The torches flickered, causing shadows to bounce off the white stone, but they were merely illuminating the immediate space around them. Beyond, the tunnel was pitch-black dark. They walked in silence. No one knew if any noise they made would be heard from up above and give away their location.

They reached steps, slippery small steps that only allowed for a slow pace especially for the mountain men’s large feet. Princess Estina slid her free hand along the wall of the stone staircase, not that it would have granted her much purchase if she slipped.

She glanced over her shoulder and peered towards the back of the line. Eemulan still carried Jale on his back. His eyes were fixated on the ground as he walked, concentrating hard to ensure his footing remained steady. Princess Estina forced herself to slow so she could provide him with enough light. If he fell, they all fell.

Finally, Princess Estina reached the last stair. If her memory was correct, the path would continue for another ten metres before it split into three different tunnels. The one they wanted was to the left. She continued guiding the way. Now that they were off the stairs, they could move a little faster.

They continued on their journey. Every second felt like a minute to Princess Estina. Every minute felt like half an hour. Surely this would mean they would get caught. Right at this moment she pictured Prince Yernal’s men surging to the rear of the castle and readying themselves for when they emerged. It would be all over then.

Their new tunnel wound and wound with one or two other passageways splitting off as they continued, but Princess Estina remembered the way. She glanced worriedly at the torch, but its flame still burned brightly.

They turned a corner, and Princess Estina stopped short. It was as if someone had thrown an axe into her chest for now all her hopes had been splintered into pieces.

“No!” she whispered.

She edged forward and blinked, hoping the shadows were playing tricks on her. The passageway was meant to continue to lead out of the castle, but now she was faced with a brick wall. Someone at some point had gone and blocked the passageway, probably after realising the vulnerability it left the castle in.

“No, no, no!” she cried. She ran the last few steps and pounded her free fist on the bricks blocking their escape.

Menelt stepped out from the back of the group, Teal still over his shoulder.

“Is there any other way?” he asked.

It amazed her that even now Menelt’s voice remained calm when she was flooded with panic. Princess Estina closed her eyes and placed her palm against the wall while she thought. It had been more than ten years since she had been in these passageways. There were other exits, but who was to say that they hadn’t been blocked as well? They didn’t have time to explore each and every tunnel to see if they could escape.

“Princess Estina,” Menelt urged when she didn’t respond.

Princess Estina turned to face the men. “There’s only one way I know for absolute sure that will lead us out of the castle.” She swallowed not wanting to say the next words. “It’s going to be smelly though.”

A groan came from somewhere in the group of the men, and Princess Estina heard several utterances of colourful cursing.

“Follow me,” she told them. “It’s the quickest way, right now.”

She pushed back through the men and turned straight into another much smaller passageway that stopped only after several metres. In front of her, a square hole large enough for a man to crawl inside had been cut into the underground walls. She turned back to the men. “The waste chute will lead us straight out to the river. We’ll have to drag Teal and Jale through it to get them out.”

To her surprise, no one complained or argued. She passed her torch to Weldlan. They would not be able to travel with them any further. The risk of getting burnt in the confined space would be too high.

The stench of the chute overpowered all of her senses. She tried not to breathe through her mouth and stepped up onto the stone ledge in front of the hole. Trying not to gag, she placed her hands down to push herself up. Human waste squelched through her fingers and onto the back of her hands. The thought that this mess was going to cover all of her body, seep into her clothes, and get caught all through her hair was too much. The air was thick and unmoving. Unable to stop herself, she turned and vomited onto the floor. The putrid stench burned the back of her throat.

“You can do this,” Weldlan said behind her.

Princess Estina nodded. She couldn’t waste any more precious seconds. She pushed herself up. It wouldn’t last forever. Freedom was at the other end of this.

Weldlan helped her push up into the chute. As long as it didn’t get into her eyes. One second, she was on the stone floor, the next she was on her hands and knees covered in human excrement as she scooted herself forward to allow the others to join her.

Princess Estina crawled slowly down the chute, stopping after several metres as every person took their turn to climb into the small tunnel. The men shared the load of guiding both Teal and Jale. Teal had been quiet the whole way, appearing to be unconscious. Princess Estina was amazed at Jale’s strength and resilience. Occasionally, he slipped into sleep, but his desire for freedom was strong. Despite his feeble health, he tried to help and move his body. It was not a pleasant thought to think of how his wounds were being exposed to all sorts of disgusting mess.

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The last torch was extinguished, and they were emersed in completed darkness. If there really was an underworld for those who weren’t allowed to walk with their ancestors, then this was it. This was where monsters lived. This was where the essence of nightmares was created.

Princess Estina continued scooting herself down the chute with the human waste. There was nowhere else to go but slowly down its shaft. Fortunately, with the downward angle, progress was quite steady. She tried to focus on happier times, of sweet-smelling fields filled with flowers or the soothing sound of a babbling river as it wound its way through the mountains.

It was near impossible. Her other senses took over. The skin on her hands were heightened in the darkness and the slime squeezing through her fingers felt extra slippery. Sometimes it was thick and had texture, while other times her fingers delved into liquid. There were too many sounds to block out as well. There were the heavy breaths of the men as they tried to manoeuvre in the small space followed by the occasional grunt and sigh of disgust. All of it prevented her from trying to distract herself.

Finally, the tunnel started to brighten ahead of her, and the angle of the tunnel started to tilt steeper. She dared to allow her hopes soar.

“We’re nearly there,” Princess Estina called over her shoulder.

She started to feel herself slide. Before she could warn the others or try to slow herself down, her hands and knees glided along the slippery wet surface of faeces and muck. There wasn’t time to panic. The only thing she could do was go with the fall.

All of a sudden, the feeling of the tunnel beneath her disappeared, and Princess Estina realised she was falling through the air. Her eyes opened briefly, and she caught sight of the river racing up towards her as she fell, clumps of human waste falling alongside her. She closed her eyes again and with an ungraceful splash, the water of the river engulfed her.

It was ice cold, piercing her to the bone, but there was no time to waste. As soon as the water hit her body, she kicked her legs to move herself from where she had directly fallen knowing that Weldlan was right behind her. Her body was already shaking from the temperature, but she welcomed it to wash away the disgusting filth she had been submerged in.

Princess Estina’s head broke through the surface, and she gulped in air as Weldlan splashed into the water a short distance away. She spun in a quick circle in the water. The embankment was not that far away, but she didn’t swim for it. She turned back to the waste chute as a shout came from within.

The next minute, a body came falling down. She saw the flash of black and silver hair as Teal’s body fell as a heavy dead weight into the water. Without hesitation, Princess Estina swam forward. Weldlan disappeared under the water, a stronger swimmer than herself. A few seconds later, he resubmerged, shaking his head to get his hair from his eyes, his hands holding Teal’s limp body.

“Do you need help?” she asked.

Weldlan shook his head. He shifted to lying on his back with one arm holding Teal across his chest. Teal’s head lulled forward, but after close inspection, Princess Estina saw that it didn’t reach the water. Princess Estina swam beside Weldlan as he headed towards the embankment. When he reached the rocks, she helped and picked up Teal’s feet. Together, they carried him to the edge of the water.

“Is he breathing?” she asked urgently once they had set him down on the long grass. She heard more splashes behind her, but she maintained her attention on Teal. She knew that Menelt would wait for Eemulan to push Jale down the last part of the tunnel before swimming to where they were.

Weldan leaned down and placed his ear near Teal’s mouth and his hand on Teal’s chest. “I think so.”

Princess Estina’s heart pounded in her chest. What would they do if he had drowned while they had tried to rescue him.

“Yes,” Weldlan said, “he’s breathing.”

Princess Estina relaxed back on her haunches. But she instantly remembered Jale, and she turned back to the river that ran behind Prince Yernal’s castle. All of a sudden, Jale’s body came crashing down. He appeared to awaken from the shock of the cold water, and he thrashed weakly to keep his head above the water. Menelt wrapped his arm around Jale’s chest in a similar fashion to Weldlan and swam on his back, guiding Jale to the edge of the river. Once the water was at an adequate depth, he half carried, half supported Jale over the rocks and to the grass.

“Thank you,” Princess Estina heard Jale’s weak voice utter.

Rising to her feet, Princess Estina strode up the steep embankment. There were no signs of Prince Yernal’s men nor were there of soldiers searching for them from this side of the castle. Instead, she found the dirt road they would use for their escape out of Isola City. She took a moment to take in the grey stone castle that still loomed over their heads. Upon her assessment, they had come out of the castle only fifty metres away from where she had originally intended. Around the corner and down the road, Ladet and the other men should be waiting for them.

With Jale and Teal on the side of the embankment, the remaining mountain men in their group fell out of the opening in the tunnel and began their swim to the edge of the river. Princess Estina ran back to the water, aware of the filth still under her clothes and in her hair. She took a moment to further wash her body, rubbing water over her clothes and even dunking her hair in the freezing water to rinse it clean as best as she could.

It didn’t work. The grime and filth was still all over her and the smell of waste was now ingrained into her skin. She would need to soak her body in a hot bath for hours to get rid of the stench completely. It was a luxury she had not allowed herself in over two years, and it was a luxury she did not have time for at present. The current rinse off would have to do for now.

“We don’t have much time,” Princess Estina told them urgently, trudging through the water to the embankment. She splashed some more water on Teal, trying to rid him of some of the filth as well. “We need to find our guides.”

All of a sudden, something grabbed her around the throat. Princess Estina flew through the air and slammed into the grass slope so hard the air was knocked out of her lungs and her vision was blinded from the force of her head hitting the ground. Something tight was clamped around her throat. Frantically, she clawed at her neck trying to gasp in air. She opened her eyes and fear pummelled through her. Teal’s face was directly over hers. His blue eyes were narrowed and his mouth was drawn tight in a vicious hiss. It was his hand that was now squeezing the life out of her.

“You have the same blood running through your veins as Prince Yernal,” Teal said in a low voice.

“He, he’s my brother,” she gasped.

“Teal!” she heard Weldlan yell. “Let go! She can’t breathe!”

Princess Estina was aware of a struggle above her. It was hard to focus. Her lungs were screaming for air.

“Teal! She helped plan your escape!”

She wasn’t sure who had uttered those words. Her vision was tunnelling and the sounds she was hearing seemed to be coming from further and further away.

There were more people above her, and her body started to rock as she sensed a scuffle. Pain seared through her neck. Instinct caused her to dig her nails into Teal’s hand, and she flailed her legs to no avail, her body pinned down by Teal’s.

“Stop Teal! You’re going to kill her!”