I had the feeling of falling endlessly deep.

In fact, it couldn't have been more than a meter, because I quickly came up at the bottom. Still, it reminded me of how I had once underestimated the height of a sidewalk and felt like I was stepping into a hole the size of a canyon.

I landed on my back with a splash and the fall squeezed the air from my lungs. Groaning, I tried to push myself up, but my arm was too weak, so I just fell back into the water. I heard Legolas come up beside me, grab my hand, and pull me to my feet with a jolt. "You are injured and growing weaker."

I nodded. Then it occurred to me that even he probably couldn't tell in the darkness, so I answered quietly, "Yes."

"Then we should hurry. Come."

He slipped his hand into mine and gently pulled me along behind him. We had just made it around a corner of the hallway when all hell broke loose behind us. Someone was yelling orders while the sound of combat boots, their owners jumping into the gutter water, echoed through the tunnel.

Damn.

Legolas didn't need to say anything; I stumbled on by myself. We kept to the wall so that our pursuers could not hear our footsteps. But that didn't change the fact that I was getting slower with every meter, because the effect of the adrenaline was slowly wearing off, so that every step became a burden. To make better progress, I braced my hand against the wall of the tunnel and inched my way forward.

All at once I reached into the void.

The elf seemed to have noticed it, too, because he pushed me into the gap without hesitation. If I had been claustrophobic, I would have died of fear. Fortunately, I wasn't and so we pushed ourselves inch by inch deeper into the hiding place.

I had no idea if we would get anywhere or be trapped if we were tracked down here. For the moment, however, it was the only way to remain undetected. The closer they came, the more painfully my heart beat. Only Legolas' hand, still holding mine, gave me hope. They would not find us. Not now. We had come too far for that. I had not allowed myself to be shot, only to be captured moments later!

And then there they were.

Over Legolas' shoulder I could make out the shadow of men rushing past our hiding place. They carried weapons and flashlights, but none noticed the gap. No one stopped, shone a light in our faces, and forced us to come along.

"Keep moving," the elf whispered in my ear, and I tore myself away from the sight of the shadows. It wasn't long before we reached the end and I stepped out into a larger hallway. Here it was silent and only the occasional trickle of water reached my ear. There was also a diffuse light that disappeared and reappeared at regular intervals. But perhaps I was imagining things, for by now I was stumbling more than walking, and had Legolas not wrapped his arm around my waist, I would have fallen and remained down.

I dragged myself along until we finally reached the source of the light. It came from above, through a gully cover. And in front of it, anchored in the wall, a ladder led up.

Discouraged, my shoulders slumped. I could already barely keep on my feet, how was I supposed to climb up there?

Something similar seemed to be going through Legolas' mind, for he maneuvered me to the wall, turned around, and listened. I tried hard, but except for the irregular rustling from above, I couldn't hear anything. My legs gave way and I slid down to the floor. What a mess.

Why was I so infinitely tired? Surely it couldn't just be the gunshot wound? It was as if something had been instilled in me, so that I almost fell forward from exhaustion.

"We're a good ten minutes ahead of them. Still, there's no way around that ladder, as much as I hate to say it. I'll help you do it, but you'll still have to make it a good part of the way under your own power."

I raised my head and stared at the rusty metal of the first rung, which was directly above my face.

"Come."

Legolas pulled me to my feet, and at the first moment had to support me to keep me from toppling right over again.

Get a grip, I thought angrily, and tightened my shoulders. Then I pushed aside the all-consuming fatigue as best I could. "How are you going to help me?"

I saw the relief on his face as another light shone down on us from above.

"I will hold you and you climb."

I nodded, grabbed the rung and pulled myself up. At the same time, I felt the elf's hands holding my legs. My injured arm made it damn difficult, but finally I had made it. Legolas was immediately behind me, and the roaring I hadn't been able to place from below now turned out to be cars rolling over the gully cover. With each car that passed, light from the headlights fell into the tunnel. This also explained the pauses when the traffic light had to be red.

"Can you manage to keep to yourself for a moment?" asked Legolas from below.

I nodded. "Yes, I'll be fine for a few minutes."

"Good."

Agile as a gazelle, he pushed past me and climbed the remaining rungs. I couldn't see anything except his legs, which were in jeans.

In jeans? Where had he gotten those clothes? And why hadn't I noticed it before?

I shook my head to refocus my gooey thoughts. I could really think about that at another time. I had to concentrate on not falling down, because my strength was dwindling by the minute and the suppressed exhaustion was eating its way back into my consciousness relentlessly.

Something scraped and clanked. Then, all at once, all the sounds were many times louder. Legolas had pried open the gully cover.

We waited for the next wave of cars. Then he disappeared through the opening. Shortly after, his fingers closed around my wrists and he pulled me up. I couldn't help it and groaned in pain, but he drove me relentlessly on until we reached the edge of the street and pulled ourselves to safety on the neighboring sidewalk. Only then did his grip loosen and he looked at me. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

He was still supporting me and I was glad of it, for my field of vision was cut down to an unnaturally small size by dancing stars. The pain had subsided to a throbbing again by now, but I still struggled to breathe and fought to keep from falling to my knees. The climb and the escape had taken more out of me than I wanted to admit.

Gritting my teeth, I finally broke away from the elf and tried to push aside the embarrassment that was welling up inside me despite the injury. "We need to keep moving."

He shook his head. "Your wound needs to be taken care of."

"Tell me something I don't know."

Instead of an answer, the elf turned his head and put a finger to his lips. I listened. As if anything other than the noise of traffic could be heard here. But he seemed to succeed, and when he turned back to me, I saw the alarmed expression on his face. "You're right, we should leave. Now."

He turned and I staggered after him as best I could. The fear of being caught by our pursuers was still in my bones, but after thirty meters I was completely out of breath. I felt my heart start to race alternately and then seem to skip another beat or two. The distance to Legolas increased. First it was one step, then two. I glanced over my shoulder, but could see nothing out of the ordinary, and even as I turned back around, the dizziness overtook me.

It was insidious and like a vice that tightened around my temples. I went to my knees. And then darkness enveloped me.