Princess of Victory - Guardians of Forewood [1]

Chapter 26: Infiltration (II)

Day 25 of the Fourth Month, Year 1016

Capital City of Naveland, Nave Province

WALKING down, they found a long hallway with cells on the right and left. They took care of the guards posted in front and tiptoed right in. Victoria pondered the steel and rock that made this dungeon.

No, a construction of this scale would not be possible without anyone accommodating it—and the tunnels didn't seem recent, either, meaning it could be very old, far before her father's era. It was truly unsettling to realize that even in the Capital, where her family supposed to reign most supreme, there were places they didn't know exist.

Unless Mother knew and didn't tell her... but why would she?

She forced herself to focus on the task at hand—sneaking in. The three found that it wasn't very hard to waltz through the hallway noiselessly, though—everyone locked in there was so weak that they didn't even realize there was three intruders. Many were unconscious and they were all pathetically dirty. The cells were even empty, without any semblance of beds or chamber pots, causing the whole place to exude an extremely foul odor.

Victoria didn't let the smell bother her, and instead focused in finding her uncle. Her eyes scanned every cell, and occasionally, Jason warned that there were guards on some crossings and they disabled them with relative ease, especially with Jason's means—that was, knockout drugs and poison. After a few minutes of going around the dungeon, they finally found a rather tightly guarded area and went ahead.

After incapacitating the guards, Victoria, at last, saw her uncle. He was pitifully laying on the ground without even moving. Victoria heard how his limbs were broken and reconnected and felt awful for the man. "Lieutenant Nile!"

The man only moved his head slightly, trying to see Victoria. "Your... H-highness!" He tried to move himself.

"Don't move. I'll get you out of here."

"L...Leave!" He tried hard to speak.

"Unlock the cell!" Victoria hissed towards Jason.

"Oh, right," Jason obeyed her and started tinkering with the lock. Dev stood guard a bit out of the way, preventing anyone from sneaking around them.

"They're... dangerous," Nile said with great difficulty. "They know about Corps."

"I know. We have to go," Victoria said, quickly opening and entering the cell after Jason unlocked it. She propped the big guy Nile up, with Dev's help, and brought him out of the cell.

With Jason's assistance, they easily got out of the dungeon the same way they came in. Victoria helped knocking out a few guards in their way while Dev held the weight of the Lieutenant. They went back up to the maze and tried to get out, but the whole place was chaotic, causing them to immediately hide.

"The gatekeepers are unconscious!" Someone yelled in panic.

They all looked at each other. "This is bad," Victoria mumbled. "We have to split. We are too big of a target. I'll draw them away."

"Victa!" Dev whisper-yelled, but Victoria already went away.

"You bring him out," Jason said to Dev. "I'll help her." Jason, who was thin and nimble, wasn't strong enough to bring out a big man like Nile.

Dev nodded. "Okay. Be careful."

Victoria held her blade and ran, drawing the hallway guards away. Her only thought was to let the others escape. Those people found her and blades started attacking her. "You dare intrude our place!"