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As before, the stairs wind around until they come to the next level where they end. The hallway it opens out on is nearly blocked by the collapse of the ceiling. A section of the ceiling sits askew, one end braced against the floor and the other against the side of the hallway. Beneath is a small crawlspace large enough for them to pass through.

“Stay here,” Jiron says as he gets down on his hands and knees. Having to practically scrape his stomach along the floor, he wriggles his way through.

James watches his feet disappear in the opening and then listens to him as he works his way through.

“I’m through,” Jiron’s voice finally comes back to him. “It’s a crawl of about six feet before you clear the rubble.”

“Okay, I’m coming through,” announces James as he gets down and starts crawling through the opening. There isn’t much room and he feels like his back is being scraped raw. The light from the orb Jiron’s carrying reveals the other end of the blockage which gives him the impetus to continue. His wrist throbs from the struggle to crawl but he perseveres.

“It looks like this hallway continues further down,” Jiron states as James’ head appears from out of the crawlspace.

Making it through, he gets to his feet. “You okay?” Jiron asks.

“Does it matter?” he asks as pain radiates across his back from where the stone scraped it. “Lead on.”

Jiron glances at the way he’s favoring his hand then turns to continue down the hallway. They don’t travel far before an opening appears on their left. When they reach it they discover a small room. A quick survey reveals nothing and they continue on.

The hallway continues for several more yards before they reach the end. Here they find a gaping hole where the end of the hallway had once been. Letting the light of the orb shine through, they see a drop of about fifteen feet.

What looks to be the side of another building rests against the one they are in no more than two feet above the jagged opening, creating an open space below. A window lies directly before them in the other wall and is packed with dirt. Again, they wonder what happened here.

“After you,” Jiron says.

James again looks over the drop to the ground below. “That’s quite a ways,” he observes.

Jiron holds out his hand and says, “Take my hand and I’ll lower you over the side. That should leave only several feet for you to drop.”

Nodding, James gets down on the floor then turns and lowers his feet over the side. Before his stomach goes over the edge, he takes Jiron’s hand in his good one and pushes himself over the edge.

His left hand isn’t as strong as his right and continuously feels as if he’s going to lose his grip. But Jiron maintains a firm grip as he lowers James down the side of the building. Once he’s been lowered as far as Jiron can reach, Jiron says, “I’m going to let go, brace yourself.”

James gives him a nod and then all of a sudden, Jiron lets go. He hits the uneven ground and stumbles slightly before regaining his balance. “Made it,” he yells up to Jiron.

“Good,” comes the reply. “Here, catch.” The orb sails through the air and James grabs it before it hits the ground.

Looking up, he watches as Jiron swings his legs over the edge and lowers himself as far as he can before letting go. Landing much more gracefully than James, he’s soon standing next to him.

Increasing the luminosity of the orb, they see the area beneath the wall extends in both directions. The one to the right appears slightly less rubble filled than the other. Figuring one way is as good as another, they go in that direction.

The follow the gap provided by the leaning wall, every twenty feet or so another window appears in the wall above them. Every one is clogged with dirt and has a matching mound of dirt directly below it on the ground.

Thirsty, James takes out his water bottle and discovers that he only has half a bottle left. Taking a small sip, he returns the bottle to his belt. “You have any water left?” he asks.

Checking his water bottle, Jiron replies, “Little over half. You?”

“About the same,” he says.