"How do we fight a root?" I ask. Why did you bring me underground? is the second question, but I'm too afraid of Soldier Dathid to ask it.
"We don't. We're going to have to surface much sooner than I hoped."
"Why do we have to be in the dark?"
"They're attracted to the light. Stop asking questions and listen. We're going to the uniquestrian center. Do not stop for any reason. Our mounts should be waiting. If I'm not with you, ride south for as long as Stryder will carry you. Someone will meet up with you."
I don't understand. Why wouldn't Dathid be with me? How far south is that? And who will meet me and how will they find me?
I can't get answers to any of these questions because we're running before I can voice them. It's easier to keep my balance now that he's not dragging me around. Plus, we're not trying to hide anymore, so I have light. I keep my arms tucked close to my body, hoping the roots don't grab me.
They don't. They don't seem to be moving at all. However, the deeper we go into the tunnel, the thicker the roots get and the louder the cracking. Eventually, there are so many rocks on the ground we're forced to carefully navigate a path that slows us down considerably.
A rock falls and slides down Dathid's leg. He swears but doesn't slow down. Rocks are falling near both of us, but I haven't been hit...yet. I regret leaving my helmet off. The stones aren't falling far, but they're heavy enough to crack my skull.
We finally get to a place where the roots haven't damaged the tunnel. "We made it," I sigh.
"This is a trap," he says. "We can only go forward. Do you see the exit?"
He points to an arched entryway, leading to a staircase, heading up to what I assume is the surface. "When you go through the hatch, you're going to meet the vines the roots are attached to. Hack away at them and don't stop. They're not quick, but they are persistent."
I nod. How can roots and vines have set a trap for us? My teeth are chattering. I open my mouth to keep them from clanging together. He smiles at me, and a sigh escapes my lips. There's the Dathid I know. I'm glad he was in there somewhere.
"You'll do well," he says gently. "Just remember what I told you. Do not stop for anything. Or anyone."
I nod, but I've lost muscle control, so my head wobbles.
A loud crash rattles the tunnel. I instinctively jump on him. Every part of me is shaking. I used to be much braver, but that was before I knew what bravery was. Death is waiting for us up there, and I don't have the courage to face it again.
Dathid pries me off him. "We need to move," he insists. "This is our last quiet moment until we're out of the castle. You can do this. Run until you're safe."
I can't form words. I wobble a nod at him and force my burning eyes to blink.
"Ready, run!"
I leap off the wall and fly down the corridor. He's behind me with his hand on my back, propelling me forward. I'm running so fast my feet are barely making contact with the ground. A loud crack echoes down the chamber. Stone and dirt rain down on us when the entire tunnel collapses.
My feet keep moving even though bricks strike me in more places than I can notice. Dathid folds his arm around my waist and wrenches me toward him. I raise my wand high and make a shield, but I've never made one this strong. It's taking more strength than I have to keep the ground from collapsing in on us. Dathid drops to his knees with a groan and drags me with him. He wraps himself around me and protects me from the worst of the falling tunnel. He clenches his hands around my raised hand in an attempt to give me his strength to hold the failing shield.
My body screams for mercy as my arms and shoulders tear apart. The noise is unbearably loud, but it's the shaking ground that adds the most terror. Then it stops.
I did it. We're encased in a small bubble deep underground. He's sitting on the rubble with his legs folded to the side. I'm lying face down with his knees digging into my kidneys, and he's bent over me, making it difficult to breathe. The bubble is so tiny neither of us can move.
He lets go of my hand, and I relax my hold on the shield. It stays. Now that the dirt has settled, it's not as difficult to keep it solid.
"Well done," he says to my back.
That was well done. I can't believe I thought of it. And was able to do it! I saved our lives. A swell of pride spirals through my body but quickly dissipates when the reality of being trapped underground squelches it.
"Are you injured," he asks.
"I got whacked a few times, but it's not too bad. The dust in my eyes and lungs is what's bothering me. You?"
"My shoulder is dislocated, or maybe broken."
"What can I do?"
"You're going to have to tunnel out of here," he says in a manner that suggests I'd know how to do that.
When I don't say anything, he explains. "Push the shield up. It doesn't need to be wide. In fact, keep it small. We just have to find the light. Do you think you can do that?"
"I don't know. I was never taught anything close to that. I'm not sure how to do it." I don't want Dathid to know that making the shield drained a lot of my energy. Who knows how much dirt, stones, and bricks are on top of us. "I'm not that strong."
"You can do this. Just a small hole, so we can get an idea of how deep we are." He's being sweet right now, which means he must believe I can't do it either. Otherwise, he'd be yelling at me.
"Just the size of your fist," he says.
"Okay, got it. Shush. Let me think," I say, happy to tell him to shut up for once.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I have to keep the shield around us and form a tunnel to the surface, like an upside-down funnel. I picture a snake, and an outline of one appears in the shield. I make it slither around us in an upward spiral. When it gets to the top of our bubble, I have it break through the first layer of dirt. I twist it upwards, like a corkscrew, but the deeper it goes into the dirt, the harder it is to move.
I'm face down in the dirt, and Dathid's chin is digging into the back of my neck. The bubble is so tight neither of us can lift our heads to see what the snake is doing. I don't even know if it's heading in the right direction. I push onward. I need to hurry because the air is already stale.
I hit something hard. I can't move it or go through it. I push on it with everything I got, but it won't move. The snake loses its shape, and it takes everything I got to force it back together.
"Dathid, I've hit a rock. I can't move it. What should I do?"
He has one hand around my waist. He pulls me tighter to him and wraps his free hand around the wand. "Relax, I have you. Focus everything you have on that rock. You have to move it," he says. His calmness is more inspiration than any loud cheering could ever be.
I relax my shoulder and legs. Dathid supports my weight, so I let go and let him hold me while I use all of my strength to move the rock. He's even holding my arm up.
I reinforce my shield snake. I picture its nose blunting as I prepare to ram it into the rock. I uncoil the snake to give myself a running start. The dirt doesn't fill the gap I leave. I can do this. Everything I got. This rock must move.
I take a deep breath and send the shield snake into the rock. Physical pain shoots down my arm and shoulder, and I yell out. Dathid holds firm to my hand, so my grip on the wand doesn't waver. The snake continues to push as pain, stronger than volts of electricity, shoot through my body. I have to move that rock. Something pops in my upper arm, but I ignore it.
The rock won't move. I'm sweating, and my heart is racing as if I'm running a marathon. How much more of this can I take? I flop down and rest.
"I can't move it," I say through gasps of air.
"Can you go through it? Make a small hole, just enough to get past it."
We're running out of air. I close my eyes again and make the shield snake pencil-thin. It spins around like a drill bit. "Small hole, through the rock," I whisper.
His hand falls away from mine. He hasn't lost consciousness yet, but he's going to soon. It takes all my concentration to keep the shield around us and spin the snake drills through the rock, but it's not painful. I relax my breathing and try to use as little oxygen as possible.
Dathid's full weight falls on me when he loses his battle to stay conscious. He flattens me into the ground. I lose focus and almost lose the bubble.
His very heavy body is crushing me into a ball. I have to move. The bubble is maybe four feet long and about as high. He's about six foot three, plus he's wearing armor. I shouldn't waste energy or air, but I need to twist around and see the snake.
I can barely breathe, and it's getting too hot to think. It takes a lot of effort to force my legs out from under both of us, but I manage, and once I do, I can breathe. I'm still face down, so I put my arms in the pushup position and lift. Then I slide my shoulders out from under him and twist until my butt hits the ground. I only get my legs turned to the side before I can't hold his weight anymore. I'm wedged with my back against the shield and my legs pinned under him. It's painful, but it's my only option.
In my new position, I can see my snake. It's disappointing that it's only about four feet above me. I thought I'd gone a great distance. But now that I can mark my progress, it's easier to drill through the rock directly overhead.
The snake punches through the rock, and the dirt softens. I widen the snake and continue to climb. The dirt is warmer. I'm close. A small pinhole of light touches Dathid's back.
We're not that deep, maybe ten feet. If I can widen the hole, I can get us both out of here. I spin the snake and move the dirt on the top, like a tornado. More light comes in. How do I open a hole to let air in without collapsing the entire shield? Plus, the hole is so narrow. I'm not sure how much air could get in.
I'm woozy. If I faint, the bubble will collapse. I spin the snake and make the hole about a foot wide until I get to the rock. Now that I moved the weight from the top, I'm hoping I can push the rock away.
I bring the shield snake under the rock and smash it into the rock with such force the snake's head disappears. Pain shoots through my arm and exits out my leg. I push with everything I got, and when the boulder lets go, I send up a bunch of dirt with it, in what must have looked like an explosion on the surface. Light pours into the crater, and I can see the sky through the sizable hole. Pebbles and sand click off the shield. I wait until I can't hold it any longer.