The arrow hit Marnix square in the throat. He stumbled backwards, hands flailing in the air as he smashed into the cabinets. Blood spilled from his neck and stained his white collared shirt. I watched in horror as he collapsed wide-eyed to the floor, wheezing horribly.
I spun to face the attacker. He moved from behind the protection of the shadow, his arms maintained in a poised position, ready to fire another arrow. I held my breath as the soft light reached his face, highlighting his strong jaw and cheekbones, as well as a set of dark, focused eyes.
"Please don't kill me," I squeaked, clamping my eyes shut and holding my breath. I tucked Leo even closer to my chest.
"You?" Alek asked, genuinely surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" I fired back, opening one of my eyes to see if he was still holding up his weapon. Alek saw my gaze land on his crossbow, and he lowered it back to his side and sighed.
"You can stop playing peek-a-boo now. I'm not going to shoot you," he said.
"It wouldn't be the first time you aimed a weapon at me," I muttered under my breath. He looked at me as though he knew exactly what I'd said.
"I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to kill him," he said, nodding in Marnix's direction. His eyes widened. "Shit."
"What?"
An alarm blared into the room so loudly it almost made me drop Leo. Marnix had managed to crawl himself across the floor just far enough to reach the underside of his desk. I only had to duck to see there was a red emergency alarm hidden there.
"This will alert the entire underground!" I exclaimed over the blaring noise.
Alek looked at me as if to say, 'no shit', and purposefully walked towards Marnix's side, dark intent in his eyes.
Look away, Serena, I told myself. Nothing good is going to–
Alek leaned over Marnix, said something quietly to him and then ripped the arrow from his neck. The blaring alarm was not enough to cover the sound of arrow being ripped from flesh. Tendons and blood squelched together as one. Marnix stopped moving immediately.
My stomach turned and I forced myself to look away, trying to push way the sensation of being sick. I was beginning to worry I'd pass out, when Alek met me at my side, clutching all three arrows he'd fired. He checked the hallway was clear before darting through the doorway, leaving me alone.
My heart beat wildly in my chest as I tried not to stare at the three bodies. One of them looked to still be alive, as from their fingers that gently grazed the ground. As if the timing couldn't be worse, Leo stirred ever so slightly in my grasp.
"Well?" a voice called. Alek. He ducked his head back into the room, agitation pulling his lips into a frown. "Are you coming, or should we say our goodbyes to the guards, too?"
My breath hitched. "You want me to come with you?"
He just stared at me. "Do you want to die down here?"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I hurried, hitching Leo into a better position and chasing after him. "But what about everyone else?"
He scoffed. "Do you have any other children I'm unaware of?"
I drew my eyebrows together. "No, I mean the rest of the slaves. Can't we help them, too?"
Alek rounded on me, his eyes darkening. "Do I look like a whole army? You're lucky I'm even going to bring you – and that kid of yours – with me. Just stay behind me."
The hesitation to leave the other slaves slowed down my pace. It was as though their lives weighed down my shoulders, bringing me to a halt. Alek saw my hesitance and the look in his eyes softened, showing a hint of emotion. He placed a hand upon my shoulder in comfort.
"If it helps, I'll take out as many of the guards as I can," he murmured.
Comforting.
Alek yanked me forwards and I stumbled after him, too flustered to form a reply.
"Sarah?" a soft voice mumbled.
My foot caught on a ridge in the ground and I righted myself. Leo was wide awake and stared at me in confusion.
"What's happening–" he started.
I didn't realise what had happened until it was too late. Alek had stopped at the corner of a T-intersection, his body melding into formation with the wall. With Leo waking up in my arms, I failed to notice he'd stopped running.
I planted both feet into the ground, but stumbled into the centre of the intersection, my heart in my throat. To my left, a herd of guards ran towards me with weighty weapons and a cacophony of jeers.
One of the guards raised a crossbow, the perfect sneer on his face. He took aim and let the arrow loose. It flew directly towards me–
Alek yanked me backwards a millisecond before the arrow sliced through the air where my head once had been. It was such a close miss that I could feel the lingering whoosh of air prickle my forehead.
Alek lightly pushed Leo and I up against the cave wall and out of sight from the oncoming guards, staring daggers at me.
"What the hell did I tell you?" he demanded loudly, eyes flashing. "Always stay behind me!"
"Sorry," I squeaked, catching my breath.
As if on cue, Leo let out a loud whimper.
"Stay here, okay?"
I nodded weakly, in a state of shock.
Alek pushed himself away from me and edged closer to the corner, holding his crossbow in an upright position. The footsteps of the approaching guards were becoming louder, their shouts filtered through the noisy siren.
Alek pushed himself from the wall and around the corner, taking aim at the guards. By the time one arrow was released from the muzzle, Alek had already replaced it with the next one from the sheath slung across his back. He worked quickly, smoothly. His movements blurred into one another. I was so intrigued by his prowess I didn't even notice Leo watching Alek in shock, stumped into silence.
He was deadly.
I was terrified.
Absolutely terrified.
"Cool," Leo whispered under his breath.
Alek disappeared around the corner towards the fallen guards and when he returned half a minute later, his sheath was full of arrows. He took one look at us – at my shaking body, wide-set eyes and pale face – and the softness returned.
"Come on, we have to run," he coaxed.
I nodded and forced my arms and legs to move. It was like having an out-of-body experience; I was in the middle of a life or death situation, but it felt like I had zero control over my limbs. I kept rolling my ankles on the uneven ground, unlike Alek, whose fast pace I had difficulty keeping up with. He didn't even look like he was breaking a sweat.
I kept checking over my shoulder to see if we had any more guards chasing us and was relieved when I found the tunnel clear. Alek and I came to a standstill at the next junction. He looked back and forth between the tunnels to our left and straight ahead.
My heart sunk. "You don't know the way out, do you?"
He shot me a glare. "Just be quiet for a moment. I memorised the path in and out."
Then, something clicked inside me. Alek's venture into the tunnels had been calculated, planned. He'd no doubt spent a lot of time memorising how to get down here, all with the goal of assassinating Marnix.
The night I met Artemis flashed through my mind, and the memory of her interaction with Alek rang clear. 'I'll have it done by the end of the week', Alek had said. I may have lost track of my bearings while underground, but there was no doubt this was Alek's paid quest.
"This is what Artemis paid you to do?" I blurted. "Murder Marnix?"
He didn't look surprised that I'd figured it out. He ignored me and closed his eyes, rubbing his temples with his fingers. He stayed like this for a minute, the siren still loud but further off into the distance. I bounced on the balls of my feet, my nerves keeping me on edge.
Alek opened his eyes and said, "Got it!" and the same time someone bellowed my name from down the tunnel.
Alek whipped his crossbow back into position, ready to launch. My eyes widened when I saw who he was aiming at.
"No!" I shouted, flinging myself in front of him. "That's Kadyn, you can trust him."
He cocked his head to the side as Kadyn approached, watching him like a predator might watch its prey. "He's a guard."
Meaning: he wasn't to be trusted.
Kadyn finally caught up to us, his hands raised in acquiescence. "Not by choice," he said slowly, keeping his gaze on Alek. We both knew who the dangerous one was here. "I didn't choose this life. I want to come with you."
"Why?" Alek demanded, refusing to lower the crossbow trained on Kadyn's chest.
Kadyn looked at me to answer. "If I leave with you now, the other guards will be distracted enough that I'll have time to go into hiding with my family."
I didn't have a problem with him coming – but Alek did.
"Serena," he ground from between clenched teeth. "Take the tunnel on our left, I'll be right behind you."
Leo shifted uneasily in my arms, and my flight instinct urged me to do as he said. But the look of hatred in Alek's eyes made me freeze.
A guttural howl echoed through the tunnel, making my ears ring. The sound sent chills through me and the hairs on my arms stood up. The sound was of death itself.
Something told me that if this animal found us, we wouldn't be alive long enough to escape. I locked gazes with Alek, and for the first time since I'd met him, he showed the slightest sign of fear.
"Hellhounds," Kadyn stated, just as concerned.
"We have to run. Now," Alek interrupted.
He didn't need to tell me twice.
Alek completely forgot his concern of Kadyn and instead helped usher me onwards. With the threat of death chasing us, we sprinted down the tunnel to our left. In the distance, more howls joined the first; there was more than one hellhound tracking us.
My feet slammed against the uneven ground, causing the soles of my shoes to tear. With every step I took, sharp and jagged rocks dug into my feet and drew blood. The pain only spurred me on onwards, until I was running faster than I'd ever run before.
Up ahead, more and more torches lit up a tall chasm. And, in the centre of the bright light, a rusty old ladder. Premature relief flooded me; I'd never been so happy to see a ladder in my entire life. But at the same time, I could hear the growling behind us growing louder and more ominous, even as I pushed my body past the point of reprieve.
My heart caught in my throat when the hellhounds barked once again, sounding only a few mere metres away. Adrenaline was the only thing that kept me going. Up ahead, Kadyn and Alek had made it to the ladder and watched me with alarm. From the look on their faces, the beasts weren't far behind, but I resisted the temptation to look.
Alek grabbed an arrow and loaded his crossbow. He fired one and I heard it whizz past me and land in its target. The creature whimpered and fell with a thud.
"What are you doing?" I yelled between puffs, "Climb up!"
"You first!" he replied, reaching back for another arrow to reload and letting it fly.
"I'll climb with Leo," Kadyn offered, holding out his arms.
I was grateful for the reprieve and shifted a wriggling Leo into his arms.
His big brown eyes bore into mine; he was too in shock to even understand what was happening.
"We're taking you back to your mum, okay?" I hushed. "But first, I need you to be a superhero and just hug Kadyn tightly with your eyes closed, okay? We're going to climb the ladder."
I didn't give him time to reply before I directed Kadyn to climb first, in case Leo slipped and I had to catch him.
My hands shook as I groped for the rungs of the ladder, but I had to get high enough so that Alek would be out of reach of the creatures' grasps.
The sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath drew my attention and I looked downwards. Alek stood poised with a sword in his hands as the scariest creature I'd ever seen barrelled towards him. Mangled black fur, glowing red eyes and a bundle of super strength, the dog-like beast sped towards Alek, snapping its jaws and sending saliva everywhere.
A scream escaped my lips as it dove towards Alek. I saw him swing his sword back, a determined look in his eyes. Then the dog got thrown off course and rolled along the ground, hitting the wall of the chamber, except Alek hadn't moved. He was still standing in position, his jaw dropped in surprise.
The creature had a knife firmly embedded in its stomach. It lay on its side, puffing and growling with vigour.
"Thought you might need some help!" Kadyn called from above, a satisfied smirk on his face.
Alek took the opportunity to jump onto the ladder as a wave of hellhounds raced into the open, snapping their jaws at his behind. He narrowly evaded them as he climbed the ladder.
Out of the corner of my eye, the creature with the knife lodged in its side clambered back onto all feet, unperturbed by its wound. It joined the others and raced towards the bottom of the ladder, standing up on its hind legs to try to snap at Alek's feet, which were now out of their reach.
I hurried up the ladder, Alek close behind. I was already exhausted from having to run towards the exit, so climbing up the ladder was pushing me over the edge. It took all my concentration to stop my arms from shaking and turning to jelly. I tried to wrap as much of me around the ladder as possible to stop me from falling.
The heat from The Underworld soaked into every pore, drenching my hands in so much dirtied sweat that I almost lost my grip even when I grasped tightly. I started to feel light-headed but didn't dare look down.
We were so close to the end.
Kadyn's breathing was as audible as mine. I didn't know how much physical exercise guards completed down here, but I guessed it wasn't a lot given the lack of vitamin D. Leo's worried face poked over his shoulder and I gave him a reassuring smile, hoping the effect might rub off on myself.
I breathed a sigh of relief as Kadyn made it to the top, pushing on the trap door and hearing it open with a grunt.
Leo made it to the top first, then Kadyn. When I reached the surface, Leo's tiny hands grabbed my arms as if to help pull me over. I was so exhausted that I collapsed and rolled over onto my back, unable to do anything but take deep breaths. Beads of sweat ran down my forehead and neck, rolling onto the floor.
Leo ran back to the trap door to help Alek over the threshold, although I doubted he needed any. He jumped onto solid ground with much more ease than Kadyn or I did, and closed the trap door.
"What the hell were they?" I asked, breathing loudly.
"Hellhounds are Hades' very own creation," Alek answered. "They can't die."
Well that explained it. It was a miracle we'd even gotten out in one piece.
For a few moments none of us moved or talked, all of us trying to catch our breaths. I rolled over so that I could easily push myself into a sit-up position, and a small scream escaped my lips. I scuttled backwards. The woman who had forced me into the mines stared at me with glassy eyes, except she wasn't really looking at me. She was dead, irrevocably lifeless.
Alek's handywork.
I swallowed the urge to be sick and looked up to find him staring at me, a challenge in his eyes.