(...continued)
The silence stretched… there was no answer… though the knocking seemed to halt.
And then there was a faint…
"Help me…please…"
The sound barely carried.
It wasn't spoken so much as breathed, dragged out of lungs that no longer had the strength to hold it.
Dax's heart lurched violently.
His head snapped towards the sound, every instinct flaring at once.
"That voice…" he whispered.
No.
No, that was…
"Please…" the woman murmured again, weaker now. "I can't…I can't get out on my own…I am…kind of…stuck here…who's there? Please help…"
His breath stalled in his chest.
He stepped closer despite himself, boots sliding over the stone with agonizing slowness. The tunnel curved sharply here, the wall ahead stacked with uneven slabs of rock…layered like a seal rather than a collapse.
"Lady Autumn?" His voice came out rough, disbelieving. "That's… that's not possible."
A faint, broken sound answered him… almost a sign lit up…
