How long has it been since we escaped our cells? Vaal is restless. Every out of place sound sends him on high alert. I can’t blame him. Every time I hear something I have to resist casting another paralysis spell on Robin’s ‘shadow’. Is it there something crawling around in here or was it just the flickering of the torches again?

I step on Robin’s henchman’s finger. He doesn’t make a sound. I sigh and slide down to my butt. How much longer am I willing to wait? What are the chances I’ve missed my window to escape? What if Robin lied about releasing everyone and I’m wasting my time here? There’s too much for me to think about and I can’t see anything!

I think I can almost hear its voice. I think I can feel Alistar trying to come out. No buddy, you can’t come out. What if Vaal recognizes you? Does it matter? Can he even see in this darkness? Won’t he think it’s another trick of the light? No no no. It doesn’t matter, I have to keep you locked up like everything else.

“Do you hear that?” Vaal jumps to his feet. “Someone’s opening that door.”

“What?” I rise and close my eyes, focusing solely on listening. “You’re right.”

“Get ready.”

I slip a knife into my hand and crouch just out of torchlight. Vaal hugs the wall where we heard the door rattle. We’re ready to pounce at any time. It opens.

“You-!”

----------------------------------------

“Have you seen my big- Have you seen Rainen?” Aisha asks, her face filled with worry.

“N-Not since yesterday.”

She leans in close, “When yesterday?”

“A-At night!” I respond, throwing my hands up. “He, I saw him when I was walking downstairs to, to…”

“Where did he go after that?” Aisha blurts.

“He, he went back into his room.”

The door to the inn opens. A man holding a sack of coins walks through and laughs as he throws the sack into the air. It lands on our table, some of the contents spilling over. He waves and points upstairs, “Those are the coins we took from ya. Robin said you’re clear so go on and get your friends. I’ll be taking you all with me.”

I pull Aisha’s hand, “L-Let’s go…”

We quickly collect all the coins and run upstairs. The first room we barrel into is the shared one between Rainen and Axel. Axel jolts up and throws a shirt on as we explain the situation to him. He comes out to help spread the word. Axel goes into Istruan and Sio’s room while Aisha takes Iris and Elis’s.

Forced to tell Fia and Katherine, I lightly knock on the door, one two three. I knock a bit harder. “Come in,” the voice says. Fia’s eyes wander away as soon as she sees me. “They- there’s, there’s someone who came and, and told us…”

Kat grabs my shoulders, “Hey, hey. No need to rush. Just calm down and tell us. Slowly.”

Fia gets up during my explanation, “Let’s go then,” she doesn’t spare me a glance as she slips past. Kat calls out to her but she’s already too far down the hallway. Kat sighs and grabs their things.

“I don’t think we’ll be coming back so you might want to grab your stuff too.”

I go into the room with cold sweat on my brow. There’s little for me to pack, a book or two set off in the corner of the bed but dizziness is taking over. I can’t know for sure whether it’s because of the lack of food the past few days or the mounting pressure. It’s probably a mixture of both. It’s like that night in the woods all over again. At least when that happened, I was too scared to think about how I was feeling.

Aisha comes into the room seconds after I finish packing up. She neglects to put her comb and pair of clothing, which lay right on top of the bed, in her bag first. Instead, she lifts her pillow and grabs a scroll. “Go without me. I’ll be right behind you,” she says, glancing back.

“Ah… Yeah,” I say, unable to deal with any more tension. I instinctively close the door and flinch when it slams shut. I didn’t mean to close it that hard, I didn’t mean to close it at all. I release a shaky breath and scamper down the hallway. Something white catches my eye and I trace it back to his room. Between the bed and the wall, his sword wrapped in white sheets stands out against the dark, as if all the sun’s light was absorbed by it. Despite trembling fingers and a drop in room temperature, I pick up the sword.

“Ellar?”

“C-Coming!” I yell to Aisha.

Was it like that when we got Axel?

“You got Rainen’s sword! I almost forgot it,” Axel says when we reach the lobby. “I didn’t even notice it.”

“Now if Y'all would accompany me. We’d do good to set out before it gets too bright. Might make two of you ladies in the group stand out too much,” he chuckles. “If only if only we weren’t under these circumstances. I’d love to play with some of you.”

“Watch what you say,” Istruan threatens. “There’s only one of you.”

He laughs even louder, “Some boy who still holds onto his prayer beads like they actually do something is going to threaten me? Let me tell ya, child, if Robin hadn’t had any plans for you you’d be bleeding on the ground freezing to death while the street rats scavenge your goddamned prayer beads to sell off.”

Istruan’s fingers twitch.

“Hmph,” he directs us with a jerk of his head. “Better move before an accident happens.”

We move quickly to beat the rising sun. Robin welcomes us in a room much larger than the ones we were in before. Two men stand on each side of him, their sleeves stained with the same ink on his. Robin rises, a smile draped on his face, and orders one of his men to bring Emile out.

“Once your friend arrives, I’ll have my men show you the path and you can be on your way to wherever it is you’re heading. I really do hope we can see each other again someday. It was a pleasure doing business with you.” Robin turns around to walk back to his seat. Istruan takes a step forward and the two men draw their swords. Robin glances over his shoulder. “Is there something you want?”

“Why are we being let go?”

Robin strokes the hairs on his chin and peeks at the paper on his desk. “You are being let go because your end of the deal has been fulfilled. Well, the important part of it anyway. Now if you’ll excuse me I was writing a very important letter.”

“We didn’t kill anyone!” Istruan declares.

A roar of laughter comes from behind us. Our escort shakes his head, “Of course you didn’t kill him. Some boy who hasn’t even gotten his first callous couldn’t have killed a captain of the watch. Children like you are better frolicking in the snow while the men do the real work.”

“Kerth,” Robin snaps.

He freezes, “My bad.”

“Where’s my brother?” Aisha blurts.

The door opens and a person is thrown it. Istruan catches him and lifts him to his feet. Cracked lips, sunken cheeks, wild eyes. Emile looks like he hasn’t touched food since he was kidnaped. His eyes focus in on Istruan and he suddenly comes back to life.

“You guys… I-I, I thought they were going to kill me. They cut off one of my fingers a few days ago. A day ago? I don’t know. It was so dark in there. They were going to cut off another one but… I, I don’t know. You guys saved me, right?”

“Of course,” Istruan reassures him. “We’d never leave you.”

“Touching,” our escort, Kerth, says. “We didn’t even do that much to him.”

“We don’t have time to waste on trash like you. Go lick your master’s boots.”

“Fuck you,” Kerth grabs Istruan’s collar.

Sio casts a lightning bolt at him.

“Enough,” a barrier takes the entirety of the spell’s force. “Elijah, they’re fine as is, are they not?”

“Yes, Sir. It’s blurry but things should be fine.”

“You said the same thing before but you were wrong weren’t you? Not that it matters. Kerth, send them on their way. If a single thing happens to them… I don’t need to tell you, do I?”

“No, you don’t.” Kerth drops Istruan’s collar. “What a shitty start to the day.”

“There will be another lesson, Kerth.”

“Wait!” Aisha tries to stop everyone from leaving. “What about my brother? What did you do to him?”

Robin smiles again, “You’ll see him at the exit.”

We’re led down hallway after hallway, room after room, through doors that all look the same. Kerth starts chuckling again. “Look, kid, through that door is the room we kept you in. If you really want to, I won’t stop you from taking a peek.”

“S-Scum!” Fia shouts.

Kat pulls her back. Kerth has a dagger inches from her face. She stares wide-eyed at the tip, her mind struggling to keep up with the sudden danger. Mine too. Each second it seems as if the dagger grows longer, getting closer and closer to her face. “Don’t ever call me that,” he growls, trapping everyone with his threat.

Istruan grabs the blade and forces it down. “Do what you’re supposed to do and stop messing with my people.”

Kerth snorts and sheathes his dagger. Fia basically drops to her knees and it takes both Istruan and Kat to help her regain her composure. Axel goes to help as well, kneeling in close. Istruan whispers something to him.

As we make for the next hallway, I can’t shake the feeling that we’re being led to a trap. I can’t tell if the others feel it too but my head won’t stop coming up with terrible scenarios. Iris and Elis are too far ahead… I pull the scarf tighter around me and think about something, anything to get my mind off of those scenes. So I go to my favorite memories of the three of us, just all together. But they freeze, the other two freeze… It doesn’t stop playing in my head. He starts coming back into mind. So I pick the only other thing I can think of, my books.

An idea forms and I trace my finger along the wall all the way up until the exit. Kerth opens the ‘doors’ and Axel rushes out first. He takes in the air and stuffs his face in some snow before wandering out of sight. A strong gust of wind comes as the rest of us come out. Kerth stays by the exit, a tree.

“Where-” Aisha frantically looks around. “Where’s my brother? You said he’d be here!”

“I never said anything kid. Robin did.”

“Why?”

He shrugs, “I don’t like any of you but take my advice, you greenhorns. Run. Run because it’s better that way for all of us,” he shuts the door. A flock of winter birds takes to the air at the startling sound. Snow falls from the tree above it and the door begins to shift and blur until I can’t make it out anymore. Aisha rushes the door and feels for the handle. She pounds and pounds but there’s no sound, she’s hurting her hands slamming them against a solid tree. She slumps to the ground staring at where the door used to be.

It opens, “Who’s there?” Axel asks, his legs a little wobbly and his eyes a bit glazed. He pushes the door out but stays leaning against the wall. He leans out for fresh air, goes back into the hallway and breathes into his hands for a moment and repeats. Axel rubs his temples after exchanging a quick gleeful moment with Istruan. “Good idea. I honestly wouldn’t have thought about using my ability until it was too late.”

“That’s what leaders are for,” Emile coughs. He sits down shivering while Fia hands him a blanket. His ragged wet clothes down make for the best winter wear. Frost covers his pink cheeks. Bright red nose and ears match. “Go on ahead guys. I’ll be okay for a little bit. This is the warmest I’ve been in a while.”

“H-Here.” I lay Rainen’s sword next to Emile as we return. I can’t tell if it’s colder up here or in the tunnels.

Istruan takes one long look at him and nods to Kat as he leads everyone else back in. Kat gazes after us as we travel in deeper but doesn’t say a word nor does she follow after. She continues her duty to watch Emile.

“Now we just need to find a way back,” Axel sighs. “Any ideas for this one?”

I raise my hand. “Uh… Um… I-I have one.”

“You want to leave Rainen stuck here too?” Fia remarks, making sure to keep some distance between us.

“N-No! I-I traced my finger along the wall while we were walking… I left some frost behind. If-If we follow it we should be able to find our way back.”

I hope so at least.

“Awesome, El. You’re awesome! You’re amazing!” Says Elis.

I give a light laugh. I didn’t think we would be coming back. I didn’t do it because of some plan I came up with or anything either. I’m not amazing in any way. It was just pure luck. Dumb luck that somehow worked out. If anything should be praised as amazing, thank the books I read or Istruan. Without his plan we might still be looking for a way back.

“I see it!” Aisha points. Her wish to see Rainen takes over and she darts further down the labyrinth leaving us frantically chasing after her. Istruan speeds over to her and grabs ahold of her hand. “Let go,” she tries to shake her hand free.

“Don’t be so rash!” shouts Istruan. He sees the shock in Aisha’s eyes a releases her. He runs a hand through his hair and takes a breath. “I didn’t mean to scare you.

Axel pats him on the back and taps Aisha on the chin, “What’re you two doin’? Our buddy, your brother, is in there. I agree with Istruan though. No matter how much you want to run to him right away all of us are better off taking it slow and easy,” Axel walks ahead.

I think so too. If we run into that Kerth guy or anyone else, we’d be in trouble. Could we even take someone like him down? How much stronger is he than those soldiers chasing after us? Everything’s become scary since the monsters started attacking. I’m just lucky to be with Iris and Elis instead of alone. I wish the three of us would have never been apart of this.

“Feeling okay there, El?” Iris asks.

Words don’t come out so I nod. No. I want to say. Things aren’t okay. But I don’t. Fia doesn’t like me as it is. I don’t want to give her more reason to hate me. Maybe if I keep to myself enough, keep quiet like Rainen told me to, maybe she’ll start to forget why she hates me. Ahhh. If only this scarf was bigger, then everything might just feel okay.

“These are the doors. When I open them, be prepared for anything. There might be guards on the other side of this or it might be nothing but cells. It doesn’t matter. Keep your guard up,” Istruan says, his hand wrapped around the handle. “I’m going to open it in three. Two. One. Now!”

He pushes the door open. Axel, Elis, and Iris all face the new room with magic twirling around their fingers. A spark shoots into the darkness as Sio snaps his fingers. He’s the first inside followed by Istruan, Axel, Aisha, Fia, Iris, Elis, and me in that order. Istruan adjusts his grip on his shortsword.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

He hasn’t shown off any of his fighting skill this whole time. The bear monster, Vormar, I think it was called, wasn’t affected by bladed weapons and we haven’t had any chance to fight in a long melee with the soldiers chasing after us. Even in our short encounters, Istruan hadn’t pulled his sword out. Most of the time he doesn’t even have it by his waist.

“Another door,” Sio calls out. “I’m going to open it this time.”

Everyone gulps. There hasn’t been any trouble so far and we don’t want any.

Huh? The air around us grows cold, colder than before. I can see everyone’s breath but no one seems to notice the sudden change. Elis’s fire flares and Iris coats her fingers in stone after she takes off her hairpin.

The instant the door opens, three bodies fall. All the boys are on the ground peering up at the man training a sword at their throats. The whole world stops for a moment. He stares down at the three hidden in the darkness. No matter how the torches flicker, no light shines on him. Even Elis’s fire isn’t enough to illuminate his features.

“Elis!” Istruan screams. “Use your fire!”

“Right!”

The man retreats from the corridor. Istruan and the others get on their feet. “Pull back,” Istruan commands. “He’s coming again.”

“You guys? Vaal, stop!” says a voice in the darkness. “Is it really you guys? Axel? Istruan?”

“Rai-”

Aisha bursts through and wraps him in a hug. “You’re alive! I couldn’t find you at all this morning so I wrote to you but there was no answer. When one of Robin’s men came, I thought you had died or something.”

“Heh. I’ve been gone for less than a day Aish. Don’t worry so much. What are you guys doing here? Did Robin capture you too?”

We file out into the room. The man, presumably Vaal, wipes the sword on his sleeve and leans against the wall. I turn to Sio and see parts of his clothing cut in two. I grab Iris who immediately begins treating him.

He probably didn’t even feel it. Did Vaal stop or was it the cold that saved him? Maybe the shock from seeing a bunch of kids saved us or maybe it was the tight space. Anyway, we’re lucky to have found Rainen. Now we can focus on leaving. I don’t like having my back to the hallway. I feel like someone could come in any second.

“We’re fine,” says Istruan. “Robin showed us the exit out. I don’t know how you did it Rainen. We have Emile. All that’s left is you. Come on, we brought your stuff. Kat and Emile should be waiting for us by the exit… What about your friend? Is he going to come with?”

“I don’t know. He-”

“Rainen was it? As soon as I saw the group of kids I knew something was fishy.”

The hair on the back of my neck stands while goosebumps crawl up my arm. The ghosty breaths return, save for one person, Rainen. Aisha now stands behind him and he wields a knife in one hand. His eyes are glued to Vaal…

Vaal is the name of… someone we were supposed to kill.

“I only did what I had to to protect my friends. Robin’s the one who forced us. He threatened us and held one of our party members hostage,” he lowers his voice until it’s only a whisper. “Get ready.”

Why? Why? Why? Why do we have to fight? Weren’t things fine a little while ago? Isn’t there something else we should be focusing on? Was this the only way to leave? To kill an innocent person and then maybe another?

“Vaal. We don’t need to fight.”

“We shouldn’t talk either, since I don’t think we’ll agree.”

Vaal charges in and swings. Rainen dodges backward, unable to move because of Aisha. He swats, swats, swats at the sword. Istruan leaps in but Vaal blocks and knocks him aside with the back of his fist.

“Don’t get close to him,” Istruan chokes out. “Drop him with your magic, Sio!”

Sio sends bolts of lightning across the room. Vaal has no problem avoiding them and fires back with a spell of his own. Iris erects a barrier around Sio and casts stone bullet while Elis mutters a chant causing wisps of flame to encircle Vaal. He smashes the stone and snuffs out the wisps. Rainen distances himself from Aisha.

“Fireball,” Fia says, casting the spell over and over again.

Istruan wipes the blood from his nose, “Axel, enhance Fia’s spell with yours.”

He knows about mixing magic?

“Got it,” Axel replies as he times a few of his wind spells with hers.

The empowered spells disappear just as quickly as the last. Two of the mixed magic attacks spiral out of control exploding too close to Rainen. They suddenly stop. Vaal presses the attack beating on him as he tries to protect himself with only a knife.

Fia’s eyes land on me and she screams, “Do something!”

“I-I, I will!” I rack my brain for a suitable spell.

I need something that doesn’t run the risk of hitting anyone else. A missed ice bolt could debilitate or kill someone. If I cast a water spell in this enclosed space I’ll end up freezing someone to death. I don’t know any earth, fire, lightning, or wind spells. My light, dark, and arcane magic are limited too. What can I do? What spell can I use? The ball of water? I can’t control it. But I can’t do nothing either! Think. Think. Think.

He knocks Rainen’s knife out of his hand and kicks his knee. “Argh!”

He hits him with the pommel and steps on his chest. Rainen’s body shakes as he coughs. The others cast their spells. Vaal shields himself with a barrier and stops the assault by placing the tip of the sword at Rainen’s throat.

“Stop!” Aisha tries to tackle him. He throws her off.

“Stay- back,” Rainen coughs.

“You damned coward. Why the hell are you not fighting back? I know you have more knives on you, so what is it? Do you want to die? Do you think I’ll let your friends go after I kill you? Everything would have turned out fine if you put your trust in Rook! He would’ve taken care of that fucking Robin and his little circle of thugs. You and your friends could have walked free, safe and sound but you killed the only person in this disgusting world who gave a shit about making things better for the people. All for what? All so that you could save one person? What about this town? What happens now that he’s gone? You think someone will march in and help the people around here? No. The next ‘captain’ to enter this town is going to be a greedy pig who’ll suck on Robin’s tit getting richer and richer with each bribe he gets. The next thing you’ll know, Robin will be the law in this place.”

“I am the law.”

All heads turn. Robin stands at the entrance of another door with two men behind him. He snaps his fingers and the torches blaze to life yet the room grows colder. He shudders and rolls down his ink-stained sleeves. “I’ve always hated how dark it is down here. No wonder the men would rather roll some dice and drink themselves silly. Reading a book would make them go blind,” he glances over us and sighs. “They really are here. Your visions have been less accurate as of late, Elijah. I would even go as far as to say you were wrong.”

This has gone from bad to worse. What are we supposed to do now? Run? Fight? We couldn’t even take Vaal on by ourselves.

Elijah, the man to his right nods and closes his eyes. He stops breathing and sways side to side. Vaal dashes at Robin thrusting at his chest. The other person Robin brought engages him and they go back and forth.

“Are you alright Hammel?” Robin calls.

Another person who I hadn’t seen stands up from the corner of the room and replies, “Yes, sir. I should have informed you right away.”

“Lesson learned.” The ground beneath Rainen erupts and curls around him like chains. “I can see why my brother wants to capture you now. Even I wouldn’t have been able to break free from those bindings.”

“Big brother!”

“Rainen!”

Aisha kneels next to him placing her hand on the earth and begins concentrating. Robin lets out a sigh of annoyance. Istruan tries to slash Robin while his attendants are busy keeping him from stopping Aisha.

“Sio. Axel. Elis! Make sure that guy in the corner doesn’t do anything. Fia, you and Ellar help get Rainen out of that spell. We’re running as soon as he gets free. Iris, I’m counting on your judgment,” Istruan says.

“Iris?” Elis looks at her.

“Yeah. Treat me well.” Iris sits placing her hands on the ground.

I want to ask her what she’s doing but Fia shouts for me to help her. The three of us struggle to take down the restraints with only one out of the eight gone. Fia and I can do little more than wear on them. If this was made of mud I’d try to water some of it down but its thick stone. I freeze one restraint with the intention to break it off.

“What are you doing?” Rainen flinches. “Your ice is spreading to me.”

“S-Sorry!” I stop and push against it with all my weight. It doesn’t break or shatter like I wanted it too.

Elis and her group are barely holding their own against Hammel while Istruan swings wildly at Robin. He slashes and thrusts, kicks and punches but nothing lands. Robin sidesteps him and pushes him off balance.

How are we going to get out of this? Even if we free Rainen, what can he do with all of us here? I’m sure if he was by himself he could run away, run out of this place. I ask the only person who seems to know anything, “Ai-Aisha! How, how do you dispel the magic? M-M-My ice isn’t working.”

“My fireballs aren’t potent enough to break this one either! It’ll take too long. Istruan’s need help.”

She looks at as a fog of her own breath hides most of her face. “I... Don’t know... How to explain… ” she says in between breaths. “Do it like… Gideon said… The spell is… Simple… Feel the magic… Try to counteract it…”

“Aisha?”

“I’m fine… Big brother.”

Fia and I quickly try to apply our magic to the spell. I don’t know anything about counteracting or what I’m even looking for so I keep pouring more and more mana, magic, into it. My hands start to tingle and I my vision blurs. I close my eyes and try to envision it, whatever it is that Gideon talked about in his home. Find the pattern. Find the pattern. The chunk of stone crumbles. I stare at my hands. I never knew I could do something like that.

A glance at Fia tells me she hasn’t done it yet. I go right back into it trying to look for the same pattern I found moments ago. It eludes me for a while but once I find it, another piece crumbles. In a matter of seconds, Rainen’s free but he doesn’t run into the fight. Rather, he hurries to catch Aisha. I reach out for her and a wave of nausea hits. Fia cups her hand around her mouth as tears run down her cheeks.

“Are you okay?” Rainen lays Aisha down.

“I’m fine… Just dizzy,” she says. “Go help… Istruan.”

However, as soon as he rises, Istruan tumbles over clutching at his chest. He struggles for breath as saliva drips down his mouth and stains his clothes. Vaal cuts his opponent’s hand and kicks him toward Robin.

“You and me!” Vaal shouts.

“I’d rather you not try to touch me like that young man over there. Perhaps if you were more studious, we could have a better bout. Stand up. Go and play with our little captain’s right-hand man. Elijah, are the children still worth anything?”

He opens his eyes, “I think so… Rainen in particular…”

“Has your ability weakened? You used to be so much more confident in your visions. No matter. I know he’s more valuable than the rest. How about our little friend over there?”

“The original plan should be fine.”

“Good. Very good. Incapacitate him and capture the boy as well.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The tide turns as soon as he teams up on Vaal. He’s forced on defense and manages to escape their blows by a hair’s width.

Elis turns, “Iris!”

“Finished! Everyone get closer to me!”

Elis surrounds Hammel with fire and runs away. Axel and Sio are quick to follow. Rainen drags Istruan closer to the rest of the group. Iris places her hands on the ground and shuts her eyes. Her lips are pressed thin and Elis lingers right beside her. Something’s going to happen to her. The ground shakes.

An earthquake?

Masses of dirt and rock rise, picking up the stone flooring and cutting us off from Robin and his men. Realizing what’s happening, Robin casts fireballs at Iris. Elis and I protect her with a barrier.

“Rainen?” Istruan asks. “You're not seriously considering…”

Rainen stares at Vaal. A moment later he bursts forward, leaping over the rising earth and grabs Vaal’s collar. He pulls him toward the opening at the top.

Istruan ruffles his hair and screams an order. “Sio, keep the two behind him busy. Make sure they don’t have a chance to climb up. Axel, help me pull them over. Can anyone give Rainen a boost?”

A boost… An earth spell?

“I-”

“I will,” Aisha stumbles.

Rainen and Vaal are launched onto the rising ground. Vaal thrashes a bit but gives in and they both crawl as the space from the ceiling gets smaller and smaller. Axel lifts Istruan and himself up with a gust of wind. They grab onto their hands and pull. A new wall forms seconds after they fall back down.

“El,” Elis calls out.

Iris slumps forward. There’s a pang in my chest when I look at her. I can see her breath eeking out of her lips and the side of her fluttering eye but the way she fell looks exactly like… I don’t want to think about it.

“I-I-I-Is she okay?” I whisper.

“She okay El. Grab her arm. We’re going to need to carry her out of here.”

“R-Right.”

We lift her up.

Istruan hurries to us. “Hold on. Let me.” He crouches. Elis and I give her to him. “I’m not the fittest person in the world but I think I can lift a little more than the average mage,” he jokes. “Rainen would probably offer but he’s got his sister to worry about. Sio, give Fia a hand will you?”

“Course,” Sio lets Fia lean against him.

Rainen does the same thing Istruan does for Iris and carries Aisha on his back. Vaal gazes at the erected wall. A loud sound echos on the other side, rocks, pebbles, and dirt fall from the wall. It’s sturdy.

“Why did you bring me over here?” Vaal asks.

“So that you wouldn’t die,” Rainen responds. “We still have to get out of here. If you want to stay then that's fine. Otherwise, follow us. Which way do we go?”

Axel shuts the door, “Straight! Keep going and then look to your right. You’ll see a little white line that goes all the way to the exit.”

“Was it always something so obvious?” he seems to joke.

“If only. You can thank Ellar for that one. Without her, I don’t ever think we would’ve found you, buddy.”

Rainen glances back as if he’s about to say something when the walls shake and everything shifts.