So far this elven man has shown nothing but unfailing gentleness and civility. Color Barcus impressed!

"O-okay!" Tymothee calls back in response to Maedhros, and his voice is shaky, but he's clearly trying to be very brave. "Is it going to hurt?"

"Don't worry about that yet," Barcus calls. "You'll get better and you'll get out of here safely."

He picks his way carefully across the dark floor, finding more loose rock here, but less garbage. It's not long before he can see the hole in the floor, perfectly round and nearly identical to the well they descended down. It's that echo of the surface, in a place that is clearly uninhabited, that gives Barcus a chill. "There's no reason they would have built another well this deep. No one's living here."

He kneels next to the edge and holds the lantern over the aperture of the second well. "Tymothee? One?"

"Two!" It's very dark down the hole, but there's a glimmer of motion at the bottom. "I see you! I see the light!"

The gnome breathes a shaky sigh and looks up at his companion. "What do you think? Can you get down there and get him?"