrophobia was brought on by their surroundings and the pressure of the situation. Kraft felt it too, but he was long used to it. Compared to the extreme confinement he had experienced when his Spiritual