I glance back, the flashlight’s glow flickering over her bloodied face. “No clue.” I thumb my nose. “But the air we’re following is the sweetest I’ve smelled in three years.”
“Three years is a long time to wait for escape.”
I give a faint, grim smile. “It was worth it.”
She nods then glances away, scanning the walls.
“Not far now,” I murmur. “Can you smell it?”
She inhales. “Trees.”
The rot and damp of the tunnels is thinning, replaced by the sharp clean scent of pine.
Freedom.
An alarm sounds—a distant, muffled wail, vibrating through the stone.
“They’ve discovered we’re gone,” she mutters, picking up speed.
“Or the bodies,” I add, matching her pace. “Either way, we need to move.”
We break into a jog, the flashlight bobbing wildly in my hand. The tunnel widens into an old mining chamber, wooden beams sagging, rusted equipment collapsed in the corners. I pause, nostrils flaring.
“This way,” I whisper, pointing right. “I can smell water.”
The shaft narrows, forces us low. In places we crawl, scraping knees and elbows raw. Her breath hitches behind me—pain—but she doesn’t slow.
Then I see it.
Light. Thin, pale, but real.
We scramble forward, clawing through a tangle of collapsed stone and vines until I can push through. My shoulders barely make it. I hear her squirm, squeezing after me, gasping into open air.
The world is overwhelming and for a brief moment I’m struck with fear. Everything feels so vast—the sky, the forest, the breeze. There’s light here, and wind, and the sharp green bite of pine.
We made it.
I look over to find Lithia staring at me. Her white-blonde hair is tangled around her face, her skin is smeared with dirt and blood, her eyes like molten silver. My chest gives a sharp, painful pull.
“We made it,” I rasp.
“For now.” Her gaze flicks to the trees, calculating. “They’ll be looking for us.”
I nod. “We need distance. Which way’s Shadowmist territory?”
“South, I think.” She points in the direction. “But it’s gotta be at least five hundred miles, maybe more.”
“Then we’d better start walking.” I offer her my hand, aflicker of challenge sparking in my veins. “Unless you’re too tired?”
Her eyebrow lifts, sharp and perfect. “I could run circles around you, Nomad.”
A laugh I didn’t know I still had bursts free. “Prove it, Shadowmist.”
We run. We stumble. We push.
Through forest, over rock, down slopes sharp enough to shred muscle. We don’t talk, don’t stop. Just move. Every step is survival. Every breath is defiance.
We pause only when we stumble across streams. But we’re up and going soon after, the danger no doubt coming.
