"I'll go and check it," Pash offered, "it might be nothing to worry about."
"No, I had better do it. This place is still rife with danger," Mane said, beginning to get up.
But Pash fought him on it. "It's more important that you're here with everyone else, protecting them," Pash said convincingly, "besides, I can bring Fingers along with me. If there's any trouble, he'll be able to deal with it."
Fingers barked unhappily at that. Ermos was beginning to realize that he was quite a lazy dog.
"Go on Fingers," Ermos instructed, "you didn't even help us in the last battle. It's time you start putting some work in."
Fingers whimpered and his tail drooped, but he went along anyway, and Mane had nothing more to say. He sat back down as Pash and the dog disappeared down the tunnel. Ermos was just glad that no one had asked him to do anything.
While they were all sitting in a worried silence, Ermos reached into Pash's backpack and pulled out another juicy pear to munch on. He fell to considering what other trees they could use the Queen of Flowers' potion on. Perhaps a cherry tree – those were Ermos' favourite fruits. Just how supreme would that flavour be?
"I think we will be fine," Mane said, attempting to reassure them. "The boy that just went to investigate is an alert fellow. He found the mechanism by which we were able to open the gate in the first place – he's sure to be able to get it back open."
"Oh!" Cherry said, suddenly realizing something. "That's right – you had to open it from the start. I forgot about that."
"An empty promise. Just because you were able to open it from the outside does not mean you will be able to open it from the inside," Lucifan said grimly.
"I hate it when you do that," Fer complained, growing more worried. "You always point out the worst thing that can happen."
"Better to live in truth than falsehood," Lucifan asserted, pushing his hair back off his face and leaning back against the gate, as though preparing himself for a long wait.
"Can't you just blast through, Sir Mane?" Fer asked. "You're super strong. Surely you'll be able to bust it open with your sword?"
Mane shook his head solemnly. "Not these gates."
Fer's shoulders sank as his plan was shot down. Everyone grew even more gloomy. Ermos tried to cook his pear on the fire, to see if that would alter the flavour, but he only succeeded in burning his fingers and losing the fruit to the flame. "Aw…" He complained, watching it get burned to a crisp. He wasn't really that hungry anyway. He was just eating more to fill in the time than anything else.
Mane leaned over to whisper in his ear. "Are you capable of breaking these gates open?"
Ermos looked at him in horror, clutching his sword protectively. "No way. You're not getting me to break my sword again."
The students glanced at them curiously, apparently guessing what Mane had asked him. The large warrior let out one of his long sighs, before sitting back against the stone like the rest of them, praying that Pash would indeed find a way out.
Pash made them wait a while. The time passed in a moody silence. Ermos had to tend to the fire himself, as everyone else seemed content to let it die out. But, eventually, they heard the clicking of wooden sandals against stone and they perked up, eagerly waiting for him to round the corner and announce the news.
One look at Pash's face, and it was easy to tell what the verdict was. They did not even have to ask, but Pash told them anyway.
"No good. I looked around for a while, but there's no way to open it," Pash said as he drew nearer.
"We're doomed then," Fer said hopelessly. "Either we wait for someone else to open the gate so that we can get out, or we starve to death, like we were going to before."
"No…" Cherry whimpered, "I don't want to go through that again. To be that hungry and that weak and that afraid."
"We can end it quicker than that," Lucifan suggested, and everyone turned to give him a disgusted look. "All I'm saying is that I'd prefer a quick death rather than a slow one."
"Young chevalar," Mane said deeply, taking control of the situation, "do not fall into helplessness so soon. If there is not a way back, then we must put our hopes on going forward."
"Can we?" Fer asked, pointing to the gate in front of them that barred their way. "Is this weaker than the other one?"
"No, but it has something that the other does not," Mane said, "Pash, show them."
Ermos wrinkled his nose as Mane gave his apprentice orders, but he didn't mind too much when Pash looked to him for approval first. Ermos gave him the nod to go ahead.
"This," Pash said, approaching a long chain that hung down from the ceiling, "is the mechanism." He gave it a pull and under his weight, the chain moved, just as the other one had. They heard the grinding of gears and the gate soon began to rise, revealing the way forward as another dark tunnel.
The looks of the faces of the children were priceless as they discovered that the key to their escape lay right beside them all along. Guessing what everyone was thinking, Cherry spoke up. "Even if we had thought to pull on it, we wouldn't have managed against whatever monsters lie deeper inside. It's better that we were forced to wait as we did, because now, with Sir Mane, we can truly break through."