Siege

this beast that you're after will eat you alive (iv)

Levi mobilized a good portion of their troops to the mines, along with their fastest horses and most able-bodied soldiers. They were led by the leader of the Triviths' guards and Keres's swordsmanship mentor, Thomas; as well as Eli and Keres. Meanwhile, the rest of the siblings stayed to welcome the Church ministers from the Capital. 

In half a day, Eli and Keres were hot on the trail of the suspects.

Eli was strict with their breaks and was clearly in a hurry. Understandably so. But his sister was lax as she sat behind a boulder, drinking from her water jug. Eli sat next to her, huffing. "I expected you to at least be impatient as I, sister," he muttered.

"I can see now why Levi said those mean things to you."

"Why?"

He stole another glance her way before continuing, "Because... I don't feel it, too. Your grief." 

She sighs. Her brothers do not need to know how torn she is inside. How ripped apart her heart already is from suffering their death another time. They do not know... and she does not intend to let them know.

"I deal with grief differently, rather, I do not have the time for it," was her simple reply. She stood up, dead set on ending the conversation there, and left Eli alone with his thoughts.

Something had changed in his sister. He could feel the different shift in her demeanor and attitude, something almost...heartless. 

The Keres he knew would've shed a tear or two and still have a clear mind, however, this Keres was definitely clearheaded but also impassive. He had never felt so near yet so far from her, until now.

But that was a question for another time. They do not have time for this.

It took a few more hours of full-speed horseback riding to reach the mines and by then, it was already sundown. The two Triviths spared no time for rest and immediately lit their torches to enter the tunnel. They had to leave their horses outside, the tunnel too narrow for a horse to pass.

"Be careful, you two," said Thomas as he followed them inside. Their bodies were weary but their eyes were alert. Slowly, they traversed through the dark, ominous tunnel until they saw the light at the end.

Keres squinted her eyes at the light, "Halt."

Everyone froze, waiting for the lady's next words. She squinted some more, sensing something at the end. Is that what she thinks it is? Her doubts were confirmed by the voices as they chanted, deafening her.

'Traps. Death. Traps. Death.' 

They were chanting, their whispers so loud and repetitive her head started to ache. Her heart raced as she blindly scoured the tunnel for anything, anything at all that trigger the traps.

"What is it, my lady?" asked Thomas after noticing her agitation. "What's wrong?"

Keres found a broken stone pickaxe. She slowly stalked forward, the voices' chants getting louder and louder.

'Closer to death... Closer to him... Closer to death... Closer to him...' They chanted rhythmically and every phrase sounded like a riddle, but she understands what they mean every time.

"Sister? Mind filling us in?"

"Hush, my lord. She's figuring something out."

'Death.'

She stopped. She retraced her steps back and threw the pickaxe to where she was in one swift motion. They anxiously watched. Everything seemed to slow down for a moment as they heard the faint sound of thing string being severed. A millisecond of silence that seemed to have ignited all infinitesimal sparks that created the loud explosion at the end of the tunnel.