"Keep it moving, kid." A knight shoves me. "We don't have all day. Hurry up, before we're all captured."
I'm too focused on the smoke barrelling out of the coliseum to care. We snuck into the fourth ring successfully: me, Loleo, and eleven of his knights. The knight with feathers on his helm, Uriel, and the others stayed behind with Shane and his family. Loleo thought it would be better to travel with fewer people. The look on his face right now says otherwise.
"Please, Loleo -" I reach for his shoulder.
"Don't move!" One of the knights draws his sword in the same motion he uses to step in between Loleo and me.
"Please, sir, let me get my flute from the dungeons before we go further." I plead. "My friends are in the coliseum right now helping my dad. If I can get our weapons and my flute, we can help you. Without my flute, I-"
"That's enough." Loleo says without turning around. "The answer is no. We will not discuss this further. Now move."
Everyone runs towards the entrance of the coliseum, dipping and dodging through the vendor stalls. I follow, but I try to stay a bit behind. I have to get our supplies if I'm going to be of any help. All I need is a good escape plan.
"Genamax, chain the kid." One of the knights says behind me.
A bulky knight almost triple my size slams a massive chain around me. It locks into place, and my body jerks. I fall to the ground, hitting my shoulder on the cobblestone.
"Get up. We will all get caught if you don't move." Loleo stares down at me. "We're almost there."
I'm suddenly lifted off the ground. I rotate myself and see the bulky knight, Genamax, hosting me on his shoulder. I feel sick. Every step he takes, his shoulder plate pushes the chain into my stomach. After a few more minutes of running, Genamax finally puts me down in front of a massive crater where the coliseum interior used to be.
"No…" I say, falling to my knees. "... Everyone was here. My dad, Renald, Whisperclaw, Ironvine. Everyone."
"Don't freak out." Loleo touches my shoulder and points at the crater. "Look at the way the sand caved in. It all fell perfectly along the edges of the arena. None of the stands, where bystanders would be, fell with it. It probably leads somewhere underground."
"Sir, then…" The knight who drew his sword on me whispers. "... Do you think it's true? Could Shane have been right?"
"It's possible." Loleo looks at me, then at Genamax. "Release the prince, Gena."
"But sir-" Genamax protests, but is silenced by Loleo's firm look.
"I'm splitting us into two teams from here." Loleo says. "Gena, Dawn, Asteroid, and Issiah, you will travel with the prince to retrieve his and his friend's belongings. The rest of us will travel below. We leave immediately."
"Yes, sir." The knights salute in unison.
Genamax undoes my chains and helps me stand. The other three knights form a small circle around us.
"Where to, oh mighty prince?" One laughs.
I brush myself off and walk towards Loleo. I don't even know where I'm heading, but I know Shane gave him a map.
"Hey, can I look at the map?" I ask.
"Hmm?" Loleo looks over his shoulder at me. "Sure, kid. I don't need it anymore anyway."
He tosses the map, a large scroll glued to two wood planks, over his shoulder. It lands on the ground in front of me, and I scramble to pick it up. It does nothing to stop the knights' giggles. I walk back over to Genamax and the others, unrolling the map. I trace one of the lines, trying to figure out if it's a tunnel or a drawing error. There's a legend in the corner—at least, I think it's a legend. It might be upside-down.
"Gods, kid. Can't you do anything useful?" One of the knights, who holds a spear, complains. "Give it here."
They snatch the map out of my hands and look at it. They turn to some of the others, pointing out a few details in silence. A few nods, a few hand motions towards the map. Eventually, they give the map back to me.
"Alright, guys, we're headed below." The spear knight motions everyone close. "We'll use the sewers as an entry point. Let's move."
Everyone sprints out of the coliseum, towards a nearby sewer drain. I follow along, trying to match their brisk pace, and failing miserably. Genamax pops the lid off the drain and, one after another, the knights jump in. I climb down second to last, with Genamax behind me. My feet splash into waist-high water, about knee height for the knights. Everyone has to crouch except me.
"Issiah, light." The knight leading says.
"On it." The knight named Issiah sheathes their sword.
They extend their left hand in front of them, slowly rotating it around. Sparks begin to fly from his gauntlet. Then suddenly, his hand burst into flames, casting a bright orange glow.
"Keep it tight. Quick in, quick out." The leader heads into the narrow sewer passage.
We continue for a few minutes. Nobody says a word, just following the person in front of us. Soon, we reach a set of bars, preventing us from continuing further. The knight leading at the front slices a square into the bars. We all squeeze through, with the rest of us having to pull Genamax.
"We should be coming up on the main intersection of the dungeon." The leading knight whispers. "This should connect us to the catacombs below. We'll meet Captain Loleo there."
We all nod. I'm anxious. More than I've ever been before. What's happening with everyone? We reach a large opening where the sewage water cascades below. An orange light shines through the opening, illuminating familiar stone passageways below. The leader motions at Issiah, who extinguishes the flames on their hand. The leader jumps down first, and everyone follows. When I jump down, one of them catches me before I hit the ground, helping me land softly on my feet.
We keep moving, following the passageway to our left. It winds around, leading us past a hallway lined with cells. The same types of cells that me, Whisperclaw, Renald, and my dad were in mere hours ago. We reach a large set of double doors at the end of the hall. The leader nods at Genamax, who pushes past us and rams his shoulder into it. The doors creak loudly under his weight, cracking and splitting but not breaking. Genamax steps back and rams his shoulder into the doors again. They fly off the hinges, exploding into two separate pieces and skipping across the stone floors. Inside is a large chamber of miscellaneous items stacked in piles.
"Make it fast, kid." The leader says to me, pointing into the room. "Find your and your friends' equipment and let's get out of here."
"Dawn, something doesn't feel right." Issiah whispers to the leader, who must be Dawn. "Where are all the guards?"
We all freeze as clapping fills the room, slowly approaching. Walking around one of the piles is a saber with black fur, a scar across his closed right eye, clapping his paws together slowly. I recognize his face immediately, from the night we escaped from Amacedia. It's Blackthorn. The air around us begins vibrating, and a crushing weight slams onto my back. All of us are pinned to the floor, except for Genamax, who visibly shakes as he struggles to stand.
"This is a surprise." Blackthorn chuckles. "It's the snargle who stole from me. I have to say, I didn't expect to run into you here, of all places."
He steps over me. As he does, I see the ethereal enchantment scroll tucked into the collar of his white button-up shirt. I scream, but it's the only thing I can do. The pressure on my chest keeps me from moving, talking, or even breathing properly.
"I would love to play with you all, but we'll call it even. For now." Blackthorn laughs, his voice drifting away. "Your friends are all about to die after all."
The pressure disappears. I leap to my feet and spin around, searching for that slime, but I don't see him anywhere. He slipped away from us. Again.