Falin, Jem, Ravenwyn, and Touriner trudged on in the darkness. Falin had considered staying to wait for the others- he had seen some of them run in and out of the room when that young man attacked him. Aldor he had less hope for. He shuddered to think what the fate of someone dragged off by a wight must be.
The tunnel they were in was certainly the main one. It was wide and high, and all over the floor there were footprints.
Deep footprints, of a large band of horsemen, were clearly visible. Even after all these years, it was clear that the Dunedain had passed through here.
Then Falin's heart jumped. There were not only the footprints of solid men and horses, but shallow footprints, as if of horses and men who had almost no weight. Hundreds, thousands even, a mighty army of the Dead had passed through here. He shuddered- the fear had not entirely left this place.
As the group trudged on, Falin heard something in the distance, a tapping, continuous and swift. He raised his hand to signal his followers to stop.
It was louder now, louder every minute, from a faint noise to a minor annoyance to a sound that seemed to be close, very close...
"Quick, follow me!" the dwarf yelled, and ran into a side passage. Ravenwyn and Jem ran after him. Touriner stood in the passage, looking ahead, frozen. "Touriner, there's almost no time! what are you doing?" Ravenwyn ran out into the main tunnel and grabbed Touriner's arm, then froze herself, in terror- Erchas, the great spider, was advancing on them at a pace like that of a speeding horse.
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