Free Deltora Quest #5: Dread Mountain by Emily Rodda

the arrow firmly, he turned it until there was a slight but definite click.
    “It is unlocked. Shall we go in?” he asked, turning to his companions and drawing his sword.
    “No!” Prin begged, unable to keep silent any longer. “You say the gnomes are not clever, but they are, they are! They love tricks and traps. This is their door. If we use it we will die. I know it!”
    “We must enter the stronghold, Prin,” said Lief firmly. “The gnomes have something hidden here that we must find. But you need not enter with us. You can return to the path and keep watch.”
    He drew his own sword and nodded to Barda, who began to push firmly on the door. With a harsh, grating sound, the great piece of stone began to swing inward.
    And just then Lief thought he heard, from somewhere high above them, a muffled giggle. He grasped Barda’s arm and held it. “Wait!” he hissed.
    Jasmine had heard the sound too. She was looking up, peering intently at the cliff face. “There is no one to be seen,” she whispered. “But I am sure I heard someone laugh.”
    “It was a birdcall, perhaps,” said Barda. He stood, undecided, his hand still on the door.
    Kree squawked.
    “It was not a bird,” Jasmine said flatly. “It was someone laughing. At us.”
    They stood in tense silence for a moment, listening. But once again the Mountain was utterly still, as though it was waiting.
    Barda shrugged, grasped his sword more tightly, and pushed the door again. The grating sound grew louder as the slab of rock moved inward. A narrow gap appeared between the door and the cliff wall. From somewhere beyond the gap, light flickered.
    Jasmine peered through the crack. “I can see no one,” she murmured. “Beyond the door there is a small room, with a passage leading from it. It is the passage that is lit.”
    She looked around at them, her small face full of defiance, her dagger glinting in her hand. “I think we should enter,” she said grimly. “Then whoever is laughing at us may wish they had kept silence.” She put her shoulder against the door and pushed to open itfurther. Then she turned to Lief. “Are you coming?” she demanded.
    Lief stepped forward. But at the same moment Prin bounded in front of him. “No!” she begged. “No, Lief! You at least must not!” Taken by surprise, Lief stumbled, lost his footing, and fell heavily.
    He lay on the ground, dazed, staring up at the door. The grooved lines, tall on the pale stone, seemed to shimmer above him. Then — then, to his astonishment, he suddenly saw them for what they were.
    Words. The lines were words. He blinked, hardly believing what he was seeing. But it was true. The letters had been stretched tall and narrowed so much that he had not realized they were any more than decoration. But looking at them from below, he could read what they said.
    IF YOU WISH TO DIE.
    “Lief, I am sorry …” Prin was bending over him anxiously.
    Barda was staring at them, his hand on the stone. But Jasmine, shaking her head impatiently, was stepping through the door.
    “Jasmine —” Lief spluttered, scrambling to his feet. “Do not go in. Jasmine! It is a trap!”
    He leaped forward, catching Jasmine by the wrist just as, with a cry, she plunged into the pit that yawned beyond the door.

J asmine swung helplessly, Lief’s grip on her wrist the only thing that was saving her from crashing to the bottom of the trap into which she had stumbled.
    The pit was deep, but still Lief could see a white glimmer at the bottom. His stomach turned over as he realized they were bones — the bones of other intruders, no doubt. The gnomes had probably been watching through peepholes in the rock as the companions tried to open the door. One had laughed aloud, believing that there were about to be three more victims of the deadly joke. Lief gritted his teeth in anger.
    Then Barda was kneeling beside him, and together they were lifting Jasmine up, swinging her to safety.
    “We must do the opposite of