He walked beside her as they made their way down the dark tunnel. Adesina absently lifted one hand and summoned the small ball of energy to rest in it.

The tunnel was clearly little used. The stones were cracked and crumbling, and the floor was pitted. She marveled that she hadn't fallen in the darkness. Her eyes drifted over to the form of her father, who was still laid across Ravi's back. His face was deathly pale, especially in the flickering light.

"Will he live?"

Ravi was slow in answering. "I do not know. We need to get him away from here and then see if there is a healer among the rescued L'avan."

Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Is it a vyala skill?"

He inclined his head. "Yes."

"Would I be able to heal him, then?"

His feline face became wary. "Do you know how?"

Adesina slowly shook her head. "No, but I could learn."

Ravi was disagreeing before she even finished her sentence. "No, Ma'eve. Healing is a particularly dangerous art among the L'avan. It can be fatal if you do not know what you are doing."

She reluctantly nodded. There was enough danger in the situation without her adding to it.

Farther along the tunnel, a glimmer of light could be seen. Adesina and Ravi quickened their pace in order to catch up with the other L'avan.

E'nes was bringing up the rear, and looked back fearfully at her approach. As soon as he saw her face, he heaved a sigh of relief.

"Adesina!"

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"No," he a.s.sured her.

His overly offhand manner immediately made her suspicious. She gave him a look of stern reprimand. "E'nes."

"It is nothing," he promised. "I will be fine, as long as I am careful."

She was sorely tempted to question him further, but refrained. Her eyes, instead, turned to the form of Sa'jan.

"Is he injured badly?"

The relief on E'nes's face fell away, replaced by heart wrenching pain. He shook his head. "I could not bear to leave him behinda"

Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized what her brother meant, and her eyes turned to Sa'jan's craggy face. It seemed strangely peaceful, an expression she had never seen on his features while he was living. She tried not to look at the wound on his chest that had stolen the life of this extraordinary man.

"We may not be able to get him back to Pevothem," she said softly, pained by the words she knew to be true.

"Why not?" her brother asked.

She turned her gaze to his. "Because we will be pursued every step of the way."

For a moment he seemed at a loss for words. "I cannot leave him. He has been like a second father to me."

Adesina knew it would do no good to argue. E'nes was an inexperienced warrior and not capable of being rational at the moment. There was still a small chance that they could return his body to his family without too much trouble. If a problem arose on the way home, they would deal with it then.

She began to wonder how many other lives had been lost. She wondered how many L'avan had been left behind. The group of prisoners seemed awfully small when she considered the likely number of those they had not been able to rescue.

Chapter Fifty: Escape.

The L'avan traveled silently through the narrow tunnel, listening for any sign of being followed. They moved as quickly as they could with the wounded and the weak. Adesina tried to measure the distance, but eventually lost track. It was clearly longer than the tunnel that led to the seash.o.r.e, and she was fairly certain that they were heading in a different direction. She chided herself for not questioning Kendan about where this pa.s.sage would lead.

After what seemed to be many hours, the group came to a stop. Adesina moved to the front to see what was going on.

L'iam had come to the stone wall that was apparently the end of the pa.s.sageway. He ran his hand over the surface, trying to find some way through.

"Did Kendan mention how to open this wall?"

She shook her head, not taking her eyes off the stones. Her vyala tinted her vision dark green, and she searched for the mechanisms that would lead their way to freedom.

Nothing.

It seemed to be a solid wall, with no means of escape.

Adesina broadened her search, feeling a desperate, sinking feeling in her stomach. There had to be some way out. Kendan would not have led them to a dead end.

Her eyes turned to the floor, which was more pitted than any of the ground they had covered so far.

A soft sigh rushed over her lips. "A tunnel."

L'iam looked at her anxiously. "Another one?"

She nodded and got down on her knees. She tugged at a thick piece of slate that covered a hole in the ground. It was just large enough to fit one person through at a time.

Further inspection revealed a rickety ladder descending into the darkness. Adesina moved without hesitation to be the first to climb down.

L'iam glanced at her in concern. "Be careful."

She gave her old confident smile. "I always am."

The incredulous expression on his face turned her smile into a grin. Then, with a jaunty flick of her hand, she sent the ball of energy down the hole and grabbed hold of the ladder. The wood was damp and slightly slick. She tightened her grip and moved slowly, so as not to fall.

The tunnel remained very narrow for the first several feet, then it unexpectedly opened to what appeared to be some sort of cave.

A thin stream fed into the cavern, filling the floor with two or three inches of water. Adesina surveyed the area carefully before encouraging the others to follow.

Getting the wounded down was the hardest. Eventually, Adesina just told them to jump, and she used her vyala to bring them down gently. She was wondering how to get Ravi down when he suddenly appeared at her side with Me'shan still on his back.

She looked at him in surprise. "How did you climb down the ladder?"

He smiled mysteriously. "There was no need for me to do so."

A frown creased her brow. "What do you mean?"

"Do not trouble yourself," he rea.s.sured her. "The Rashad are quite adept at overcoming physical barriers."

Adesina was going to question him further, but her attention was called away by her brother, who was among the last to descend.

Her sight tinged orange and she called up, "I am ready."

E'nes carefully dropped Sa'jan's body, and Adesina buffered it's fall. She kept him hovering above the water until her brother was able to reach them. He took the body of their friend in his arms as one might carry a child.

Tears fell freely down his face and his expression was weary from carrying the body for so long. Regardless of that, he trudged forward and refused any offers of help.

L'iam was the last to climb down the ladder. He carefully covered the hole with the pieces of slate, making sure there was no sign of their pa.s.sing. When he reached the ground, he looked to Adesina with a questioning expression.

She pointed north. "There is a small stream that leads the way out."

He nodded and addressed the group. "We will follow the stream out. It must lead above ground."

They all began walking, once again in silence. They were still far from safety, and the fear of discovery kept them all subdued.

The stream slowly became wider as they went along, and the ceiling of the tunnel got lower. Eventually they were all walking hunched over, and the water was up to their calves. Not long after that, they had no choice but to crawl on their hands and knees.

The water proved to be a blessing in disguise. It was much easier for E'nes to drag Sa'jan's body along with the stream to buoy it up.

At length, a light could be seen ahead of them through a small opening that led above ground. Adesina crawled through it first, studying the surrounding area cautiously before beckoning the others forward.

They were in the shelter of the trees, but it was difficult to immediately decide their exact location. Not far from the stream there was a small shack and a pen with horses. Adesina silently indicated for the others to stay where they were and to keep quiet.

She crept up to the shanty and peered through the window.

There was a man bend over the fireplace, cooking something in a pot. Although he was dressed in the garb of a farmer, she was certain that he was a Shimat. Why else would he be positioned at the entrance to the Sharifal's secret escape with horses at his disposal?

She glanced around, looking for some way to draw him out of the house. She quietly moved back to the group to speak to L'iam.

"I will need your help," she whispered.

He nodded without question. "What do you want me to do?"

She pointed away from the shack. "I need you to circle around that way and come towards the entrance of the building from the woods. Make as much noise as you can, and claim that you are lost."

L'iam nodded and moved off to do as she instructed. Adesina turned to her brother, who was crouching with the others.

"Take the L'avan back a ways and hide in the trees. We cannot afford being discovered now."

He looked at her in concern. "What are you planning to do?"

She gave a quick smile. "Nothing too dangerous. Now, hurry!"

Before he had a chance to protest, she was making her way back to the shanty. She sat with her back to the wall and waited to hear for L'iam's approach.

It wasn't long before she heard him blundering through the underbrush and occasionally crying out in pain. He truly sounded like some sort of inept traveler who had never encountered such an environment. Adesina couldn't help but smile at his performance.

The Shimat heard him as well, and was standing in the doorway when L'iam came into view. The L'avan prince spotted the man and stumbled forward with an expression of relief on his face.

"Oh! Thank goodness I found you! I have been completely lost for days! Please, can you tell me where to find the nearest village?"

The Shimat walked slowly towards L'iam, appearing to be friendly and speaking in the accent of a poor southerner. "No village for leagues, stranger. How you c.u.mmot to these parts?"

Adesina didn't give the man the chance to get within attacking range of L'iam. She bolted from around the corner of the house, drawing her dagger as she went.

The man turned on her readily, but was momentarily surprised to see her Shimat uniform. He rapidly recovered, and his response was very quick. So much so, that Adesina underestimated the speed she would need to overcome him.

He grabbed the wrist of the hand holding the dagger and struck the upper arm as hard as he could. Adesina cried out in pain as she felt the bone break.

The dagger fell from her hands, and the Shimat rushed to pick it up. As he bent, Adesina spun and brought her heel down on the back of his neck. He lurched forward, and the momentum crashed his head into a large stone on the ground. He crumpled where he was, and moved no more.

L'iam hurried to her side, touching her arm gently. "Are you hurt?" he asked anxiously.

She cringed and nodded. "I think it is broken."

Their heads were brought around as they heard the snap of a twig several feet away. The L'avan were all moving to join them now that the danger was averted. Most of them were staring at Adesina with expressions of awe on their faces. Some of the eyes also held traces of fear and suspicion.

She knew how she must appear to them: she was a L'avan, but she wore the clothing of a Shimat and she clearly had Shimat training. They must have wondered whether or not she was really on their side.

Adesina turned away, not wanting to look at their wasted faces. They all bore the signs of starvation and exhaustion, despair, beatings, and numerous unspeakable atrocities. They all had suffered greatly at the hands of those who wore the same uniform as herself.

L'iam, who seemed to know what she was thinking, put his arm around her in a gesture of trust and loyalty. He addressed E'nes as he led her away from the crowd.

"We can rest here for a few minutes, but no more. Saddle the horses and see if there are any supplies in the building."

E'nes nodded and began directing the others. Adesina heard s.n.a.t.c.hes of conversation as they walked into the trees.

"Who is she?"

"Surely no L'avan would become a Shimat."

"Perhaps it is just a disguise."

"Did you see how she attacked that man?"

"Well, if Prince L'iam trusts hera"