Nomad {Editing}

::Chapter 20:: Honesty and Guilt

"Saving your butt from the looks of it," she replied. Even the sarcasm in her voice was drowned out by her own panic. Briar was trying her best to remain calm, and whilst she was doing a better job of it then Charlie was.

Though that was never saying much.

From the small amount of light at her fingertips, Charlie could at last see at least a little bit.

And he froze when he saw what lurked over her shoulder, he leapt. Clearing Briar easily but very nearly crashing into the rocks above head as he did so, dodging by the breadth of his hear and he landed hard.

Bringing down the witch behind her with him to the ground, finishing it before he thought twice. Looking back, he let out a low growl, though it wasn't an entirely mean sound at that point. "Get better at it then."

She seemed to contemplate abandoning him there and then, then seemed to thankfully think better of it. She ducked, flattening herself to eye level so she was a mere centimetres away from the end of his muzzle.

"I know how to get out of here, trust me?"

Charlie inherently wanted to say no, everything he had been taught in life told him to never trust anyone. Even the ones who supposedly loved or cared for him. Yet something in a much louder and harder to ignore voice told him otherwise.

He nodded.

Not needing to be told twice, she ducked down and threw open her hands. Before Charlie knew what had happened, the ground beneath their feet was gone and he landed hard. Staggering to his feet, he would have run off, had it not been for Briar's quick thinking as she grabbed him around the neck.

"Wrong way," she said through her teeth as she took off running in the opposite direction to the one Charlie had started in.

Pausing, he watched her go. A more logical person would have wondered how she knew, but he didn't care right now. He would have sold his soul if it meant that he could be above ground again.

If he had one to sell.

The pair ran through the tunnels, Charlie began to pant as the injuries sustained began to slow him down but he didn't slow his space by a step. Except for an occasional look back at the witch who was beginning to stray behind.

Letting out a sigh, he skidded to a stop beside her and gestured firmly. "Get on, I'd like to get out of here alive." Charlie said, his tone very much conveying that he wasn't going to accept anything but a yes for an answer.

Briar regarded him with a dark look, clearly failing to pick up on his tone. "You're hurt."

Growling in frustration, "We'll both be hurt a lot more if we don't get going."

The second time she hesitated, he lost his temper and pushed forward. Knocking her off balance and causing her to land on his back. He grunted, trying to pretend it didn't hurt as much as it had.

At the same time Briar pretended not to notice how painfully she could feel the ribs of the wolf beneath his fur.

Forcing himself onwards despite the extra burden and the pain from his wounds. Charlie charged, following the tunnel as far as it went. Unlike those above, this had no turns or swirls. This was a perfect straight line.

It seemed to take an eternity, and by the time they finally spotted daylight again. Charlie was close to collapsing from his legs, and he forced himself out and into the brightness of the evening sun.

Panting hard, he looked around. It appeared they hadn't been followed, but he wasn't sure as to how long it would stay this way. He lowered himself to the ground, allowing Briar off of his back once again.