3

About ten minutes had passed since Rhyon and Jewel jumped down into the mysterious hole. However, silence engulfed both of them. The only communication that went on was silent; an occasional finger point or grunt was their only means of communication. Jewel lead the way while Rhyon followed close behind, battling any creatures that happened to come across their path. After these ten minutes, Jewel thought it was about time that she broke the silence.

"I am relived that we were able to escape safely," Jewel said while still walking. "We were lucky the soldiers did not have guns with them, am I right?"

Jewel turned to face Rhyon. She immediately realized that she must have said the wrong thing. He was frozen in place, and his eyes were glazed over. Jewel backed up from him a little. A few moments later, Rhyon looked down at the coat he was wearing. It was decorated with pins and badges that represented his military accomplishments. He grabbed them in his hand as if he were ready to tear off.

"I should not have gotten away," Rhyon said under his breath.

Jewel tilted her head. "Huh?"

This time Rhyon raised his head so that he was looking directly at Jewel. She couldn't help but be taken aback at how serious Rhyon's face was at the moment. She could not remember Rhyon ever looking at her with such a serious face.

"Guns or not, I should not have been able to escape with you. If a soldier attempted to escape with you I would ensure that he would not get away, despite any reason he may give. My duty is to protect you yet I have put you in deeper danger. If I were truly loyal to you and the kingdom, I would have surrendered my life and left you in the safety of the soldiers."

Jewel's mouth hung open slightly in disbelief. "What are you talking about," she screamed at him. "You escaped with me BECAUSE of your loyalty. You only did it to-"

"Behind you!" Rhyon shouted, pulling out his sword in one swift movement. Jewel screeched when she finally saw what was standing behind her – a rat that towered at least 8 feet stood on it hind legs. Its teeth were a rotten color and its fur was matted in a fearsome way. As for its tail, half of it appeared to be missing although this evidently did not stop the creature at all.

Rhyon pushed Jewel behind him and then rushed over to the rat creature with his sword pointed in front of him. He was able to stab the rat in the lower part of its stomach. In response, the creature let out a deafening shrill and stumped one of its feet, making Rhyon lose his balance from the resulting vibrations. This, however, did not stop him. With a determined look, Rhyon moved to the other side of the frightening foe and stabbed his back with a sure and steady hand. Almost instantly after, it hit Rhyon with its half-together tail. This was enough to knock down Rhyon softly.

"Ry!" Jewel screamed, beginning to run over to him. Rhyon shook his head and Jewel soon stopped.

"I will handle this situation on my own," he said to her. As he stood up, the rat turned around to face him and for a brief moment they both stared each other in the eye. With that, Rhyon aimed the sword toward its face without missing his target. This did close to nothing to his opponent. He was lucky to block a potential attack in which he otherwise would have gotten a tremendous chuck on his shoulder bitten off. Rhyon wiped a single drop of sweat from his head but did not look ready to quit anytime soon.

From then on, Jewel watched from the side as Rhyon and the rat went head-to-head. It was not clear who would win the battle in the end. Attacks were being lunged from both sides. Rhyon was thrown around a few times while the rat was taking at least a small amount of damage. Jewel looked more and more worried as she continued to watch the battle. "I cannot just sit here," she said to herself. "I know he told me not to interfere but-"

Jewel ran over next to Rhyon and got into battle stance. Rhyon looked at her in puzzlement but she responded by giving him a friendly wink.

"Jewel, you do not need to worry," Rhyon said.

Jewel shook her head. "We are in this together now. Besides, this battle is going too slow at this pace. I have my elemental magic, remember?"

Jewel pushed out her arms while shouting, "FIRE!" which caused the rat to be briefly engulfed in flames. When Jewel heard the desperate sound it made, she knew some real damage was finally made. Not stopping there, she pushed her arms out in front of her again while shouting, "ICE!" The sudden coldness right after being burned made the damage that the Ice spell caused even more humongous. Rhyon gave her a thumb up for thinking of such a clever idea. Using a combination of Jewel's elemental attacks and Rhyon's physical attacks, the giant rat finally fell, too weak to fight.

"Whew," Jewel sighed heavily. "That was a bit harder to fight than the other enemies we encountered down here."

"Yes," Rhyon began, "we may occasionally encounter enemies that require more skill to fight than other enemies in the area. During those times, it is best think of a crafty strategy. We were lucky that rat was affected by both the Ice and Fire spell. Other enemies may not be affected in the same way."

Rhyon sulked away, possibly planning to continue that cycle of silent walking that took place not too long ago. Jewel blocked his way before he could get far.

"You are not behaving like you usually do!" Jewel exclaimed. "The Rhyon I know does not allow himself to walk around with such a pitiful look on his face. You escaped from the castle with me because you knew it was not safe. Whoever was controlling my father could have easily made the others in the castle believe he was not an imposter, leaving me vulnerable to being hurt again."

Rhyon stopped walking and turned to face Jewel. He did not say anything but Jewel kept talking. "You may have thought you made the wrong decision and I cannot tell you if any other course of action would have been appropriate in our situation. Still, there is often no right or wrong answer. What you did, you did out of honor."

Jewel looked at Rhyon, her blue eyes sparkling with a passion to get through to Rhyon. Rhyon at first stared at nothing in particular with a blank expression but soon the usual warmness returned to his eyes. He nodded before saying, "Yes, you are correct. This is not the time for me to regret my actions. We will return to the castle when the time is right. For now, we should find a way out of here".

Both Rhyon's and Jewel's eyes turned toward a ladder that was barely close enough for the two to see. They were too busy before fighting the rat foe to notice it before. It was also clear that a faint stream of light was shinning from the area above the ladder. With unspoken agreement, they started to walk toward the ladder, fighting smaller foes that crossed their path. When they finally reached the ladder, the two looked up. Above the ladder was a half-opened manhole cover. Rhyon quickly took a peek at where the opening would lead them.

"What did you see," Jewel asked Rhyon as he climbed back down the ladder.

"We are currently underneath the street of a town," Rhyon responded. "Judging by the direction and distance we have traveled, I am certain we are under Birum, a town located on the outskirts of Regis Terram."

"Excellent! We can find an inn to sleep in and try to figure out what to do from there." Jewel started to climb the ladder but was stopped by Rhyon's voice before she could go all the way.

"That may not be the best idea," he told her. "I am certain that news of our escape has already reached this town. Citizens and soldiers stationed in this town will surely notice us. Unless there is a possible way disguise ourselves or travel undetected, we will eventually get caught."

Jewel's face deflated as she realized what Rhyon said was true. She climbed down from the ladder, folded her arms, and began to pace with a look of hard concentration on her face. This went on for a few minutes before Jewel came to a sudden halt.

"A-ha!" She nearly shouted. "I can tell from looking up that it is getting dark outside. This dress will make me too obvious but you could sneak around town without being seen and find us something to wear that no one would recognize us in. The plan is risky however, I believe it may work."

Rhyon's face showed that he did not think her sudden plan was as great as she thought it was. He also knew that from the mischievous glow in her eye, the whole scheme was playing out in her head as a fun, ninja-like adventure. He tried to find the right words to say.

He began, "Jewel, such a solution may not be so simple. With the town on the lookout, sneaking around may still result in my capturing. It is also improbable I will be able to find a disguise adequate enough without being caught, let alone-"

"Oh, stop worrying," Jewel said, giving his back a soft push. "You can pull it off."

Rhyon still looked troubled about the whole thing. He tried once to open his mouth but failed. He tried once more but was still unable to protest. Finally, he sighed and made his way off to the ladder. "Well then, off I go". He only made it halfway up the ladder before stopping as if he remembered something.

"Do not worry," Jewel said. "I will wait right here for your return." She sat next to the ladder, making herself comfortable. It must have been what Rhyon was thinking because he looked at her, his lips pressed into a thin, anxious line. It wasn't long before he ignored the terrible feeling he was having and finally made it outside.

Rhyon inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh air of the town around him. He found himself in the middle of an empty street. Looking up at the sky, he could see that night was approaching soon. The sky was painted with orange and pink hues along with the bright setting sun. A few houses already had their lights on, anticipating the darkness that would soon come. Even from standing in the middle of an empty street, one could tell that the town of Birum was a small one. The streets were clean and smooth with sidewalks of various-sized stones. Rhyon looked at the town with a tranquil glimmer in his eye. However he shook his head quickly after, remembering he had no time to be relaxing.

Carefully, Rhyon made his way to a building nearby. He pressed his back against the building and eased his way over to the edge. He peeked around the corner. From here, he could see that the street he was looking at was a little livelier than the street he presently was on. A few people were holding shopping bags and talking idly. Shops were lit brightly and there was even a shop that had timid young man standing in front, trying to attract customers.

Rhyon frowned a bit. "How do I go about this...?" Rhyon mumbled to himself. He scratched his chin and turned around slowly as he continued to think of a plan in peace. Or so he thought.

Rhyon was clearly startled when he turned around. He began to let out an involuntary yelp but was able to stop himself before it was able to fully escape his lips. Standing in front of him was a hunched over man wearing a black, hooded robe. All his features were not visible but one could see that his eyes were bloodshot and his hair was sweaty and clumped to his forehead. In addition to this, his lips and hands were dry and cracked.

An outside observer would guess that both men were engaging in a suspicious activity before they bumped into each other. They both stared at each other with eyes open wide, waiting to be accused by the other. Either one uttered a word. Both also had one foot behind him with his body slightly turned as if ready to dash off. This did not happen though. The two stood in this position for quite some time, watching the other closely. It was clear that if one moved the other would do so almost instantly after; if one spoke, the other would commence to blurt an explanation for what he was doing.

This awkwardness lasted a while until the cloaked man finally spoke. He stepped toward Rhyon saying, "Hey, I think I know you….".

Rhyon's breathing got heavier as the man inched closer to him. Surely the man was going to report him soon.

"I apologize for this," Rhyon muttered as his hand slid over to his scabbard. In the wink of an eye, Rhyon's sword was out. He used the handle to strike the man in his head. Just as soon as he hit him, the man gasped and fell to the ground. Rhyon bent down to take a look at his victim. "He is unconscious but he will awaken…. Eventually."

After double checking his surroundings once more, Rhyon removed the robe from the man and placed it on himself. First, he sniffed the robe. He shrugged his shoulders. It must have smelt okay for him. Next, he checked to see what the man was storing inside the robe. He could see that from the outside the robe looked ordinary but inside, it was much more complex. The robe contained a system of pockets of all shapes and sizes. In fact, there were pockets on top of pockets! And inside these pockets were money, potions, and few other strange items. Despite all of these objects being contained within the robe, it clearly did not make much noise when walking otherwise Rhyon would have been sure to hear the man before.

Rhyon took one final look at the man he had recently knocked out. He shook his head at the damage that he had done. "I fear I am transforming into a true fugitive," he said. "I thank you for the warm robe and the bundle of potions you have provided me for my journey. I will leave you with this."

Rhyon removed the gil he found within the many pockets of the robe and placed it in the back pockets of the pants the man was wearing. He was even generous enough to give the man half of the gil he was carrying at the moment. Was this the wisest thing that could have been done? Probably not. Depending on how long the man was knocked out, it was probable that a person with ill-intentions would take this money. But that was not what Rhyon was thinking about at the moment. He adjusted the stolen robe and hoped he could find something low-profile for Jewel to wear without being caught.