his flower queen (nikolai lantsov)

Explosions

At Chetya's Well, a natural fountain at the crossroads of four of the major tunnels, the small group working with Alina met there after the big event in the Kettle. 

They were able to get the Apparat to let everyone move freely and finally get out the White Cathedral. Alina had put a sun mark on Vladim, one of the Priestguards that was only a little bit older than herself. 

They chose to meet at Chetya's Well because if the Apparat did decide to send a party after them, they'd be harder to track from there. Though there were many pilgrims seeing them off, so it probably wouldn't have been difficult for him to find them. 

They were all in ordinary travel clothes, the grisha's kefta stowed in their packs. 

Mal and Kaida took the lead, working together to track, though Mal was so much better than her. Tolya and Tamar brought up the rear, scouting behind them to make sure that no one followed. 

Through David's access to the archives and Mal's innate sense of direction, they'd managed to construct a rough map of the tunnel network. They had started plotting a course to Ryevost, but there were gaps in their information. No matter how accurate they'd been, they couldn't be sure of what they might be walking into. 

After the escape from Os Alta, the Darkling's men had tried to penetrate the network of tunnels beneath Ravka's churches and holy sites. When their searches turned up empty, they'd begun bombing: closing off exit routes, trying to drive anyone seeking shelter to the surface. The Darkling's alkemi had created new explosives that collapsed buildings and forced combustible gases below-ground. All it took was a single inferni spark, and whole sections of ancient network of tunnels collapsed. 

As they moved along, Kaida was relieved to be doing something at last. Being stuck underground with barely anything to do and left with her thoughts was dreadful for her after seeing her friend's dead body and leaving Nikolai with a secret that nobody should have known except for herself. It made her more anxious and restless compared to usual. 

Walking silently right behind Mal, she thought of Tamar. They hadn't had the chance to speak because after the big plan, they had to pack for the trip. She was glad that Tamar and Tolya hadn't betrayed them and instead helped them escape. 

At first Kaida was disappointed she wasn't involved in the making of the plan, but she understood why she wasn't invited to create it. The others told her it was because they already had enough people to initiate it, but she knew the real reason. It was because she sulked all day and everyday for the months they were trapped and she barely spent time with anybody except for Genya. 

It didn't matter that they didn't include her though, she was just grateful she was out of the White Cathedral and had the chance to hurt the Apparat and the Priestguards. 

The tunnels grew darker as they moved farther from the White Cathedral and its strange alabaster glow. Soon their way was lit by nothing but the swaying light of their lanterns. In some places, the caverns were so narrow that they had to remove their packs and wriggle along between the press of walls. Then, without warning, they'd find themselves in a giant cave wide enough to pasture horses. 

They made frustratingly slow progress, marching in a long column with Zoya, Nadia, and Adrik spread out along the line; in case of a cave-in, the air their squallers could summon might provide valuable breathing time for anyone trapped. 

David and Genya kept falling behind, but he seemed to be the one responsible for the lag. Finally, Tolya hefted the huge pack from David's narrow shoulders. 

He groaned. "What do you have in this thing?" 

"Three pairs of socks, one pair of trousers, an extra shirt. One canteen. A tin cup and plate. A cylindrical slide rule, a chrondometer, a jar of spruce sap, my collection of anticorrosives-"