Dying of boredom is a real thing. I'm not sure if anyone has actually died from being bored, but I felt like I was close.

You know how it feels when it's Summertime and you've been out of school for three weeks? I haven't been in actual school, but I've had similar situations. Boredom. That's the most succinct way to explain it. But it's more like torturously thick, endless boredom. When the days are long and the only thing that gives you any grasp of time is when you go to bed and wake up again. But after a while you end up going to bed at 5 in the morning and waking up at 10 at night. Most of your friends are on vacation or with their Grandma so you can't hang out with them. The only humans you socialize with are your siblings and mom. This is almost as bad as having no one to talk to, because they play with their other friends or completely ignore you.

Imagine the boredom of halfway-through Summer combined with the terminally-cold prison and the hanging sense of dread. That was exactly how I felt.

I tried to spring up conversation with Krishana, but I didn't think she wanted to be disturbed. We talked a bit about random things, but a real conversation never sprung.

"What do you think of animal captivity?" I asked. "Like animals living in zoos rather than the wild."

"You mean like us?" Shauna asked somberly.

"No, like in a zoo. They keep you in a cage and give you peanuts till you die of obesity."

"Sounds better than here." She said. I nodded in agreement.

"What about guys with long hair versus guys with short hair?" I asked.

"I have no idea what that means." Shauna said, talking to her wall. "And you must be more quiet."

"Like on human guys . . ." I trailed off, waiting for a response that I knew wouldn't come. "Never mind. Whatever."

I walked to where the light shined brightest through the ice and curled up. The floor felt like a bed of needles. The cold air felt like a soggy blanket made from moldy bread. I was exhausted from constantly shivering. I was starving. The last piece of food I had was a strip of beef jerky, and that was a day ago.

I don't remember how long I laid there. Maybe a few hours, but it felt like a few weeks. Every now and then I would moan or growl with despair. Once I got up and lined part of the floor with my fur. Krishana looked at me like I was weird, but to be fair, I was cold and she was pretty weird herself.

Despite my boredom and tiredness, I couldn't fall asleep. The ground never became comfortable. My stomach kneaded itself into a little lump of organ. Plus, my mother had told me never to fall asleep if it was terribly cold. As soon as you sleep, you drift to death. You're to tired to wake up once you begin sleeping. At the end of every frozen nap is certain death. So stay awake, no matter how hard it is. Don't even rest your eyes.

Good thing I couldn't sleep, but I knew I would collapse sooner or later and freeze to death. Did Krishana sleep at all? She had been here for a couple years. She didn't look tired at all; just grumpy and judgmental.

I didn't think at all before I spoke. I think it was like a random trigger reaction when there is nothing to say but you feel something. Like when you're hungry while mom is getting dinner ready and you announce your hunger status. "How are we gonna get out?"

"What?" Krishana growled, looking at me over her shoulder.

I had to remember what I said. It was completely from the top of my head, but it wasn't a bad idea. If we tried, we might be able to leave. If there's a way in, there's a way out. "How are we gonna get out of this prison and your father's castle? You don't think I'm gonna stay here forever and rot without making a fit about it, right?"

"You will only hasten your death if you try to escape. I have a chance of being released and avenging Gorizont. My father will notice his mistake sooner or later." Shauna said.

I got up and shook clingy furs off of me. "Well, I'm not related to Mr. Frozen brjuki, so I don't have a chance of survival. And I'd rather die quickly while escaping than later while being tortured."

Shauna didn't look very convinced. "I'm not leaving." She said briefly, turning her head back to the wall.

"You don't have to. But I want to. And I have no idea what this place looks like outside of the prison. How do we get out?" I asked.

"There isn't a we. There's you and there's me. I'm not leaving." Shauna said.

I frowned. What could I say to convince her of anything? She didn't have to go with me. I just wanted to get out. "Okay, but if we were to leave, which way would we go? What part of the prison would we chip away?"

"That corner over there, but we're not leaving. There isn't a way out."

"Oh my goodness! I don't care if there isn't a designated exit with sparkling lights and light-up arrows pointing towards it! I want to know if there was a way, where would it be? There's obviously a way in, or we wouldn't be here. How did you get in? I don't know how I got in; I was unconscious." I growled. "I'm gonna get out wether you want me to or not."

She turned around and faced me. Both of her glittering gold eyes slanted viciously. "I don't know how they got me in. I was in another dungeon before. Then I fell asleep and they brought me here. But when I was growing up, I was allowed to see almost every room in the palace. There was one room in particular that was about the size of this one but taller and it had a floor made of ice. The ice was thicker near the walls and it got thinner as it came to the center. Hanging from the ceiling was a fish tank with water in it." She said.

"Okay, cool," I said, interrupting her, "but where did the room lead to?" From her description, it was probably the upper half of the dungeon. I couldn't be too sure, but what other choice did I have?

"There were two exits." She clawed a circle in the icy stone that tapered into two exits, both across from each other. "This one led to the throne room and my father's living quarters along with the main entrance," she drew a long, fat tube from the left side of the circle, "while this one led to the servant's chambers, torture rooms, storage and weapon rooms." She drew a skinny tube from the right end. "I wasn't allowed to go there much, but there are secret tunnels that connect with servant chambers and my father's chambers. I would hide in them when my father got mad. I haven't explored them all, but I've heard that a few lead outside."

"Is there a way I could get in a tunnel?" I asked.

Shauna thought for a second. "Yes, but servants and guards go through them constantly. The main entrances would be impossible to get through. I don't know where the minor entrances would be. Even if I did, there's always a good reason not to go through them, like a booby trap or something. And there's no way in the name of Nick's beard that you could navigate the tunnels safely. They're like a labyrinth. Full of monsters and traps."

I wondered why Krishana would ever want to go into the tunnels in the first place. Then I thought of how cruel the Ice Wolf could be. Anything, even monsters, would be better than the Ice Wolf's fury. I had only met him once before, and he was being nice. Even then, he was extremely creepy.

"Okay. Could you draw me a map or something?" I asked. "Maybe I could memorize it."

She laughed dryly. "I wandered the tunnels for years, and I've only memorized a fraction of all the tunnels. I bet I haven't gotten to half of them. I got lost often and servants helped me get back. There is no way you could even go from one room to another, let alone dodge servants, monsters and traps while finding a way out."

I frowned. Her lack of faith in me was disturbing. "Any other ways?" I asked.

"The main entrance and a servant chamber door. Both are heavily guarded. But in a torture room, a river runs underground. A shallow hole has been carved in the ground so they can drown prisoners in the river while holding their heads down. The river comes from a waterfall higher up the mountain and washes out somewhere. Most likely a tunnel, or even outside."

"Really?" I asked. "How long until the water reaches the surface? And is that room guarded?"

"Twenty meters? Several hundred kilometers? I don't know." Shauna said. "And almost every room is guarded. During death ceremonies or punishment ceremonies they're guarded very well. The rest of the time there's maybe one or two, maybe three guards."

Could I take on three guards?

Yeah. I could.

Could I hold my breathe for several minutes?

Yeah. I could.

Could I navigate through tunnels towards an exit that probably didn't exist while avoiding booby traps?

Yeah. I could.

I'm the main character; I can do anything.

I can get out of here, no matter how hard it will be. I thought.

I swallowed. "Krishana?" I asked.

She folded her ears to her head, as If she didn't like the sound of her name. "What?"

"Would you mind doing a few favors for me?" I asked.

"Oh no," she shook her head back in forth. "I'm not leaving. I won't leave. You can't make me leave."

"You don't need to leave!" I blurted, stopping her mad train of thought. "I just will need some help to get out. I can't do it by myself. You don't have to come with me. You can stay and wade out your . . . jail time. But I have to get back to the North Pole. They need me. Christmas is in two weeks. I can't wait for your father to kill me if I have the slightest chance of getting out. If you help me, I promise to you that I will defeat your father and help you get back with Gorizont. I swear on my life. If there is a God, and if he can hear me right now, then I promise that I will fight my way out of here or die trying. I'll die before I give up." My voice ringed with determination. Something deep within my soul had coughed up those words.

Krishana lifted her head up. "Your words have swayed me." I smiled, feeling relief pump through my blood. "I'll help you. I will not leave, but I will help you. Or die trying."

Krishana smiled a bit.

"Okay." I said, standing up and stretching my tail out. "I have an idea, but I need you to draw me a map. It doesn't have to be pretty, but tell me the details of every room. I'll need to know everything you know about your father's palace. Don't leave out a single detail."