Tursed my worid upside down

The young people quickly opened the doors to the dungeon and, without stopping, went forward.

"Wait," a quiet and plaintive voice was heard.

Klaus turned his head back and saw fragile hands clasping the bars of the first and only occupied cell.

"Sorry, but we are in a bit of a hurry," Klaus threw at her and was about to move on, when the girl spoke up again.

"You are not the guards of this place, are you? Take me with you!"

"We don't have time to mess around with you."

"Please! I don't care who you are or what you'll do to me, I'm ready to do anything to leave this prison," there was genuine pleading and tears in the girl's voice. Klaus didn't answer and pulled Egor forward, who seemed to be glued to the floor.

"Klaus, we can't leave her here."

"Of course we can! Let's go!"

"Klaus," Egor hissed unusually sternly, which made the prince stop trying to drag him forward and turn around.

"Are you serious? All the guards of the estate and the magicians have opened a hunt for us, and you decided to become the savior of an unknown girl?"

"She doesn't look like a criminal! They're clearly keeping her here for a reason! What if... what if she can be useful to us!"

"Are you serious?" Klaus measured his friend with a skeptical look, but his determination did not diminish. "Fuck!" Klaus cursed and turned back to the cage "but if anything happens, you'll have to deal with it yourself.

"Of course!" Egor smiled broadly.

"And if I hear the guards approaching, we'll abandon them and leave! Got it?"

"Yeah."

Klaus walked up to the bars and tugged them a few times.

"Take your hands off," the prince ordered the girl and was about to send a bolt of lightning through the keyhole when the girl stopped him.

"Sir, there's a bunch of keys hanging on the wall in the corner."

"Really? They left the keys to the cell here?"

"I can't get to them in any way, and besides the slaves who bring me food and the old woman who pumps me dry...," the girl shook her head, and Klaus decided that he could ask questions later.

Egor handed Klaus the keys. The prince looked at the bunch appraisingly.

"The one that is not the rustiest," the captive prompted.

He opened the cell and let the girl go ahead. She was not very steady on her feet, but her expression conveyed her determination to escape at any cost.

"Egor, go ahead, you, what's your name, will follow him, I will be the last one just in case," Klaus gave the order and everyone moved forward.

"Lilith," said the girl. "My name is Lilith."

There was no pursuit and this did not surprise Klaus. Who in their right mind would hide in the dungeons, driving themselves into a corner? Unless of course they knew that there was a secret exit in the dungeon and the lack of pursuit convinced Klaus that no one knew about this passage, except perhaps the former queen, but the prince doubted that she would personally take part in the search for her fugitive son. This woman was most likely sitting in her room with a glass of wine and waiting for Klaus's severed head to be brought to her, but she was not destined to get what she wanted. At least, not today.

They had already passed the wide part of the tunnel, and were distributed in a chain, gradually bending lower and lower until they continued on all fours.

"Hey, move your legs, you're moving slower and slower." Klaus barked at Lilith.

"It wasn't me," the girl whispered barely audibly. It was clear from her voice that she was moving only by willpower, and her own energy reserves had long since been exhausted.

"I'm sorry," Egor wheezed. "Apparently, all the adrenaline has worn off. I feel strange. I'm tired and hot."

"Be patient a little," Klaus said in a completely different voice, more caring. "We've already entered the narrow part of the tunnel, which means we'll get out soon."

As if to confirm his words, a faint light appeared in the distance, penetrating through the hole and the intertwined roots of an old tree.

"Yes," Egor wheezed "I can already see the exit."

They don't make it literally a few steps when the girl suddenly stops and groans.

"What's going on?" Klaus asks worriedly.

"This young gentleman, he... he fell."

"Egor!" Klaus shouts at his friend, but no one answers him.

"Damn it! What's wrong with him?"

The girl began to fidget, reaching out to Egor.

"It's dark here, I can't see, but he definitely has a fever. He's very hot and wet."

"Damn! What the fuck! Can you push him towards the exit?"

"I'll try."

More fidgeting, the girl's ragged breathing, another attempt.

"Forgive me, sir. I don't have enough strength," Lilith says with tears in her voice.

"Lie down."

"What, excuse me?" the girl was scared.

"I said, stretch out your legs and lie down, pressing yourself to the ground, I'll try to crawl forward."

"Okay," there was doubt in her voice, but she did not contradict her savior.

Klaus squeezed back, making room for the girl to stretch out on the ground. As soon as the scuffle ended, Klaus heard the girl's muffled voice confirming that she was ready. He moved forward, trying to place his legs and arms on Lilith's sides, but the passage was low, and the prince had to practically press himself against the petite girl, who shuddered at every touch.

"Sorry," Klaus said, feeling the awkwardness of the situation.

"Everything is fine, sir. It is I who am weak to help your companion and I am glad that I can at least do something so as not to interfere with you."

Klaus approached Egor, whose body was indeed burning. He cursed again. After being in another world, it had become his bad habit, another bad habit. How he wished he could smoke a cigarette now!

The prince tensed his arms and pushed his friend's body forward. Yegor let out a barely audible, painful groan as his cheek slid along the ground.

"Sorry, but you'll have to be patient for a bit."

He slowly moved Egor toward the hole, trying to hurt him as little as possible, but it was no easy task. As soon as he literally pushed the guy through the hole and climbed out himself, he turned Egor onto his back and pulled him away from the entrance. He examined pale face, smeared with dirt and white dust, noticed his sweat-soaked shirt, and turned his gaze to his wounded arm.

"What the hell!" He reached out to the back of Egor's hand. The skin around the puncture had turned black, and grayish veins diverged from it, stretching upward and already wrapping around more than half of his forearm.

"Hey, what are you stuck there for?" He called out to the girl, who still hadn't appeared from the hole.

"Master, but you didn't order me to get up," Lilith's quiet voice was heard

"Are you completely stupid?" Klaus got angry. "I'm not your nanny, learn to think with your own head and come out right now!"

Lilith crawled out of the hole, closing her eyes from the bright light and gasped.

"Master!" She exclaimed in a trembling voice.

"What?" He turned his head towards her irritably, not letting go of Egor's grayed palm, and turned his gaze to where the girl was pointing with her hand. "Damn it," he cursed, and the prince's senses became heightened again.

How could he not have heard the clatter of hooves when the riders were so close? How could he have let his guard down and not inspected the area? Egor's condition had completely thrown the prince off balance, and for the first time since he was five, he was defenseless. What would have happened if Lilith had stayed a minute longer? Or had they not taken the girl with them at all?

"Keep an eye on him, Klaus said to the girl and straightened up."

At least fifty soldiers. Guards under the king's banner. His mother's jailers. She had told them about the secret passage, otherwise the army would not have been able to find them so quickly at such a distance from the estate.

"What should I do?" Lilith asked in confusion, kneeling down next to Egor.

"I don't know, fuck! I don't know, just make sure he doesn't die," Klaus groaned resignedly.

He couldn't be distracted by another battle. Every minute could cost his friend his life, and he didn't even know who to ask for help in this godforsaken place. Rage enveloped his mind.

"Sod-off! Get out of here, everyone, if you want to save your miserable lives," he growled at the approaching procession, but the soldiers, naturally, did not turn around.

They surrounded the young men. The weapons were already at the ready, and if Klaus twitched, one of the arrows would definitely pierce him. He clenched his fists. The discharges enveloped his body against his will.

"Curb your ardor, Your Highness, if you want to save your friends. We do not need to kill them."

"Somehow your brothers in the estate did not show such soft-heartedness."

The one who spoke took a quick look at the girl and Klaus understood everything. She was needed alive, so they were careful.

"I will take advantage of your hospitality some other time, but now I need to go."

The prince was angry and impatient, but he did not let his guard down. He heard the clatter of hooves behind him. "Not this," flashed through his mind. If these were reinforcements, then they would definitely not get out alive. Klaus decided to take a risk.

"I take it you are not going to let us go? Then I will burn everything and everyone here."

"Have you lost your minds?" the leader asked them, smiling. "Do not forget that your comrades can also suffer."

Despite the calm voice and smile on his face, Klaus saw that the squad captain was nervous and involuntarily glanced at Lilith.

"We are finished anyway, aren't we? So why don't I take the initiative into my own hands?"

The hand of one of the archers trembled, and the arrow landed behind Klaus, between him and Lilith, who was sitting on knees.

"Arsehole!" the captain barked at him.

"Forgive me!"

Klaus clenched his fists, filling them with energy. He prayed that everything would work out and that the damage would not affect him and Yegor, but there was no choice. He would either risk everything, or they would die from arrows or swords.

The prince allowed his power to envelop his entire body and released a powerful discharge into the sky with a piercing battle cry. This helped him to let go of his anger a little and return his cool head. The soldiers retreated back in fear. A predatory smile blossomed on Klaus's face. He crouched down.

"I'm giving you one last chance."

"Shoot!" shouted the captain. "Kill the crown prince, but don't hit the girl!"

A barrage of arrows rained down on Klaus, but they all bounced off his electric armor.

"Master," Lilith's frightened voice was heard.

The prince turned around and saw that the ground around him was charred, and the blackened spot spread further, almost reaching the place where Egor lay unconscious. The prince tried to draw his power back, but he could no longer control it. Lightning penetrated the soil, and electric charges burned everything in their path.

He straightened up again and walked forward, moving away from his companions, thereby leading the threat away with him. His eyes were darkening, he was exhausted. Klaus understood that he had only one chance and hoped that this weak-willed doll they had saved would figure out a way to find help after the prince fell unconscious, taking all the soldiers around him with him.

Having moved a sufficient distance, Klaus crouched again and raised his palms above the ground. He froze for a few seconds. The soldiers panicked and several of them even decided to attack with swords, entering the lightning strike zone and frying in the blink of an eye.

He closed his eyes, knowing that the electric cocoon would protect him and that Lilith and Egor were not in danger yet. He concentrated the remaining strength in his palms, which sparkled. The fingertips turned black from overexertion.

Klaus opened his eyes abruptly.

"You chose your own fate."

"Your Majesty, stop," a loud voice was heard, amplified by wind magic, and the prince stopped a few millimeters from the ground.

"Have your reinforcements arrived?" he asked the frightened captain of the guard. "Excellent. I'll fry everyone at once."

The soldiers were agitated. They were clearly not expecting guests, and Klaus suspected that something was wrong.

"Your Majesty, please stop," a vaguely familiar voice was heard again, but without the magic amplification.

The clatter of hooves approached, and the excited animals stamped their feet about twenty meters from the prince, who did not dare to tear his attention away from the enemy in front of him and did not turn his head.

"Your address to me is incorrect," the prince said evenly. "Who are you and on whose side are you?"

"For us, you are Your Majesty and we are ready to carry out any order."

"Interesting. Then destroy them," he only nodded slightly forward, and the soldiers behind had already moved forward, wisely avoiding the blackened areas of land.

The battle didn't last long, and within minutes the king's guards were either killed or captured. Klaus didn't know if he could trust the strange helpers, but he still redirected the magic from his hands throughout his body, releasing the excess into the sky, and then sank heavily to the ground, breathing heavily. Yes, he barely had enough strength, but at least he was conscious, and that was better than losing consciousness among enemies. Klaus did not believe that he could have allies here, especially those who were ready to recognize him as their king.