Bound to the Shadow Prince

Episode 21: Sealed In

My opportunity came the very next night. Torrin placed the shackle around my ankle before he wrapped his sword around his waist and put his black cloak over his shoulders.

“I’ll see you at dawn.” He kissed my forehead, then left.

I didn’t waste any time. I lunged out of bed and looked again at the chain links, finding the one I had broken and bent the night I had attacked the stable boy. I bent it, releasing my shackle from the chain link.

Having an iron shackle around my ankle was going to be inconvenient, but I didn’t have a choice. I quickly got dressed, wearing the soft tight pants I had received from the Dark Kingdom. I wished I had the boots and the dress hadn’t been ripped by Torrin, but I put on the cotton dress, ripping the front with a knife to make it into a high low like the violet dress from the Dark Kingdom.

I put my riding boots on, which were of thin leather. But that was the best I had.

Quickly, I climbed out the window and down the sequoia tree. Being a vampire made it significantly easier to escape out of the castle walls and into the forest. Knowing I was entering vampire territory, I pulled my amulet off of my neck, carefully placing it in my repaired satchel.

It felt like a large rock had been lifted off my chest. I took a deep breath feeling more energized and powerful. My hands and arms were a pale color that glinted in the night. As I moved them back and forth, they shimmered as if any light that touched my skin was reflected off of them. My skin reminded me of the twinkling stars against the black of the night.

That was still a feature I would have to get used to. I still expected to see the pink undertones of my skin.

I took out my map I had stolen earlier of Fildira. The quickest way to the mine the Dark Kingdom had just taken would be going by Elithor to the mountains.

I took off running into the night. I picked up my pace faster and faster. Once again, feeling freedom and the wind whip through my braided hair. It was incredible. To my amazement, I kept getting faster and faster. I was a blur in the night. Here a moment and then gone the next. I weaved through the trees and bounded over logs and streams.

In the distance through the trees, I could see the outline of the rock wall of Elithor. I kept going. I dared not look for the massacred village.

I came upon a mountain and, not realizing how much effort it took to stop, rammed my shoulder into the side of the rock.

“Ouch,” I whispered, rubbing my aching arm.

Glancing up the mountain, I continued my climb. According to my map, the entrance to the mine was just over the first ridge, and then I would have to climb down.

I started my climb. It should have been difficult, but I found it fairly easy. Though better shoes would have made a big difference. I jumped to the ledge and pulled myself up. When I leaned over, I could see the mouth of the silver mine. Two vampires were wandering around the perimeter, obviously staying as far from the tunnel as they could. A silver mine was like a death trap.

Carefully, I stayed close to the mountain and made my decline, working hard not to make any sound. Thankfully, neither one of them looked up. I finished my decline and jumped down in front of the entrance, pausing when my feet hit the gravel dirt. I slowly backed into the black tunnel, undetected.

I had only ever been in a mine tunnel once, when I was sixteen, and I had convinced my father to let me join him on one of the inspections. Course then, we were given every convenience any royal could have in an inspection. That was not the case here.

Tools were strewn around the ground with holes going deeper into the earth. One could easily fall in. Lamps were up every few feet with boards reinforcing the walls. Drills were still left on the rock.

I was starting to realize all the valuable materials that were being left behind and getting buried in the tunnels. My people weren’t just losing jobs, they were losing their tools to even allow them to work someplace else or start a new mine. I wasn’t even sure what I was searching for as I ran my hand along the wall.

It was easy for me to detect the silver veins in the rock as my hand would intensify in heat. But Erevus’s words kept pounding through my head. Is silver the only natural resource we have?

It couldn’t be. If silver can be found in our mines, what other metals embedded into this rock could there be?

I wasn’t an expert at rocks, so I wasn’t even sure why I was there or what I expected to find.

Voices echoed at the mouth of the tunnel. I looked back, but I realized I was too deep in the tunnel to be able to see what was happening.

Obviously, my time was running low. I picked up a few stray rocks in some bins and put them in my bag hoping some answers could come from these random segments.

I started back towards the front when something caught my eye. Hidden around a ledge, deep within a c***k, I saw something. I went further towards it. With my small size, I was able to push myself behind the ledge and into the c***k in the rock. What I found took my breath away. It was a gold vein. I rubbed my fingers along it. Gold. There was gold in the mine.

I pulled myself out searching for a tool of some sort. I found something with a wooden handle and a curved metal piece. I scrunched myself back into the c***k and began picking away at the rock. Not making much progress after several long minutes, I was starting to realize why mining was such a grueling physical job. Harder I hit the rock until finally, in a glorious moment, a small gold chunk broke off. I grabbed it and placed it in my bag.

I pulled myself out of the c***k and continued to head back towards the front. More people were speaking at the mouth of the mine. But their voices blurred as they echoed further in.

Not sure what I was going to say or how I could convince them to leave the mine alone, I only hoped I could convince one of them to retrieve Erevus for me.

As I got closer, I could hear their voices more distinctly.

“Ready.”

“Okay, let’s do it. Seal her off.”

“Three-“

My heart pounded as I started to run towards the entrance. They were going to blow it up.

“Two-“

“Wait!” I yelled.

“One.”

“Wait! Stop!”

I was getting near the entrance at speed when the first explosive went off. It shook the tunnel, causing me to fall onto my knees.

I pulled myself up.

“Stop!” I yelled as loudly as I could against the rumbling. The second explosive went off, sending me back to the ground. Rocks began to fall.

I recognized one of the vampires in the front. Stefen.

“Wait! Stop, Stefen!” I screamed his name, trying to stand.

He looked right at me. His eyes widened with recognition and fear. I stood again, trying to run to the entrance. Stefen took two steps towards me when a rock crashed in front of him.

The last explosive went off rumbling down the mountain as rocks poured over the front, sealing it off. Rocks continued to fall around me as the mountain moaned and trembled. A rock fell on my back. I shouted in pain. Quickly, I crawled to the wall and found a crevice in the mountain. I smashed my body inside of it. I curled myself as tightly as I could into the hole as rocks rained down around me.

I buried my face in my bag, trembling as the roar of the mountain continued to deafen the world around me.

I wasn’t sure how long I had stayed curled up in my hole or how long it took for the mountain to stop rumbling, but I could tell the dirt that had settled layered itself upon me.

I tried to rub off as much as I could from my arms and face, coughing and sneezing as I did. My vision was hazy, no doubt due to the amount of dust and whatever else was lingering in the air.

I moved myself slowly out of the hole, my hands scraping along the ground. I grabbed more rocks and placed them in my bag, though that was simply because I didn’t know what else to do.

The entrance was sealed off. I wasn’t even sure if I was sealed off, and I probably wouldn’t have a better view until the dust settled.

I seethed as my hand wrapped around silver. I coughed. But the further I exited my hole, the more I realized something was burning my throat and lungs. It was more than just inhaling dust, I clenched my throat realizing what it was. I was also inhaling silver particles mixed in the dust on the ground. I coughed again.

I stood knowing what I had done. I was trapped in a silver mine with silver all around me while inhaling silver particles. This was a death trap and by the time anyone cleared the rocks to save me, I would already be dead. No loopholes this time.