The iron gates groaned shut behind us, a final and heavy sound that swallowed the last bit of outside air. We moved deeper into the tunnel, the rattling of the wagon wheels echoing like bone against stone.
"Listen," Ren whispered, his head hanging low to hide his moving lips. "The moment we enter, there might be a chance we get separated. If that happens, do not panic. Locating the children is the first priority. Once we have eyes on them and the other slave blocks, we find a way to signal Seraphina and Cassian outside."
The wagons rolled to a stop at the edge of a massive shaft cut into the stone floor. The drop below was bottomless, swallowed by shadows that no torch could pierce. An iron lift waited for us, its cage suspended by chains so thick that they looked like they had been forged from the spines of dead giants.
We were dragged from the wagons and pushed into the lift. The cage groaned under our weight as the doors clanged shut, and then we were falling.
