50 L. The Water

After a few seconds of silence, Dag said: "I don't know where is the exit, I don't even know where I am. I need you to help me out."

"I will. I will guide you to the exit, but promise me that you will bring us to safety" Claire said, staring at Dag.

"I promise" he replied.

"Can you tell me how many Renegades are in here?" he asked.

"I don't know, but there are many" Claire replied in a heartbroken tone.

"Come with me, I'll show you the way out" she continued.

Dag followed her out the door towards the hall.

"Follow me" Claire said, as she made her way back to the cage room.

"What's on the other side of the corridor?" asked Dag.

"Absolutely nothing, there's just a window that looks on a cliff" Claire said.

Dag followed her to the banquet room.

Before they walked through the door, he suddenly stopped.

"Wait" he said.

Claire obeyed.

"What's going on, why did you stop?" she asked, trying to figure out why Dag was still with his eyes closed in the middle of the corridor.

"There's water down here" Dag said, with his eyes still closed.

"Water?" asked Claire.

"Yes" Dag replied.

Without adding anything else, he turned and walked back, heading to the dorm, across the hall.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?" said Claire.

"It looks like there are sewers down here. We could use those to get out without alerting the guards. I just have to find a way to access..." Dag kept walking fast in that direction, looking at the floor searching for something.

After he passed over the small wooden door, he noticed that there were slightly raised tiles on the floor.

Touching one with his foot, he realized that there was mud under it: it was probably due to water infiltration.

Dag tried to lift the tile off the floor. After lifting it, he did the same with the next one, until he discovered the muddy surface beneath them.

"Help me" Dag said to Claire, who was not yet understanding.

"O... okay" she replied.

They both knelt on the ground and began digging.

The mud was so soft that within a few minutes they dug a hole in the floor.

The smell coming from the hole was disgusting, probably due to urine and feces in the sewers.

"We're almost there, keep digging" said Dag, who continued to remove the mud with his hands, widening the slit they had just created.

"I'm going to vomit..." Claire said.

The sound of the water began to become clearer.

Under the floor, there was one of the canals of the castle's sewer system.

"And I thought they were idiots" Dag said, trying to ironize to release the tension.

Looking down, he realized that the canal was large enough to enter. He tried to get down.

"I'm going to check" he said, as he slipped into the hole in the floor.

Claire looked at him without saying a word.

Once down, Dag made sure the canal was stable.

Despite the unbearable stench, it was possible to walk in the sewer canal: the dirty water level barely reached his knees and crouching slightly, he could walk forward with ease.

Dag came out of the hole, returning to the surface.

Claire seemed disgusted. The smell was terrible.

"The tunnel is safe, we're going to get out of here" Dag said, confident of his plan.

"I'm going to wake up the others then!" said Claire, enthused.

She walked to the door and just as she was about to turn the rusty handle, Dag heard a sound of voices coming from the cage room.

Someone was about to figure out that he had managed to escape.

He quickly approached Claire.

"Listen to me, they found out I'm no longer in a cage. You have to run! Gather all the prisoners and escape through the tunnel! Every sewer system must bring to the surface somewhere! Follow it without ever stopping and get out of this place!" said Dag, agitated.

"But... But... What are you going to do?!" asked Claire, alarmed.

Dag looked her in the eye and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"You can do it. They all depend on you" he said.

Soon after, he began to run to the cage room.

He felt Claire's gaze on him.

If he could commit the Renegades for a while, surely the women would have managed to escape.

He stopped just before the door, leaning against the wall so he could spy in the room.

3 warriors stared at the open cage, pointing their torches at it.

"Fuck" Dag whispered.

"We absolutely must warn Myr! King Hjalmar will be furious!" said one of them.

Dag had no choice. He had to come out of the closet, for the sake of those women.

Hey, you dickheads! He said loudly as he stepped out into the open.

He was unarmed, but he had to get their attention at all costs, otherwise, they'd go looking for him until they found the hole in the floor.

"What?" the Renegades said in chorus, astonished to have found the fugitive so quickly.

In front of them, Dag stood still, shortly after the door, with his arms open.

"How the hell did you get out of the cage, kid?" said one of the men.

Dag kept looking at them carefully, taking advantage of Niva's useful effect.

Around two of the warriors, there was a celestial aura, while on one of them it was tending to green.

Their strength level was low, he could beat them.

"I am capable of things beyond your comprehension" Dag said, trying to convince the warriors of his superiority.

"Get right back in that fucking cage, you idiot!" exclaimed a Renegade, beginning to approach Dag after extracting his dagger.

"Or what? They said they need me alive, you can't hurt me. Or do you want to anger King Hjalmar?" said Dag, in a tone of superiority.