The Land of Dragons

Chapter 15

Few hours after Chapter 14

Charles was woken by the sudden darkness around him. He had nodded off while he had been keeping watch. As he looked around, he couldn't really see anything because of the darkness.

"Guys, wake up! It's time to go!" he said softly. He heard the shuffling as the others began moving.

"I can't see a thing!" someone mumbled.

"Where's the amulet?" Carlos asked, keeping his voice down.

"Here!" came the reply from Alex. He had got the amulet back from Pierre after they arrived back. He held out his palm so the others could also touch it.

"Who will push the symbols?" Charles asked. No one volunteered.

"Maybe the one who asked?" Max told him. Charles glared at him and gestured towards his injured arm.

"I can't touch it and push it at the same time!" he said. Max glared back and shrugged.

"All right, I will do it." Pierre gave in. "Wait, should I do it when your hands are on the amulet or after you touched it?"

"No idea. The letter said nothing about this." Alex replied.

"Let's try it when we are touching it." Carlos decided.

I still think this won't work, Max thought but didn't say it aloud.

Everyone put their hands on the amulet. It was becoming very crowded. Pierre still managed to do as the letter told them and pushed the symbols in the correct order.

When he was done, the amulet flashed with a brilliant blue light, blinding everyone for a moment. Apart from that, nothing happened.

"You see? All that it did is drawing the guards here to see what the hell we are doing." Max said accusingly.

"It was still worth a try! We had no other way to escape!" Charles replied.

"Guys, there is a tunnel on the wall." Alex interrupted, pointing to the wall opposite to the door. Everyone followed his finger and there it was. The edges were a bit fuzzy but the tunnel looked like it could be used.

"That's where we have to escape! Lando exclaimed.

It looks foolhardy to climb into a random tunnel that came out of nowhere, Max thought but again stayed silent, a tiny ray of hope still remaining deep inside him.

Pierre stood up doing exactly what Max had been thinking about. The entrance of the tunnel was narrow but after passing it he could climb comfortably on hands and knees.

Charles went to follow him but as he stood up, pain shot into his wrist from the movement. He winced and carefully climbed in, leaving his injured arm in the kangaroo pocket under his belly.

Carlos went after the Monegasque and Max also followed them, although a bit reluctantly.

Lando was about to enter the tunnel when they heard the lock on the door opening.

"Alex! Hurry up! The guards are here!" Lando cried out as he leapt forward.

Alex crossed the room as fast as he could, diving into the tunnel.

"Stop! No one goes away!" the guard shouted. 

The Thai driver looked back, surprised as he saw the tunnel closing behind him.

The guard also saw it and lunged forward. In the last moment, he managed to dig his hand into the tunnel and grabbed the first thing he felt.

Which was unfortunately Alex's injured ankle.

Alex cried out in pain. The guard had a strong hold, giving another round of bruising to the bones.

The tunnel had finally closed, trapping the man's hand. As he realised it, he let go of Alex's leg.

Alex pulled away from the hand, which was rather creepy as it was standing out of the wall and moving. The Thai sat down, clutching his injured leg. 

"Tell us if you're ready to go, okay?" Carlos told him in a friendly tone. Alex nodded, feeling a bit awkward to admit he's not all right and have the attention on him.

"It was cool how the guard's hand just got struck, wasn't it?" Lando asked.

"They will have to take apart the wall to free him!" Pierre replied. Max also smiled slightly. He was glad to see the Devils fail.

"Can't they come after us if they do that?" Charles asked.

"I don't think so... After all we aren't in the room next to ours..." Carlos replied.

He was right. The Devils had broken the wall down around the guard's arm. As he pulled it free, his hand became visible again.

"Let's go," Alex said. His leg still hurt but he could manage on hands and knees.

The tunnel was opening up a few metres ahead of Pierre, so they couldn't see farther than that. After some time, they eventually reached the end of the tunnel. Pierre climbed out, followed by the others, and looked around.

They were in a round, cave-like underground room, with only a ladder in it which led to a trapdoor above...

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Sorry for the long wait and the short chapter, I was busy with school.

I saw a lot of you adding this story to reading lists (thank you!) so I figured you deserved some more chapters :)

Edited 14.04.2024