Final Kingdom by Gilbert L. Morris Page B

canteens here,” Beorn said,“and drink all we can. I’m not sure when we will find water again.”
    They rested for a while and ate a little. Then Beorn said, “Now we will enter the real dwarf country.”
    â€œI’m not sure I
want
to go into the dwarf country,” Reb muttered. He glanced around. He was next in line in front of Dave. Then he reached forward and tapped Wash on the shoulder. “Don’t you get lost. With your coloration it would be easy, and we’d never find you.”
    Wash turned and grinned, his teeth flashing. “May-be you better tie a string on me, Reb.”
    â€œI don’t know about all this,” Jake muttered. “I never did like underground stuff.”
    â€œIt reminds me of the Underworld,” Abbey murmured. “I wish we had some of our friends from there to guide us.”
    On and on they went until exhaustion compelled them to stop. They sat down to rest, and Sarah and Abbey worked on preparing food. They had bits of cold meat left and some dried fruit that was almost unchewable, but they made the best of it.
    Beorn insisted they keep only one torch burning, saving the others for later. “Plenty of air in here,” he said. “See how the flame burns?” Then he waved an arm. “I remember this place. It was a big conference room in the old days.”
    Then they pulled out their sleeping bags.
    â€œHard to know if it’s sleep time when you don’t know whether it’s day or night,” Wash muttered to Reb, who lay only a few feet away.
    â€œDon’t matter to me,” Reb said cheerfully. “Day or night, I’m sleepy. Sleep when I’m sleepy, drink when I’m dry. That’s what I do.”
    Several hours later, Beorn roused them.
    â€œI don’t think they would dare follow us down here,” he said, “but we can’t take the chance,” he said. “Reb, you be the rearguard now. From time to time, stop and listen. Call out if you hear anything coming up behind us.”
    â€œAll right, Beorn. If they followed us into the cave, I just hope they took that other fork. We don’t need any battles in here.”
    They trudged on.
    At last Beorn announced, “This is one of the lowest levels of the Caverns of Doom.”
    â€œWe haven’t seen any monsters,” Wash said, looking around nervously. “Maybe they’ve all left.”
    Beorn shook his head in denial. “They are here. And we must be very careful. Not all our enemies are human.”
    He did not elaborate, but just his words were enough to frighten Sarah. She could imagine the horrible things that might lurk underground here—huge worms with sharp teeth and other sorts of terrible monsters. They encountered nothing, however.
    And then they came to another decision point. The cavern broke off once more into two wings. One passageway led upward; the other led down.
    Glori said, “I’ve heard tales of this place. That is the doorway to the deepest part of the Caverns of Doom.” She pointed to the downward passage. “We don’t want to go there.”
    â€œYes, we do,” Beorn said. “That way—” he pointed upward “—is where the Dark Lord will have his men stationed. They know we came into the Caverns, and they’ll be waiting for us when we come out. We must go down deeper.”
    Sarah, who by now had a slight fever, could notunderstand most of the debate that ensued. Eventually she heard somebody say, “We’ll have to take a vote.”
    It was Jake’s voice. “How many of you vote to go down the way Beorn says?” he asked.
    Only Abbey raised her hand.
    Jake said regretfully, “Well, Beorn, it looks like you’re outvoted this time. I think we’ve had all we can take of these tunnels.”
    Beorn shook his head stubbornly. “To go upward is a mistake.”
    â€œNo, it is not!” Glori exclaimed.