The tunnel shuddered.
It started as a faint vibration under their knees — like the earth shifting in its sleep. Then came the crack. Loud, sharp, right above their heads.
"Move!" Eliakim hissed, shoving Caleb forward.
They crawled faster, shoulders scraping dirt. The air turned gritty. Chunks of packed soil fell into Eliakim's hair. A low groan rolled through the walls. The tunnel wasn't just unstable — it was dying.
Behind them, faint torchlight began to stab into the darkness. Shadows flickered on the stone they had sealed minutes ago. The guards had found the breach.
"Faster!" Gideon barked from the lead.
They surged forward until Skyling's low, urgent cry froze them. Ahead, the tunnel's ceiling had sagged so low it kissed the dirt floor. The air reeked of damp and collapse.
Eliakim pushed past Caleb, pressing his hands into the narrowest point. Soil shifted beneath his touch.Too wet. Too soft. It could go any second.
Ezra whispered, "We can't clear it fast enough—"
The sound of boots hammered from behind. Shouts in Elvish roared down the tunnel.
"Split force," Eliakim said sharply. "Caleb, take Skyling through the gap if you can. Gideon, with me."
They dug. Dirt caked their arms to the elbows. Every handful loosened more of the ceiling. Skyling crouched, folding her wings to squeeze through the lowest point. Caleb went after her, the bow hugged tight to his chest.
A splintering crack split the air.
The rear wall of the tunnel burst inward. A guard's spear stabbed into the dirt beside Ezra's leg, missing by inches. More shadows crowded the breach.
"Go!" Gideon bellowed, shoving Ezra ahead.
Eliakim turned, ready to block the tunnel with the only thing left — himself — when the shout came from behind the enemy.
"Hold your fire!"
The guards froze. The torchlight shifted — and there, framed in the jagged opening, stood Captain Vaeryn Solthir.
His eyes locked with Eliakim's. No expression. No explanation.
"Tunnel's unstable," Vaeryn said to the guards, voice like iron. "If it collapses with you inside, the queen will have your heads. Pull back. Now."
The guards hesitated — but Vaeryn's command tone brooked no argument. They retreated, muttering.
Vaeryn waited until the last shadow was gone before stepping forward, his torchlight catching the edge of a smirk."You didn't see me," he murmured, barely audible over the groaning earth.
Then he was gone.
Eliakim didn't waste the chance. He plunged forward, dirt cascading behind him. The tunnel collapsed fully a heartbeat later, sealing off the prison — and the way back.