Kael knew they were close to the exit before he saw it. The air cooled first, carrying the smell of wet earth and trees through the stale mixture of smoke, damp stone, and blood. Farther ahead, a narrow strip of moonlight crossed the tunnel floor beneath a tangle of roots.
Several captives noticed it at the same time. Nobody cheered or called to the people behind them. They simply began walking faster, helping one another up the gradual incline as though the light might disappear before they reached it.
Kael adjusted the unconscious man across his shoulder and followed.
Roots had broken through the old masonry, and moss covered the stones near the opening. Whatever engineers had constructed this end of the passage, nobody had maintained it in years. The neglect had concealed it well enough that someone could walk past without realizing a tunnel lay beneath the trees.
