//Chapter 41//
1035 Words
We walked for two days.
It was hard to tell time inside the tunnel. We tried to calculate the time from meals and ratio of time we got tired. My legs got sore and heavy as the time went. I knew it was the same for Kahlee. We did not stop unless it was absolutely necessary. Catching up to the others were more important than resting.
We were constantly on alert. The feeling of someone watching us did not lessen as we proceeded forward. Rather, it grew on. The pressure was too much. It was slowly building inside me, second by second. We could not talk or walk or do anything that made a slight noise anymore. Light and shadows seemed to mock us, leaping from place to place and baring their teeth.
"It's time to take a break." Kahlee whispered.
"Another hundred steps." I muttered back. She nodded.
These little steps would bring us closer and closer to the other party. Perhaps we were exhausting ourselves like this, but we wanted to finish this as soon as possible. The more we stayed, the more we had to go under this pressure, fighting against an invisible enemy.
We walked and walked. I tried to calculate the distance. It had been nearly a week since Resh and others had started digging the tunnel. Assuming they had to take breaks ever so often to recover their energy, they must be halfway or moer through the forest now. We were walking for just two days, but we didn't had to dig or rest that much, so we must be closer to them now.
What if they had already gone to Rawen and were discovered by Nave?
I tried not to think about the possibility. I also tried to not to think about Sain and our mission in finding immunity to Elf magic. We finally had some progress on that, no matter how little. Was he angry with me? He must have waited for me at the training grounds. When he found out I had gone without informing him, what did he-?
"Is it the end?" Kahlee asked. I was so lost in thought that I didn't really see the wall ahead of us. It was as if the tunnel had enough being a tunnel and decided to stop doing that. I raised my torch. The wall was smoothly craved, like every other wall on this tunnel. That meant this was also carved by Zone. I touched the wall casually studying it. I frowned. My fingers came away damp.
"I smell water." Kahlee said.
I thought back on everything. End of a tunnel, damp walls, Bluesunset forest...
"They have encountered Yelve." I said. "The moisture is seeping through. They must have taken a detour." I brought the torch to the side, scanning. Sure enough, There was a gap around the corner, hidden from the view because of the angle. The light could not reach there unless you really searched for the right spot.
"Let's stop here." I whispered. Kahlee sat down as soon as I said that. She must have been exhausted. I felt terrible for dragging her in to this. But then again, I would not have come this far if it wasn't for her.
"You take a break." She said. "I'll do the watching this time."
I gave her a blood bottle. "I can still go on. You should go to sleep."
"No." She said wiping some spilled blood from her lips as she drank. "You did not sleep for the whole time we were here. I'm not sleeping this time. If you want, both of us can stay awake."
I did not know how to argue with her. So after taking a light meal and objecting a few times, I gave in and curled up on the ground. I watched as she sat on the ground while clutching her sword and closed my eyes.
-
I was waken up by something.
I opened my eyes, not wanting to open them at all. I turned my head around, searching for Kahlee. She was not where I left her when I went to sleep. I sat up, suddenly alarmed. Where had she gone?
That's when I realised something was terribly wrong.
All of our supplies was smashed on to the ground. Blood stains and trampled food were everywhere. Our torch laid on the floor, dying out. It was still emitting a strong light, which suggested that it had not been in the ground for long. There were marks of struggling on the floor. Kahlee must have fought with whatever that attacked us here. Her sword lay on the ground a few feet away from me.
Did I sleep through all that? How was that possible?
I took several deep breaths to calm myself down. I could see marks left from dragging someone on the floor. I had to assume it was Kahlee and she was alive when she was taken away.
And still.
I took her fallen sward and strapped in on to my back. I touched Tristan's knife in my pocket for luck and took out a dagger. Then I reignited the torch and started following the tracks for Kahlee. Lucky for me, they continued on the direction we were supposed to go, not the way we came from.
I hurried. Since there was nothing to carry around anymore, my steps were lighter. I did not make sense of this attack. They had left our weapons. Kahlee was a heat wielder and a hunter, but she had been taken away. An Elf attack would not have left me alone. Why wasn't I was awaken by any noise?
Then I realised something else. The feeling of someone watching me, which had been pressuring me, was gone. It was as if I had played a major role in a theater and now I was suddenly thrown in to the backstage.
I could feel they connected somehow. Whatever watched us had taked Kahlee away, and had stopped following me. Because I was... sleeping? That did not make any sense.
A blood chilling scream from the tunnel ahead of me.
I halted for a second before running forward. It was Kahlee.
- Writer
