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“Thanks for saying something before it became a problem,” Riona said as she struggled to catch her breath.

Dougal checked to make sure the others were all right, then knelt down to examine the floor and see what had happened. Kranxx stood next to him, giving him plenty of light to work with.

There was a hinge on the floor, almost impossible to see, especially by a lantern’s light. Dougal recognized the type of trap they’d triggered, and he cursed.

“Bear’s breath! What’s wrong now?” Gullik asked. “This filth is too cold to just stand here in it!”

“Lots of traps only work once,” Dougal said. “This one resets itself automatically. From this hinge here onward, the walkway is actually a ramp. A set of counterweights underneath it holds it up horizontally, right up until there’s enough weight on the end of the ramp. Then the ramp tips forward and dumps you right into the worst part of the sludge.”

“And then you die,” said Ember.

Dougal shook his head. “And then you find yourself trapped against the grating that covers the end of the tunnel, held up against it by the force of thousands of pounds of filthy water pressing you into it until you drown.”

“And then you die,” said Killeen.

Dougal nodded. “And then you’re held there until your body rots enough for the water pressure to tear you into pieces so small that you flow out through the grate with the rest of Ebonhawke’s waste.”

Dougal pointed at Kranxx’s glowing light. “Can you put that out?”

Kranxx pulled a heavy sack from his pack and hooded the stone with it, blocking its glow. Dougal stared ahead into the darkness until his eyes adjusted to it.

“Yes,” he said, “I can see some light up ahead. I think we’re near the entrance.”

“Good,” said Riona. “Now we just need to figure out how to get there—without dying.”

Dougal glanced around, and his eyes fell on Gullik. He pointed at the norn’s axe and said, “Give me that.”

“You’re as mad as Raven,” said Gullik. “No warrior gives up his weapon until the fight is finished.”

“I’m going to use it to fight the trap.” Dougal put out his hands. “Trust me.”

Gullik screwed up his lips as he evaluated the man and the moment, then reversed his axe and handed it to Dougal by the handle. “I expect it back in one piece.”

Holding the weapon, Dougal realized just how heavy the thing was. He wasn’t sure he could swing it over his head. Fortunately, he didn’t have to.

He set the axe down on the walkway, then lowered himself into the sludge. It was just as nasty as it had been before. No matter how much he braced himself for the stench and the cold, it was horrible.

He took the axe and put it headfirst into the sludge before Gullik could stop him. Then he bent down deeper into the sludge until it came up to the tops of his shoulders. With a bit of wiggling, he managed to wedge the ax up under the ramp. He tested it for a moment, then let go. It was jammed in there hard enough that it stuck.

“I want my axe back,” Gullik said. “I haven’t lost a weapon since an icebrood I was fighting took my spear from me and used it as a toothpick.”

“I just need to release the grating,” said Dougal. “Then you can have it back.”

He climbed out of the muck again and then beckoned Kranxx to come with him. “I need your lamp,” he said, “and you’re light enough to not trigger the trap with me.” He looked past the aura. “The rest of you stay here. We’ll be right back.”

Dougal worked his way forward along the ramp on his hands and knees, waiting for the axe’s handle to snap or to feel the telltale tipping sensation that meant his life would soon end. As he drew closer to the end of the ramp, he saw the outside.

The sewer exited the mountainside beneath a rocky overhang, which was why they could not see any daylight sooner. Even so, the light seemed muted, and Dougal guessed that the valley beyond the grate was probably still deep in shadow. The end of the sewer was sealed with an iron grate that had been coated with rust and slime over the past two