Some time had passed since Luna left. By now, I was already thinking about the mistake I had made.
'Luna serves one of the Dark Lords. That means she'll report everything about me to them. Which means… in the future, they might take my family hostage and use them against me.' I let out a deep sigh.
"I was a fool. I should've thought before speaking. But then again, even if I hadn't said anything, Luna could have ripped the truth out of me. Yeah… that's probably what would've happened." I recalled Luna's cold, serious face.
'If I think about her silent movements, the way she leaves no trace, her skill at gathering information… then she's…' I paused, the answer forming in my head.
"An assassin!" The word had barely left my mouth when one of the dungeon walls exploded.
It sounded like someone had blasted it from the outside. Within milliseconds, a huge hole opened in the wall. Fragments of stone scattered inward, clattering against the ground, while a cloud of dust rose like a storm and filled the dungeon.
'Who did this?!' I glanced around, but the dust was too thick to see through. I could only hear voices echoing through the fog. One of them was familiar. Eli's voice.
"I told you to hit it softer! Look at all this dust you've kicked up!" Eli stepped into the dungeon. Strangely, she was wearing armor designed for women, not the oversized, heavy set she'd worn before.
"How was I supposed to know the wall was that fragile?" A young man followed behind her. He had black hair, was about my height, and wore men's armor similar to Eli's. On his face lingered a playful, cocky grin.
Eli raised her hand and struck the air. The force of her blow sent out a wave that dispersed the thick dust, clearing the dungeon."That's better," the young man said.
Eli scanned the dark cell with her sharp eyes until they landed on me, shackled in the corner."Rayan!" she cried, relief and hope flooding her voice.
"Eli!" I almost called her name back, but then I thought, This'll look like some kind of reunion between long-lost lovers. So I kept silent.
She came straight to me, swiftly unsheathing her sword and striking the chains on my wrists with practiced skill. The shackles snapped, and I collapsed to the ground under the pull of gravity.
"Are you alright?" Eli knelt beside me."What happened? You didn't say anything about me being thrown into a dungeon."
Her face was flushed red, almost like a lobster. She looked troubled."Your condition…" she began, but the young man cut her off.
"This was unexpected for us, too. We found out too late that they were planning to throw you here to be killed. But we hurried as much as we could." He offered me his hand with a grin. "What matters is that you're safe now."
"Yeah." I took his hand, and he helped me to my feet."My name's Shin! Nice to meet you.""I'm Rayan. I'm glad to meet you too—" I started to say, but suddenly felt the weight of something on my wrists.
Looking down, I saw new shackles clasped around my hands. Shocked, I raised them closer."Again?""It's a precaution," Shin replied.
Eli stood as well, her voice tinged with regret."Don't resist."
Hearing the sadness in her tone, I couldn't bring myself to argue. Instead, I held out my other hand toward Shin willingly.
Seeing this, Shin smirked."The prophecy seems to be coming true. He's already doing what you say."
I turned to Eli, confused."What's he talking about?"
Her face was so red it looked like she wished the ground would swallow her up."Is everything okay?""Y-yeah, everything's fine," she stammered.
After that, Eli explained how I'd ended up here.
At the city gates, the soldiers had already known who I was—that I bore the symbol. That's why they dragged me here, to die slowly. Normally, criminals brought here would be chained inside and fed to the creature that lived within.
'So that's why I smelled rotting flesh earlier.'
Shin glanced around."Looks like the creature isn't here."
For a moment, I thought about telling them about Luna. But I held back. If Eli knew, she'd only worry. Besides, a mysterious assassin like Luna against a warrior like Eli… who knew how that would end? Even if Eli had once slain a Dark Lord.
"So, what happens now?" I looked between Shin and Eli."We've been ordered to bring you to the capital. That's what we'll do.""Why are you taking me there?""Because soon—" Shin began, but Eli interrupted him."It's an order! And we have to follow orders!" she snapped hastily."I don't understand.""I'll explain everything later," Shin muttered under his breath.
So I followed them. We left the dungeon and entered a narrow corridor. It was dark and damp, with only a few torches burning at intervals.'They must've lit those as they came in.'
But Shin turned in the opposite direction, away from the light."Follow me!" he said, heading toward the darkness.
Eli walked behind me. I could feel her unease."Are you worried about something?""Huh? N-no, everything's fine. I'm just… thinking.""Since we reunited, you've been hiding something from me.""I'm not hiding anything!""If it's a heavy burden, you can share it with me. I'll always listen. I'm worried about you."
But instead of easing her, my words only made Eli pull further away.'Feels like she heard something bad about me…' I thought, lost in my head as we reached the exit.
Warm sunlight spilled over my body, and the clean air brushed against my face. But suddenly, my whole body felt weightless—because the ground beneath my feet vanished. I was falling."Aaaaah!" Reflexively, I threw my hand upward.
Eli, walking right behind me, caught my hand before I fell."Don't worry, I've got you!"
Shin rushed over as well, and together they pulled me back up.
I sat on the ground, gasping for breath. Eli placed her hand on my back, helping me steady myself."I'm sorry! I should've warned you about the cliff ahead.""I-I'm fine," I managed to say, though my lips trembled.
"Can you walk?" Eli asked softly.I nodded weakly.
Then she turned to Shin."We'll have to take the other path. Back the way we came.""Looks like it. Though this shortcut was closer," he muttered, glancing behind.
Where I had almost fallen was the edge of a massive mountain near Yolsbut. From here, I could see the entire city and the surrounding forests like they were lying on the palm of my hand.
We had been walking along a narrow, one-man path that hugged the mountain's edge, trying to reach a point further along. Taking the corridor again would be safer, but it meant traveling a much greater distance.
"Back to the corridor then," Shin said, getting up."I'm fine. Don't worry about me," I said as I stood shakily.