Time in the tunnels could be extremely difficult to quantify due to the never ending darkness. Fortunately Luna had with her the rusty pocket watch that had once belonged to her father. She pulled the time keeping device from her pocket and looked at it under the flickering light of the torch. Luna thought of her father hugging her and throwing her up in the air after a long day at the mill and her lips curled into a smile. He was the kindest of men. Every good trait I have I inherited from him. She thought.
“Well, it’s late now and I think this is a decent place to stop and sleep. It’ll be important to get some rest so we can keep a solid pace tomorrow.” Luna said, looking over at Cassian who was rubbing his sore calves. “What’s the matter, pretty boy? Not used to hard travel?”
Cassian laughed sarcastically and rolled his eyes. “Not a lot of hard travel to be done in the palace. I did plenty of arms training but it was always small bursts of expending energy. I think my endurance is a bit sorry as a result. Don’t worry about me though, I’ll be fine. This part of the tunnel is at least wide enough that I can stretch my legs out. I’m definitely excited to get some shut eye. Though, this is the first time I’ve ever slept on the floor.”
Luna narrowed her eyes and shook her head as she unrolled her bedroll on the rocky floor. She put down her bags near the wall, took off her old beat up boots, and let down her dark hair. “Of course you haven’t. Well my recommendation is to clear as many small rocks as you can off to the side. Nothing worse than a rock jabbing you in the side all night. I’m going to prop up this torch so it’s not pitch black tonight. I’ve got extras in my bag for tomorrow.”
“Good thinking. Maker, I can’t wait to see the sky again. I never thought I would miss the clouds and skies, and the birds. Oh my, and the freshly baked bread. Boy, I’m hungry.” Cassian said, laying his bedroll down and taking his polished leather boots off. His stomach growled loudly.
Luna’s face turned sour. “You know that your people’s foolish spending and obsession with giving off the impression of wealth has destroyed the country right? While you bastards sit sipping overpriced tea and throwing extravagant galas, the common man can’t even afford to buy bread or put a roof over their head.”
Cassian sat in silence trying to think of a solid reply but nothing reasonable came to him. Eventually he just sat in silence.
When they were both ready for bed and laying down under their blankets Cassian stared at the ceiling of the tunnel. Watching the shadows flicker and dance he sighed. “Luna, can I tell you something?”
“Okay, but don’t make me regret this. What is it?”
Cassian paused for a moment and the sound of the torch burning filled the passageway. “I’m kind of glad to be here with you.”
Luna’s eyes got wide and she turned over in her bedroll to look at Cassian. “Are you joking? You’re glad that I was framed for the murder of your mother and we had to flee the city?”
“Well no, obviously that part sucked. But I feel as if I’ve gotten to know you really quickly through these unfortunate circumstances. This might be pathetic, but you might in all honestly be the first real friend I‘ve ever had.”
Luna turned over again looking up at the ceiling. “The me you think you know is an idealized version. You don’t know the real me. I’ve had to do terrible things to survive, Cassian. This altruistic mask I wear is just a means to hide all of the hurt I’ve caused and the shame I feel.” They sat in silence as the gravity of Luna’s words hung heavy over them like a thick smoke. “And how is it even possible that I’m your first friend?”
Cassian pulled at his short brown hair. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be a prince. No one does. Everyone thinks it’s perfect, but I assure you it’s not. Every friend I’ve ever had, I had to wonder if they really liked me for me, or if they were simply using me to gain something.” He sat up in his bedroll holding his knees in tight close to his chest. “I don’t think your kindness is a mask. I’ve seen the way your friends look at you. The way your brother looks at you. They adore you and look to you for guidance. Do you know why they do that?”
Chewing her bottom lip nervously, Luna massaged her closed eyelids. “I guess I’ve never really considered it.”
“They do that because you look at the situations around you no matter how bleak, and look for ways to make them better in the future. To make those unbearable situations bearable. You shouldn’t beat yourself up for the things you did in the past. No matter how terrible, those situations culminated to shape the person here with me today. But that’s enough of that emotional talk. Thank you for being my friend, Luna.” Cassian said, turning to face the wall and closing his eyes.
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Luna laid there for over an hour thinking about Cassian’s words. His thunderous snoring let her know he was fast asleep. She rolled over watching him sleep for a minute before closing her eyes and whispering. “You’re welcome, Cassian.”
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Cassian awoke abruptly unsure what time it was or how long he’d been asleep. The torch was still burning and the shadows flickered like flowing waves. Luna was fast asleep and she was drooling copiously. Cassian chuckled quietly so as not to wake her, when something out of the corner of his eye drew his attention. The silhouette of a young boy seemed to be standing on the edge of the illuminated area. Cassian blinked repeatedly to see if his eyes were simply playing tricks on him. But the shadow of the boy remained at the edge of the torchlight.
“Little boy, what are you doing down here?” Did you get lost?” Cassian asked quietly trying not to wake up Luna.
“Please help me.” The little boy said quietly as he began walking off into the tunnel.
Cassian jumped up from his bedroll rubbing his eyes before grabbing the torch and following after the boy. “Hey, hey come back here. We can help you little guy. This is not a good place for kids to play. If you're lost we can help you.”
Still the little boy kept moving through the tunnels but now he had increased his pace. “Please come with me. I need your help.”
Cassian found himself running after the boy but the young boy stayed just at the edge of the torchlight. “Please stop. I won’t hurt you. I will help you. We have food and water back at our camp.”
After chasing the boy for an amount of time that was hard to figure out, Cassian stopped and realized he could no longer see the child. He stood there mad at himself and out of breath. The torch made it so that he could just barely make out the rough layout of the cave. Looking around he realized that he was in a large cavern with a strange statue in the center of it. The statue seemed to be roughly the shape of a human but it had multiple sets of antlers extending from the head. In front of the idol was an old wooden table covered with items — among them were an ancient tome, a charred skull, an opal necklace, and a sacrificial dagger.
In the corner of the cave was a cauldron hoisted over an unlit campfire. Cassian’s eyes widened in shock and his jaw dropped when he saw a pile of severed limbs in a ring around the cauldron. Five tunnels branched out from this large area. Still winded Cassian looked back over his shoulder in desperation. I need to get out of here right now! I have to go back and get Luna. He thought, but as he looked at the multiple tunnels branching out from this cavern he realized he didn't know which passageway he had entered from.
Cassian cursed under his breath. That’s when he noticed that on the floor of the cave strange runes were etched into the ground. He began to hyperventilate — the flickering shadows seemed to be almost hypnotic and he started to get very light headed. Cassian quickly turned to face the tunnel that he thought was most likely the one he had entered through.
The high-pitched and gravelly laughter of a very old woman echoed out in the chamber from behind him. Disturbingly it sounded inhuman, almost beastial. Cassian drew his longsword and turned around. Standing directly in front of him was a wrinkled old woman dressed in bloodied rags. His breath caught in his chest as he noticed the old woman had four arms and black voids in the place her eyes should’ve been.
He pulled back his sword to attack her. With unbelievable quickness she opened her mouth and a plume of black smoke billowed out from her toothless maw. The inky cloud propelled up into his mouth and nose before he could even swing his weapon. Cassian gasped as the strength drained from his muscles and he dropped his sword. As the room around him began to spin, faster and faster, he heard the terrible laughter of the witch.
He clawed at his throat, desperately gasping for air. As he fell backwards he attempted to speak the name, but no sound escaped his lips. “Esmerelda…” The world around him faded to black.