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Estel led the way back the way they had come, carrying Amora on one hip, walking next to Triton, with Caranthir and Elros following behind them.

"Lin loves to explore, doesn't she?" he asked Triton. "I think she would love where Lothiriel suggested the portal go. It's part of the old city, so the masonry is absolutely stunning. It's pretty far underground, so it's a bit of a walk, but that just means it's safer, right?"

Estel smiled and nodded. "No one can know the labyrinth as our cousin does," he said in a proud sort of tone. "I know it's possible to find your way around using the runes on the walls ... but he doesn't even need to look at them. He's gone through there blindfolded, I've seen him."

He coughed slightly. "Of course, it helps that he can make walls open anywhere, any time," he added with a grin.

"Only one year old?" Estel repeated, amazed. "Wow. And here I thought Amora was doing well, knowing the castle as well as she does already."

Amora frowned up at her father. "Ada," she said flatly, "it's not even done! And you said they wouldn't be done til I was all grown up!"

"Yes, but you weren't born here," her father pointed out with a chuckle. "That gives him a slight advantage."

"It sounds like it," Estel chuckled. "Amora is the same, though we do have someone keep an eye on her. With all of the construction that's going on, it's a little dangerous for her to be alone. And as much as Lothiriel and I would love to spend all of our time with her ..."

He shrugged. "With our new duties, it's just not possible."

They came to a stone door, and Estel stepped forward to pull it open. It was surprisingly light to the touch, and swung open easily - but then, it was the leftover product of dwarven craft, and even the elves could not equal its work.

"This way," he smiled, motioning towards the newly showing passageway.

For nearly ten more minutes they walked, and very soon Elros had to create one of the light orbs that Aragost had used so often so that they could see in the blackness. There were runes on the wall here, the same idea as the runes on the walls of the Southland labyrinth, but the runic system in this tunnel was much different - sharp runes instead of rounded ones, less aesthetic but still meaningful.

At long last they seemed to reach a dead end, a stone wall with the same runes that ran along the other walls.

"Nearly there," Estel grinned; and in a suddenly strong voice, he spoke some words in the dwarven tongue, and the runes on the dead end wall began to glow faintly in the darkness. A moment later, it faded into nothingness, revealing more of the passageway.

Estel chuckled softly, shifting Amora on his hip. For the first time, she was silent, having witnessed her first real magic.

"It was Elros who first discovered it," he nodded, grinning at the silent soldier. "This is part of the old city, possibly thousands of years old. Come on, we're nearly there."

He led the way onward into the ever-growing darkness.

Shortly thereafter, they reached yet another dead-end wall, but rather than speaking to it, Estel simply stopped walking, holding the orb so that it would cast the most light.

"This is it," he smiled at Triton. "I hope this is suitable ... though you would need your own light source, I'm not sure what you would use for that. And you would have to be taught how to open the magic door ..."

Estel nodded. "I'm glad. Take a good look ... if you need, the runes have been transcribed up in the study, I don't know if your brothers would need to see them. It would give a better picture for them. And I think Lothiriel has something else in progress to give an accurate picture or description ... not sure what that is, though."

He shrugged.

Amora looked at her father, her eyes wide with awe. "Ada," she breathed softly, "where are we?"

Estel chuckled softly and kissed his daughter on the cheek. "Probably about a mile below the surface, sweetheart," he grinned. "And a fair distance away from home."