Luka stood there silently as he listened to the sounds around him, he knelt down and felt the water trickling past his fingers before holding them up in the air and even sniffed the air a few times for good measure. He could hear the girl stumbling along in the dark and realised she was having a hard time seeing, which he’d partially forgotten about so he stopped and went back slightly, reaching out in confidence and taking her hand, prompting her to hold on his shirt, it would be too awkward to try and lead her around in the dark by the wrist again.

“No doubt they’ll have the city’s borders under guard as well. There won’t be escaping above ground. This way.” He said as he began leading her through the pipes with an unusual confidence, barely pausing whenever they came to a point where the pipes led off in different direction. He seemed to know exactly where he was going. Even so the pair was forced to crawl through the foul smelling darkness for over half an hour, Luka never allowing for a break, before light could finally be seen from somewhere up ahead. It was only small at first, a small distinction against the darkness but it quickly grew.

When they turned the next corner the light hit them full on and the exit lay before them. Luka approached it cautiously. The pipe let out to a large lake surrounded by a small, stony riverbank which eventually gave way to a layer of grass which then transformed into large trees, an entire forest spreading out before them. Luka stopped suddenly at the edge of the pipe, holding his arm out to stop the girl as he turned to her, one eyebrow raised slightly. “You can swim right?” He asked as he looked back down over the lip of the pipe.

It was a fair drop, a couple of metres but the water was deep. That was the part he was worried about. Swimming was nothing for him, but he was also aware many people couldn’t as he had used rivers to escape pursuers many time. However most, having grown up within cities never developed a need for it. He also knew the risk a drowning person could present to him if he tried to help them, panic flooding their system as they tried to climb on top of him to keep themselves above water. It seemed cruel to bring her out here, save her from certain death in there, only to let her drown.