Perrin had spent four days tapping on walls.
On the first day, his party searched the stone room where they appeared at the beginning of the second level until the arena opened and then they lost because they entered the fight distracted.
On the second day, they jammed iron spikes into the handleless door. The spikes bent. The arena opened. Orcs dragged them into the sand before they recovered their weapons.
On the third day, their mage shaped the surrounding stone. The spell revealed that the door extended deeper into the wall than it should, but the dungeon resisted every attempt to break it. They survived the first clash against the beast in the arena but then died to the Orc hunting party.
The fourth attempt was the first in which everyone agreed the impossible door was more important than beating a route they already understood.
He tapped the stone room again while the healer watched the arena wall.
"How much time?" he asked.
