“Keep up, would you!?” Liaena gasped as she rounded the corner of yet another crate, to make for the door Hester had pointed out. 

“I’m [i]am[/i], the air is just [i]foul[/i]” Bella wheezed, hard on her heels as the girl chanced a glance behind her. “Crap! The mage’s seen us!”

“What!?”

Liaena barely had the chance to look back as the spell rocketed towards them. Diving for cover behind another pile of boxes, whatever it was impacted against their cover and sending a shower of sparks towards the roof. Liaena silently blessed the huge piles of junk and their small stature as she looked over at the door, now not so very far away. 

“I’ll get them, milady!”

“Watch it---!”

“Gah! GIANTS!”

Liaena and Bella scattered as the crates were unceremoniously pushed aside by the servant girl, who towered over them like a mountain. Liaena found herself ducking and weaving as she dodged from the girls clumsy grabs, while keeping one eye on the door that now wasn’t so far away at all. 

“Dammit! Get out of the way, girl!” The mage cursed as she ran towards the serving girl, as Liaena backed away from the huge boots advancing on her, turned and dived for the thin crack separating the door from the stone tiles. Bella glanced frantically at the crack as her companion slithered under it, looked back at the mage and evidently decided to opt for the lesser of two evils as she also made a mad run for it. 

“They went in here!” The servant girl called back to her mistress as she rattled the door handle frantically. The door initially failed to budge before she yanked back the heavy bolt and pulled it open with a creak. “Come back here! Or I’ll…!”

The girl’s voice tailed as she stared down the dark corridor, only lit by the glow of the room behind her casting odd shadows onto the floor. Behind her, a small owl emerged from a stack of crates to flutter over her head and swoop down the corridor with a brief ‘cluck’ of thanks left behind her. 

“Where does this go…? …”