A guard yelled out and came charging towards them, with more of Seraphine’s guards following closely behind. Ashalan took her dagger out of its sheath and leapt at the man, her hair billowing out like flames behind her. Her companions fought the other guards as they arrived, encircling Ashalan to protect her from further onslaught. She disposed of the guard quickly by cutting his throat but as she did so she felt something hit her in the shoulder. The force of the strike knocked her to her knees, causing her to cry out in pain.

She looked to see what had struck her and saw an arrow protruding through her shoulder. Ashalan turned angrily to see where it had come from. She looked up the tunnel to see a ledge above them, an archer stood with his bow raised. He was quickly preparing another arrow to fire. Before he could release it, she fiercely threw her dagger at him and got him between his eyes. His legs buckled under him and he fell from the ledge to the cavern floor below.

Tobalas came to her and cut the arrow head off and quickly pulled the shaft from her body. He pulled her to the side and leant her up against the wall. She could feel the beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

“Poisoned arrows need to be removed and treated quickly. The poison works fast.” Tobalas said with a concerned look on his face.

Ashalan nodded. She could feel her throat closing up as the poison ran its course through her system. A river of red cascaded down Ashalan's arm and she watched it silently, taking it in and noting the thickness of it. The stickiness. She spread her fingers apart and watched it drip from her fingertips.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

A small pool of blood formed on the dark earth beside her. The ground drank it greedily and swiftly, sucking it in beneath the cracks in its surface. Her vision started to go hazy and her eyelids began to close as she fought to stay conscious. Tobalas quickly ripped off some of his tunic and pushed it onto her shoulder to stop the bleeding. She groaned as a jolt of searing pain shot through her body.

“It will heal with transformation but you will need the antidote for the poison.” He took a bottle out of his belt and held it up to inspect its label. Happy that it was what he was looking for, he gave it to Ashalan. He held it to her lips and tilted it, emptying the contents into her mouth. It tasted sour and gritty like a mouthful of putrid dirt. He gave her some water to rinse her mouth. She drank it slowly, washed the vile liquid down.

Joely walked over to join them.

”We've taken care of that lot but more will be on their way.” He motioned his head to the tunnel on the other side. “We must go Master Tobalas before it's too late.”

Ashalan groaned as she felt the antidote battle with the poison inside her empty stomach. Joely looked at her.

“Will she be able to walk? The path will get narrow, but once through it someone would be able to carry her. We may have to drag her first.”

“I will go with her.” Tobalas said. Joely nodded.

“Aye, probably best you do given the state she's in.”

Ashalan looked at him defiantly and pushed herself to her feet. Joely had always given her a hard time for being of Royal blood. He was her age and had also been kidnapped from his parents many years ago, they had both grown up together in the caves, learning to navigate the intricate tunnels below the surface. She looked at him now, a grown man, with strong features and sculpted muscles from the years spent digging. He was also malnourished like her and his skin was sickly pale from the lack of sunlight. With his beard and longish brown hair that fell into his brown eyes, Ashalan thought he would be quite handsome if he hadn’t been her friend and tormentor.

“I am strong enough Joely. I will fulfil my duty. You will see.” Ashalan whispered hoarsely.

Joely smirked. “I do hope so Princess otherwise we are all doomed. Let's get moving before more guards come back.”

They hurried into the tunnel, Ashalan fought to keep up. She cradled her arm as every step caused fiery pain in her shoulder joint. As Joely had warned, the path before them became very narrow and Ashalan realised that the wall had suddenly disappeared from the right side of them. A stone fell and dropped into the nothingness. There was no sound of it hitting the bottom.

“Take it slowly and steadily along here. Don't lean too far to your right, there is nothing but air to catch you.” Joely whispered. Even at a whisper his voice echoed softly.

Ashalan kept her grip with her unwounded hand against the wall as they went. They kept walking slowly, inching their way along until they reached the other side where the tunnel continued again into the face of the cave wall. Ashalan was relieved to be enclosed once more.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The tunnel took them through into another small room. There, a group of burrowers set about their work of digging through the outer cave wall. The burrowers were slightly smaller in stature than humans. Their eyes had evolved large and round for seeing in the dim light of the cave's recesses. They had lived underground for thousands of years before Seraphine and her army had taken over their homes in the caves and had forced them into slavery along with her other captives.

They busily dug and piled rocks into wheelbarrows to discard.

“I am Darius. Lead burrower of the tribe of Toorak. It is my pleasure to assist you Princess. It's nearly ready, come.” Darius the burrower said, dirt falling from his long dark beard as he spoke. His face was covered in marks and grit and when he smiled Ashalan could see that some of his teeth were missing,

He motioned for them to follow him into a very small opening in the side of the wall. Ashalan and Tobalas went to follow him but Joely stood still.

“This is where I leave you. Farewell Ashalan, Master Tobalas.” Joely bowed before them.

Tobalas shook Joely's hand and pulled him to his chest for an embrace.

“Farewell Joely. Remain strong, look after the others until Ashalan returns with help. Be ready for the uprising when she does.” Tobalas said as he let the younger man go.

“Farewell Joely and thank you.” Ashalan touched him lightly on the arm. He nodded looking awkward then enveloped her in a gentle embrace, being careful not to squeeze her wounded shoulder.

“In some strange way, I think I’ll miss you. Be safe Princess Ashalan.” He whispered in her ear as they stood hugging one another. Ashalan let her head rest on his chest for just a moment before she pulled away from him, standing back so she could look into his eyes.

“In some strange way, I’ll miss you too. Be safe as well, take care of yourself and the others.” She said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his gaze.

Joely smiled softly, then gave her a bow before turning to stand guard.

Ashalan and Tobalas followed Darius into another chamber. As the dim lantern light flickered their shadows onto the walls, Darius gestured to another hole that had been dug into the rock, an entrance to a small tunnel.

“There it is.” He pointed. “Follow me.” He bent down and proceeded to walk into its depths.

Being somewhat larger than Darius, Ashalan and Tobalas got down onto their hands and knees and crawled into the space, Ashalan was careful not to put too much pressure on her shoulder as she moved. The air in the tunnel was thick with dirt and dust and the heat was oppressive. She felt the perspiration form on her skin, feeling it trickling down between her breasts and on her body, she stopped and wiped her neck with her hand. Her shoulder ached but she pressed on, they were running out of time the sun would rise soon and then she would be stuck.

Ashalan felt butterflies start to flutter in her stomach, she was about to see the outside world, a world she hadn't seen since she was very small. The memories of it were like faded pictures in her mind, they would occasionally flicker through her thoughts but nothing she could ever grasp and hold onto as a true memory. She had been told by Tobalas and the others that it was a beautiful place. They often said that they had all it taken for granted until they ended up in the caves where there was no beauty at all.

“Ashalan, how is your shoulder?” Tobalas said as he crawled up and stopped beside her.

“Manageable.” Ashlan lied. Tobalas nodded and gently pushed her forward in front of him.

They crawled further into the darkness of the tunnel, finally reaching a slightly larger opening as they waited for the burrowers ahead of them to remove the last rocks to the surface. The men gave one last push and they were through, pale light appearing as the last of the dirt fell back into the tunnel. They crawled up into the outside, then offered Ashalan their hands to help pull her out. She took them and they lifted her out into the open. Tobalas followed.

Ashalan looked up to see stars twinkling in the sky and a large white glowing object, she gasped in awe at its beauty.

“That is the night sky Ashalan, the moon and the stars.” Ashalan turned to look at Tobalas as he spoke. He smiled. “Beautiful isn't it? It's been many years since I've gazed upon them.”

She had heard stories but now saw it with her own eyes and she was mesmerised. Having no real memory of her life before the caverns, it all seemed new and wondrous and she couldn’t wait to explore the world in front of her.

“You must hurry now, the sun will be rising soon and we can't be stuck out in the open when it does. Seraphine's soldiers will see us for sure.” Tobalas said, looking around to make sure they were safe.

Ashalan nodded and turned to the burrowers.

”Thank you my friends. Without you we would not have made it this far.” She said, feeling immense gratitude towards her new comrades. They bowed their heads.

“It was our honour Princess Ashalan. You have always been good to our people, now it is our turn to repay your kindness. Go now Ashalan, be safe.” The main burrower replied, giving her a little salute and smile as he did so.

They quickly jumped back into the hole and replaced the stones.

“Ashalan, here is the amulet. You must ensure its safety and your own.” Tobalas said as he reached into his tunic and pulled out a beautiful jewelled necklace.

She nodded and bent down as he gently put it over her head, placing it gently around her neck. Picking up the stone that the amulet enclosed, examining it. The orange jewel encased inside glowed faintly, pulsating dim light. Running her fingertip across its hard exterior, it glowed brighter at her touch and she let it fall back to her chest. Its large metal chain hung heavily on her neck, it’s dented and worn silver metal lay cold against her soft porcelain skin.

“How did you get it?” She whispered in awe at its beauty.

“One of our insiders stole it when Seraphine was taking her nightly bath in one of the tower caverns. He snuck into her bed chamber, taking it before she realised and managed to get it to out before she found him and I'm sorry to say, killed him.”

“It was honourable what he did.” She said, a surge of sadness piercing her heart at the thought of another life lost in the fight against the evil Sorceress.

“Yes, he knew it was for a higher purpose. Her guards are now scouring the caves for it. You must escape now or all is lost. We are lost.” Tobalas’ voice broke on the last words, Ashalan had never seen him look so tired before.

“I won't let you down Tobalas.” She said as she pushed down the sense of dread that rose in her stomach.