Free Adventurers Wanted, Book 4: Sands of Nezza by M. L. Forman

the fifth level with ease, but once there he found that, unlike the other levels where the hallways were all straight and level, the floor here was not so even, and the walls seemed to curve slightly as he moved along them in the darkness.
    Finally, afraid that he might miss the final stairway, or worse, fall down in the darkness, Alex conjured up a small weir light. Sickly gray-green slime covered the walls and floor, and the sound of dripping water echoed in the darkness. He continued forward, ready to put out his magical light if he saw or heard anything that might be trouble.
    “How much longer are we posted down here?” a muffled voice questioned.
    Alex instantly put out his weir light. A slight glimmer came from a door to his left; that was where the muffled voice had come from as well.
    “Same as always—ten days on the bottom,” a second voice answered.
    “How long have we been down here now?” the first voice asked. “Hard to keep track of days when there’s no sign of sun or moon.”
    “It’s only been five days and you know it,” said the second voice. “Now come on, it’s time to relieve the others.”
    Two men stepped into the hallway, each of them carrying a lamp. Alex carefully watched every move they made.
    “Seems foolish to me,” said the first man. “Nobody gets out of the pit, you know that.”
    “Maybe not, but orders are orders. If we don’t follow them, we’ll find ourselves in the pit,” said the second man.
    “Maybe something worse than that, what with the mood Magnus has been in,” said the first man, pulling the door shut.
    The two guards moved off in the direction Alex had been going without saying anything more. Alex waited for a moment and then followed them.
    After walking for a few minutes, the two guards started down a worn stairway. Alex glided along in the darkness behind them, unseen and silent. The stairway went down and down, with an occasional hallway leading away from it.
    Finally, they reached the bottom of the stairs, and there was only one way for the men to go. It was cold down here, and Alex could hear a small, steady stream of water running near his feet. There was a nasty smell in the air, and sounds echoed strangely in the darkness. The passageway sloped downward, and here and there Alex could see small metal grates that allowed some of the water to drain away.
    After what felt like a very long time, a light came into view ahead of them. Two more guards were standing in front of an iron door, each of them holding a lamp.
    “Are the prisoners quiet tonight?” asked one of the men Alex had been following.
    “A few whimpers,” one of the men guarding the door answered. “They can’t last much longer.”
    “Very well,” said the first man. “In the name of Lazar, we relieve you.”
    “In the name of Lazar,” said the second man.
    The men who had been guarding the iron door stepped aside to allow the new guards to take their places. Alex held his breath and tried to push himself into the wall as the guards walked past him and vanished into the darkness of the passageway. After waiting a few minutes to make sure the other guards were gone, Alex focused his thoughts on the two men in front of him.
    “Sleep,” Alex whispered with a wave of his hand.
    As soon as he had spoken, the two men at the door slumped to the floor. Alex smiled and moved forward. The iron door was locked with two heavy bolts, but there was no keyhole at all. Alex extinguished the lamps the guards had been holding before trying to open the bolts, just in case there were more guards behind the door. The bolts moved with only a slight scraping of metal on metal, and, with a small push, the iron door swung open.
    Alex felt a spark of magic as the door opened. He instantly brought up his staff, ready to defend himself, but nothing happened. He waited for a second, listening. No alarms echoed through the passageways; no sound of running feet filled the air. Alex suspected that Magnus