Page 13 of Queen of Serpents and Shadows

The joviality of the conversation ceased and we all descended into silence. Our footsteps crunched over rocks and bones, and the sounds of something skittering through the holes in the walls occasionally followed us. We paused at a massive spider web that spanned the entire tunnel and even though I wasn’t the one to tear it down, I still felt like my skin was crawling with insects when I walked through the space it had occupied.

Our little procession continued, with Bahar and Kabir in front, followed by the scribe carrying the map. Laera was in front of me with Vanth and Ryvin taking the rear. I couldn’t explain it, but I could tell when they traded places. I could always feel when Ryvin was the one directly behind me, even if I didn’t turn to see him.

We reached an intersection, the tunnel we were in continuing, along with four other tunnels that branched out in different directions. We’d come to turns before, butnever with this many options. Two of the tunnels were collapsed, rocks and dirt blocking our progress.

“Which way?” Bahar asked the scribe.

He examined the map he’d drawn, and I watched as the wrinkles in his brow deepened. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple. “I’m not sure. I don’t recall this on the maps I studied. All the other tunnels were intersections of three or four, I never saw one with more choices.”

“Maybe one of these was never a finished tunnel,” Bahar offered. “It wouldn’t go on a map if that were the case.”

The scribe shook his head. “I saw dead ends listed. The entire system was done in an organized grid. It’s why I thought I could navigate us. But if the maps I saw weren’t accurate…” His whole face glistened with sweat and his bronze completion took on a green tint. “What if they were wrong? What if I got us lost? We could be trapped here forever.”

His voice was high-pitched and terrified, his breathing rapid. He was in full panic.

“Then we’ll kill you before you starve to death,” Laera said with a shrug.

“Nobody is killing anyone,” I stepped forward, putting myself between Laera and the scribe.

His wide eyes were locked on the princess as he backed closer to the dirt wall behind him.

“We’ll figure it out,” I said. “Where do you think we are on the map? We’ll make a guess. That’s all we can do. We had no promises that the tunnels we needed were evengoing to be accessible. We could have encountered collapsed tunnels at every turn,” I reminded him.

He finally looked at me, then swallowed hard. The map was in his grip at his side.

“Go ahead, Doren. Nobody is upset, we’re going to be just fine,” Bahar said, his voice calm and comforting.

Doren nodded, then lifted the map, taking a long moment to review it before looking up at the rest of us. “I think we should be using that tunnel, but it’s not accessible.” He pointed to the far right tunnel, one of the two that was caved in.

“So we take the one next to it,” I suggested.

He shook his head. “I think that one might lead to an underground river. But I can’t know for sure.”

“Which tunnel then? Just tell us where to go. I’m getting bored down here,” Laera said.

He pointed straight ahead. “We continue on our path and take the next tunnel we see on the right.”

“Good work.” Bahar slapped the smaller man on his back. “I knew we could count on you.”

I fell into line behind the others as we continued forward, but each step had me feeling more unease. “You sure this is right?” I whispered. “Something feels wrong.”

“I feel it too,” Laera said.

“Do you think it’s a warning?” Vanth asked.

“I think we need to turn around,” Laera said.

“I agree.” I couldn’t explain it, but there was something disturbing about this tunnel.

Suddenly, the ground gave way and I plummeted,falling into darkness. I screamed into the void, fear making my insides turn to ice. Almost as quickly as I fell, I hit the earth hard, knocking the breath from my lungs. Stars exploded in my vision and my head spun. My entire side was aching from the impact, but I was lucky I’d landed on my shoulder and hip instead of my head.

Scrambling to my feet, I looked up, and thankfully, I could see the flicker of fae lights above me. Too far above me.

Anxious cries reached me, all my friends yelling for me at once. “Ara?” Their voices were a panicked cacophony.

“I’m alright!” I hollered, hoping they could hear me. I started reaching out around me, feeling for anything I could use to climb out of the hole. Loose dirt sprinkled down from each attempt. I was trapped.

“Ara, we’re going to get you out of there,” Ryvin yelled down.

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