19 Chapter 18

•Desolate Lands•

•The abandoned tunnels•

We is resting here for the night, ain't we?" Spike grunted, eyeing the younger Elf in front of him.

They had been walking without stop for the entire day and even though Spike could handle it, he was starting to get worried about Crunch. The strain of the journey was starting to show on him.

Crunch sighed tiredly, he had held off for as long as he could but he pushed himself harder, he was likely to collapse or worse.

"Yeah, we are." He replied, gently dropping his handle.

Spike followed suit and they rested against the side of the cave, the wooden box sitting in front of them.

They each took out coarse, dry bread and dug into it hungrily, taking little sips from leather flasks.

It was late and both Elves were tired so they both ate quietly with plans of quickly falling asleep as soon as they were done.

They were already in the fifth day into the journey but all the tunnels seemed to look the same, Crunch took one last swig of water and decided then that he missed his younger brother's cooking and that would be the first thing he would do as soon as he got back home.

"I bid you a fair night." He greeted his partner, who had long rounded up his eating and was now lying on his side with his rucksack as a makeshift pillow.

Spike's grunted and unintelligible reply did not bother him, it seemed to Crunch that the other Elf preferred to speak in grunts and mumbles and as a person who preferred his own company, Crunch didn't mind this.

He too laid on his side, facing away from Spike, his rucksack underneath his head.

A small smile graced his lips as a memory slipped past his mind again, Birch, his younger brother who could cook, sneaking into his pallet at night because he was scared of thunderstorms.

And Tot, the youngest, mocking his shivering older brother because of this.

This was the longest time Crunch had ever been away from home and he was worried about Birch, not of his safety because Tot was more than capable of providing that but because the frail Elf had always been a little too dependent on Crunch.

Crunch didn't mind, it was nice to have someone fuss over you, someone to protect but he was worried that his prolonged absence might have adverse effects on him.

That's why he couldn't wait for the journey to end.

Crunch twitched a bit and adjusted, while his pallet was really thin, it seemed like a bed of clouds compared to the cold and have cave ground.

It hadn't bothered him the other nights but now he couldn't help but feel a little tingly, maybe it was because the journey was drawing to a close.

He adjusted again, trying to find a comfortable position, when a pebble bounced off his head.

"Ow!" He rubbed at the smarting spot. "What was that for, Spike?" He demanded in outrage, sitting up to glare at the other Elf, who remained prone like he wasn't the culprit.

"If you didna move around so much, I wouldna hav' thrown the rock at ya." Spike grunted, still facing away.

Crunch just shook his head with a small smile and settled back to sleep again, he was going to miss the old, grumpy guy when they finally separated.

Absently, he thought of what he would do with the money. Maybe instead of buying himself the certificate, he would get it for Birch, after all Birch was paler than most Lower Class, he could almost even pass off as a Middle Class Elf.

He was starting to fall asleep, the activities of the day catching up to him when it happened.

Elf Guards, heavily armed and ordered to kill, Crunch barely rolled out of the way in time before being almost impaled on a sharp sword.

Spike wasn't so lucky and Crunch felt time freeze as he was stabbed multiple times.

This wasn't right, they weren't saying anything or asking any questions like they were tasked solely to find them and kill them.

He should have known, Ministers were shady people, it didn't matter if they were in the Higher or Lower Cabinet, they were all the same.

Crunch inched backward, clutching his rucksack, as a reflex he had carried it with him while escaping the attack, if he had to run, going with sustenance would be nothing but suicide.

There were six Guards, four were on the lookout and two were assigned to attack the other Elves in their sleep.

Crunch's face hardened at this, the bastards. Attacking two unarmed men who were asleep went beyond the lowest of the low.

They were obviously there for the box, Crunch couldn't think of any other reason why fugitives were found in these abandoned tunnels all the time.

Granted, they had gotten into a secret tunnel that not even fugitives could know about, which meant only one thing, it was either that Duke Scarlett sent his guards to find and attack them so he wouldn't have to pay them the money, initially agreed on.

Or, it was another Minister or Noble entirely.

Either way, both had the same outcome. If he went back without the box, he was as good as dead, that's if the men attacking him didn't kill him first.

He knew what they were doing wasn't exactly legal, carrying and unsigned luggage into the City through improper means but that didn't warrant death.

The Guard assigned to kill him moved one step closer and Crunch moved a couple steps back, his eyes moving rapidly, looking for an escape route.

He couldn't leave his brother's just yet but it was just him against six armed Guards and he had nothing but a ceramic handled dagger, that was the length of his hand and buried somewhere in his rucksack.

He could try to run for it, luckily for him, they came from the other side of the tunnel, so there was an opening for him to make good his escape.

He felt bad for abandoning Spike but knowing how many times, the burly Guard with the scratched helmet had stabbed him with his wide sword, there was no saving him.

After making this decision, he turned around and fled, his actions were so instantaneous that the Guards were stunned for a moment but then the one chasing after him recovered.

The Guard quickly drew out a bow and arrow and aimed, the metallic projectile flew through a tight arc and slammed into its target.

Crunch hadn't run far, fast enough and he also hadn't counted on the fact that his enemies might have been with spears or arrows, even a small throwing dagger would have achieved the same thing.

As the arrow drove into soft skin, Crunch staggered, his eyes wide. He struggled to stumble a couple steps still but his vision was fast failing him.

He was falling to the ground, face first but the images flashing in front of his eyes weren't of the dusty floor.

"Birch, Tot." He mumbled, reaching out.

Dark blood was seeping out, soaking the earth, Crunch blankly watched his life force flow from him.

He should have stayed home, he should have listened to Birch, did he think he could become a Middle Class citizen by simply finding a way to get quick money.

A cynical chuckle bubbled in his throat, but it came out as a dying gurgle.

"I'm sorry." He whispered to no one as his vision faded.