Tunnel Escape Fates Entwined Now

They hadn’t been strangers. They had been tried in the same court, on the same day, for the same crime—a crime neither had committed. But the warden had separated them before they could speak. Three years, and they had never known each other’s names.

“We don’t go back,” she said. “Even if we have to dig through rock with our nails.” tunnel escape fates entwined

Instead, Liera offered him half of a stale bread she’d hidden in her sleeve. Corin tore a strip from his shirt to bind her bleeding hand. They hadn’t been strangers

They dug. The air grew thinner. The dark pressed in like a living thing. They broke surface just before dawn, half-blind and coughing mud. The forest smelled of wet pine and rot. No shouts from the prison. No torches. For one long, trembling moment, they were simply free . Three years, and they had never known each other’s names