stairs seemed endless. The darkness grew thicker and thicker the farther we went, until I was afraid I was going to suffocate. There was only the sound of my harsh breathing and our boots slapping the stones. The dank smell of earth filled my nose.
When the stairs finally levelled out, I stumbled forward, unable to see the ground in the unending blackness. The sorcerer pulled me to a stop and we waited for a moment, until the sounds of more feet tromping down the stairs behind us grew closer and closer.
He said something in Dansiian, and another voice responded. I could barely make out the outline of their bodies as my eyes sought for any hint of light by which to see.
“Alexa?” Eljin’s voice came from only a few feet away, but before I could respond there was a dull thud and he grunted.
“No talking,” one of the other sorcerers snapped in his thick Dansiian accent.
A sudden flare of light made me jump back. The sorcerer who still gripped my arm held his other hand out in front of him — the one in the jeweled glove — and had conjured a small flame.
“Go,” the sorcerer said, releasing my arm and pushing me toward the darkness that pulsated outside the scant circle of light from the flames he wielded.
I clenched my hands into fists. My skin was slick with sweat as I forced myself to step forward. Perhaps, I could take him by surprise and kill him. But then Eljin would die. That was why they’d brought him — to threaten me if I changed my mind about turning myself in. And though Eljin, too, was a sorcerer, he was no match for the two black sorcerers who still stood on either side of him. I had no choice but to continue to place one foot in front of the other.
We walked silently through the tunnel for what felt like hours. We passed staircases multiple times, but our captors didn’t stop. The air was damp, chilling me to the bone as we trudged forward. The dirt walls seemed to press in on us, closer and closer, as the time went on without any sign of a break.
“Are you taking us to the king?” I finally asked when I couldn’t stand it any longer.
The sorcerer grabbed my arm, yanking me toward him, his fingernails clawing into my bicep. “No talking,” he repeated through gritted teeth. His eyes flashed in the light of the flame he still wielded, and I nodded, forcing down the urge to attack him, burying it beneath the careful facade of pliancy I was trying to convey.
One of the other sorcerers said something to him in their language, and he nodded.
Eljin’s gaze met mine, and the bleakness of his expression spoke more than anything he could have said to me. He didn’t think we were going to make it out of this alive.
He was probably right.
When the sorcerers finally let us stop, across from yet another staircase, my legs burned and my breathing was harsh from the panic I struggled to keep at bay. Every hour the tunnel seemed smaller and narrower. The earth and ever-present blackness pressed in on me, filling my mind with visions of being buried alive.
“You will sleep here.” The sorcerer led us to a door across from the staircase and opened it to reveal a tiny room of sorts, nothing more than a square carved out of the earth, barely big enough for both Eljin and me to lie down side by side.
He suddenly shoved me in the spine, sending me sprawling to the ground. Eljin was next, yanked forward and then pushed past the sorcerers. Though he stumbled, he managed to stay on his feet. The door shut behind him, enclosing us in complete darkness. We both heard the click of the lock.
“You’d better take advantage of the chance to rest. It will be your last for a long time.” The sorcerer’s voice was muffled by the door. And then there was nothing.
I curled into a ball, my eyes squeezed shut, telling myself I was all right, that I was lying on my bed, that I was in a big, spacious room with windows and moonlight. But no matter how hard I tried, my breathing wouldn’t slow and my hands grew clammy.
“Alexa?” Eljin’s whisper startled me. I’d almost forgotten he was there.
I heard him move, and then his hand brushed against my shoulder.
“Just breathe. In and out. Focus on your breath.” He