Alsherok

Horyo paced his cell restlessly. The plan had gone awry. Shujin had the instructions, but Shujin was in some other cell, and it was, Horyo observed, going to be hard to get himself out, let alone Shujin. Horyo thought back to the root of the problem: An order by the wako lord, Shihaisha Shujin, to infiltrate Lord Arthmoor's palace and find a way to disable the magic shield keeping the rest of his comrades from attacking the palace and regaining it from Arthmoor, who had driven out the wako many years ago. Yes, he and Shujin had found a way to disable the thing, and wrote it down, but before they could touch the thing, Arthmoor's guards had pounced upon them like cats on mice. And now here they were, locked up in the dungeons below the palace, seemingly without hope. Horyo had to find a way out, but how? Clearly trying to overpower the guards would be futile: So many filled the guardroom above, it would hardly be a contest. He and Shujin had attempted to tunnel out, but the bone they had used to dig with had snapped. Clearly he could no longer use that option.

So Horyo sat, and he thought. Ideas passed through his mind, and after thinking them through, he rejected them. Suddenly, there was a screeching, and a small steel dish, filled with the tasteless gruel fed to the prisoners, was slid through the small food slot at the bottom of the door. And Horyo had an idea. Quickly, he gulped down the gruel. He would need strength. He slid aside the stone block concealing the tunnel, and using his plate as a shovel, began to dig. Using this was much easier than using the bone, especially in the soft soil here. So he dug, and dug. After hours of digging, he somehow entered another tunnel. Entering cautiously, he say that this tunnel, at least, was natural, and leading in the direction he wanted to go. Following the tunnel, using his hands to probe because he had no light, he came to the end. Some light shone through, and he climbed towards the light.

Entering the light, Horyo blinked. He was in a jungle, one near the sea. He could see it through the trees. Horyo sat and thought. If he went west, he would reach his home, or if he came out on the Dark River, he would have gone too far. So, picking his way through the foliage, he went west. After an hour through the jungle, Horyo recognized one of the clifftops used as watching posts by the Wako. A few steps, and he would be safe. Suddenly, arrows flew from the clearing and struck him. Following was the disbelieving face of another Wako. Horyo's last thought, before he died, was, "And only nine more steps."