Thrang didn’t comment as they continued to walk into the darkness. A short distance into the building, they came to a broad staircase that led steeply into the ground.

“It seems the building is only a marker,” said Thrang, walking down a few steps. “Perhaps the dwarfs here had a great deal more than archives to protect.”

The stairs went down for a long way before opening into a vast hall. Alex magically lit the torches and lamps along the walls, and then turned to look at Kat.

“Any idea where the archives might be?” asked Alex.

“Lower down,” said Kat after a moment’s thought.

“That sounds right,” said Thrang as he started off into the hall. “This would be a feasting hall. Kitchens and stores would be on the left, and perhaps some private rooms there on the right. There should be another staircase at the far end of the hall that will lead us to a second level. That is where the archives should be.”

“There is a third level as well,” said Kat thoughtfully.

“Oh,” said Thrang, looking back in surprise. “The only reason for a third level would be to store treasure. We’ll have a look there after we find the archives.”

“And after a meal,” Barnabus said.

“It has been a long day already,” Arconn added, smiling at Thrang.

“Yes, of course,” said Thrang as if he’d only just remembered that none of them had eaten since that morning. “Barnabus, Nellus, Thrain, perhaps you would be so good as to return to the surface and set up our camp. The rest of us will go to the archives and see if there are any records of what happened. We will not explore the third level until tomorrow.”

Barnabus and Nellus nodded and started back to the stairs. Thrain took a step then turned back as if to argue about leaving.

“You can see it all tomorrow, Thrain,” said Thrang in a kind but stern voice.

Thrain nodded and reluctantly followed Barnabus and Nellus back up the stairway. Thrang smiled as he watched the young dwarf go, and then turned back toward the hall and started across it.

Alex held back a laugh as he caught Arconn’s eye. He knew how excited Thrain was to explore this abandoned dwarf building, but he also knew that Thrang was right to send him back for the time being. There might still be dangers here, and Thrain was not yet ready to face the unknown.

They found a second set of stairs at the end of the hall, and once again they went down them. The weir lights Alex had conjured had been hovering above his head, and now they rushed down into the darkness to light the way.

At the bottom of the staircase was a solid-looking iron door. Alex stepped around Thrang, who was pushing on the door, and placed his hand on the cold metal. The dwarf magic was stronger here than it had been in the bronze door. After a few moments of thought, Alex spoke a few words in the dwarvish language, and the door slowly creaked open on its own.

“Impressive,” Arconn said.

“Yes,” agreed Alex. “The dwarfs who lived here must have had at least one wizard with them.”

“There have been few dwarf wizards,” Thrang said thoughtfully. “I know of one who lived in Thraxon at about the same time as Albrek. His name was Languinn, but there aren’t many stories about him.”

“It seems we’ve found the hall of records,” said Kat, looking around the room that was filled with books. “I would say the door at the far end of the hall leads to the lowest level of all.”

“Yes,” said Thrang, looking in the direction of the door. “First things first, however. Let’s see what the records have to say about the colony and if there is anything about why the dwarfs left.”

Left, or were destroyed,Alex thought but didn’t say.

Alex lit the lamps and then joined the others in looking through the records. There were far fewer records here than there had been in the archives of Benorg, and it didn’t take them long to find what they were looking for.

“Here now,” said Thrang, looking down at a large leather-bound book that was sitting on a stone table. “This is a listing of what the colony had mined. It seems they found some rich mines here, including at least one mine of true silver.”

“The amount produced drops after the third year of mining,” Alex said, looking over the information. “For the first three years, the numbers increase, and then they drop off by quite a bit.”

“That would make sense,” said Thrang, running his finger down the page. “If Albrek took most of his people south, there would be far fewer dwarfs here to do the mining.”

“So it would seem that Albrek left the Isle of Bones after three years, and went . . . where?” Arconn frowned.

“To the Lost Mountains, no doubt,” said Thrang. “We know that was his plan from the start, but it would be nice to find something written to confirm that fact.”

“It will take some time to go through all these records,” Alex said. “Kat, do you have any impression about where we should start?”

Kat was silent for a minute, her eyes closed. Slowly she moved to one side of the room and put her hand on a huge volume.

“This one,” said Kat, blinking several times as if to focus her eyes.

Arconn and Thrang lifted the book onto one of the stone tables. Alex had never seen a book so large, and he wondered why the dwarfs would make something that no single dwarf could move alone. His thoughts about that were soon forgotten as Thrang began reading from the book.

“Yes, this is the complete history of the colony,” said Thrang, turning the pages. “We should learn what happened here when we see where the history stops.”

Thrang paged quickly through the book, looking for the place where the writing stopped. It took only a few minutes, but those minutes seemed to last for hours as Alex and the others waited.

“Ah, here we are,” said Thrang, turning back a few pages from the end of the writing.

For several minutes Thrang read in silence, Alex and Arconn skimming the words over his shoulder. Kat stood back, looking around the room and waiting to hear what had happened.

“It sounds like things were going fine, and then all at once every dwarf on the island started feeling uneasy and tense,” Thrang summarized, taking his hands off the page so Alex and Arconn could finish reading.

“That sounds similar to the way Alex and I felt earlier today,” Arconn said.

“Too similar,” Alex added. “Something on the island was affecting the dwarfs.”

“But what could it be?” Thrang asked. “The record gives no clue at all, and the writing stops without explaining anything about what happened. Kat is unable to sense anything on the island, so what could the trouble have been?”

“I don’t know,” said Alex, pacing back and forth. “Yet there is something here. Something that doesn’t want to be found.”

“Whatever it is, it seems to be leaving us alone,” said Thrang, closing the book with some effort. He sighed in frustration. “We’re not here to find out what happened to the colony, we’re here to find the tomb of Albrek.”

“So you think we should continue our quest and not worry about what happened here?” Alex asked.

“We should worry about it, but not let it get in the way of our quest,” Thrang answered. “We have two weeks on the island, so we should make good use of them. Tomorrow we will explore the third level and gather all the treasure we can find in the time we have. As long as these troubled feelings don’t return, I don’t know what else we can do.”

“And if they do return?” Arconn questioned.

“Then we’ll do what we have to do to protect ourselves and complete our adventure,” said Thrang.

“Very well,” said Alex, refocusing his thoughts. “We should all pay attention to our feelings, though. Hopefully we won’t have any problems before the Seekerreturns.”

They all agreed, and Thrang led them up the stairs toward the deserted dwarf village. As they went, Alex tried to relax his mind, but something was poking at his thoughts. The troubled feelings he’d had earlier in the day still reminded him of something, but even now he couldn’t think of what it was.