The sounds of battle and thunderous roaring ring out, muffled by the stone separating them from the outside of the prison compound. The ground shakes with the Drynthar's movements, causing occasional cracks to start forming in the stone ceiling, encouraging Naomi and Malachi to pick up the pace as they sprint through the hallways.
They have had no luck finding another way out of the prison and are starting to grow increasingly worried that all the exits may have been blocked by falling debris. They haven't run into Lavern and Nesosa in all this time they've been searching the halls so they can only hope that means they have already managed to escape and that they aren't under any of these rock piles.
The smoke grows heavier in the air, forcing Naomi to cover her nose and mouth to limit her coughing and make it a bit easier to breathe. Meanwhile, Malachi is still carrying Nisha so he has no way of blocking the smoke from entering his lungs aside from running with his head down, but even then it doesn't help much.
As they run, they find themselves stopped at an impasse. A point where three different halls all connect, each one with a set of doors at the end.
Naomi halts her stride and looks at each of the halls, trying to decide which to go down. For all she knows she could make the wrong choice and walk them straight into the guard barracks or something. The doors all look the same. She has no way of knowing where to go and she sure as hell knows that Malachi's got no clue either.
"Kid, we need to hurry!" Malachi reminds her for the eighth time since they started running.
She tries to ignore him and focus on making a choice. Her heart starts beating faster as the fear and panic rises. North, east, or west. She just needs to choose one and hope it's the right call.
She takes a step towards the west hall, but her mind stops her.
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To the right, through the east hall, she sees a massive chamber of the compound. There's a bridge leading to the center of the room, which is where a giant tower stands and goes up to the very top of the prison and to the outside.
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Naomi shakes her head and manages to quickly snap herself back into the moment, not caring to question these weird dream things again. That can wait until after they don't die.
First, they need to go right.
She changes direction and runs down the eastern hall. She pushes the doors open and holds them as she hurries Malachi through, quickly shutting it behind him and turning forward to see that they're now in the chamber from her dream episode.
A square room that reaches far up and down. This compound seems to extend much farther into the earth than she had thought. But their goal isn't to go down. They are standing at the start of a bridge that leads over to the center, with the tower extending all the way to the top.
Naomi points to it. "We can get out through one of the guard towers," she states.
Malachi would question how she knows what this place is and where to go, but his main focus is also on getting the hell out of here. Questions are for the living.
He nods to her and she instantly bolts forward and he follows her to the tower. She doesn't stop her sprint and angles her body a bit to the side as she prepares to bash in the door. This is going to hurt.
She winces as her shoulder crashes into the metal door, and she merely bounces off and the door doesn't move. She tries ramming into it again, but nothing happens. Malachi walks up behind her and sighs with a sound Naomi easily recognizes as disappointment.
YOU ARE READING
Aramora
Fantasy(Imperium Saga, Book 2) Naomi Morris lives an average, boring teenage life. That is up until a strange old man moves into the house next door with only a single box. One day, she sneaks into his house and inside she finds something she never would h...
