Alone in the Dark

Get Up

As the dust settled around her, Nerini slowly came to realize that she was curled into a ball with her back against a wall with one sword gripped in her hand. Her body rebelled against her attempts at thinking with nausea and sharp reminders of the pain coursing through her body. But through gradual and stubborn thought, Nerini processed what had happened. After being dropped into the sinkhole, she had rolled down a slope of collapsed stone, her body sliding in the damp muck that coated the rocks. At some point half the castle had fallen in around her, sending her leaping out of the path of the avalanche of building timbers and rock.

Nerini had continued downwards into the dark until she hit the wall she was laying against and curled around herself, waiting to be buried alive. She was now underground, and something about the tunnel she was in held off most of the building that had followed her, though the dark obscured just how buried she was. Pain lanced through her as she willed herself to move, urging her to remain where she was. The only movement she could hear above her was the creaking and shifting of the stone settling into place, and no light reached her where she was. There was a damp, earthy smell around her, with no hint of the forest or fresh air of the surface.

Despite the fact that everything hurt, she knew that she had to move. She had to find a way to get herself out of this mess, as she had no idea who had survived the collapse of the castle. And if they had survived, the game plan was to get to the coast, or get south.

Nerini was on her own.

She told herself that Keana would stick to the plan, that everyone else involved would stick to the plan. Despite the desolation and fear that caused, she braced herself on the thought that they had found Kannein. Starved and abused, but alive. They had been leading him out of the castle before everything collapsed. Surely he made it. She had rescued him, and in the end that was what mattered. Kannein was the firstborn, the General of War for Aupana and Rael's betrothed. Him being rescued and safe was far more valuable to their cause than Nerini's fate.

Nerini focused on what she could control, shaking off the thoughts of despair and forcing herself to go through the motions of checking out her injuries. First thing she checked was the slash along her stomach, which was only a shallow cut under her slashed leather armour. Blood seeped, but the wound was not deep enough to worry her.

Then Nerini rolled to a sitting position, gasping at the pain that swam through her ribs and head. Her left shoulder ached dully with every movement her arm made, though she could move it and her fingers weren't numb, which had to be a good sign. She ripped at her clothes, tearing off enough for a bandage to wrap her stomach before she probed her other wounds. They were immediately minor, and though she knew her head and ribs weren't right, she wouldn't bleed to death and could move.

Through all this, Nerini hoped to hear someone digging through the rubble. Despite the plan and although they should be riding hard for the coast as she sat there licking her wounds, Nerini strained her ears to hear someone calling her name or moving stones aside.

She wanted to be able to wait for help, to not have to fight her way free. A small voice of doubt told her that she didn't even know if anyone had gotten out of the disaster. She had no idea how extensive the damage was, or if more of those creatures had arrived and overwhelmed their small party.

Nerini shook her head to clear those thoughts and leaned her back against the wall for a moment longer, convincing herself that they had gotten out and they were already heading to the coast. That Keana was logical enough that they would not have even attempted to search for her.

There was also the fact that the team had horses and would be moving quickly. Not only did she have to find a way out of this u underground prison, she would also need to make her way on foot. She did not have the luxury of waiting around for a rescue.

"C'mon, get off your ass. You're the only person you need, dig yourself out of here." Nerini grumbled as she forced herself to stand.

The first thing she tried was walking back up the slope in an attempt to find an escape through the rubble. She knew out was that way, so she needed to see if she could find a way through the debris that had followed her.

It only took several steps upwards to realize the pile was unsteady and crumbling dangerously beneath her feet. She could feel it shifting under her weight and slid backwards more than she moved forward. Even in the dark, she could see that there was no opening above her, just a very unreliable wall of stone and rock.

Nerini cursed and scrambled back down the slope. She turned in one direction and walked several steps to find a solid wall of rock, a dead end that had been carved out of the stone beneath the castle. Then she turned around and stared off into the darkness that yawned in that last direction.

Three sides were unpassable.

All she had was hope that that last stretch of darkness didn't end.

Nerini closed her eyes and forced her mind to clear as she focused on her gift. And once she tuned into it, actively seeking to use it, she could feel a slight pull in that direction. Though she rarely tried to use her powers purposefully, it was enough to give her hope. And that hope gave her the energy to continue.

With a nod to herself, Nerini started forward into the darkness, hands out in front of her as she slowly stumbled past debris and collapsed walls until she felt her feet meet solid ground. She knelt then, feeling the grooves of dug out rock and mortared stone, and the faintest hint of a whistling breeze against her bruised and scratched cheeks. This was no accidental tunnel in the dark, not with a cultivated floor and a supply of fresh air coming from somewhere up ahead.

There was no light left for her, but there was fresh air up ahead.

"Someone built this..." Nerini grinned to herself and reached out her left hand, laying it on the wall.

As she started forward, truly committing to that direction, she felt a thrill of power and energy run through her fingers and settle into the core of power that was her gift. Something was calling her onward.

Besides, it was the only direction for her to go.

With her right hand resting on her remaining sword, Nerini plunged forward into the darkness.