The tangy, metallic smell of Talia’s blood that littered the tunnel mixed with the damp and earthy smell of the dirt and filled Gerhart’s nose as he waited for Talia to make some kind of progress. His ears filled with his breathing, Talia’s muted grunting, the rustling of Talia’s arms brushing against the clothes and the tunnel walls, and the rhythmic thumping sound of the bone club beating the tunnel lid.

With the darkness of the tunnel robbing them of their vision, Gerhart’s and Talia’s other senses grew stronger to compensate. The sense of smell was one thing, but the sense of touch, which made it feel like bugs were crawling over their skin as beads of sweat and blood pearled and ran over it, was something else. And it only made them want to get out even faster.

But even with the claustrophobia, the darkness, and the feeling of insects crawling over her, Talia couldn’t bash against the lid any harder. She was already driving her fatigued body beyond its limit.

However, after too many attempts to count, Talia struck the lid once again. This time, it wasn’t a dull thump that rang out. It was a wet cracking sound, the noise a rotten log or branch might make when stepped on.

“Fucking finally, Talia!”

“Shut it, lazy-ass freeloader.”

Despite their seemingly harsh words, both Gerhart and Talia had bright grins on their faces.

Talia gritted her teeth and suppressed that grin as she drew back her arm and levied another strike against the lid. Although it had cracked a little, they still weren’t out yet. She hadn’t even created enough damage to let light peek through the rotten lid.

Talia struck the lid again and drew another soft cracking sound, dampened by the severe rot and the dirt on top of and around the lid.

Still, no light peered into the tunnel. But Talia had felt the bone club pushing deeper up into the rotten wood of the lid. She was getting close to breaking the lid. She could feel it.

Another strike and another crack rang out. The budding excitement of finally escaping the tunnel grew.

Yet another hit from the bone club made another crunching noise ring out, and Gerhart’s and Talia’s excitement blossomed as they could finally catch a glimpse of light through the layers of rotten wood and brown dirt.

It was barely more than a string of light, but it was like the sun in the pitch-black darkness of the enclosed tunnel. That string of light became their beacon of hope as Talia managed to pull some hidden energy reserves out of hiding and struck the lid again.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The tiny hole that let through a string expanded and let through an entire rope of light as dirt and splinters rained down.

The light reached Talia’s face, causing her to squint and close her eyes. She was too used to the darkness, and even the tendrils of light that entered her eyes were too overwhelming. But that didn’t stop her, and she once again pushed the bone club forward with as much force as she could muster.

Talia rained down strikes against the lid and cleared the rotten wood and dirt out of the way.

The light was still overbearing, but she managed to squeeze open her eyes and saw that the lid was mostly gone. Once she had made some progress, the rest followed like a herd of sheep.

Talia crawled forward and pushed the bone club through the tunnel exit before clearing the rest of the way with her hands. She wanted to force her way through as soon as she could, but all their troubles would be for naught if she rushed and got stuck. So, Talia forcefully restrained her instinct to get out of the dark and narrow tunnel.

But when she had gotten rid of the worst, she dragged herself forward, latched her hands around the edge of the exit, and pulled herself up and out of the tunnel with trembling arms.

“Hey, if you’re out, get out of the way!”

Gerhart didn’t wait for Talia to collect her breath as she sat on the edge with her legs still in the tunnel. He pushed on the soles of Talia’s boots and cleared the way for himself so that he could get out of the tunnel.

He hadn’t been as affected by the darkness and tightness of the tunnel as Talia. But he still wanted to get out as quickly as possible so that they could get a move on and escape Vestor and Michmond’s guards.

“Fine, but I ain’t helping you if you get stuck.”

Talia forced her still-bleeding body to move as she lifted her legs and twisted before shuffling to the side.

“Who would ever need your help when you can’t even smash open a rotten cover?”

“You know what? I did break it, and I’m also already out of the tunnel, so watch your mouth before I whack you like a mole.”

“Hah! With those twig-like arms of yours, it will at most be a massage.”

Gerhart struggled his way to the exit of the tunnel. Since he was a little bigger and had broader shoulders than Talia, he had a little more trouble moving through the tunnel than her. And that difficulty was only enhanced at the curve leading to the exit as well as the hole itself having shrunk due to dirt and the earth moving and settling.

Gerhart managed to get both forearms out of the hole as he tried to imitate Talia and pull himself out of the hole when he got stuck. His shoulders, when he stretched his arms, were too wide, and he became a human wedge.

“Hey, have you seen my club?”

“Talia.”

“Right, you were in the tunnel, my bad. Like, seriously, I could have sworn I just popped it over the edge. Where is it?”

“Talia.”

Talia looked around where she sat, clutching her abdomen in confusion.

“Do you think it was actually, like, you know, a living bone club?”

“Talia.”

“‘Talia, Talia, Talia.’ What!? Is my name really that pretty?”

Finally, incapable of ignoring Gerhart any longer, Talia turned to see the two arms flopping around and poking out of a hole in the ground.

“Pfft– Ha! HA!”