Elladan coughed again, his eyes streaming as he blinked in the haze of fine dust that filled the air. Before him a squat doorway opened into darkness, emitting a cool breeze which smelled vaguely menacing, an odor evocative of age and decay and things best forgotten. �Elrohir!� he hissed sharply. �What have you done? We must go back, before we are discovered.�
Elrohir smiled grimly, smothering a sneeze. �The passage is blocked behind us now, and there is only one way out�� he whispered, nodding toward the blackness before them.
�There is no way out ahead!�
�Of course there is,� Elrohir chided soothingly. �Do you not remember, �Dan? Many years ago we discovered the trapdoor. If it is still there � and it must be � we can escape without braving the rubble behind.�
�There is no way out ahead,� Elladan repeated darkly. �Merely a way into greater difficulties.�
�Hush!� Elrohir whispered abruptly, clamping a hand over his brother�s mouth for a moment before releasing him. �I hear something. I fear we may have been noticed. Come on!�
Elrohir half dragged, half propelled Elladan through the looming doorway, landing them both in a heap of tangled arms and legs on the cold stone floor, just as the light flared in the passage outside.
A heartbeat later the sound they had feared most echoed in the dark chamber.
�Elladan! Elrohir!� Elrond called sternly, his voice taut with exasperation. �How many times have you been warned not to open this storage bin door? Get out here this instant and clear this mess. The hallway is impassable.�
As the twins ducked through the low doorway to stand before their father in the flickering light of his lantern, their faces identical masks of scapegrace contrition, Elrond�s eyes narrowed ominously.
�And stay out of the wine cellar!�
