He released the ring , which clattered back into place , and rubbed his hands together . The metal was awful cold , so much that it burned .
With another breath he took the ring in hand once more , this time with both . The door still refused to budge , so he put a foot up on the archway for leverage and ground his teeth with the effort .
The door released all at once and threw him down the steps into the dust .
He glanced sidelong through the now-open doorway . What he saw was merely the far side of the ring of stones and the hilltops around the valley . A breeze swirled through the door and Jona would have vomited if he hadn ’ t fasted the previous night . The stink of the curse was worse than ever , somewhere between an open plaguegrave and hot sick .
Nothing could be gained by waiting , so he mounted the steps and crossed the threshold . Everything was normal until his back foot came to rest on the other side .
Instead of the breezy valley and fire-blackened masonry , there was nothing but darkness and the smell .
It was obvious that it was not really “ nothing .” His boots touched something solid , and he could intuit “ up ” and “ down ” without having to force a perspective . Some sort of illusion , he was certain . Of course , that it was an illusion did not erase any danger . It would be easy to miss key details or hurt himself on something he couldn ’ t see . Besides , he wasn ’ t alone . Every so often there was a sound in the dark , something like the ‘ pop ’ of small sticks in a fire , or countless insectoid legs rustling through dead leaves .
“ What comes to bother me , after so long ?” The sound got close , and Jona ’ s hat flew from his head .
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