"So we're lost you said?" Zilian asked as he and Sarri wandered through the tunnels.

Sarri responded in an irritated tone, "No, I didn't say we are lost. Just that we are in another layer and that it’s hard to tell where these tunnels will take us." Her explanation was short, due to how many times she had repeated herself.

"Do we know where to go?" He probed her.

"No." She answered flatly.

"Do we know where we are?"

"No."

"Do we know how to get back to where came from? Say that other cavern that might've led somewhere else?"

She paused momentarily before admitting in defeat, "No."

"What else do we need to finally admit we are lost?"

"Look kid! You want to lead, be my guest. I can promise you won't have any more luck than me. After all, I am the spelunker on this trip."

He shrugged and took the lead, "Fine by me, about time I get a turn to choose." Sarri was always quick on taking the front, so this was a rare opportunity for him.

He sighed in glee, showing how much he loved being the one in charge now instead of Sarri. They have wandered into a section of the caves they could not find their way back from, having been walking in circles for hours at this point. They should have had walked back a long time ago as he suggested to her, but of course she would not listen. Henceforth, even she was not certain on how to get out.

He paused at a junction and he decided to go to the left, and this tunnel led them back to the cavern that took them in circles. The cavern was tremendously large, with what he guessed were over thirty different tunnels. The tunnels all cross in each other and whatever direction they took, it always brought them back here. They were so confused and turn around at this point, the could not even guess which tunnel would lead them back to one of the caverns they were in before this one.

"So wise guy, which one would you pick?" Sarri tested him.

He stepped into the middle of the cavern, getting a good look to all the tunnels but to little help since they all appeared the same at first glance. He just hoped they would not wander in here for days, Erica did not have that much time. One tunnel caught his attention, for whatever reason it felt like the right one. There was nothing about that tunnel to look any different from any of the others, but regardless he walked into that one with Sarri following closely behind him.

Sarri asked, "So, why do you choose this one?"

"Just a feeling it is the right one." He shrugged insecurely, he had no particular reason why going down this one tunnel other than a gut feeling.

"So you guessed?" She teased him, proving that he was not doing much better than her.

He decided he needed to reason with and came up with something complex to say, "No, I took a intuitive, preliminary, well educated concept of an idea of what seemed to be the most likely solution to our given situation."

"So.... you guessed?" Her question sounded more like a statement, it was really obvious that he guessed.

He exclaimed and defended himself, "Yes! Of course I guessed, but it was at least my turn to guess."

"Kid, we have the same chances at finding a tunnel. Your chance is we are gonna get back to the cavern, at least on your first try." The logic was sound, especially since they really could not tell if they had already been down this tunnel already.

"Well, at least I guessed..." He added.

Sarri laughed, "Yes, you had your turn."

"I have a question, so is it ok I ask?" He wanted to get something off that nagged at him.

"Was that the question or did you mean you are gonna ask another?" She mocked him.

He laughed, "Sorry. How can I tell if I ever saw your father's militia group?"

"That is an interesting question, why do you ask?" She eyed curiously, it honestly felt a bit freaky to Zilian from the way how the light bounced the walls.

"Just a curious question." He replied innocently. That was however not the whole truth, he would not put it past the Mountain to look for help from another group to hunt him down if they needed to.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

"Ok, then. Just make sure if you see them, don't tell them you know me or where I went." She waited upon his agreement to the terms.

He agreed, not a hard bargain for him at all, "Fair enough."

"They have an insignia of a red horned face on the shoulders pads of their armor, as well on the back of their helmets."

Now he knew who else he wanted to stay clear from.

"Well kid. Seems like your tunnel doesn't lead anywhere."

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"We've been going down this tunnel for awhile now and it doesn't seem to stop. Chances are it will lead to a dead end." She explained.

He stopped in his tracks and now noticed what she said, the tunnel had not crossed any of the others thus so far and they had been in it for quite a while now. He countered her, "I think you are wrong."

"Huh? Do you know what you are saying? I am never wrong about these caves and tunnels kid."

He ran ahead, ignoring her startled call from behind, "Hey wait! Where are you running off to?"

He ran in this surprisingly straight cave and had a great feeling about this, a sparkle danced deep in the darkness at the end. In a matter of minutes, he reached the end that sloped up and ended as a flat surface. It was exactly what he hoped for, a tunnel that led straight out towards sunlight. A couple seconds later, Sarri was right beside him.

"Not bad kid, you have better luck than me." She looked at the entrance where the light came from, "And it seems we didn't need to find where I came from after all."

"Yeah. Seems like it." He felt disheartened.

Sarri noticed by the chip in his shoulders, "What's wrong?"

"It's just I think we might be too late, for Erica." He commented

She led to the exit, "Don't give up. Let's go get help now."

He followed, "How will we get her out? Both ways to get to her are blocked off."

"The best we can do is try and hope for the best." It was cold even for Sarri, but he knew she was right.

"I wish she would just pop out from a wall." He sighed.

Just as he finished his sentence, the wall next to them sprayed dust in the air as it collapsed. Zilian wiped the dust out of his eyes and when he opened them, he wiped them again in disbelief. He could not believe it, but here she was. Erica appeared from behind a wall, covered in dust and bruises, her clothing was cut riddled in each which way.

He was in disbelief, this was too good to be true, "Erica?"

Erica yelled out in joy, "Zilian!"

She tossed whatever she had in her hands aside, running to hug both him and Sarri.

"Never thought I say this, but good to see you Sarri." Tears welled up in her eyes.

Sarri seemed to be taken a bit aback even with the grim face, "That is quite the entrance lady."

She heaved sorely, "Yeah, I won’t be going on another adventure for a while. That means we are parting ways Sarri." Zilian could not agree anymore, he had enough of this crazy adventure too.

She smiled, "Yeah I can't imagine this kids luck, he said you'd pop out of a wall and here you are. Hey kid, could you say 'crystals will pop from the wall' for me." A playful smirk hung on her face.

He shrugged uncaringly, "Crystals will pop from the wall."

"Well, guess what. There's crystals in the wall there. Easy to pick out." Erica added.

"Wait, what? Really?" Zilian exclaimed surprisingly.

Sarri placed her hand on his shoulder, "Thanks kid, I owe you one."

His mouth dropped, while Sarri could not wait another moment and stuffed her bag with the crystals. She tossed a single one at him. "Here, finders fee." She teased.

"I think we deserve more then that, I mean finding this hole and saving your life and putting up with your chatter." He bargained with her.

Erica interfered, "No, I don't want to see another crystal for a good while." That left Zilian a bit sour, he had no idea why she did not want crystals for but giving them up to Sarri was crossing a line.

Sarri smiled and shook hands in agree to the deal, "Nice, you're an excellent person for me to have business with."

As soon as the bag was jam packed, she got out of the hole and led the way back to the exit while Zilian and Erica followed close behind. They saw the bare sunlight for the first time in days, which to Zilian had felt like forever. He winced at the brightness, letting his eyes get accustomed to it. A forest was not too far off and much to his relief a path was visible on the edge.

Sarri pointed at the path, "That would lead you straight to Greyus."

Erica and Zilian exchanged glances.

Erica spoke first, "I guess this is it then, right?"

Sarri answered, "Yeah. Have to say, I enjoyed the little bit of time I spent with you Erica. You are respectful, kind and don't answer back. Unlike this other kid." Pointing at Zilian.

He shouted, "Hey! And here I was about to say I was going to miss you too."

She patted him on the head, "But you are decent enough. Take care."

He smiled. As annoying she was, he would honestly miss her. Before he could properly say good bye, he turned to see a shouting from behind. He wondered what was all the commotion about, since a group of armored men on horses rode towards.

"Sarri! Stay right where you are!" The one in the lead shouted as they sped faster to them.

He turned to look back at Sarri, and before he knew what was going on. She was on their horse and sprinted very quickly away from the soldiers into forest, and she called back before she disappeared. "I owe you another one! Don't worry, I know you'll miss me."

And with that, she rode away. The group that chased her rode right past Zilian and Erica, which he saw an insignia - a red horned face. She was being chased by her father's militia. He did not care who or what she was running from, there was one thing that crossed his mind and Erica voiced it.

"Did she just take our horse?"

He answered flatly, trying to grasp what just happened, "Yes."

He was going to yell, but Erica surprised him as she shouted first. The one word that would forever leave a bile taste, "Sarri!"