He couldn't see. The world below was dark, robbing his eyes of the comfortable vision he enjoyed at the surface.
It was hot. He was perspiring as he trudged forward with his boots rubbing against the ground. The squeaky sound made by the wet leather boots of his comrades echoed inside his ears. He was meters below the ground, an uncomfortably hellish place enjoyed by only those who revel in suffering.
He gasped for air, savoring every bit of it like an old man on his deathbed .
The thin air here downgraded the experience of breathing. One does not simply breathe normally when in the tunnels.
"Prefect, are we there yet? We are close right?" the voice of a worried soldier behind him sounded. Kristof didn't bother turning his head to see who it was. Probably some soldier who was starting to lose his nerve.
"We are. Just a few more steps." he answered
"Prefect!" another soldier blurted. "I heard something"
He was starting to get annoyed by these people. It occurred to him that some of these men were not suited for the job. This was a problem caused by his failure as a Prefect.
"You heard nothing soldier. You heard nothing alright? Those are just fragments of your imagination. Darkness and isolation play tricks upon our senses. So from now on, if you hear something, if you smell something, if you see something like the weird apparition of your dead grandpa, or if in the Omniscient's name you feel something, unless you are absolutely certain of your senses, do not entertain these thoughts."
He said in a lecturing tone. Panic spreads like wildfire and nothing spells like disaster more than the combination of panic and tunnels.
They continued walking and finally reached the end of tunnel five after a while. The end of the tunnel was made of a thin layer of clay. On the other side of this thin layer is the Tulosan tunnel.
He stopped and turned to the soldiers. After entering the Tulosan tunnel, they need to be more careful.
"Remember, our objective is to collapse their tunnel. Do not fight unless it's necessary. Understand?"
The men muttered scattered ayes as answer. He could smell their fear but he let it pass. Everybody fears the darkness and even he was trembling a little.
He ordered the men carrying sledgehammers to come forward. With a single simultaneous swing from them, the layer broke. Tunnel five and the Tulosan tunnel were now connected.
The Tulosan tunnel was larger than theirs and well ventilated too. Of course this should be the case since the Tulosans had more manpower compared to them.
He put one foot on the Tulosan tunnel and pushed his body inside. He gestured for his comrades to follow. One by one, they poured into the tunnel.
A hundred meters, he decided. From what he learned from his father, at their current depth a tunnel would collapse if not supported with pillars for a hundred meters. There were other factors of course such as the strength of rocks above and the shape of the tunnel. But he was confident that if they smash all supports and pillars for a hundred meters, the tunnel would collapse. If not, then they would just break more pillars until it does.
In just a few moments, they reached the farthest pillar. He signaled for those with sledgehammers to pound on the pillar. The rest would wait and guard them from the Tulosans.
The men slammed their hammers against the wooden pillar and the cracking of wood was heard. But it was too loud, he decided. It was just a matter of time before the Tulosans discover them and attack.
He was faced with a choice. Either they work slowly and muffle the sounds or they work at full speed and get out of here as soon as possible. He chose the latter. They were running out of air and staying here a second longer would be bad.
"Do it faster and don't worry about the sound" he ordered.
The men nodded and again slammed the hammers against the pillars. This time, the effects were more visible. The ground shook and bits of rocks fell from above. It was terrifying but they continued. In just a few moments, the first pillar was destroyed.
He quickly signaled for his men to proceed to the next one. There were still nearly a dozen pillars left to destroy. They also did the same thing and one by one the pillars fell.
But when there was just a single pillar left, the enemies finally came. They rushed from both sides of the tunnel and surrounded his men.
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"Keep smashing those things!" he ordered and then held his dagger firm and strong.
The enemies made their move. They ran towards his men and a fierce close-quarter fighting began. Since the space was limited, both parties chose daggers as weapons.
A Tulosan lunged and tried to stab him in the stomach. He caught the man's wrist and stabbed his own dagger.
Unfortunately, the man was also able to catch his wrist. He tilted his body tried to pin the Tulosan against the wall of the tunnel. He was successful and the tunnel shook due to the force.
But when he was winning, the man suddenly slammed his head against Kristof's. The impact dazed him and was forced to take a few steps back. He then felt the dagger of the man stab into his stomach. The blade penetrated the armor a little and about half an inch of it buried in his skin. It was painful but it was only a flesh wound.
He balled his fist and punched the man in the nose. He felt the cartilage break followed by a flow of warm liquid. The Tulosan was stunned and this time he truly had the advantage. He didn't waste the opportunity and stabbed the Tulosan's neck. The man gurgled blood and he won.
He then heard the cracking of wood, an indication that the last pillar had collapsed. He looked up and saw the roof of the tunnel tremble. There was a momentary ceasefire as men from both sides looked up. The tunnel would collapse.
But it didn't. The shaking stopped and everyone again looked at each other. The Tulosans probably realized that the Castonians had made a mistake in computation. They attacked again, this time fiercer.
"Onto the next one! Destroy the next pillar!" he shouted an order to his men and the Castonians went to the next pillar.
Meanwhile, Kristof again fought another opponent. This time, the brawl was shorter and he emerged victorious without a scratch. But then he heard that the pounding stopped.
He looked around and saw that some of his men had routed. Those who were pounding on the pillar earlier had dropped their sledgehammers.
He was furious. Cowards, he cursed. He was tempted to also ran away but he stopped. Although they could just collapse their own tunnel to prevent the Tulosans from using it, he couldn't bear to experience failure. The Marquis had trusted him of this task and he will accomplish this task.
He ran to the last pillar and grabbed the sledgehammer. He planted his foot on the ground and swung the thing. The impact sent a painful vibration throughout his body. Nevertheless, he continued his pounding.
Some of his men were still fighting. A single Tulosan rushed towards him but one of his men tackled the enemy. He just pounded the pillar without stopping. It was hard, it was grueling, but at last the pillar finally broke.
The tunnel shook again. This time it was harder and scarier. Kristof knew that this was it. The Tulosan tunnel was going to collapse.
"Retreat!" he shouted and urged his men to go back.
Everyone, including the Tulosans noticed that tunnel was going to collapse. And soon it did. Rocks, stones, dirt and everything on top started falling like a rain of earth.
The fighting stopped and everybody rushed towards still standing Castonian tunnel. In that moment, race and nationality didn't matter. It was every man for himself. Being buried alive was a fate nobody wanted.
When Kristof reached the Castonian tunnel, he stayed behind and grabbed everybody he could find into the safety of tunnel five. It didn't matter to him if the one he was helping was a comrade or an enemy. He just grabbed hands until the Tulosan tunnel completely collapsed.
He was gasping for air when he finally surfaced in the castle grounds. Everybody was. He looked around and saw that half of those who surfaced were Tulosans. They would become prisoners of war, but that would be better than dying underground.
"Prefect!" he heard Marquis Benedict.
He was exhausted but he forced his own self to stand. He then saw Marquis Benedict standing in front of him.
"Well done Prefect."
"It ain't finished sire. We still have to destroy six more tunnels." He said while breathing heavily.
"Nevertheless, good job. We will find a way to destroy the rest of the tunnels." The Marquis said.
"Too late!" a man behind shouted.
Kristof wasn't familiar with the voice so he turned around to see who it was. To his surprise, the speaker was a Tulosan.
"Too late I say." The Tulosan continued while still gasping for air "The seven tunnels were a sham. Have you ever wondered why it took you so long to hit even a single one of our tunnels? It's because we're only digging a single tunnel out of seven and that's the one you just destroyed. The other six were just mounds made to look like tunnel entrances."
"Liar" Kristof pointed at the Tulosan. "Don't believe him sire. He's lying of course."
"I'm not lying!" the Tulosan defended.
Meanwhile, the Marquis had a frown on his forehead. Kristof could see that Marquis Benedict was listening to the Tulosan's words. "Why would your General do that? He has the manpower to dig several tunnels. Why would he work on just one?"
"Oh he's building them tunnels alright. But not from the east like you expected. He was digging from the north. Those were his true tunnels. You can't see the mound from here so you may be unaware."
Marquis Benedict's jaw dropped. Kristof also understood the situation. If the Tulosan's words were true, then they have been intercepting the Tulosan tunnel from the wrong direction.
"And why should we trust you? Why are you revealing this to us?" Kristof asked.
The Tulosan clenched his fist. "Because General Rickard sacrificed us. Our battle just now was a ploy to divert your attention to the east while he was preparing an attack from the tunnels in the north. He sent us down there knowing that you'll succeed in collapsing the tunnel. This is revenge. I've had enough of that fake Knight!"
Kristof understood the man's resentments. But he didn't care about that for now. Something else caught his attention.
The Tulosan said that General Rickard was preparing an attack from the north. This meant that the northern tunnels were more advanced than the eastern one. But it was the Marquis who asked the question in his mind.
"When is he going to finish that northern tunnel!?" Marquis Benedict demanded answer from the man.
The Tulosan's answer then made Kristof shiver.
"It's finished. The men below ground are just waiting for the signal to attack. The men from the camp will also assault the walls with ladders, siege towers and rams. I think…"
But before the Tulosan could finish, a horn sounded from the walls. Kristof naturally understood the meaning of that blast.
The enemy assault had begun.