Miinhart Forest, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

Stephanie wasn't sure what she had been expecting. Annabella had finally pulled herself together and led the way to Asural, but instead of going into the town, she brought them to the base of a knotty old tree on the outskirts of it. Stephanie could hear the sounds of normalcy within the town. It reminded her of her old life in Zusia, everyone just going about their business, not giving much thought to anything outside their everyday routine. Not one person could have suspected that four young fugitives were just yards away from wreaking havoc on their normal lives.

Annabella was weak, breathing heavily as she slid down the side of the tree, pointing with a trembling hand. "Stephanie. Root there."

Stephanie kicked at one of the many entangled, near rotten roots of the tree. "I see that."

"Twist it to the left."

Crouching down and grasping the thick root she had kicked, she obeyed and twisted it. To her surprise, only a segment of it moved, spinning like some sort of mechanism.

"To the left again, and then to the right." Annabella was now speaking through gritted teeth.

Stephanie took a brief glance at Todd. He was crouched beside Bethany, watching Annabella with worried eyes lined with exhaustion. Biting her bottom lip, she obeyed Annabella's orders. The mechanism whirred. Something clicked.

"What was that?" she whispered.

Annabella struggled on her last ounce of strength. "Trapdoor. Open it." She slid down the tree a bit more, grimacing as she grasped her leg. "Hurry."

Stephanie furrowed her brow, brushing away at the undergrowth at the base of the tree to try and figure out what Annabella was talking about. She found a small looped root that she was able to tug on, and cracks appeared in the leaves and dirt. She pulled the trapdoor open, staring down the hole it revealed. All was dark. She could see a ladder descending into the darkness. It looked old and worn out.

"Get in," Annabella ordered. "We've gotta go fast."

"You first," Stephanie said without thinking.

Annabella shot her a fiery, impatient glare, but she didn't argue. Stephanie moved out of the way as Annabella swung her legs into the pit and clambered in. She gasped and her hands slipped. Stephanie heard her grunt as she hit the ground, and she quickly looked down to see Annabella's form in the darkness.

"You okay?"

"Get... down here!" the girl panted. "It'll lock you out."

Stephanie looked at Todd. He seemed to share her trepidation, but then, getting locked out didn't sound joyous either. Annabella hadn't steered them wrong thus far. Quickly, Stephanie lowered herself into the pit. Bethany came after her. Todd followed, pulling the trapdoor closed above them. Stephanie heard that familiar whirring sound. Soon, they were all at the bottom of the pit, unable to see a thing.

"Annabella." Stephanie waited for the girl's response, but there was none. "Todd?"

"I'm here."

"Annabella!" Stephanie felt around in the darkness, trying to find Annabella. Panic consumed her when she did. "Todd, she's not moving."

Todd stumbled around in the dark for a moment, finally finding Stephanie by nearly tripping over her. Bethany let out a squeak of fear, finding Stephanie's arm and holding it like a vice.

Stephanie was searching for Annabella's neck, trying to find a pulse. She found it, and she calmed slightly. At least she was alive. "She's out, Todd. Do we have a flashlight?"

"No." She could feel him right beside her, which was comforting. Somewhat. It was so dark, her eyes wouldn't even adjust to it. Todd's voice was high with fear as he asked, "Is she okay?"

"She's got a pulse. We need to find help. She brought us down here for a reason, I'm sure." Stephanie felt along with her hands, trying to find the wall. "This is a tunnel, isn't it? It's got to lead somewhere."

That's when she saw it: the slightest flash of light off in the distance. She froze, staring, trying to make out what it was. It was bobbing, moving around, coming closer. A flashlight? She heard the sounds of footsteps echoing along the tunnel walls.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Who's there?" The voice sounded as though it belonged to an older man.

Whoever it was, Annabella had led them to him. Stephanie took a chance. "Annabella's hurt," she called back. "She's lost consciousness."

The footsteps became faster; the flashlight beam bounced closer, and soon enough Stephanie was able to make out the silhouette of a rather large man behind it. He seemed to fill the whole tunnel with his tall, broad form. They were revealed by the light of the flashlight.

The man's face was shadowed, but it seemed to get even darker when he saw Annabella. "Move, quickly." He handed the flashlight to Stephanie and gathered Annabella's limp form into his burly arms. "Follow me." He began to lumber back down the tunnel, and Stephanie scrambled to her feet, pointing the flashlight ahead of him to light their path. Todd and Bethany were close behind.

"Excuse me, sir, but who are you?" Stephanie couldn't stop herself from asking questions. "Annabella didn't tell us."

"My name is Benjamin." The man walked quickly, and Stephanie had to jog to keep up with his long strides.

"Where are we?"

"Asural. In the Refuge Sanctuary. You haven't heard of it?"

"No."

"Good." They reached the end of the tunnel, where there was a big metal door with a wheel. "Turn that, if you would."

Stephanie did. It was heavy, but she was able to twist it and the door opened. Benjamin shouldered it open the whole way and led them into a huge room. Stephanie slowed to stare around them. It looked like the gym back in the training centre in Zusia. They were standing on a small platform. To the right, stairs led down the floor, which was well-worn clay. The ceiling was high. Along the walls, there were racks of weapons and sports equipment alike. On the far side of the room, there was a climbing wall and net. An obstacle course took up most of the one side of the room, including both climbing ropes and metal bars, sand and water below. The walls were mostly padded, but she saw a section for throwing knives and axes. There was an axe embedded in the painted bull's eye.

"What is this?" Stephanie breathed. She turned to follow Benjamin down the stairs. He was already on the floor, carrying Annabella across the room.

"This is the Training and Recreation room — the TR room for short," Benjamin replied, his voice booming through the empty room. "Hurry." He was wasting no time; he used his foot to shove open the door leading out of the room, and Stephanie and Todd had to run to catch up, Todd carrying Bethany in his arms. They followed Benjamin down a long hallway. There were many doors staggered up and down the walls with numbers on them. Some had decorations, like drawings with names. It reminded Stephanie of the Trainee apartments, minus the childish drawings. One door even had streamers dangling from the top.

"What is this place?" Stephanie asked again, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

Benjamin didn't seem to mind her questions even in his hurry. "The RS. The Refuge Sanctuary. Here, we protect and train children against Motch and his forces."

They were nearing the end of the hallway when a woman came around the corner in front of them. She was younger, perhaps in her late twenties, with dark hair and skin. Her posture was straight, her head held high. "You paged," she said upon seeing Benjamin. The sight of the others did not seem to surprise her.

"Annabella," Benjamin said, not slowing his pace. "Loss of consciousness, fever, possible infection."

"Hurry." Now she was leading them, rushing down the hallway ahead of them and opening a door at the end of it. "Ellie, Maureen, clear off the table and get out, training is over. Tell Jordan we've got an emergency and I need her over here, stat!"

The room was like a miniature hospital; the walls were lined with cabinets and shelves all stocked with various medical instruments Stephanie knew she couldn't name if she had tried. She followed Benjamin inside, watching as two younger girls clambered to rid the table of supplies, dumping them in a haphazard pile on one of the counters and retreating from the room in a run. Benjamin laid Annabella on the table, and the woman wasted no time. She checked Annabella's vital signs before going to where the obvious damage was: Annabella's leg. The woman cut away Annabella's pants to reveal the wound, and Stephanie only got a glimpse of it: a mess of crude stitches, bloody pus, and fiery streaks of red that streaked from the wound like bolts of lightning. Another woman came into the room, pushing Stephanie out of the way.

"Dear Creator!" she exclaimed upon seeing Annabella.

"Can you help her?" Stephanie blurted out.

The two women only seemed to notice her then. "Out! Colette, take them out," the first woman ordered a girl standing in the doorway.

"But—" Stephanie had no time to argue. Todd grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the table and out of the room. The door was shut behind them, and they were left standing in the hallway alone. Well, alone besides the girl named Colette.

"What happened?" the girl asked immediately, folding her arms as she sized Todd and Stephanie up with her eyes. "Who are you and what're you doing with the Princess? She works alone."

There was a hint of bitterness in the girl's tone. She seemed to be around Annabella's age, but just by the sight of her Stephanie had a hard time seeing her as being friends with Annabella. "I'm Stephanie. This is Todd and Bethany."

"Bethany!" Colette exclaimed, reaching for the child. Bethany hid her face in Todd's shoulder, and Colette quickly pulled back. "Boy, you grew up," she said modestly. "I knew you when you were just a tiny baby!" A shadow crossed her face. "Where's Tamara?"

Stephanie didn't know the name, but she could guess. "Sarum is destroyed."

Colette stared at her blankly, as if her words hadn't registered. Then she pushed past Stephanie and opened the door back into the room the others had shut them out of. "Benjamin! Come! Her companions have news you need to hear."