The tunnel was, obviously, dark and stuffy. The sound of scurrying feet was the only proof Russell and Vivi weren't alone. Roughly a hundred people in the tunnel with them but the only voices were occasional whispers. Some people were crying.

The sound of thunder from up on the ground was muffled before coming to their ears. Dirt and pebbles occasionally fell on their heads and made Russell suspicious if the tunnel would hold or not.

Vivi's hand was cold around his. She didn't let go even after entering the tunnel. Perhaps she was worried Russell would run off and kill himself again.

Her grip was unnecessarily tight. Her fingernails dug into his skin. He thought about telling her to loosen it, but then he felt her hands trembling.

Okay, a little longer, then.

The last time her hands were around his was yesterday, at the coal pit, when his hands were around her throat. Back then they were cold and wet too, griping to pry his hands off. They clawed and pulled at his fingers.

Russell knew what that felt like. He remembered the feeling of trying to slip his fingers into a huge muscular hand, trying to pry those fingers open from his throat. His vision darkening. The veins in his head getting hammered to his skull like nails. His heart pounding like hooves on his chest. Eyes shut, he could still hear that nervous Glee in  the deep, broken voice, as if it was disgusted of itself for feeling that way.

That's it. Go to sleep, honeybunch. Go to sleep...

The voice amped up and down, like the image of a coin under rippling water.

That was somebody else. You don't have to worry about it anymore, he chided to himself.

Was it? Something chided from the back of his head, slowly emerging from the black currents of his secrets, something he didn't know he had inside him

How did it feel? Didn't you like being on the other side of it? The voice slithered like a snake, rough scales grinding against his brain, exposing bloody images of the past.

But it was what's necessary. It had to be done to protect Vivi Russell spoke back.

it doesn't matter why you did it. What matters is you enjoyed it, said the other voice.

Or was it another?

Or was it just Russell?

You.

It was almost a tangible sensation, so close to being real Russell almost heard it. He got goosebumps.

The other voice was worryingly silent.

The crying in the tunnel had stopped. The occasional whispers had become rarer. The thunders above had subsided.

The tunnel was pitch black but it wasn't that hard to find a way because the tunnel went absolutely straight. And the ground was clean. It was a surprisingly well made tunnel.

Russell looked back out of basic human nature.

Two glowing yellow eyes looked back at him, only a foot behind.

Russell almost did a backflip.

Then he looked again, in the light that has no source, it was the Lycanthrope girl. She was looking down up until now. As Russell looked at her, she looked up to meet his eyes.

Russell saw, in the light that was becoming clearer now, her sunken eyes. She had been crying. The echoing words that voice had said in his mind seemed to be fading.

Hey, he just saved a life. He didn't deserve to feel guilty.

As Vivi's iron grip on his hand vanished, he realized he had been looking at the werewolf's eyes for too long. He turned back and saw that they were out of the tunnel.

The early afternoon light was blinding after the long walk through a dark tunnel.

The mouth had opened into an open field. The grass rippled in the wind like water. Scattered across the field were a few dozen unicorns, their sharp horns and obsidian fur glistening in the sunlight.

Russell had seen unicorns before. They belonged to the royal army. They were lower than horses, but had a longer neck and a stubby head crowned by a deadly looking spike, apt to tear down vines and leaves and unlucky animals.

As the group of people made their way out of the tunnel, more elves rushed towards them. They helped the wounded ones climb out. Some in the group started crying all over again. An elf was seen carrying an old lady,  she was wailing like a baby.

The group of elves helping them were wearing green armor, rippled like a tree bark. Russell looked at them and realized, dear old Len was probably a dwarf among his brethren. Most of the elves were inhumanely tall and lanky. The elves back in capital city were mostly human height.

Well, they were only half elves anyway.

Vivi looked as amazed as Russell felt. She had let go of his hand and was looking around, squinting Her eyes locked onto something at a corner of the field. Russell followed her gaze and saw supplies piled up near the forest. There were food, clothes for wearing and for tents. Also a lot of tin cannisters.

The elves were running around but didn't look like in a real hurry to leave this place. Some were gathering firewood into a pile at the center of the field.

Vivi suddenly looked at the opposite direction and gasped. Then she ran off, again. Russell tried to follow but fell behind.

"Vivi, wait! Don't just run off!"
But Vivi was too fast to care.

When Vivi reached her destination, Russell saw what it was. It was Elli and Arron. They had been separated when they entered the tunnel but here they are, together again. The royal family wasn't anybody to Russell even yesterday morning. But right now, it was the only thing that anchored him and Vivi to their home, their real home. The capital. They were the only things remotely familiar in an unknown world. They were friends.

Elli had Vivi in an embrace.
Arron was standing next to them awkwardly turning left and right, as if unsure of what to do. Russell decided to go ahead and give him a hug.

Then suddenly Arron turned his head towards him and said, "Who is that?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm you.", Russell said, sharing the joke. Then he saw that Arron was looking past him.

He looked back and saw, surprise surprise, the Lycan girl. She was still following him around. She looked from Russell to the group and to Russell again, confused who they were. Russell thought about telling her to leave. That she was free and she could go wherever she wanted. But Elli saw her first.

"Who is that?" Elli asked, confirming that she and Arron definitely are siblings.

" Uh, uhm..", Russell was suddenly lost. Where to start? The bakery? The thing with the soldier? The fact that he valiantly came forth to save her? Russell decided to go with the saving her part. But of course, Vivi went first, "Oh, just somebody I saved the life of. "

"Hey, I saved her life first!"

"Well, then I saved your life. So I get your save."

"It doesn't work like that!"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You both saved her life. Now tell me, who is she?" Elli broke it up.

Vivi looked at Russell. So, when it comes to taking credit, Vivi gets it. And when it comes to tackling questions, suddenly Russell is in charge?

Russell looked at the very confused and perhaps slightly frightened girl behind him.
He took a deep breath and asked,
"What's your name?"

Her reaction was way too dramatic for the question.

Her pink eyes widened. Her lips begun shaking. Her ears stood up in full alert. She opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again, and closed it again. Russell was beginning to doubt whether or not she could speak at all.

Then, in the most smallest, lowest voice audible,"Lupa." Then she looked down as if that was the most embarrassing name possible.

"Where are you from?" Arron asked her.

Lupa looked at him as if she didn't understand the question.

"Where is your home?" Elli rephrased the question.

"Ho..hewm?" Lupa tried.

"She was a Lycan slave. Her owner's dead." Russell took it from there.

"Lycan slave?" Arron shot a questioning look at Elli.

"Human slavery is forbidden. Not other creatures." Elli said, not meeting his eyes, not meeting any of their eyes.

All of them stayed quiet for a while.

After a while, Arron said, "In the new kingdom, this'll be the first thing to be banned."

Elli looked at Arron for a while. Her eyes looked tired and worn out, as if the weight of the last two days had suddenly fallen upon her. "Well, that's up to you to decide."

"That- that's not what I meant!" Arron stammered.

"No, no. You can have it," Elli waved her hand, "You were the one who was supposed to get the crown anyway."

"But it doesn't have to be that way anymore," Arron said, "We both know that you can be a lot better ruler than me!"

Elli looked at the ground, and took a breath, "But the Elders will—"

"Can go jump off a cliff! You're older than me anyway. You're much better with people. You know how to plan ahead and not just slice through everything in front of you like I do," Arron yelled at his top voice, turning quiet a number of heads around them, "If there's gonna be a kingdom of Forthfire after all this is over, your gonna be it's queen!"

"Arron," Elli's voice was calm and dangerously quite, "we're going to talk about this, later."

Arron grunted, stomped his foot on the ground and walked off in a random direction.

"Soo, last question," Vivi was trying to change the mood, "can you really change into a wolf?"

The question was directed towards Lupa, but she was clearly too overwhelmed by the drama in front of her to answer.

"He's throwing a tantrum again. He'll be over it in a day or two." Elli said to no one in particular.

Russell doubted they had a day or two.

As Vivi continued to pester Lupa with more and more questions, Russell decided to look around.

The campsite was big and wide. It was run by elves. They scurried around with their long feet, carrying food, clothes, maybe firewood for the bonfire at the center.

The tents were already made. People sat around the fire. The afternoon light was falling into evening. The place was gradually getting colder. A chilly breeze blew from the red mountains up north. The sky was stained with red clouds. They travelled south. The tip of the trees were orange like ember. The full moon was already up. Birds flew around, returning to their homes. The unicorns were gathering together in a circle. Russell spotted Len the elf near the forest, making a tent. He gently turned away to avoid him, but of course the elf noticed.

"Hey, hey boy." His voice was deep and somehow still melodic.

Russell tried to ignore the call and pretend to not notice.

"Hey." A hand fell on his shoulder. Damnit! How does he move that fast?

Russell turned around, looking down.

"What's your name, boy?" The elf asked.

"Russell."

"Russell," Len seemed to test the name on his tongue, "That's an odd name."

"I'm.. sorry. About earlier. I shouldn't have tried to waste your time. That was very immature and childish of me." Russell tried to apologize.

"That's good and all," the elf said after looking at Russell for a while, "but I wasn't asking for an apology."

"Then what.."

"I saw what you did back in the town."

"Oh," Russell said. Suddenly it started to feel like he was being given way too much credit for something so simple.

"You were brave."

"I was an idiot."

"True," Len snickered, "but a brave person is just an idiot who succeeded."

"That can be difficult, succeeding."

"Yes, it can." Len looked at the bonfire and let out a sigh.

They just stood in silence for a while. Then Russell asked, "Why are you telling me this?"

'You remind me of someone I knew." Len looked at the bonfire.

"Oh," was all Russell could muster.

Len put his hand on Russell's shoulder one last time and then walked away. Russell stood for a moment, then decided to go find Vivi.

But he didn't have to look for her. Because he just took two steps before a pair of giant wings landed in front of him.

It was Orpheus and he had their bag.