Lydia opened the wardrobe and disappeared behind the clothes for a minute.<br/><br/>“Come on,” she hissed, extending her hand with a come hither motion. She hoped the man would shut the doors behind him.<br/><br/>The passage way was narrow and she had to squeeze past him to pull the panel shut. She didn’t light a candle but rather reached behind her to take his hand.<br/><br/>“Follow me closely,” she instructed. The way is narrow and there are no trick stairs. To my knowledge there are no turns along the way. We will go down for a while and then level off. Just before we come out on the outside at the cottage, the path will angle sharply up. Watch you head as we go through the exit door.”<br/><br/>Cold and damp, the walls were covered in a slimy moss that in places stunk like the sewer. The passage did indeed slant downward and Lydia had to keep her hand on the stone walls to keep from slipping. The darkness was so complete as they followed along, leaving behind any semblance of light that Lydia felt the inky blackness like a thick cloak over her mouth.<br/><br/>Now the air was stale and the stench of rotting corpses clung to the back of her throat. A dangling root crawled across her face and she stopped dead in her tracks, unmindful of the man behind her. She bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out. The tension between the two of them was high and she found that she was glad to have the man at her back.<br/><br/>Lydia snuck around, being discreet around the nobles because she could die like any of the mortals who lived in hiding. She was powerful and could fight them personally, one on one as long as they weren’t the elder class of rulers. They were cunning and strong, usually taking two or three witches to vanquish them. Lydia was the last of her line at least in this life time. What would happen to the balance of power when she was gone? Better a live dog than a dead lion, she thought. Discretion was the better part of valour.<br/><br/>The path began to angle upward and a cool breeze caressed her face. Lydia found that she could make out some shapes in the darkness and realized that they opening was close. Raising her hand to trace her fingertips along the ceiling, she made her way to the doorway. She ducked nearly in half and pushed at a rock. It didn’t budge.<br/><br/>“Can you crouch down here and give me a hand?” she asked her companion.<br/>