“How do we get out of here?” I ask, my voice shaking.
Everyone continues pounding on the walls, the sounds of metal clanging against flesh echoing in the confined space, but it’s no use. The water’s rising too fast, and the walls, the tunnel itself, feel like it’s closing in on us, suffocating us.
Is this really how it ends?
Cassius, Sylvian, and Ashton slowly stop pounding on the walls, seeming to realize the same thing as me, that that’s not going to help us escape, but if anything, Oberon pounds harder and harder. He moves from one side of the tunnel to the other, almost in a panic, pounding until I’m sure his hands are bleeding.
“Oberon,” I whisper. I’m scared, but he’s not accomplishing anything.
He keeps pounding more and more frantically.
“Oberon!” I say again, my own fear somehow less than the fear radiating off of him.
Not sure what else to do, I grab Oberon by the face and turn him to face me. “Oberon?”
His eyes are wild. His terror is impossible to hide.
“I hate small spaces,” he whispers, and there’s desperation in his voice.
The sight of him, usually so fierce and commanding, sends a pang of empathy through me. “Oberon? I’m here. You’re not alone.”
A shudder rolls through his body. But his only response is to close his eyes. He’s visibly struggling as he lowers his forehead to touch mine.
My fingers caress his jaw. “It’s going to be okay,” I say softly, even though I’m not sure I believe it.
“I don’t—” His words cut off, and he suddenly seems to lose his composure completely. “I can’t?—”
Continuing to stroke his jaw, our foreheads touching, I try to send him calming energy, even though I don’t feel it. In response, he reaches out and grips my arms, pulling me even closer.
“I have to find a way out of this. I have to get us out of this.”
“We’ll figure something out,” I reassure, even though I can feel the water continuing to rise, now at my hips.
Oberon suddenly pulls back, his voice wild with desperation. “I can turn the water into steam.”
Flames leap into both of his hands, and he faces them down into the water. Steam instantly begins to rise, filling the air. It’s shockingly hot against the freezing water. I cough, the air suddenly thicker.
“Oberon!” Cassius shouts. “Stop! You’ll make it worse!”
But he’s not listening. His focus is entirely on the fire, on the steam. On stopping the rising water. The air grows thicker, the steam filling the tunnel, choking the air with its damp heaviness. I struggle to breathe, my lungs constricting as the steam fillsthe narrow space, cutting off what little air remains. I can feel the heat rising, can sense the claustrophobia increasing, the sensation of everything closing in on me so intense that I clench the bright dagger so hard that my hand hurts.
“Oberon, please!” I scream, my voice ringing with desperation as I reach for him, the panic surging through me like wildfire. I pull him toward me, forcing him to stop the fire coming from his hands, then I wrap my arms around him as we both cough, gasping for air. “Stop. Please. You’re not helping.”
He’s silent for a moment, his body trembling against mine, and I can feel his fear mingling with my own. I hold him tighter, trying to steady his breathing, but it’s hard to keep the fear at bay when I can hardly breathe myself.
Only my dagger lights the tunnel, the oppressive heat dissipating slightly. The water has reached our waists, and the air is still thick with moisture, but at least we’re not suffocating anymore. I look up at the heavens, sending a prayer to the gods for help. I’ve never prayed to them much, but if there’s a time to do it, it’s now. When I open my eyes once more, I notice a faint light from the corner of my eye, a glimmer peeking through the gloom.
There’s something, something at the top of the tunnel, barely noticeable, but I can see a small shape, like a keyhole. It’s not much. But it’s something. A chance. And the shape… it’s not quite circular… it’s…
“Pick me up,” I say, reaching out and grabbing Ashton’s sleeve. “Someone, pick me up.”
Ashton hesitates, his brows furrowing in confusion, but then he lifts me onto his shoulders, which shifts the light from the blade in my hand higher. For a second I’m shocked by how strong he is. He tosses me on his shoulder like nothing at all, but then I refocus on the key hole. This thing, it could be a way out,or it could be nothing. Either way, I’m running out of time to figure it out.
Lifting my blade, I illuminate the hole. With my other hand, I take my finger and touch the strange shape, following the sharp curves of the little hole. The idea I’d had continues to form in my mind. It’s a strange idea that’s probably completely crazy, but I decide to hell with it, that I’ve got nothing to lose.
I slip the dagger into the slit inch by inch, expecting it to catch, expecting it not to work, but the dagger slides into the hole like it was made for it. Heart racing, I turn the blade carefully, feeling just a bit of resistance, but it turns all the way around. There’s suddenly a click, and I hear something begin to move in the wall around me.
The ends of the tunnel begin to open, slowly at first, then faster, like the jaws of some great beast releasing its catch. The water pours out, draining down into the ground, and the walls slowly shift back until everything is back to normal.
