(41) Two vampires, a ghoul and a shifter.

The tunnel descended so steeply that Linden found it difficult to stay on his feet as they inched their way down. After one near fall onto his ass, Helmut told him to grab hold of his belt. Any other time Linden would probably have made some ribald comment about that but now that was the last thing on his mind. He just wanted to make it to the bottom in one piece.

"Finally," he muttered when he felt the flat ground under his feet. In the stygian darkness that surrounded them, he could barely make out Helmut's form and so continued to hang on to his belt as the shifter moved slowly forward.

After what felt like forever the tunnel seemed to brighten, although almost imperceptibly. Linden barely kept from crying out in surprise when a voice in his head said, ::We are nearing—something. Be wary.:: He saw Helmut nod and realized the voice belonged to the vampire.

Moments later, they came to a stop. It took Linden a second to realize the tunnel split into two branches. One was pitch dark, the other faintly illuminated as if a door stood open somewhere at the end of it.

Linden watched as Helmut and the vampire seemed to be holding a silent conversation with each other punctuated with nods or shakes of their heads. Finally, the vampire spoke in his mind again. ::You are to stay with me while the shifter checks out what is ahead.::

Seconds later Helmut was again in wolf form, padding silently down the tunnel. Every muscle in Linden's body tensed as he waited for the revenant to discover Helmut's presence.

::There are three of us to his one,:: the vampire said with unexpected understanding. Then, as if reading Linden's doubt, which Linden realized he probably had, he added, ::The creature may be strong, but nothing is absolutely invulnerable, even a thing such as he.::

Although he nowhere near as confident as the vampire seemed to be in his assessment of the situation, Linden nodded his thanks, smiling a bit when the vampire gently squeezed his shoulder.

After an interminably long wait during which Linden imagined every possible horrible scenario, Helmut padded back down the tunnel, taking a moment to shift and clothe himself before whispering softly, "Things could be worse." Then, holding a finger to his lips, he motioned to the other branch of the tunnel.