A Volley of Rocks

The rocks had come through the shimmering doorway, and had not been visible till they emerged from it. It was lucky, Astrid thought, that she and Velus had been standing some ten yards back rather than right next to it, and that Velus had reacted so quickly.

"I wonder what could have caused that?" Velus said.

"That, I guess," Astrid replied, pointing. She had just spotted a faint horizontal beam of light which crossed the tunnel from one wall to the other about four feet above the ground. They must have been standing in the beam before Velus flung them to the floor. "Our breaking the beam must have triggered a trap," she said. "When you came here before, as a dog, you would have passed underneath it."

"Why didn't I trigger the trap on my return journey, though, when I was human again?"

"I don't know. Perhaps it's set not to trigger if someone is moving away from the doorway, but only if they are moving towards it or are stationary... Er, you can get off me now, Velus. As long as we crouch so as to remain below the beam, we ought to be safe."

A little reluctantly, Velus complied. Crouching low, Astra collected her sword and lamp, which she had dropped when Velus shoved her to the ground.

1. She was alarmed to see that the lamp had been damaged by its fall onto the hard rock floor. Might that have harmed Astra?
2. She decided that, since she now believed in Velus, she would tell him everything.
3. Then someone came through the doorway, perhaps to check up on whether the rocks had done their job. They were only three feet tall, meaning that they would not be incovenienced by the trap.

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