The gentle light was soothing, yet the enormous passageway made them feel tiny, bringing a faint, peculiar discomfort, an unease born of mismatched proportions.
It was a curious sensation. Ruger and the others had visited some vast caverns before and felt something similar, but never so clearly or intensely, and they had quickly grown accustomed to it.
As Ruger pondered, he gradually understood. Even on that road that made people experience pain from an unusual angle, everything within sight had been fairly simple. The other places had been much like natural caves. This place was different. Reliefs adorned its walls, the lighting was just right, the floor was neatly laid, and the walls did not meet the vaulted ceiling at abrupt right angles, but joined it through an additional beveled edge. Everything had a consistency of proportion, bearing more traces of beings of enormous size living here. That was why they felt so strangely small. They were not facing mountains and rivers, but intruding into the dwelling of gigantic beings like themselves.
Barry Danton never turned around, so Ruger could only hear the screams behind him. Judging by the footsteps, however, most of the Wizards had made it across.
Several Bearers had vicious gleams in their eyes. It seemed that some fools' actions had cost them one of their own as well.
This was far beyond anything Ruger had expected, and the atmosphere instantly grew tense.
Tap! Tap, tap! Steady footsteps rang out.
The Bearer with half-gray hair had already started walking farther inside, and Barry Danton did the same. Neither side said anything more.
The two strolled onward, surveying their surroundings as they walked.
Ruger propped his feet up beside the table, curious about that supposed temporary contract. He wondered when it expired, or under precisely what conditions it