“And it has to be close, you know,” I said, and he took a deep breath.
“We have little time. The lamp will go out soon,” he said, and I felt a creeping fear run down my spine. We could’ve got lost forever without a light in the dark space. We did not know where we started and had marked nothing on the walls for fear of being caught.
My breathing was laboured. The cold flushed my cheeks red, and my fingers felt numb. My feet hurt, but we kept walking to find the opening in the riverbed.
Suddenly, we noticed a slope descending, accompanied by distant sounds, like rustling waves, hinting at water.
A shiver ran down my spine as I took a deep breath and looked at him.
“I believe there’s an underground river nearby,” I said, and his eyes widened in surprise.
“You know, I don’t want to die. If I did, I’d want to die in a battle, not drowned in water where no one could find my body,” he replied, and I placed my hand on his shoulder.
“Nothing will happen, trust me,” I reassured him, taking his hand and leading the way.
We quickened our pace as we descended the steep slope, but we both fell on the muddy ground.
My heart raced as I tightened my grip on his hand. We slipped, losing control of our bodies. Uncontrollable screams escaped our mouths as the lamp fell from my fingers, landing in the water ahead.
This wasn’t just a river; it resembled a vast ocean. It was terrifying.
I couldn’t think clearly. I quickly drew my dagger from its sheath and drove it into the solid ground, gripping the handle tightly. We slowed our descent and panted heavily.
We were terrified, and death seemed imminent.
“I need to go home,” Eklavya exclaimed, causing me to chuckle.
“You’re the head commander of Suryagarh’s army,” I reminded him, and he shook his head in response.
“This isn’t a battle or a training exercise.”
We both smiled at each other, calming our breaths as we leaned our backs against the sloping surface.
The sound of rushing water sent chills up my spine.
“This wouldn’t be the opening to drag those machines out. The water flow is heavy, and it doesn’t seem like its passage can be changed,” Eklavya said, and I nodded in agreement.
“You’re right,” I panted.“We should walk back to the spot where we had two choices,” I suggested, and he nodded. We slowly crawled back, our clothes caked in mud. My fingers were shaking. We had narrowly escaped death.
My lips dried out, and our lamp was out, too. However, it felt like morning; a faint brightness illuminated the place.
We continued back and selected another spot. The light grew brighter with each step, and after a long, exhausting, and perilous walk, we finally found the large opening of a dry riverbed.
Clearly, it was dry because the ground sloped upwards, unlike a flowing river, which slopes south.
Wait, a moment!
That meant a river was coming from above, which could only mean one thing: this river was flowing down from the mountains. We were close to the mountains.
This location was perfect for delivering the gunpowder and those enormous, destructive machines.
Although I didn’t know why, an idea clicked in my mind. The possibility that this river might go underground after emerging from the mountains suggested that a river flowed through the hills. It wouldn’t be surprising if the army used this river to traverse the mountains.
“Fuck!” I muttered, and Eklavya stared at me in disbelief.
“What?” he asked as we exited the dry riverbed passage.
“We should head back home,” I said gradually.
