Were they ever going to fall asleep? Though the anxiety set her teeth on edge, watching the tribals was fascinating. They danced, and yelled, and played their haunting music. They fought each other with fists and claws of bone, drawing red streaks against their white skin. The fires died down and the cold of the night spread through the camp.

Finally, the alcohol took its inevitable hold. The gathering was slowing down, dispersing. Now was her chance. This had to work, she thought, cautiously making her way around the camp, and ducking towards the tent where Omir was held. A pale guard stood just in front of her. His back to her. Looking down towards a jumble of muddy cloth.

It was Omir, crumpled on the ground, unconscious, bound at the hands and feet. His face was bruised, and the only sound in the tent was from his laboured breathing. Zahra raised the dagger, point-down, anger fuelling action. It was no time to be squeamish. The blade bit into the guard’s neck deeply, and she fell with him to the floor. The man jerked under her, but then stilled. It was like the first time, with the bounty hunter. Quieter than the first, though blood still thundered in her ears. He barely made a squeak, dying silently. The bastard deserved it to be sure, but she couldn’t look at him. Where was Omir? She pushed herself away from the warm contact of her victim, and parted a curtain with her hands, still slick with blood.

She cut Omir’s bonds, and tried to nudge him awake. He didn’t look too bad... so why wouldn’t he wake up? Everything had just gotten more difficult.

She'd have to lug him out, somehow, but her need to do this gave her strength. Soon Zahra found herself dragging him out, round the back of the tent, which backed out into the woodland, under the cloth. The smoky air cleared instantly and she took a breath, looking around.

Today was not her day. The forest was pitch black, dangerous, it would be difficult to get away in time. The black turned to red as light burned her eyes, and ghoulish figures sprang from nowhere. She leapt towards the savage running at her, kicking him in the head, stabbing at whatever she could. So many of them. Three of them fell around her, and she found herself getting dizzy, very dizzy at the exertion she was using. Spots came into her vision and she blinked, and then the flat of a spear crashed down on her skull.

***

Fuzzy strings of green meandered into her vision, stalks of grass that tickled at her face before the world tilted ominously as she was pulled upright. “Come on,” hissed a voice, which she recognised as Omir's.

“Wha... happen?” Zahra regained her bearings. The savages were gone, except for a few bodies on the ground. The fires had died out completely now, and it was difficult to see until Omir lit a torch with his own talent. It was too silent. Where had they all gone? What had happened after she fell?

“We have to get out of here, Zahra.” Omir had a hard expression and pulled her along until she was running beside him. The pair ran through the forest, exhausted, wounds and tiredness weighing down their limbs. Zahra tripped over an unseen root, and when she picked herself up she was surprised to see that they had arrived straight into a clearing, warm lights shining in the distance, illuminating timber structures. Another camp? No, it was a village. A civilised village, full of usefs of the Empire. For the first time in the day, Omir laughed.

Like all proper villages, it had a tavern, and though the barkeep looked at them askew when they ran in, panting and covered in dirt, he said nothing after Omir handed him a pouch of silver. They cleaned up as best they could, bound their wounds and slept, the exhaustion leaving no room for talk.

When dawn rose, they left the village behind.

"You were good enough," Omir said, though he sounded worried, and Zahra wondered again if he had been damaged by the blows to the head. "They'll see. They'll see what I see in you."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Who will?"

"Remember what I told you, Zahra."

The girl wracked her brain, but she was tired and Omir wasn't making much sense to begin with. She just hoped they would reach wherever Omir was taking them soon.

They continued to walk in silence, and Omir became withdrawn again, none of the laughter, the jokes, even the lessons had stopped. Zahra wondered what she had done wrong to make him like this. Was it still from stealing a few things from that boat? She had paid enough for that already, hadn't she?

***

They were once again in the familiar woodland that surrounded the northern hills, the landscape becoming thick with trees as it they made their way down into the lowlands of Centra. It was late afternoon, and icy rain poured down on Zahra's face. Her stomach grumbled, and she realised she couldn't remember the last meal she had eaten.

It felt like they had been travelling forever. One day they came to a break in the path, and Omir made off into the woods. “Where're we going?” Zahra asked.

“I have a place around here.” Omir said.

“In the woods?”

“Yes.” The ground was so sodden that it was difficult to walk, the morass trying to capture her feet, and she lost her footing several times on the rough ground.

“Hurry up,” Omir said, impatient. She picked up the pace, but it was almost pushing beyond her endurance.

Zahra was about to ask him to stop, but when Omir halted before she opened her mouth, she stared at him in confusion until she realised, and looked around. They had already arrived.

"Here it is." Omir said.

The foliage blended together, a tangle of vines and leaves. Directed by Omir, however, she began to notice the outline of a building, made out of stone and covered with so much moss that it was almost completely hidden. It looked grim and cold, the masonry crumbling in some places. Zahra was certain that it would be just as miserable on the inside. What she wouldn’t give to sleep somewhere warm.

Omir felt his way around the building for a while.

"What are you doing?"

Omir glanced back at her. "Oh, looking for the entrance. A hideout works better when it doesn't have a visible door, and... here," he dug his fingers into the wet ground, finally gripping a latch, and pulled free a trap door which opened into a pitch-black hole.

"There," he said, smiling for the first time in days. "Come on in. You'll catch a cold if you stay in the rain much longer."

Hesitant at first, Zahra descended into the ground. Her feet made contact with chilly, cut stone, and so did her hands as she felt for a grip. Eventually, a bright light filled the chamber as Omir lit a torch that was laying nearby. They were in what seemed to be a maze of stone corridors, each as cold and dark as the other, with no visible beginning or end.

"See?" Omir said, knocking on the rock, satisfied. "Once upon a time, these tunnels stretched for the gods know how long, right into a series of other places in which the likes of us hid."

“A secret passage...” Zahra murmured. "Do they still lead somewhere?"

"I have no idea. They were built long ago by a magnanimous noble to be his final resting place, riddled with traps and monsters. Eventually tomb raiders invaded, looted everything that shone and slaughtered everything that moved.” Zahra found herself glancing about for anything suspicious, and Omir noticed.

“Don’t worry, little Zahra.” he said. “These tunnels were then extended and used by a guild of thieves, when that sort of thing still existed, up until the point where infighting and tunnel collapses made this place too dangerous to use.” he lifted the torch higher, to reveal the cracked rubble of a collapsed staircase. “I will warn you, though, Zahra. Do not, under any circumstance, try to walk these corridors by yourself. In fact do not come down here, unless you're trying to get in or out of the hideout. Is that understood?"

She nodded.

"Good. Now let's get somewhere better. It's awfully cold down here." It was only after they were out of the rain that she noticed just how uncomfortable she was, the rain had soaked through every layer of clothing. They walked for a bit, and then Omir reached up into the ceiling, another wooden hatch. Omir opened it slowly, fresh air and light flooding the maze.

"Come on up."

Emerging from the underground, Zahra found herself inside the building itself. It was a wide room, with a bunch of tables and chairs stacked in a corner, and a set of stairs leading to the next floor.

"This will be our home until things settle down. Help yourself to one of the rooms upstairs."

She climbed the steps and found a series of small rooms, each with a bed and a small, empty chest, as well as a small window. She removed her outer jacket and collapsed on the bed. It was soft and warm. She slept.