Raena couldn't help the small whimper that escaped her lips as she scurried into The Burrow, feeling like a cornered cockroach as she crawled on all fours as hastily as she possibly could. The draugr stopped just outside the animal hole, and it roared profoundly before growing still and silent. Raena squeezed her eyes shut, willing the bow to reappear in her hands, but she was too frightened and unnerved. Raena was trapped.

She remained very, very still, listening out for the draugr, who had grown eerily quiet. Had it left? Perhaps it could increase in size but didn't know how to decrease enough to fit inside The Burrow?

She prayed – albeit, foolishly – that it had given up and was finally leaving. But the stench of decay was still there, strong and overwhelming, filling her nostrils with rotting meat. Raena's long hair was wild and tangled around her, strands sticking to her sweaty forehead. Her skin-tight pants had torn at the knees from crawling through sticks and leaves and tiny stones, which cut into her palms.

She heard a snap of twigs behind her, and she whipped her head around, expecting to find the draugr inches from her face, but she only saw the faint light from the outside world. Then her heartbeat quickened as she saw two familiar, armour-clad feet, two rotten, meaty legs extending from the figure's boots. From where she lay crouched, she couldn't see the rest of the draugr, but as another snap sounded, she realised it wasn't a twig at all, but the draugr itself, neck snapping and body contorting, slowly shrinking until finally... silence.

Raena's arms shook, and she couldn't find it in herself to look away, to just keep crawling down whatever animal's hole she was in. The monster slowly bent, placing one arm down, then the other, the creature now on all fours. Raena felt the lump rise in her throat as it slowly lowered its head to peek into The Burrow, at her.

The draugr cocked its skeletal head to the side, its two, blue eyes staring into her very soul, pinning her to the spot. Its head was tipped at an unusual angle, looking ready to snap at any moment, and the creature's fleshy lips parted into a slowly widening grin, that stretched far wider than any normal mouth should.

Crawl, Raena, it seemed to whisper all around her. Then it bolted forward, crawling abnormally fast towards her.

Raena's scream caught in her throat and it took all her strength to tear her gaze away from the horrific creature. She forced herself to crawl faster, not daring to look back. But the unmistakable smell of rotten flesh and decay was becoming insurmountably stronger, and Raena couldn't ignore its piercing voice that rang in her head.

Raena, I'm getting closer. Closer, Raena! There's no escape!

Raena couldn't help it. She glanced backwards and let out an ear-splitting scream. The draugr's legs looked broken, sticking out at odd angles as it crawled its way closer and closer to her, its movements faster and faster, almost spider-like, arms outstretched towards her and head still cocked to that side with a wide grin plastered on its face, its horns on the creature's helmet glinting menacingly at her. It let out another terrifying roar, and Raena screamed again, kicking its face as it lunged towards her. She scampered backwards, breathing hard. And the draugr stopped in its tracks for a moment, clearly taken by surprise. Its smile vanished and as it scowled, the creature's head slowly began to turn, cracking as each of its neck bones dislocated than relocated. To Raena's horror, she realised its head was turning a full three-hundred and sixty degrees, and as its face finally turned towards her again, she noted its freakishly wide smile had returned.

"Please," she whispered, closing her eyes, not wanting to stare a moment longer at the hideous monstrosity before her.

A faint voice seemed to echo around her, and she dismissed it as the draugr's, holding her hands to her ears to keep it from getting in her head.

Raena.

"Stop it!" she yelled, half-sobbing. "Stop it!"

Stay hidden.

Her heart skipped a beat and she uncovered her ears. That voice... it wasn't actually the draugr's. Though it was oddly familiar.

I'll find you.

"Braedon?" she called out, whipping her head around in the dark, but all she saw was the draugr in front of her, preparing to pounce.

She felt something cold and wet on her forehead that sent small shivers up and down her body, but before she could mull over it for too long, the draugr finally lunged for her, and Raena crawled backwards on all fours before...

The ground below her gave way and it happened so suddenly, so unexpectedly, that it took Raena a minute to realise she was falling. Down, the burrow hole, further and further away from the draugr's snapping mouth as it bit the air, a few moments too late. It snarled down at her as she tumbled through the darkness, further and further down the hole until the draugr was but a speck in the distance, high above. Her cloak whipped and wrapped around her as she fell.

No, she gritted her teeth. She'd had this dream far, far too many times. She wasn't going to reach the bottom now. Braedon needed her. Something bad was happening in the real world, she could feel it.

Wake up, she thought forcefully, and just inches before she hit the ground, she awoke.

***

Raena's eyes flitted open for only a second before they fluttered shut again. Rough voices echoed and bounced against the cave walls, and Raena felt woozy and disoriented, her head feeling awfully groggy.

"Where is she?" a voice barked.

"I don't know!" another answered. "I swear her magic traced to these whereabouts. Can't you smell the stench of a royal?"

"Yes, but I don't see her, idiot!"

"Just ask the old man! He knows where she is, I'm certain of it. Her smell lingers on him." There was a thump, and a groan, and Raena suddenly felt like throwing up, her palms turning sweaty.

"I don't know what you're talking about," a familiar voice wheezed, and Raena's lips trembled in anger as she recognised it as Grandpa Sage's, but she couldn't move, her body feeling like a deadweight. She opened her eyes again and found herself staring at the cave's ceiling.

What had happened while she was knocked out? How long had she been out for? Why was she lying in the cave's corridor? And...

There was another groan and a cough as she heard a series of thumps and stomps, and Raena's eyes brimmed with tears, knowing that whoever these people were, they were beating the life out of Grandpa Sage. Her Grandpa Sage.

She twitched, willing herself to get up, to fight, but she could barely move her head. Her body was as rigid as a stone. She had managed to wake up earlier than anticipated, but the Nox sleeping agent was still wearing off. So, all she could do was lay there and listen to Sage's cries and yelps as the owners of those two strange, gruff voices she heard lashed out, again and again.

"Just tell us where the girl is," the deeper voice sneered. "And all this pain? It stops."

"I don't..." Grandpa Sage wheezed before coughing, and Raena winced as she heard something splatter, and she imagined him coughing up blood. "I don't know..." he continued, his voice so coarse now, that it pained Raena to listen any longer. She held in a sob, grinding her teeth as she tried to move once again, but the effects of the sleeping herbs were still adamantly strong, and Raena could barely lift a finger, let alone help him.

She bit her lip to keep from crying as she heard him cry out at the sound of a bone crunching. Raena could do nothing as she silently cried to herself, hearing the sound of pummelling fists making contact with a body.

After what seemed like far, far too long, silence finally came to, interrupted only by the sound of heavy breathing.

"Do you think he's dead?" one huffed.

"We'll see," the deep-voiced man growled. "Take the body. If he's dead, he can consider it merciful luck. If not... well, I guess we'll get to test his loyalty further."

Raena curled her hands into fists and almost cried out in surprise. She could move! She wiggled her toes and hands, but the rest was still leaden.

No, she thought, hearing a body being dragged away, down the cave's passage. Come on!

"Check the area one more time," the deep-voiced man ordered, and Raena heard the sound of hurried feet entering the medical room, then exiting, sweeping past the corridor and ransacking each small room before passing her corridor, the one with all the stalactites and stalagmites and columns she hid behind and the one that, Raena knew, led to the other exit.

The sound of feet stopped mere metres away from her, and Raena held her breath, not daring to make a noise. From her position on the ground, Raena couldn't see much other than a blue uniform, but the man seemed to be staring intently in her direction, lingering on where she lay for a heartbeat too long, and just when Raena was certain he had spotted her, he turned and followed his companions back down the cave's entrance.

"All clear!" she heard him say, and only once his footsteps had faded, did she dare to release her breath.

Not even a minute after they had left, Raena heard a faint whimper. It was so quiet, Raena was almost certain she had imagined it, but she remained still, listening, waiting. Then she heard it again.

It was coming from right around the corner, something injured and in pain.

"Rae..."

Raena's heart leapt. "Braedon?"

Silence.

She tried again. "Braedon?"

"Rae..." the voice replied, barely audible.

"Braedon!" Raena cried out, almost hysterical. She wriggled her body, willing it to move towards the voice, towards Braedon, but she may as well have been a block of lead. "Braedon, just hang on! Just..."

A body loomed above her and she stopped short, fear prickling the back of her neck. The figure leaned towards her, his expression clearly one of pure shock and glee and even a hint of... fear. Raena noted the green army suit he wore and her blood ran cold. She might as well have been captured by her own people but not... not him. Not a Terran, who she was sure, despised her with all his being.

"So the magic they traced..." he was saying under his breath. "It wasn't a ruse. They truly did locate..." he stopped, taking in her features, marvelling.

Raena once again attempted to move but to no avail. She watched him whip out his walkie-talkie, holding it up to his mouth as he spoke.

"Al," he said, clear excitement in his voice. Raena felt sick. "Al, do you read?"

There was a brief crackle, then a reply. ""We're not supposed to use real names out here, remember, BP27?"

The voice sounded annoyed, but the man before her didn't seem to care. He was eyeing her like a vulture might eye its prey.

"Sorry," he said, his eyes still fixated on Raena and her throat went dry as he crouched down next to her, his face a mask of pride and awe and clear, gleeful eagerness, a twinkle in his eyes that made Raena's stomach churn. "I just..." he breathed, leaning closer to get a better view of her. "Al, I see her."

Raena didn't hear the rest of what he said over the roaring in her ears. Everything was wrong. So, so wrong. She wanted to call out to Braedon, to see if he was alright, but he remained wherever he was behind the corner of the wall, and Raena didn't dare call his name in fear of revealing his position.

When the man finally put his walkie-talkie down, he gave Raena a long, hard stare, and she found herself rendered speechless, scared of what awaited her.

As if reading her mind, he smirked, brushing some of her hair aside. She stiffened, and he chuckled.

"Well, you're a lot younger than I thought you'd be, for a princess."

Raena answered by spitting on his face, and he glowered, wiping it off before grabbing her face.

"Hmm," he said with such calm and steadiness, she remained still and frightened, wishing now more than ever that she could just move. How did things turn so bad, so quickly?

"Don't worry, Lymphan Princess," he winked and grinned a bit too maliciously for Raena's liking. Her skin crawled. "You're in good hands, now. The boss will know just what to do with you."