"Nike what the hell are you-"

But Vangelis' words were cut off by the sound of his commander making her way down the tunnel they had just fallen threw and a sharp wave of nausea that took that moment to decide to flash along his collarbone, up the side of his neck and into his temple where it sent his eyes watering and his throat convulsing on empty retches.

Swallowing hard and squeezing his eyes shut against the pain, Vangelis took two calming and stomach-settling breaths in and out of his nose, before he was able to trust his speech again and, by this time, Nike was down in the hole with them and already setting about clearing the tunnel exit.

He had decided to ignore the sharp look she had given him but also chosen to ignore it as they both realised this wasn't the time to panic Euphemia. As for the rest... well if there had been much else to the conversation, Vangelis hadn't heard it. He'd been too preoccupied with holding down what little he had eaten at lunch only... Gods was that only a few hours ago?

"Get that wall down, Nike." He told his commander when he had control of himself. "Just enough to get Euphemia out." He told the two of them. "Euphemia, you're then going to run to the city and get the first group of guards you can find to come down here and help dig me out, do you understand?" He asked her. "Use my ring - do you still have it?"

Euphemia was the smallest of the three of them - she would require the least space to be freed. The smallest space, meant the smallest hole and least amount of water would start flowing in.

"You're going to have to run fast though, Euphie, okay?" He told her with is voice calm and his eyes hard. "That water's going to start filling this place up. Now..." He turned his gaze on his commander. "Here's the plan..."

Vangelis instinctively moved to gesture but pulled against his trapped limb and instantly went dizzy. Bending over, the pressure on his arm growing more intense, Vangelis was helpless against the dry retches that shook his body. He had seen it before in men dying on the battlefield - the body so aware that something was wrong, it reacted by trying to rid itself of whatever poison was killing it. Pain was no something you could simple vomit away, however, and as Vangelis leant over and his bent neck revealed the curve of his shoulder it became obvious that things were not looking so good. Black and purple bruising had already broken out along his skin, most of which was sliced and grazed from the rubble and streaks of red marked his veins beneath the skin clearly pinned by the rocks and cutting off blood flow the rest of his arm. His shoulder was the wrong sharp, the bones broken and dislocated out of position...

Drawing in another shaky breath and gaining control over his body's reflux, Vangelis managed to pull his weight back up and continue talking, despite his breath now coming out in pants.

"Now... the plan is..." He began again, careful not to gesture subconsciously this time. "That was the water comes in, it will take some of the weight off of the rocks - they'll be easier to move through the water, then they are through air." Vangelis wasn't entirely sure how such things occurred but he knew it to be true from experience - fabric grew heavier in water, and solid objects grew lighter. "So... Commander Nike will continue to dig me out, which should get gradually easier as the water rises. But we'll still need the extra hands, Euphie before... well, before it rises too high." He didn't have to elaborate on that point as it looked like they had both worked out the circumstances that would occur were Euphie not back quickly enough...

Her panic had been rising, but when she watched Vangelis convulse with pain and heave dryly, it swelled tenfold. “Lord Vangelis!” she cried out, falling once more to her knees to be at his side. Her gentle hand rubbed at the man’s arm, attempting to soothe him as his body reacted to the situation poorly. Her own was doing the same, fingers quivering and breath hitching in her lungs, but she attempted to help the man. She found her conscious darkening with guilt, but she forced herself to focus on the words he constructed and delivered his plan.

No elaboration was needed as to what it meant if the water pooled too high in the small space. Emphasis was placed upon the fact that the girl would need to sprint as fast as she possibly could. Hoping that her fear would not paralyze her, but rather provide catalyst to her speed, Euphemia nodded her head in agreement to the plan. “Yes, Lord Vangelis. I still have your ring, and I will run faster than my feet will carry me.” It was her way to reassure the man that she would try her absolute hardest.

As she affirmed she understood, the commander jogged away to the wall she had pointed out to him moments before. A soft ripping noise could be heard, which prompted the woman to lift her gaze. She caught the end of Nike’s gesture, and rose to her feet after administering one gentle rubbing to the crowned prince. Following the wave at a similar pace, reserving her speed for when it was needed most, the blonde allowed the ring to be taken from her largest finger and slipped over the fabric. Said material was then wrapped around her neck and secured at the base of it. Sweeping her hair to one side, Euphemia aided in the process, then lifted her chin once more.

Harsher words than Vangelis’ landed upon her ears. They gripped the fear she felt in her chest tightly, prompting it to die some. “I will, Commander,” she assured the high ranking solider, bobbing her head. “I will. I swear it.” Her affirmations were punctuated with the sound of metal on rock. Nike began to carve out the hole for her to fit through. Euphemia aided to the best of her abilities by pushing back the rocks that fell on contact, avoiding the sword’s trajectory by ducking her posture. Once the hole was large enough, Euphemia cast one last look at the prince. Her heart filled with fear once more, but also with determination. It had been her stupidity that got them into the situation. Euphemia could only pray that it would be her courage that saved them.

Nike laced his fingers together, offering a boost up into the hole. Taking it, Euphemia placed both of her hands on his broad shoulders before pushing up and off. She clambered up into the hole, against the flow of the water, and kicked her way to the top. The air in her system aided in her ascension, and she breached the surface in no time. Paddling to the nearby land, she flung herself desperately. Once ashore, she took off running, gripping the flopping metal around her neck and pressing it to her chest.

It took little more than half of an hour for her to find the men needed to do the job, and it took little more than a flashing of the prince’s ring to spring them into action. They grabbed any and every tool that would aid in the digging process, then followed the blonde back through the tunnel system. Their pace was faster than hers, both through training and the fact that she had already sprinted one way, but her voice was enough direction. When they fell upon the cave system, she guided them through. They filed through the hole Nike had created before, and then began to lower themselves into the pit where Nike and Vangelis awaited.

Hopefully alive.

The moment she had managed to get Euphemia through the small hole she had dug, her heart leaped to her throat when she saw the increased speed of which the water started flowing in - really, she should've expected it, what else would happen when you open up a hole that was at water level?

Wasting no time, she turned on her heels, hands still holding the hilt of her sword, and bent down to start digging her general out. Her brain had instinctively and automatically shut out the stinging sharp pain of all the lacerations on her palms. As long as the blood seeping out did not interfere or make her grip slip as she worked, Nike was intent on ignoring it as she worked, focusing on the piled up boulders around his body first, so she could get to his legs.

Even when he started speaking, she barely let it affect her, and merely ensured she was listening as she worked, her facial features tightening at his words. "How about we go back, and you show me where the false bottom is shall we? Your bedchamber is huge, last I checked. I wouldn't know which drawer you were talking about. Besides, I don't remember signing up to be your delivery boy." the commander muttered to her general, feigning ignorance while flashing a dangerous look at him. "You can punish me for defying an order later, General."

She was not usually like this. In her years of being in Vangelis's service, Nike had always abided by his orders, perhaps occasionally retorting with a smart quip or two, but she has never openly defied his orders before. Yet Nike did not want to entertain this particular set of orders. These orders held a tone of finality that struck a chill through Nike's heart.

Her fingers shook, her arms shivered, but even as the water climbed up her legs, she never stopped, sloshing around to change her positions. Using the hilt of her sword again, she pushed off the last of the boulders on his body and then crouched down to peer at the mass of boulders on his legs and arms, using a split second to decide that she wanted to free his arms first. At least with the water level climbing, he could probably use one of his arms to prop himself up.

Moving to the side of his head, she hissed when her hand touched the water, and the bandages she had haphazardly tied around her palms dampened and sunk deeper into her wounds. Ignoring the sharp pain, she started moving the boulder there, sharp eyes glaring at Vangelis when he spoke, asking her to stop. "I'm not leaving unless you're coming with me, Vangelis, and that's final." she retorted sharply, picking up the sword she had left lying down, and picked up her hilt to shove it under the biggest boulder. "I've almost got you out, so just deal with the scrapes and cuts, shall we? I've got a score to even out anyway." she shot the last comment at him with a dry grin, referring to their long standing little race on saving the other. Letting her gaze fall back to the boulder she was focusing on, Nike wedged the hilt further in, using her fingers to claw at it, almost taking off her own nails. Gritting her teeth as she shoved, a sense of relief filled her when she heard the huge boulder that scraped against the walls until it eventually fell into the rising water level, freeing his arms.

"What were you even thinking? You-" Catching herself, Nike paused, taking a deep breathe. Now was not the time, Nike. Not now. she reminded herself. She was angry at Vangelis for always putting his safety last, yet it was the exact same value in which she admired Vangelis for. The fact that he had consciously told Nike to dig him out from the outside angered the commander, that her general would put himself in such harm's way. But she'll deal with him later. Now, she needed to get him out. "How did you get here anyway?" she changed the subject, hoping that if she kept him awake and conscious with conversation, at least she'd be able to get something done.

Once she was done with his arms, Nike moved to his legs, working on the pile there. "Prop yourself up with your good arm, would you? Or do they both hurt? The water level's rising. But... I think they should be almost here. Sit up, here." she murmured, getting a majority of the pile of rocks off one of his legs, before sloshing over to prop him up. Her fingers that brushed over his skin felt the tremors, and her chest clenched with worry. She gripped his good arm, placing a palm behind his back to help him up, before chancing a glance up to the opening of the hole.

"Miss Euphemia! Tie a rope to a secure place, and drop the other end down! And drop the General's cloak down too!" she yelled up, hoping on the off chance that Euphemia is back with assistance. If she wasn't, Nike will just return to excavating the rest of the rocks around Vangelis's legs, but if she was, she wanted to get Vangelis trussed up with the ropes first and his injured arms and legs tied up so they didn't fling about on his ascend above, so her general could get out of harm's way. With the way his lips were turning blue, she didn't want to risk him staying down here any longer. It was as if she couldn't even feel the slow chill taking over her own skin, worried as she was over Vangelis's wellbeing for now. She did not need nor want a dead general and friend on her hands.

Vangelis was not aware of his surrounding anymore. He had difficulty breathing, his couldn't feel the right side of his body - like his brain had just cut off all senses there because it was too painful to keep receiving signals from his nerves and muscles. His head kept dipping below the water line not matter how much he tried to keep it up. He thought he was about to die, until he heard the sound of more boots sloshing their way towards him. Despite a fresh face full of water that their movement threw into his features, one of the men instantly cradled his head in his hands and kept him breathing air instead of salt water, for which he was profoundly grateful.

As Nike and the other continued to dig him out, he was almost unaware of the moment in which he was fully freed. Allowed to float in the water for a moment as the men organised getting him back up the tunnel, Vangelis wondered if he had blacked out for a minute or two as the next thing he remembered seeing was Euphemia's face looking down at him.

His eyes were tired and sending all images to him mind with a layer of blur and his body didn't seem to obey. While every muscle felt frozen they contradicted themselves by shaking and Vangelis had a sneaking suspicion that the pain in his mouth was his lips turning blue.

As his eyes rolled back into his head for a moment, he was then startled back into consciousness when one of the soldiers asked for orders in how to proceed.

He opened his mouth to speak, found it stubborn and his tongue numb. He stumbled on his words and made a momentary garble of noise before managing to get out - "Commander... Nike... Listen to... Nike."

And that was all the man knew, his mind shutting off entirely, his body going limp and his mind going blank.