A Princess' Dilemma

Chapter 1 - The Prison

The Nelsons, Michelle and Gala crossed cautiously an entryway of an old, half-broken building. All of them had their weapons ready, prepared to attack or defend anytime it would be needed. The interiors were darker so only a little could be seen. Elijah was in the front of the whole group with a shining flashlight. Others flashlights were held by Josiah and Daniel. All of them were quiet, not wanting to lure attention. After a while Shiloh whispered.
"Don't forget why we're here," she reminded them, "We have to free the people, get out of here and not been seen."
"Do you realize, Shiloh, that if we are not supposed to be seen, we should probably make a different group with us?" Elijah from the front spoke up, "I'm not sure of Micah and Judah ever managed to stay quiet."
"Hey!" Judah's high-pitched voice sounded up.
"And this is exactly what I am talking about," Elijah just added and turned to Judah.
Josiah joined Elijah's opinion.
"Shush, Judah!" he hissed.
"Sorry, sorry," Judah just raised his hands in surrender.
From behind Michelle spoke up too.
"Don't worry, Shiloh, I'm gonna keep an eye out on Micah."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Micah started to protesting, "Hold up. Since when this became a thing?"
Michelle narrowed her eyes towards him.
"Micah..."
"I didn't say anything!" he immediately turned around and gave up too.
Shiloh and Elijah just silently suppressed laugh and Elijah just whispered to her.
"He's so deep in this."
"Oh yeah, totally," Shiloh agreed with him.
The group continued through the... hallways. They weren't exactly hallways, more like holes or caves.
"I just hope we will find all the hostages soon enough so we could leave," Gala expressed her lack of comfort here.
The whole place seemed extremely silent. Every single step could be heard, even a pin drop would be heard.
"I don't like it in here," Elijah pointed out, his voice echoing around, "Something's very wrong."

Suddenly they arrived to a crossroad which no one expected and which crashed their plans.
"Oh no..." Micah let out.
"We have to split up," Josiah declared but not everyone agreed with him.
"That's not exactly a good idea," Elijah pointed out, "What if something happens..."
"But in both tunnels those prisoners can be locked up," Shiloh said hopefully, "And the mission is clear. We have to be quick. And if splitting up is out only option, we should do it."
Elijah looked at Shiloh who could read his thoughts immediately.
"Don't worry, we will stay in touch."
Elijah sighed.
"Fine..."
"Okay so me, Elijah, Josiah and Gala will go left and Micah, Judah, Daniel and Michelle will go right," Shiloh said.
The big group split into two smaller and each took different paths.

Judah, Daniel, Micah and Michelle continued through the tunnel very carefully. Eyes of all of them were on high alert, looking from side to side but they didn't find anything certain. Only that the walls weren't dry anymore and waterdrops could be heard.
"We have to be under the river now..." Michelle declared.
"Only if the river is flowing the same way we go," Micah added, receiving another stare from Michelle.
"I know!" Judah spoke up, "They have a pool upstairs!"
All four of them turned to him.
"What? It is possible."
"I'm pretty sure it's definitely not the pool," Daniel declared.
"It was worth a shot!" Judah firmly stood with his opinion.
With rising silence they continued their way again.

Step by step the second group was exploring the second tunnel. This one wasn't wet. But something made Shiloh, Josiah, Elijah and Gala stop.
"There is a basement in this place?" Josiah spoke up once they all saw a staircase leading down.
"Obviously..." Elijah murmured, also shocked.
"Honestly, I don't think I'm gonna be surprised by anything new here," Shiloh declared and wanted to take a step on the stair.
A gloved hand on her arm stopped her. She turned around to Elijah who asked.
"Are we sure we wanna go down there?"
"We have no other way to go," she said, "And we have to find those people as soon as possible."
Elijah still didn't like it. He sighed and looked at Josiah. They connected their gazes for a while. He released Shiloh's arm and said.
"Okay. But me and Josiah will go first. In case something jumps on us down there."
"Fine," Shiloh whispered and moved to make a room for Elijah and Josiah to go first.
The staircase wasn't exactly short. The group proceeded slowly with their eyes out. Slowly the darkness took over even more, not just faintly. Downstairs they stopped. The tunnel was ending there.
"Huh?" Gala exhaled.
"Come on!" Shiloh got frustrated, "It can't just end here!"
But Josiah stared at the wall against them with burrowed eyebrows. Elijah noticed his expression.
"What is it, Josiah?" he asked.
"Something about the wall isn't right," he declared.
He stepped closer to the wall, his flashlight still on, and his hand exploring the corners and sealing and...
"There it is," he exhaled.
"What?" Shiloh asked him.
"This is a fake wall," Josiah declared and started to examine the side walls, "Somewhere here... Should be... some way... to open it."
He didn't find anything. He passed the flashlight to Shiloh and tried to move with the wall with his arms. Nothing happened. So, he had to use the third last way. He took out some device from his pocket and hung it on the wall. He pressed a button on it and together with the others he took a step back. The device hummed until some sparks came out, followed by a little cloud of smoke. Josiah grinned.
"What was that?" Gala asked.
"A little sabotage. Whatever technology this door was working on, it won't anymore," he explained, took the device and tried his strength again. The wall easily moved aside, revealing a long hall lit up with torches. All of them entered. Shiloh took two more steps than the rest of the group.
"Where are we?"
"Let's find out," Elijah said and stepped forward.
As they were looking around, proceeding more and more in the hall they noticed it's not a common hall but...
"It's a prison," Shiloh declared.
"This is where the hostages are supposed to be," Elijah added her, not expecting this reality either.
Their conversation interrupted a fifth voice.
"Don't you dare take another step!"