Iseldis walked more or less in a daze, tugged forward by Roland's hand. She kept glancing behind them, hearing something in the dark, but at this point she couldn't be sure if she was imagining it or not. Roland didn't seem inclined to stop, so Iseldis was willing to accept that the dark elf had just gotten into her head.

And then they stumbled out into that subterranean environment, and all thoughts of their pursuer fled from her head. "How... how far did we fall?" she murmured. She'd never seen anything like this, and while it was beautiful to look at from a distance, she couldn't help but feel uneasy about it. No one that she'd ever spoken to had heard of this place, not even any of her brothers or sisters. Was this where the dark elf lived, in hiding? Were there more?

They were important questions, but the sound of running water was enough to make Iseldis put them off. She let go of Roland's hand to lead the way up the rise on the left, and there found a sheltered cave of sorts in the rock wall. A running stream from somewhere above turned into a waterfall that spilled over the mouth of the cave, close enough for Iseldis to reach it at the edge.

She washed her hands clean of the dried blood that coated them, and then cupped her hands to gather enough to drink. It was cool and refreshing this far beneath the surface of the earth. She washed her face next, the water helping to clear her senses some.

"I'm not sure how long we should stop here," she said to Roland, "wherever here is. She's probably still on our trail."