"I'm afraid that won't be possible."
The group of rebels turned around to see a bunch of soldiers blocking the hallway. They were outnumbered.
"Quick, this way!", Dream shouted and the sirens moved away from the soldiers in the other direction. But suddenly, a few other soldiers blocked that way aswell. They were trapped.
George grabbed Dream's arm and looked up to him. Fear was flickering in his eyes. Dream looked around, searching for a way to flee, but there was none.
Slowly, the soldiers inched closer, weapons pointing at the group. There was no way out.
George was also doing his best looking for an escape. His eyes found a hole somebody had ripped in a painting of the siren king on a majestic swordfish on the wall to his left. But... there was something off about it.
The walls of the castle were the color of sand, but behind the hole, everything was black.
Could it be... that there was no wall behind the painting?
He had heard of castles having secret rooms and corridors, his own home had some that he had liked to play in and hide from his teacher when he had been younger.
And as far as George was aware, as long as there was not a dead end behind that painting, it could be their best shot at escaping the soldiers.
He gained Dream's attention and pointed towards it. The siren nodded and proceeded to inform the others through small hand gestures. The rebels had now formed a circle and were being forced to press against eachother more and more to escape the sharp weapons that were being pointed at them.
Dream held a hand behind his back, holding up three fingers.
Then two fingers.
Then one.
On the silent commando, all rebels swam towards the majestic painting of the king on his swordfish and broke through it, revealing a dark corridor leading nowhere.
But the soldiers were already after them. They had no choice but to swim deeper and deeper towards the unknown.
Suddenly, there was no ground beneath them anymore and a strong flow sucked them into a huge pit. George screamed, but he couldn't hear his own voice.
Somebody grabbed his arm and pressed him on their chest. Dream.
Holding onto eachother tightly, they let the powerful water take them wherever it might be going.