They moved forward stealthily, hardly making a sound, eyes and ears straining. The ground started to rise, but it was impossible to tell whether this was a mild swell or the beginning of a slope belonging to a mountain or a hill: the trees and the undergrowth were too thick to see beyond a dozen steps. Big stones, then rocks started appearing here and there, and Sven was struck by their appearance.
He raised his hand signaling the others to stop, and halted by a a couple of melon-sized stones. They were a shiny dark grey, with a jagged surface that had plenty of sharp edges. When he dropped down to his knee to examine one of them closely, he heard a clink as the pommel of the sword hanging by his side struck the stone. He glanced down at it and saw that it was sticking to the stone's surface.
