The tunnel stretched out—dark, monotonous and claustrophobic.

Binara had lost track of time since they entered it. The nagas held torches that illuminated the way, and the firelight reflected off their scales. Their lower bodies slithered on the ground, powerful muscles contracting and relaxing. Dusky plates covered their limbs and overlapped like pangolin armor. Tribal art and body piercings stood out in striking colors, primarily yellow, which Binara thought might serve to intimidate enemies as well as convey their rank.

If she harbored any thoughts of escaping, they were put to rest the further they went. The nagas never let their guard down, and their faces were set in a grim mask, eyes alert and unblinking. It was as if they were transporting dangerous prisoners, which was probably the case when it came to Diyan.

She glanced at him. He walked ahead of her, manacles clanking with each step. The metal looked large and heavy, though he gave no indication that it bothered him. She had no idea what he was thinking, but as for her, hopelessness weighed her down. The nagas might kill them eventually. Given that she was human, she could even become an exotic pet to their chieftain. She wondered how long she would last in Holmanloke, since just one week in Diyan's palace had its toll on her.

The fate that might await them was bad enough, but on top of that, images of horror flashed in her mind—demons overrunning Hevana, people dying and the city plunging into a dark age. Their quest had failed even before they reached Mount Meru. A headache pulsed into existence, and she sucked in rapid breaths, struggling to rein in the panic.

The tunnel forked now and then, which hinted at a vast network. On occasion, percussive noises echoed down, which Binara thought could be tunneling work in progress. Eventually, they arrived at an underground settlement that appeared to be a military outpost.

Crude structures of stone and clay occupied the space, with totems and flags that displayed snake heads. Doorways led to several chambers, their interiors hidden in the gloom. Binara spied steps and arches as well as a hole in the roof, which might have been a ventilation shaft. The whole place reminded her of a termite mound.

As they ventured further in, a dozen nagas slithered into view, and the air almost sizzled with anticipation. Their language hissed in Binara's ears as rapid commands fired back and forth. Torch light flashed on slit pupils, scaly bodies and endless walls of hewn rock—until her head started to spin.

She had a moment to register Diyan being led through a doorway, and in that moment, he turned and caught her eye. He mouthed a word, which she couldn't make out. Before she could ponder it more, three warriors whisked her away to a holding cell. One of them took her backpack and Diyan's weapons through a door along the way.

There was nothing inside the cell but for a stone bench. When she refused to move, a nagini punched her in the ribs. Binara gritted her teeth against the pain, and the instant she staggered in, the barred door slammed shut behind her. A key turned in the lock. The nagini took position outside, cold eyes drilling into her.

Binara slumped down in a daze. The headache intensified, and she curled into a ball. Imprisoned under tons of earth, the maddening quiet ate away at her—except for the low booming sounds that reverberated through the place at infrequent intervals.

Memories blended with nightmares. She was back at school, running down the corridor. The dead teacher drifted after her, shimmering and weightless. No matter how fast she ran, the specter drew closer. Bloated hands reached out, brushing her hair. Binara's mouth opened in a silent scream.

She pushed through the door at the nick of time and emerged in a mist-veiled garden. The well stood before her, its dark mouth spewing copious amounts of ectoplasm. The ghost boy crawled out, empty sockets as black as tar. Binara ran, heart thundering in her chest. The mist grew thicker, transforming into eerie shapes.

A girl materialized ahead. Binara's panicked eyes locked on to her, and relief flooded her system. As she drew near, facial features gained definition. It was Piumi.

"Binnie, I got this made for you," Piumi said, handing her the flower hairpin.

The mist cleared in tandem with the fear. The details faded and morphed into featureless rock, almost invisible in the dimness.

Binara blinked. She was in her prison cell, curled on the bench. The headache had subsided. Her hand reached up and touched the flower on her hair.

She had to escape. It was probably too late to get to Mount Meru before Mahasona attacked, but she had to get out. Diyan entered her mind, and guilt stirred inside. She had convinced him to go on this crazy quest, and now, he was a prisoner because of her. She had to break both of them out. Newfound resolve jostled its way to the forefront of her brain.

Yet, she had no weapons, and her backpack was nowhere in sight. Binara turned her head to stare at the door. Lantern light spilled in through the metal bars. A nagini stood guard, leaning against the wall. Her piercings glinted in the light, and she wore a necklace of animal teeth. Binara eyed the key ring at her waist, though she couldn't think of any way that she could get her hands on it.

Her thoughts strayed to Diyan again. He was probably in a worse position than her, with the manacles binding his hands and feet. Her inner eye recreated the moment she last saw him and the mysterious word he mouthed. She screwed her eyes shut and concentrated. What are his options in this situation?

He couldn't attempt to fight, since the nagas threatened to kill her. Binara recalled what he told her about teleportation. He didn't know her exact location, but she had his mark, so technically, he could pull it off. He would first have to jump to the human realm before he could get to her, which meant multiple jumps back-to-back—similar to what he did the first time he met her at the cemetery. It would prove tricky and exhausting, but it wasn't impossible. The nagas probably anticipated the possibility, and it was likely that they had him at knifepoint to prevent him from trying.

Binara's frown deepened. She jogged down memory lane. Who did he call when he wasn't around to get something done? Suddenly, she knew the word he was trying to convey to her. Excitement mingled with hope, and she sat upright. Raya.

He would get Raya to teleport to this underground settlement, though she wouldn't be able to take down multiple warriors who were probably guarding Diyan. That meant Diyan would send Raya to find her—if he hadn't already.

Binara walked to the cell door, and the nagini tensed, slit eyes focused on her. The big cat had excellent senses, so she wouldn't have trouble finding her. She was also silent and stealthy, which meant she wouldn't get caught. Binara gripped the bars and casually looked around the passage outside. Shadows pooled further away, and what looked like storage boxes were stacked up against the walls.

Her sixth sense detected Raya first. The leopard crouched next to a box, invisible in the dark.

This was obviously the moment Raya had been waiting for. She leaped at the guard, aiming for the throat. The nagini went down hard, tail writhing, and fought back viciously. Raya dodged and held on. Only a gurgle escaped as the leopard's jaws clamped down harder. Binara froze and tore away her eyes. It was over in less than a minute.

A wave of nausea made her gag. Through a haze of guilt and horror, Binara watched Raya pull off the key ring and bring it to her. There was no time to pause. Another guard could arrive and see the body. She had to get out.

Binara took the keys and fumbled with them to find the correct one. Every clink made her heart beat louder. Finally, she made it out into the passageway. Raya brushed her legs in greeting, and she gave her a hug.

"Thank you," Binara whispered against the silky fur.

Suddenly, a muffled sound reached her ears. Now that she was out, Diyan was probably on attack mode. Her body kicked into action, and she broke into a sprint. If she had any chance of fighting, she had to find her backpack. The fact that there was no explosion meant that they probably hadn't opened her box of ammunition.

A naga warrior emerged from a doorway, spear raised, but Raya moved with liquid grace. She floored him in a heartbeat. As he fell to the floor, he waved the spear, trying to stab the cat. Raya dodged the attack and maintained her chokehold, though the blade drew a bloody line across her flank. She whined.

Binara panted as she examined the wound, which was, thankfully, shallow.

She resumed her run, the leopard at her heels, and passed two empty cells before she came upon the door through which the naga disappeared with the confiscated items. It turned out to be a weapons chamber, with axes, spears, clubs and heavy firearms lining the walls. Her backpack sat on a table, with Diyan's knife and sword.

She stuffed the knife into the backpack and hoisted it onto her shoulders. Then she did her best to attach the sword to her belt. It dangled awkwardly against her legs. The noises had escalated to a full-blown cacophony, and a gong clanged and reverberated down the passageway.

Binara bounded out of the room, slingshot in hand.

She followed the commotion through a monotony of rock and clay, interspersed with lantern light. This time, she met no opposition. A part of her wondered if this was Diyan's way of creating a diversion so she could escape. The thought vibrated a heartstring. If you think you're going to put on a one-man show here, you beastie, you're mistaken.

She rounded a corner and came upon a scene of chaos. A cell door dangled on its hinges, bent out of shape. A dozen nagas obscured her view, while a few fallen ones lay unmoving. A second later, three of them went flying, and she glimpsed Diyan fighting, manacles still on his hands.

"Get back," Binara shouted, pulling out one of her pellets and taking aim. "Now!"

Diyan caught her eye for a nanosecond. Then he leaped back into the cell.

She fired.

The explosion rocked the chamber. Rock and dust rained down. Nagas lay on the ground—dead, wounded or disoriented. Binara swallowed the bile that rose in her throat. All her life, she had fought ghosts. She had never signed up for this kind of carnage.

Binara stood rooted to the spot a second too long. She didn't see the nagini who came up behind her. Raya roared and took her down.

Diyan emerged from the cell, pushing aside a broken bench that probably shielded him from the blast. The manacles trailed from his wrists, ending with chunks of wall. He had ripped himself free. His chest heaved, and a long cut on his arm glistened with blood. When he met her eyes, his expression shifted from relief to disbelief, as if he couldn't believe she came back for him and fought off a horde of snake people. Raya bounded up to him, and his lips tweaked into a smile.

Binara forced her legs to move. "How do we get those manacles off you?"

"Are you alright?" he whispered.

"I should be asking you that!" Her eyes darted from one naga to another. "Do you know which one had the keys?"

By the time she freed him, more warriors streamed in from a doorway behind her. Battle cries resounded off the walls.

"Run," Diyan yelled.

She didn't need to be told twice. They sprinted the other way. Diyan could probably teleport her back to the human realm now, but that meant abandoning the mission. Her stomach roiled. Before she could ponder it more, a low boom sounded in the distance.

"What were they trying to do to us?" Binara wrestled the sword off her belt and tossed it to him.

"It's worse than I thought." A frown shadowed his face. "Out of what I gleaned from their talk, they are in contact with the demons of Raa."

The words sent a chill down her spine. "And?"

"Let's just say that you probably have a high bounty on your head. As do I."

"Shit," Binara panted under her breath. "Where are we going?"

"We follow the noise," he said, veering through an archway.

"What?"

"Nagas build long tunnels and big underground settlements. Even Garuda may have underestimated the expansion." He paused under a puddle of light, deliberating which way they should go. "And when it comes to construction of this scale, they need efficient transport—between settlements, quarries and the world above. Come on."

Comprehension dawned as she hastened to follow him. As they rounded a corner, her eyes widened. Ahead of her, the tunnel opened into railways.

That was as far as they went.

Nagas burst into the tunnel from a side door. The warriors giving chase closed in on them from behind. Diyan fired out a burst of demonic aura—a directional wave that flung multiple nagas off their path. Raya felled one as she bounded forward after Diyan. Everything was a tumult of violence and noise that pummeled Binara from all sides.

A nagini grabbed her hoodie in an iron grip. In a split second, she ripped open the zipper and slipped out of it. The momentum sent the snake woman tumbling back. It was the second hoodie she had lost, after the Mara demon ruined the first at Natran.

Binara ran beside Diyan, who kept up the offensive until they were at the lead. The tunnel opening loomed enticingly close, and the booming noise grew louder.

Diyan abruptly pulled her to the side—in time to dodge a flying axe, followed by a spear. He turned around to attack their pursuers, who gained on them. A moment later, the nagas smothered them like an incoming tide. Diyan held them back, but the sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm him.

The solution dawned on Binara. She whipped out a sura pellet, fitted it to her slingshot and took aim at the roof of the tunnel—directly above the surging nagas. Diyan caught on to her plan and drew back. She released the band.

The explosion thundered in her ears—a mini apocalypse in the cramped tunnel. The shockwave pushed her to the ground, and she shielded her eyes against the heat and dust. Through ringing ears and a coughing fit, Binara studied the aftermath.

The reinforced arch still held, and the nagas climbed over the debris and fallen bodies. She fired again until rocks tumbled down. To her horror, she realized she had run out of ammunition.

While Diyan fought off three warriors, another nagini pounced on Binara. She used the limited angampora moves she knew to wrestle with her attacker, who was not much bigger than her. Binara's agile body twisted into a headlock, but the next instant, the nagini bit her hand.

Venom seared through her veins. She screamed and kicked off—right when Diyan's arm circled around her waist and pulled her back. He unsheathed his kastane, and she could feel the power radiating from him. He swung the sword, shooting out a concentrated blast of dark energy—straight at the weak point in the roof already damaged from her bombing spree.

"Go, go, go," Diyan yelled.

The tunnel collapsed, blocking the nagas' pursuit. Dust bloomed as they jumped off the tunnel and onto the railways.