**[Horace, Day 3]**

As they walked beside him in the narrowing tunnel, the smell of his companions made him question how they had avoided being discovered by another monster. They were covered in grime, blood, and fluids; none of them wanted to think about. Spending the last day in the pit had only fermented the concoction coating them until it reeked beyond anything he had ever smelled before, and he had grown up on a farm where manure was everywhere. Despite their stench, they had been walking for over an hour unchallenged. It made him nervous, and yet with his arm gone and the slow pace they had to set for Aiden, he knew they must be fortunate to have avoided more trouble. Every hour they stayed undiscovered was an hour more to live. 

Silence was something he had thought he would be used to, but the acute noiselessness in the tunnels brought home how wrong he had been. They all flinched at every sound or loud breath, and Horace wondered how long they could handle the stress. The meditation skill had helped him make peace with his injury before they headed out and kept him centered with the anxiety coursing through him now. He could not imagine what Aiden might be thinking without having any means to calm himself, but the blond boy showed no more signs of panicking than Rita, so maybe it was only him who was struggling. 

The tunnel had begun to narrow ten minutes prior, and it continued to shrink until it was just wide enough for two of them to walk abreast. As the most formidable despite his injuries, Horace retook the lead. Aiden was next, followed by Rita with her wand held at the ready. He had less confidence in her magic than he had, especially as it was responsible for most of the group's injuries, yet it remained their best chance at winning. She had apologized profusely prior to their departure, and he knew she would not discharge her magic wildly a second time. They had all berated themselves following the attack. He was no exception, so he refused to guilt her for being the only one uninjured. It was on all of them to make sure the next encounter went better. He would not let his attention falter again and remained vigilant as they moved. 

He was focusing on the gloom shrouding the path in front of them to defend against anything that might jump out and flailed out his sword awkwardly with his left hand when Aiden suddenly made a choking sound behind him. Turning wildly to see if something had snuck up behind them, he was confused to see his team was far behind him. Backtracking a dozen paces to their location, he saw Aiden’s teeth flashing in the glow and felt Rita’s hand grip tightly to his arm. “I knew it!” Aiden declared loudly, headless of the quiet they had so carefully cultivated the last few hours.

Horace was annoyed at his lack of regard for their situation and whispered quickly, “Shut it! We need to keep quiet. What could possibly have made you stray so far behind?” Aiden pointed to a small cleft in the wall he had not noticed, and from the depth of the shadows, it appeared to be a passage of some sort. He would not have seen it due to it being only a few feet tall and wide. It was the kind of tunnel a child or animal might use, not one he would consider entering. He was unsure what to do about this and looked over to Rita to see if it was wise to go into it, but saw he was too late. Aiden had already vanished. 

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Horace was pissed at Aiden for leaving without consulting the group first, but worry for his safety moved him into a crouching position in front of the crevice. It was a tight squeeze, and he nearly laughed at the sudden thought that invaded his mind, "I might not fit if I had two arms. If this leads to some great treasure trove, then I may have to start giving luck more consideration." Behind him, Rita had little difficulty maneuvering in with him since she was half as broad as him, and together, they shuffled forward into the unknown. 

The cramped quarters began to ease after just a minute of careful progress. Brighter light soon began to light up the passage gradually until a sharp turn deposited them into a room. What the actual heck!? Horace was horrified, and the sudden weight that fell against his back told him that Rita might have just fainted. He could not blame her. Walls of metal cages glinted in the light of the new room or prison they had just wandered into. He did not know where they were or how all this had wound up in the middle of their dungeon, and he honestly did not want to know. Aiden looked like he was thinking the exact opposite. His eyes were wide, and his face had the same relaxed expression it had when they were eating crumpets in Rita’s room. Horace failed to come up with an explanation. Cages meant torture, slavery, or at best imprisonment. Rita surely understood the implications of this, and he would rather fight for his life than be forced to beg for survival. 

Deciding against holding his tongue, he snapped at Aiden, “Stop looking so damn happy. This is bad news if you did not realize. You might not be able to understand its meaning for yourself but think of Rita. Do you honestly think she will survive long trapped in one of those cages? Would you want her to?” It might have been the longest, most passionate speech he had ever given, a testament to his aversion to speaking in public, yet he had never been more confident in his own voice. His people weren’t slaves, but they were definitely not free. Rumors passed down from the elders about slavery and abuse at the hands of bad kings. These tales never ended well for pretty young girls like her, and he could not imagine what type of creature required cages in such a far off dungeon.

Aiden apparently disagreed because his next words kept the same level of childlike exuberance as before. “You don’t understand, Horace. Cages mean people, and people can help us survive. I am a bad fighter, and I don’t do magic, but I am great with people. I can save us now. If I word everything correctly, we could spend the next few months living the easy life with whoever built this place.” 

His smile made Horace feel sick. The strange boy with shining hair and wonder-filled blue eyes thought he would be their savior all of a sudden. There were no people down here. Maybe there were sapient monsters, but they are not human, and no amount of hope would change that. He was wrong in thinking Aiden had been handling everything okay. The boy had clearly snapped. He sighed and heard it echo through the room. “I am not going in there to be captured. If you chose to live a life of suffering and misery over battle, then  that is your right, but I am going back.” He turned and looked at Rita to see if she agreed or if she would also stay here in this strange place. She looked frailer than he had ever seen her, and the pleading way she looked at Aiden told him all he needed to know. Reaching out to grab her hand, he led them off into the tunnel once more. Aiden had made his choice.