This morning, a young explorer in Saraja stumbled upon a sinkhole while exploring the Caverns of Labyrinth. Upon closer inspection, the sinkhole is found to be the remnants of an Underworld hub. Evidence showed that it was destroyed in a fire after several explosions involving blasting sand caused a cave-in, which sealed off all entrances, leaving the people inside to die in the ensuing fire. Among the remnants, valuable goods like jewelry have been recovered from the ashes.

- Random news from Saraja, 593 A.K.

The plan was simple. They would light the fuses just before they leave, giving them enough time to get away before the cavern was blown up. Khiran had carefully planted blasting sand at the entrances of the tunnels so it would trigger a cave-in and seal off the area. The only way out of this place would be through the opening above, and Nia was certain that they wouldn’t be able to access it.

The only issue now was…

“Which exit is it?” Nia asked after the trap was all set up. They seemed to have overlooked this one tiny detail when they were planning their escape.

She studied the three tunnels in front of them. Two of them have heavy track marks while the third one seemed hardly used.

Even Khiran seemed stumped. “Don’t you remember? I was unconscious.”

Worry clawed at her stomach as Nia tightened her hand around the torch that she picked up a few moments ago. “I couldn’t see very well because it was dark.”

Nia glanced back at the tents where the slavers were still sleeping. The guards were gone. Khiran must have dragged their unconscious bodies out of sight. Her anxiety continued to grow the longer they stalled.

Khiran, however, seemed as calm as ever as if he had done this a hundred times before. Maybe he encountered similar situations like this before during his career as a talented thief. His confidence took some of the edges off Nia’s nerves.

Was it just her or was the ground a bit wet? She pondered, dipping her torches a little lower to the ground before diverting her attention back to the exits.

“Just admit that you weren’t paying attention.” Khiran seems to have made a habit of snubbing her.

No, that was wrong. Khiran snubbed everyone equally. She was just the unlucky one that’s standing closest to him right now, thus she was bearing the brunt of it.

“Even if we did pick the right one, we still need a map to get out of the Caverns of Labyrinth.” Nia deliberately ignored his jab. “I don’t have the best sense of direction even if I did remember.”

“Well, why don’t I—” Whatever plan Khiran was about to suggest was cut off by a loud crash.

Nia’s body turned cold with dread as the two of them whipped around to see what had caused the sound. It was too loud to escape the captors’ attention.

The sound had come from the stable where the Zahdian boy had already hitched up one caravan. She could see his face blanched as the noise echoed throughout the underground hub.

Before they could figure out what happened, they heard a tent flap being yanked open. It was the leader of the slavers, and he appeared both suspicious and furious. Before Khiran could silence him with the crossbow, he realized that the captives were escaping and immediately started shouting in alarm.

Khiran let out a string of curses that Nia had never heard before in her sheltered life. If the situation wasn’t so dire, it would have been funny to see him panic after wearing an arrogant expression for so long.

“Hurry! Get on the caravan!” Khiran hollered to the captured children. They all start scrambling onto the small, cloth-covered wagon as the Zahdian boy steered it toward them.

Khiran carefully counted them, even the two unconscious children that were half dragged, half carried in.

The loud ringing of a bell split through the air as more shouting rose. Nia could see the slavers stumbling out of their tents, looking confused as they assessed the situation. Some of them had started running toward them with sabers and blades in hand.

Nia started panicking as they approached closer. The children did their best to move faster.

“Go to the caravan! Now!” Khiran hollered as he rushed to light the fuses. He continues to fire off a few more bolts dipped in the sleeping drug before rushing back.

Nia jumped onto the caravan. It was less cramped without the cages, but she still received a few jabs from someone’s elbow. She raised her torch, careful not to burn anyone or set the caravan on fire by accident.

“Sorry!” the Zahdian boy cried.

“Apologize later!” Nia yelled back, her eyes trained on Khiran. To her alarm, the slaver closest to them managed to trip Khiran by lashing out a whip, which wrapped around one of Khiran’s ankles.

“We need to go! Now!” Someone cried out.

“We can’t go yet!” Nia shouted frantically in horror. “Khiran’s down!”

Nia realized with absolute clarity that he wasn’t going to make it. The slaver had grabbed his arm and was trying to pin him down. The others weren’t far behind.

Time was running out. Nia had to make a choice—now. She could choose to leave him behind and save herself along with the rest of the captives, or she could try and help Khiran at the risk of her own freedom.

She hesitated for a split second before leaping off the caravan and ran to the struggling duo as fast as her legs could carry her.

“Let him go!” She shouted at the top of her breath.

Without pausing to take a breath, she barreled straight into the slaver who had Khiran by the arm and knocked him straight off his feet. Before he could get back up again, she thrust her torch into his face without thinking.

The slaver let out the most blood-curdling scream of pain that Nia ever heard in her life and released Khiran’s arm. He started writhing on the ground, clutching his face while he continued to scream. Nia was so stunned by her own action that she froze in place, unable to take her eyes away from the blisters forming on his face. She felt faint and dizzy at the sight.

If it weren’t for Khiran, who scrambled back onto his feet and grabbed her arm to drag her along, she might have stayed in her position until she was captured again.

As Khiran jerked her toward the direction of their runaway caravan, the slavers hot at their heels, she suddenly remembered the smoke bombs that she was carrying in her tunic. She took one out and lit it with her torch, then flung it as hard as she could into the throng of slavers who were closing in on them.

Her aim was perfect. It made a beautiful arc in the air before landing right in front of them. She had a second to relish the look of confusion and shock on their faces before it went off, spraying smoke everywhere.

Khiran took a running leap onto the caravan, landing gracefully without crushing anyone. After he caught his balance, he reached out to help haul Nia in. Nia’s entrance was far clumsier than his due to being in a state of shock.

“Go! Go! Go!” Khiran commanded as Nia continued to hurl more smoke bombs back at the slavers to cover their escape.

The Zahdian boy didn’t need to be told twice. He immediately spurred the horses into action. The caravan gave a heavy lurch as it leaped into action. Everyone inside swayed, and one person at the back would have tumbled off if Khiran didn’t grab their arm.

“Give me your torch!” Khiran ordered as they approached one of the tunnels.

Nia handed it over without a word. She watched as he threw it high up in the air right as they entered the tunnel. It landed perfectly on the blasting sand that he had planted there earlier.

There was a loud and spectacular explosion that sent rocks tumbling down over the entrance, completely burying it shut, just as they had hoped it would. The spooked horses neighed in agitation.

“Thanks for covering my back and not leaving me behind.” Khiran panted as he tried to steady his breathing. Nia nodded numbly in acknowledgment. “I think I’m indebted to you again.”

“I burned his face,” Nia mumbled, her mind playing his scream of pain over and over in her head. It was still echoing in her memory, now combined with the screams of the aristocrats from the terrible night when the assassins killed her family. Her hands were still trembling from the adrenaline rush. Her breathing was ragged from both fear and exhaustion.

“You didn’t have much of a choice.” Khiran tried to comfort her by patting her shoulders. Nia folded her trembling hands in her lap to still them and turned to look at where they were heading.

“Are we even heading in the right direction?” Khiran shouted over the sound of tumbling rocks as they bolted down the tunnel.

The other fuses must have reached the blasting sand because they could hear more muffled explosions going off back in the underground hub, this one more intense than the one that sealed off the tunnel entrance. They could feel the ground trembling under the caravan’s wheels.

“I don’t know! The horses are leading, not me!” The Zahdian boy replied in a panicked voice.

Nia’s heart lurched. If they were heading in the wrong direction, they might get lost in the tunnels forever.

The other captives seemed to fear the same thing because they all looked forward with faces full of terror while gripping the edge of the caravan so hard that their knuckles turned white. 

“What happened back there?” Khiran demanded.

“One of the horses kicked the stall door.” The Zahdian boy reported.

“I thought you were supposed to set up two caravans?” Khiran reminded him.

“You can set up the second one next time if you have such important places to go to!” The Zahdian boy screeched back angrily. 

“Do you think the explosions took care of them?” Nia turned to Khiran, the shock slowly wearing off.

Other than the fact that he looked a bit irritated, the white-haired boy seemed calm again, as if he didn’t just escape a lifetime of servitude at the hands of human traffickers. All the other captives were all pale and trembling from the close call, but he seemed to be the most composed. He must be used to dangerous situations like these, Nia thought to herself.

“I don’t know.” Khiran shrugged nonchalantly. “I would have thought they put out all the fuses I lit, but one must have missed them. As long as one managed to set off the explosion, it would have triggered the rest of the blasting sand. And even if the blasting sand didn’t do the job, the alcohol I poured around must have.”

Nia felt the urge to throw up as she recalled the wet ground. She hadn’t realized it was alcohol, nor had she seen him do the job. “What?”

“While you were directing everyone toward the stable. I retrieved a few jugs of alcohol from the food warehouse. They have a decent kitchen back in there. I should have grabbed some food too. The bread they gave us was way too stale.” 

“Alcohol? Aren’t they highly flammable” Nia was nauseated at the thought of the slavers burning to death. She was already feeling sick from shoving a torch in someone’s face.

Khiran stared coldly at her reaction. “Yes, what are you worried about? Wasn’t destroying that underground hub your idea? Did we not agree to take care of them so they don’t follow us?”

“Did you have to arrange for them to burn to death?” Nia asked. “It sounds more painful than blowing them up.” 

She wasn’t quite sure how to feel at the moment. Yes, it was her idea and she fully intended on killing them if it was necessary, but she hadn’t realized how terrible it felt to take someone’s life. Granted, they were bad people, but she felt ill regardlesss. She had never killed someone directly or indirectly before.

It was easy to make plans and goals, but doing it was another matter entirely. She supposed she was grateful to Khiran for his steadfast resoluteness. If it weren’t for him, this escape attempt would not have been as successful as it was. And despite herself, she couldn’t help but be impressed by Khiran’s clever planning and her short burst of courage when she saved him earlier.

Khiran tilted his head at her, his expression unreadable once more. “Unlike you, who have lived a life of privilege, you need to be ruthless if you want to survive out on the streets. Morals and ethics are not for the desperate.” 

How ironic of him to say that, considering that he took his debts and bargains very seriously. He kept true to his words like a person with integrity, but he had no qualms about breaking laws. Perhaps, the only laws Khiran cared about were his own.

Nia nodded in understanding as she looked away. He wasn’t wrong. She knew that if she wanted to save her sister, she needed to become more ruthless and cunning.

The caravan, completely silent now, continued to barrel down the tunnel with its destination still uncertain.