Saresh opened his eyes to darkness, a pounding, persistent pain searing through his head. What happened? The last thing he remembered was losing his grip on Sarah's hand as that…thing knocked him to the ground.
"Sarah—ah!" he croaked, sitting up, immediately regretting his decision as the pain in his skull increased exponentially. He appeared to be in some kind of passageway, a soft, flickering glowed farther down the corridor, illuminating the outlines of several people. He pressed his hand to his forehead head, feeling, to his surprise, a cloth bandage wrapped tightly around his head.
"He's awake," a female voice in the darkness called out from somewhere nearby. "Quick, bring the light back over here!"
He heard footsteps, and saw a soft, flickering glow at the end of the tunnel that began to draw closer. Saresh squinted, shielding his eyes with his hand the gentle brightness aggravating his already splitting headache. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a pair of familiar brown boots inches from his feet.
"Hey Saresh."
Sarah. She's ok. He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. She crouched, dimming the light in her hands until it was no bigger than the flame of a candle. To his left, he discovered that the source of the voice he'd heard earlier was Jarvi, her frizzy brown hair falling free from the red scarf she wore to keep it tied back, a look of relief and exhaustion on her face.
"Where…?" He asked, struggling to find the words with his head pounding incessantly.
"We're still in the walls."
"That…thing—"
"We're safe. I…might have trapped us in here, though." She said, looking at the ground and tucking a strand of her dark hair behind her ear.
"Why am I not surprised?" Saresh grumbled, half-jokingly, though the words came out a bit more harshly than intended given that his throat felt as though it were coated in dust.
"Yeah," Sarah said, gravely. "I made a choice. I don't know if it was the right one, but it doesn't matter now. What's done is done. The way I see it, we only have two potential options; go forward, or go back."
"I thought you said we were trapped."
"I mean back to the castle." She said, staring intently at the ground. She lifted her gaze, locking eyes with Saresh. "I'm not going to lie to you, things aren't great. We lost a lot of our supplies trying to escape that creature. Earlier you said that your power wasn't working. I need you to try and make a portal back to the castle."
"Your Majesty, can this wait?" Jarvi interjected, "He's been concussed. I really don't want him straining himself."
"You know how dire the situation is, Jarvi. We need to know if getting out of here is an option—"
"I don't think that's—"
"It's fine." Saresh said, "I'll do it. Just give me a hand up."
He reached out his hand to Sarah, much to Jarvi's disapproval.
"Don't listen to me, I'm only a doctor," the healer muttered under her breath.
Sarah looked at Jarvi, who scoffed disapprovingly, rolling her eyes, before reaching out and grasping Saresh's hand. The instant he got to his feet a wave of pain, dizziness, and nausea overcame Saresh. He stumbled, saved from falling only by Sarah propping him up with her shoulder. The two friends looked at one another for a moment, the concern in her eyes evident despite the wall of unspoken words between them. Saresh cursed his pounding head, wishing he could find the words to say to end the awkwardness between them. The moment passed.
"Come on, let's do this quickly so you can rest," Sarah said, helping him over to the nearest wall. She continued to provide support as he placed his hands against the wall. It took every ounce of his concentration to make the golden light of his magic appear. He focused on every detail of the throne room, but it felt like screaming into a bottomless chasm. The magic skittered against the surface of the wall, but he could feel nothing on the other side. Nothing but cold, stone walls.
Sarah sighed, sensing the truth before he spoke it.
"I can't. It's like something in the wall is blocking my magic."
"I was afraid that was the case. Alright, let's get you sitting down before Jarvi kills me."
They walked the few steps back towards the healer, who helped gently lower Saresh back to a seated position, his back resting against one of the packs.
"So, have you finished your little experiment?" Jarvi asked briskly.
"Yes," Sarah said, standing and running a hand through her hair, "It's as we feared. We'll rest here for a bit, but in a few hours we need to press forward."
"You can't still be set on finding the heart of the labyrinth!" Saresh said, realizing her intention.
"It's the entire reason why we're here—"
"We almost died back there!"
"Then tell me what other choice we have, Saresh!" She shouted, her voice echoing in the darkness. She let out an exasperated sigh, rub "Look, I'm not going to argue with you. We have very little food and water left so unless you know another way out of here, our only option is to keep going."
"Alright, that's enough!" Jarvi said, standing between the two. "You," she said pointing to Saresh, "need to stop exerting yourself and stay awake. My magic might have healed that gash on your forehead but you're still concussed. And you," she said pointing to Sarah, "Need to come with me. Sonya has a dislocated shoulder and I need some light to reset it. Some things are best done without magic."
The healer then cupped her hands over her mouth.
"Raelia!" Jarvi called, down the length of the corridor, "Get over here and make sure Saresh doesn't fall asleep!"
With that, the healer grabbed Sarah's non-flame-producing hand and marched her down the corridor, leaving Saresh in near darkness. It wasn't long before he heard soft footsteps approaching.
"How's your head?" The fae woman asked as she approached.
"Painful." Saresh said truthfully, though the increased darkness had helped somewhat.
She sat beside him on the ground, crossing her legs as she dug something out of a pouch at her waist. She took one of his hands, placing a handful of something small and pointy in his palm. Almonds.
"Here, better eat something while you can." She said matter-of-factly.
He popped a couple in his mouth, wincing as he chewed, the pressure aggravating his head injury. He swallowed, his mouth still dry.
"Do you have any water?" He asked.
"Just a bit," she said, holding out a bladder that was a little under half-full, "try not to drink to much, if you can."
He took a sip, reveling in the feel of the water running down his throat, removing the layer of dust that irritated him. It took a considerable amount of willpower to keep from downing the rest, but he stopped.
"Thank you." He said, wiping a bit of excess liquid from his lips before handing the bladder back to Raelia. "How bad is it? The food situation?"
"Bad." She said. "Sonya, Ludo, and you lost your packs back in the cave. At the moment, we've got enough food and water to get us through the next three days, if we keep rationing. After that—if we can't find a way out and you still can't portal us out of here—well, things will get interesting. Finish your dinner."
"Dinner?" He asked, glancing at the measly handful of almonds she'd given him. It took the edge off, but not by much.
"I said we have enough to survive. Didn't say enough to be comfortable."
Sarah wasn't kidding, things are bad. He leaned his full weight back against the pack, letting his neck release as his head rested against the coarse fabric.
"Hey!" Raelia said, playfully jabbing him in the side, "You better not fall asleep on me! I do not want to report to Jarvi that you slipped into a coma on my watch. She'd murder me."
"I'm not sleeping. Just…resting my head."
Though sleep did sound tempting.
"Well, keep it that way. I'm glad she's on our side, because that woman terrifies me!"
Saresh laughed. Jarvi's no-nonsense nature could be intimidating at the best of times, but seeing her out here in the field, he realized that the woman was truly a force to be reckoned with.
"Lucky I'm her patient, because I might already be on her bad side," he said, turning his head towards Raelia.
"Oh? And what makes you say that?"
"I might have picked a fight with our Queen while injured."
"Ah, yeah that would do it. What was it this time?"
"I wasn't exactly onboard with the idea of continuing the mission." He said.
"You're not the only one who feels that way. Everyone's a bit on edge." she said, taking his hand in hers and squeezing briefly before releasing her grip. "Though she has a point. Under the circumstances, staying put is a death sentence."
"I know. I just wish there was another way."
"There's always cannibalism." She said. "although, is it cannibalism if a fae eats a group of changelings?"
"Is it cannibalism if a group of changelings eat a particularly nosy fae?" He retorted. She laughed, the sound reverberating off the walls of the corridor.
"Fair enough. I guess its every woman for herself once the food runs out."
"So it would seem."
"Well, I hope, for your sake, it doesn't come to that," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "After the whole debacle with that worm-thing, I fear you'd be eaten first."
"About that, thanks for saving my life back there. I don't remember much, but I remember you casting a shield over Sarah and I, and…well…I owe you my life."
"Be careful, Saresh," she said as she lifted her head, looking him in the eyes, "or hasn't anyone warned you, admitting that you owe a debt, of any kind, to a fae is a very serious matter."
"Is it?" He teased, "all this time around His Majesty and I had no idea!"
They laughed, the sound echoing down the stone walls. As he regained control of his breathing, Saresh let out a long exhale, closing his eyes as he once again leaned his head back against the pack.
"Hey," Raelia said, returning her head to his shoulder, "no sleeping."
"I'm good," he said, his speech a bit slower and heavier than normal, "I've got you here to look out for me."
"Yeah," she said, "you've got me."