Azad and Ellie leaned against the cold, stone walls of the narrow tunnel, catching their breath after barely escaping the swarm of spiders. The air was thick with the damp, earthy smell of the mineshaft, and their torches cast faint, flickering light against the crumbling walls around them.
Ellie wiped sweat from her brow, her face still flushed from the chase. "Azad, we've got enough loot for now. I think it's time to get out of this cursed mineshaft." She glanced at the iron ingots and coal they'd managed to gather. "One bite from a spider, and we're poisoned. Without herbs, we'd be goners. It's not worth the risk."
Azad sighed, his body still tense from the close call. "To be honest, I never even wanted to come down here. You dragged me into this nightmare! Let's just leave already."
Ellie raised an eyebrow, giving him a sarcastic grin. "Okay, princess. Sorry for troubling your Royal Highness." She stood up, her tone softening as she adjusted her shield. "Don't worry, I left marks along the way. We can follow them back and—"
She froze, eyes widening as she spotted movement behind Azad. In the dim torchlight, a green figure loomed, its silent, menacing form unmistakable.
"Azad, move!" Ellie shouted, shoving him behind her as she swung her shield in front of her. The hiss of the creeper filled the tunnel, a terrifying sound that sent a jolt of panic through them both.
Azad stumbled backward, eyes wide with fear. "What?! What's going on?"
Before he could get an answer, the creeper exploded in a blinding flash of light and sound. Ellie's shield absorbed the brunt of the blast, the force of it rattling her bones. The air filled with dust and debris, and for a moment, everything was drowned out by the deafening roar of the explosion.
But just as the shock wore off, the real danger began. The mineshaft walls groaned, and cracks snaked along the wooden beams holding up the ceiling. Dust and small rocks began to fall as the structure buckled under the damage caused by the explosion.
"Ellie," Azad gasped, eyes wide as the ceiling started to crumble. "We have to get out of here! The whole place is collapsing!"
Ellie didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed Azad's arm, pulling him to his feet. "Run, now!" she shouted, her voice strained with urgency.
They sprinted down the tunnel, the ground shaking beneath their feet. Behind them, the mineshaft walls were collapsing, the sound of wood splintering and stone crashing echoing in their ears. Dust and debris clouded the air, making it hard to see, but they kept running, focusing on survival.
"Ellie, this is bad!" Azad yelled over the noise, dodging a falling chunk of rock.
"No kidding!" Ellie shouted back, narrowly avoiding a beam that crashed in front of her. "Just keep running!"
The tunnel seemed endless, every turn bringing more danger as the mineshaft crumbled around them. Azad's heart pounded in his chest, his legs burning from the effort of running. He could barely hear his thoughts over the chaos, but he knew one thing—they couldn't stop, not if they wanted to make it out alive.
Suddenly, a sharp thwack cut through the noise, and Ellie stumbled, letting out a pained gasp. Azad turned just in time to see an arrow embedded in her arm, fired from a skeleton lurking in the shadows.
"Ellie!" Azad shouted, panic rising in his throat. He reached for her, his hand gripping her uninjured arm as she stumbled forward, gritting her teeth in pain.
"I'm fine," Ellie gasped, her voice strained. "We need to keep moving. Now!"
Azad nodded, his heart racing. They pushed forward, Ellie's pace slowing as she clutched her wounded arm. The skeleton's rattling echoed behind them, but there was no time to fight back. The tunnel was collapsing faster now, the ground beneath their feet crumbling away as they sprinted for their lives.
"I can see the tunnel we came from!" Azad shouted, spotting the familiar markings on the wall. Relief flooded through him, but it was short-lived. The ground behind them gave way with a thunderous crash, sending a wave of dust and debris hurtling toward them.
"Go, go!" Ellie urged, her face pale with pain but her determination unwavering.
They threw themselves into the tunnel, just as the entrance behind them collapsed in a cloud of dust and stone. Azad and Ellie tumbled to the ground, gasping for breath, their bodies covered in dirt and bruises. The sound of the collapse echoed through the tunnel, but for now, they were safe.
Ellie winced, clutching her injured arm as she sat up. "That... was too close," she muttered, her voice shaky.
Azad, still catching his breath, looked at her with wide eyes. "You think?! I almost got blown up, we nearly got buried alive, and then you got shot by a skeleton! What else could possibly go wrong?"
Ellie managed a pained smile, her breath still ragged. "Let's not tempt fate, okay? Let's just... get out of here."
Azad nodded, glancing back at the wreckage behind them. The path they had just run through was completely sealed off now, the mineshaft lost to the collapse. "Well, there's no going back now."
Ellie gritted her teeth, standing up slowly. "Nope. Forward is the only way."
Together, they pressed on, battered, bruised, but alive. The collapse may have nearly crushed them, but they had survived. Now, all that was left was to find their way out of this endless nightmare.