The passageway was almost completely dark, and I had to use my hands to guide me as we descended deeper into the tree. I could see small specks of light starting to form in the darkness as we walked. The lights grew from small specks into soft greenish-blue glows as the sources of illumination came into view. Bioluminescent algae clung to the sides of the tunnel. We had gone through the tree and beneath the ground into what appeared to be almost a small bunker of sorts. The walls of the narrow tunnel were covered in the same sponge-like material that made up the surface of the realm.

“Where exactly are we?” I asked Duncan as he led the way.

“This is my plan B that I hoped never to use.” Duncan replied, “When I first started the Guiding Stars, and we began constructing the tree village, I was worried we may have to escape one day. I took it upon myself to build these escape tunnels over the years. They lead to various places throughout the realm, and as far as I know, Aqua has no idea they are here. A select few members of the Stars knew about them, not that that matters much now.” His voice trailed off as he finished the last words.

“What about the tree we went through? Won't one of the soldiers find the entrance, and that will lead them right to us?”

“No, the entrances to the tunnels are sealed with magic, and only someone with a key is able to open it.” Duncan held up his hand to show me a small gold ring on his finger. “To the Hags, the entrance will look like nothing more than a tree.”

“And if one of the Hags manages to get another Star’s key?”

“I guess we had better hope that Aqua Marine hasn’t sunk to the level of desecration of the dead.” Duncan’s voice shook with that phrase.

I could tell this whole ordeal was weighing heavy on Duncan, and I decided to drop the conversation. We had been walking for about an hour when we came to a fork in the tunnels. As far as I could tell, everything down here looked the same no matter which direction I looked, so I turned to Duncan for guidance. Grunting and nodding his head to the lefthand passageway was the only response I got for my nonverbal question. I continued to follow, still unaware of where we were headed or why.

After another forty-five minutes of walking, Tee finally asked the question I had been wondering since we entered these caverns.

“Where are we headed and why?” Tee inquired as he struggled to fly through the narrow tunnels with their low ceilings.

“Deep into the forest. We need to get away from the village and hope that none of Aqua Marines forces saw us leave.” It seemed as if all the emotion was gone from Duncan's voice, and he was operating completely on logic. “We are going to have to lay low for a little bit, and Brodie, you’re going to have to keep training with that club.” Duncan shot me a sideways glance.

“Wait, you still want to go after her?!” I asked. I had assumed that after what happened to the village, Duncan would have given up on the idea of overthrowing Aqua Marine.

“More so now than ever. She took everything and everyone from me, it’s about time she pays for her sins.” Duncan's emotions were back, but instead of sadness, he was filled with rage.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I mean, yeah, but fuck, dude, how are we supposed to do that now?” Duncan slapped me hard across the face. I really had to learn to stop cursing around him.

“You are going to work on getting stronger with that club of yours. We are going to give Aqua Marine a few days to calm down then we head back to the village and find whatever or whoever we can to help us.”

“Are you sure you want me to stick around? I mean it’s my fault she sent an entire army to your village in the first place. I feel like I may be more of a liability than anything.”

“You are the only hope we have of overthrowing her. I've seen a dozen-plus caddies come and go in my time here, and none of them have been able to use the powers within the clubs. I don’t know how or why you can, but your ability to use that club means you have the potential to be just as strong as any of the golfers.”

Standing in the middle of a tunnel underneath a strange water world, knowing I was the cause of so many deaths, certainly didn’t make me feel strong.

“I’ll do my best, but I still think you’d be safer if you left me behind,” I replied to Duncan, my head down.

“I would be a hundred percent safer if I left you behind. But then nothing would change.” Duncan said as he turned to walk away. “Come on, we are almost at the exit.”

Ahead of us, the path started to slant up towards the surface as we walked. The bioluminescent algae became less frequent the closer we got to the exit. The light faded away, leaving us in total darkness as we reached the exit from the caverns. I almost walked into Duncan as he stopped in front of the wall that seemed to appear out of nowhere in front of us. Duncan placed his hand with the ring against the wall, and with a cracking noise, the wall began to slide to the side. The overworld’s blueish light flooded the tunnels as the wall slowly opened before us. My eyes took a minute to adjust to the surroundings. We were still in the coral forest but thicker with foliage, almost like a jungle.

“Stop!” Duncan hissed as he held out his hand, preventing me from leaving the passage.

Ahead in the distance I could see three Hags accompanied by two of those shark dog things walking. Their pace was slow and deliberate. It was obvious that they were looking for someone. I guessed that Aqua Marine must have realized we were not among the casualties at the village, and she had sent out patrols to track us down. I saw Tee flutter towards the ground to make himself as small as possible as the patrol passed us by.

“They must have realized we escaped,” Duncan said to me after the patrol was out of earshot.

“Yeah, that’s not good. How long do you think they will spend looking for us?” I asked.

“Until both of us, or at least you, are dead.”

That certainly wasn’t the reply I was hoping for. I don’t know why I thought they would give up trying to track me down. Hell, this was the woman who had ordered a small army to destroy an entire village simply because I was there. I sure didn’t consider myself important, but the amount of people who wanted to either kill or save me in this world was making me reevaluate my self-worth.

“Ok, so what do we do now?” I asked Duncan.

“We are in the thickest part of the forest now; if we have any chance of hiding, it will be here. We need to find a place to set up camp for the night, and tomorrow we start to gather supplies, and you get back to your training.”

“Don’t you want to check on your people?” I asked Duncan.

Duncan snapped his head around, locking eyes at me. His face was flush with anger, and his piercing gaze could have bore holes through my skull.

“I want nothing more than to check on my people. I want my people to be alive and well and my village never to have been attacked! Sometimes life isn’t about what you want, though it's about what you have to do, and right now, I have to make sure you don’t end up dead. Now come on, let’s find a place to camp for the night.” Duncan stormed off into the jungle.

“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath as I followed behind him.