Iseldis wasted no time slipping through the crack once they'd agreed on the plan, going head-first with her back to the ground. She reached down to touch the cold earth with a bare hand as soon as she could, to make sure there actually [i]was[/i] a floor and that she wouldn't simply fall to her death. Then came the legs, which Roland helped push through, at which point she dropped ungracefully to the floor.

Quickly she scrambled to her feet and lit a small magical light in her palm so she could see what she'd fallen into. She gasped in surprise, instinctively retreating a step to put her back to the wall. "Oh no," she breathed to herself. Not only did she not have immediate access to the barred door, she found herself in a long, narrow hall, with no end in sight, and on either side of her were cramped stone bunks of sorts, every one filled with a sleeping draugr. She'd put herself right into their barracks.

And with the sounds of fighting, they were beginning to wake. Iseldis had to think fast. Her first thought was to retreat back through the hole, to rejoin Roland, but then they'd be trapped there, and she doubted she could even squeeze through before they were on her. The other option was to press forward, with no guarantee she'd be able to find her way back to Roland. That thought terrified her more, but she knew it was what she had to do. She had to push down her fear, and open the way for him.

She moved forward at a steady but swift pace, the chill in the air creeping into her bones. Goddess, it was cold here. Her light illuminated only a short distance in front of her, giving her the sense that she wasn't moving at all, as she found only more draugr. Some reached for her as she passed, dead fingertips grasping at her robes or the silver ribbons trailing from them. Behind her she knew they were rising, and would soon be in pursuit.

One was able to snatch her wrist, and she yelped, her steady breathing suddenly becoming panicked as she tried to pry its grip off. Quickly she resorted to magic, conjuring a thin blade to slice the hand clean off, at which point the hand fell from her. Iseldis turned and ran, unable to stop herself any longer. The light failed to illuminate far enough ahead, though, and Iseldis ended up running straight into a draugr's outstretched arms before she could react.

Its hands closed around her throat and cut off her breath, stopping her cold. She grabbed at its forearms, unable to free herself, and a moment later it drove her backwards and turned her into the wall, her back colliding with a bunk. Terror overwhelmed her as others closed in, all empty handed but still dangerous. She couldn't see them, her eyes locked on the one snarling before her, but she felt their hands. Her arms were pulled away and trapped out at her sides. Two crawled from the bunks behind her, one grabbing her by the belt and holding her back, the other wrapping hands around her midsection and clawing at her belly.

The claws were sharp enough to pierce and draw blood. Still unable to breathe, Iseldis felt herself slipping. Her light faded until she saw only darkness and the faint blue hue of the draugr's eyes. They were everywhere now, clinging to her legs and pulling at her hair. The thought raced through her mind: [i]this is how you'll die, torn apart by draugr in the black depths of the earth.[/i]

She refused. She had the power to survive this, she just had to will it to the surface. It erupted in the form of blinding light magic exploding from all sides of her body. Those draugr close enough to touch her were disintegrated into dust, the rest thrown backwards. Iseldis gasepd in one breath, then another, the sounds in her ears muffled and distorted. Her balance failed her when she tried to stand, and she was met with a sharp pain in her abdomen where the draugr had wounded her. She pressed a hand to it, urging more magic to her palm to slow the bleeding. With her other hand she steadied herself, and kept going forward.

The draugr were still recovering, giving her time to get by the worst of it. A few weakly grasped at her boots from the ground, but she shook them off and kept going until she finally found a door. Iseldis rammed it open with her shoulder, stumbling into the next room and closing it behind her. A heavy wooden cabinet filled with some kind of alchemical instruments was next to it. She got to the far side, and with all her strength, was able to tip it over to block the door and prevent the draugr from escaping.

Iseldis fell to her knees after taking one more step, once more fighting against exhaustion. Her newest wound was going to take some time for her drained magic to heal, but the bleeding wasn't severe. It was just another step towards escape. She had to get up, she had to keep going.

She had to find her way back to Roland.
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