Hazeel stirred and groaned as a heavy weight shifted on top of her. She opened her eyes, but was met with an oppressing darkness that engulfed her sight. After feeling around, and combined with the unbearable irritation in her clothes, she could safely deduce that she was on sand.

Hazeel tried to get up, and felt maximum resistance on her back, neck, and shoulders as she heard the plinking of stones settling above her. Then, it hit her. She must still be under the rubble from the tower she destroyed.

Hazeel started to hyperventilate, and had to talk herself down from the panic attack she was having, being unable to move her own body. She exhaled, and took a deep breath. For as claustrophobic as she was, she knew that panicking was the least helpful option she could choose from.

She tried to call out, but all that came out of her mouth was a raspy wheeze. Gods damn it all! Her voice wouldn’t even come out… this time, she sighed in resignation. Hopefully they didn’t wait too long to come looking for her.

In the meantime, she could only look forward to the future, when she wouldn’t be trapped under rubble.

She thought about the Prince, and his strike team that stayed behind in the capital in order to protect the crown princess. Despite her current situation, she smiled. The marriage between Rora and Garn would bring about a new age of understanding and cultural exchange between demi-humans and humans.

She thought of Jane, who had been defending the treeline next to Pharona in case any soldiers tried to blitz through the forest. Her hometown of Pharona had been destroyed by the recent assault, and some might blame her lack of discipline for the chaos that had engulfed the area, but Hazeel knew her teacher would pull through and come out of this with her head held high.

Lastly, she thought of the soldiers she had killed. The sheer amount of elite on that boat was absurd, and even more so was their ability to get so close to the shore without Jane or her soldiers noticing.They had to have had inside help, and she thought she knew-

Hazeel’s thought process was interrupted by a warm, wet feeling she felt on her hand. Hazeel tried to bring it to her nose, but her arms were pinned underneath a mountain of rubble. Soon, the sticky, viscous liquid made its way to her head, which gave Hazeel the clue that she was facing the ocean. The liquid covered the right side of her face, and despite her best efforts, she tasted the residue on her lips: blood.

Hazeel let out a shaky sigh. All she had to do was endure and survive.

---

She didn't know how long it had been, her mouth had gone dry days ago, and she had let her pride go on the first day she had been forced to vacate her bowels. As she was now, she was barely clinging to life, and even though her voice had come back days ago, there had been no one to respond to it.

Hazeel felt a tear run down her dirt-stained face, as she made a desperate wish.

“...Someone… anyone… help me.”

As if the gods were waiting for her to just ask, Hazeel heard the clacking of feet above the pile of rubble she was trapped under. She heard shuffling overhead and a tiny trickle of light shone down in front of her.

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The light continued to grow in size and shape until it had consumed all of Hazeel’s upper body. Upon seeing a source of light for the first time in gods know how long, Hazeel was blinded as her eyes failed to adjust to the first change of brightness she’d had since finding herself trapped. At that point, a shadow moved overhead and blocked the light, giving Hazeel some semblance of relief.

“Captain, all that’s here are the Gold Empire’s corp...ses…” The female soldier’s voice faded out as she neared the end of her sentence.

“C-captain!” The female soldier ran off, leaving Hazeel to lie amongst the freshly discovered corpses of the Gold Empire’s military. The only thing Hazeel would hope for was a glimmer of hope that these soldiers were friendly, and not of the camp who had caused the tower to collapse on her in the first place.

Preparing for the worst, Hazeel realized she might have to make a break for it. With her upper body uncovered, Hazeel tried to turn her head and move her arms out from her sides, but was met with no compliance as her body failed to respond to her orders.

Tearing up again, Hazeel feared the worst as she heard several sets of footsteps, but was met with a pained cry and a passionate sobbing from one member of the group. Hazeel lay there as the footsteps approached closer, and as her vision finally returned to her, she saw a pair of knees set themselves in front of her.

A warm hand wiped the dirt from Hazeel’s face and a sad voice choked out, “Hazeel, what did they do to you?”

Hazeel’s silent breaths came to a stop as she forced out the name: “Ja… ne…”

The Jane Clairborne gasped and got up quickly. “What are you all waiting there for! She’s alive, damn it! Flora, get me the medics! Jeannis, grab me some idle soldiers and some shovels!”

Two panicked sets of footsteps ran off, and as Hazeel relaxed her body and felt her consciousness fading, she heard Jane mutter, “Live, damn it.”

---

Hazeel’s eyes flicked open, and then immediately shut back closed as the light in the room blinded her. She couldn’t help a curse from leaking out of her mouth, which was met by laughter from her immediate left.

“Jane, what happened?” Hazeel asked with her eyes still closed. “What’s wrong with me?” Hazeel heard Jane shuffle in her seat, and opened her eyes a crack in order to get used to the light, bit by bit.

“Hazeel, you need to listen to me calmly and not freak out. We’re in my mansion in Pharona right now. Or rather, what’s left of it. It’s been three days since we found you, and the medics have given you a positive diagnosis. You-”

“How long was I under there Jane?”

“...”

“How long?”

“If you were there since it fell, then you’ve been trapped under that tower for a week.” Jane sighed as she told Hazeel the news.

Hazeel went quiet, and opened her eyes for what felt like the first time in quite a while. What she saw disturbed her, and she immediately shut them again.

“Jane, how am I okay!?” Hazeel opened her eyes again and looked at the state of her bruised, broken body. All of her limbs were wrapped in gauze and hung up from the ceiling. The worst part: she couldn't feel anything. Not even Jane’s hand resting on her own.

“Our medical experts told us that your loss of feeling and control of your limbs is a side effect of being unable to move them. In essence, your limbs started to atrophy, but don’t worry. They’ve assured me that with enough physical therapy, you’ll be back on your feet within a year.”

Hazeel let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding, and closed her eyes again.

“But more importantly Hazeel, there’s been a tragedy.” Hazeel’s eyes shot open as the door to her room opened loudly, and a woman wearing a maid outfit walked into the room.

“Here she is, Lady Jane.” The woman handed off a bundle of rags to Jane, and quickly left the room while wiping tears from her eyes.

“What is that?”

Jane unfurled the ball of cloth completely and revealed a sleeping, naked baby. “It’s Rora’s child, my granddaughter.”

Hazeel was already confused on why the baby would be out of the capital at all, but the next sentence out of Jane’s mouth floored her.

“The crown prince and princess are dead, Hazeel.”