“River’s depth, they’re dropping the gates!” Someone shouted from the outer half of the tunnel, setting off an explosion of screams and cries as the crowd began pressing to get out before the gates fell. A mass of bodies stampeded forward blindly, crushing Eldan and Cale back against the wall as they pushed and shoved down the tunnel toward the city opening into the city. The cacophony of noise from the ancient gates dropping was deafening now, and Eldan pressed desperately against the much larger figures around them to create an opening to see how far down the gate was falling. Between the already crepuscular, murky shadows of the tunnel and the snarl of people blocking the gray light at the mouth, he was plunged into complete darkness, unable to make any sense of the pandemonium.


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    “I’m here! Can you follow my voice?” Eldan sounded strangled to his own ears, his throat raw. He heard splashes to his left and turned his head to squint through the gloom, just able to make out Cale stumbling toward him, feeling her way along the stone. He stood up and reached out his hand, clutching at her fingers. Tenebrous light began to filter from the mouth of the tunnel in the distance as the last of the crowd ducked under the gate and rushed into the violence of the storm, seeking shelter deeper in the city.