Telorn was ready to go in a heartbeat, and he evidently knew what he was doing. Graznir Toothtaker touched a particular carving on the back of the altar, and a section of the floor parted and swung down, revealing a vertical shaft through the bedrock. Telorn was already looping a section of rope around the altar and tying it off when Skyflower touched his shoulder and said, "A moment, Cousin."
"Yes?" he turned to her.
"This is a scouting run, I trust: go down, make sure it's safe, then let the others know."
Telorn nodded. "That's the plan. I'm taking the lead because your siblings are... nowhere near so quiet as they believe."
She grinned. "Then let me come with you. If anything is down there, it's better to have two of us to deal with it, and if something else goes wrong, well, one of us can go for help."
"You think there are still things down there, after all these centuries?" Telorn didn't sound doubtful; he sounded like he was considering possibilities. Skyflower appreciated that.
"There might be," said Graznir Toothtaker. "If nothing moves in the darkness, then this trip will have been a great waste." He paused. "Well, perhaps not a waste, but a disappointment."
Telorn turned to face him. "You believe there might actually be remnants of your empire down there? Survivors?"
Graznir nodded. "That is our hope, that not all of our people -- and their knowledge and scholarship -- was lost. That some remnant might have escaped and hidden themselves away here."
Telorn turned back to Skyflower and grinned. "I'd be glad of the company," he said easily.
She grinned back, then turned to her kin. "If you hear the sounds of fighting, come get us."
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