There were three short flights of steps, leading to a short corridor only a few feet wide. This ended in a blank wall, as Yorgh discovered by bumping his head against it.
As his exploring hands reached out on all sides and confirmed that the passage was squared off to a dead end, he growled a particularly obscene oath he had heard among the Sea People. Then he hesitated.
"Vaneen," he whispered, "can you see anything?"
"Where?" came her whisper over his shoulder. Then he heard her gasp. "Oh, Yorgh, it doesn't look solid! I can see shadows!"
"It must be some kind of door," Yorgh declared. "If I only had a light! There's some kind of round bump but I can't find any handle."
He threw his weight against the smooth surface but it did not even quiver.
"Well," said Yorgh, "I was tired of letting that rabble chase me anyway."
It bothered him, however, not to know what had trapped him, what sort of barrier it was.
I wonder if I could see by sparks from my fire stones? he thought.
He sheathed his knife and thrust a hand into the pouch at his belt. His fingers touched something long and metallic.