pondering what both Zane and Sheth had said, but was also trying to put himself in Cedric's shoes. He didn't get very far, given that he'd never faced such problems before. Reflecting on his life so far, he had to admit with distaste that he'd never realised just how hopeless a situation his daily life in Dagos had put him in. At that moment, a heavy sigh was all he could manage.
'Good news and bad news.'
Draco looked up at the sound of Zane's voice. The elf had just emerged from behind a rock and, with a grim expression, leaned against it before slumping to the ground. He looked tired, as if he'd run quite a distance.
'Could you be more specific, if you don't mind?' Cedric seemed to pay no heed to the other cadet's condition and crouched down beside him with a map and a stylus at the ready. He looked at the boy impatiently, as if annoyed that he was loafing about for no reason.
'Generally speaking, the crevice stretches for about a kilometre.' The elf rolled his eyes, though it looked more like a studied gesture than a natural reaction. 'The closer you get to the end, the smaller the rocks become, until all that's left is coarse gravel. It's a long, but not particularly wide, empty space that seems to run all the way to the centre of the Crater.'
'That really isn't great,' Cedric muttered under his breath.
'You can get through it easily enough, so it's not that bad. The problem arises when you look from the end of the crevice towards the entrance to the Crater, more or less.' Zane rested the back of his head against a rock and continued, staring up at the ceiling. 'I didn't want to run across open ground, so I went back into the forest and made it to the end. From behind the trees, I could see that the rubble also extends towards the ravine, and to be honest, it's a bit strange that we didn't come across it sooner. Right, let's get to
