On one occasion, when they tried moving through a difficult section, more rocks shifted nearby.
The noise terrified Layan.
She began crying and begged him to stop.
Imran realized that attempting to carry her through the passage could cause another accident.
“We can’t go this way,” he told her.
“Then find another.”
“I’ll try.”
“Please.”
He nodded.
But days passed without a solution.
As Layan’s immediate condition gradually improved, Imran moved her to an older chamber elsewhere in the underground network.
This was the place the explorers would eventually discover.
Unlike the rough chamber where she had fallen, it had once been used by local workers as a storage room.
The ground had been leveled.
Small niches had been carved into the rock.
There were ventilation openings high along one wall.
A narrow channel carried groundwater through a protected section of the chamber.
Imran had kept basic supplies there for years.
