As soon as Euphemia had disappeared through the hole, Vangelis watched as Nike wasted no time and running back to his side and started to dig him out, removing the boulders at the top, before she could work her way down - otherwise she risked another rock shift that could crush him entirely. He was already struggling to breathe as it was - more rocks on his chest would not help the situation.
As she worked, Vangelis had time for his emotions to catch up to his brain and he quickly got to his point with her. He had never told her the following information before because any time they had been in mortal peril, it had been the both of their lives at risk. And this time, no matter what the Commander said about refusing to leave and that they would both drown if Euphemia didn't return in time, Nike could still use the water to float up the tunnel they had all come down. She would survive this one way or another. Which meant it was worth passing on a message to her.
"Nike..." He gasped, as another rock was moved and brand-new shots of acid pain ripped through his shoulder and neck. "Listen to me for a second..." He wasn't going to tell her to stop working because he would be wasting his breath but he wanted to make sure he had her attention nonetheless. "In my bedchamber... in the Kotas mansion there is a false bottom to the third drawer in my desk..." He hissed as another rock was moved and it was his foot this time that protested in agony. "Inside... there are letters... Please - make sure they get to the right people if I'm not around to deliver them, alright?" He tried to put some strength back into his voice which was already becoming reedy. Was that him shaking? "That's an order."
Not long after and Vangelis was in fact certain that it was him that was shaking. And uncontrollably at that as he desperately tried to stop the tremors that were then causing bile-rising pain down the right side of his body. Realising that it was the cold, Vangelis tried to raise his left side out of the icy water just a little more, but it had risen far enough that it was already starting to lap across his chest. Despite him lifting his head, the water was already sloshing into his ears and had soaked all of his clothes and hair. Raising his left hand, Vangelis noted in the dark that his fingertips were a funny shade of grey and suspected that they were turning blue. The chills were starting to set in and Vangelis felt a seriously dangerous tightening happening in his chest.
With difficulty breathing came the inability to speak and so he didn't talk any more, instead focusing solely on his shaky inhales and his raspy exhales.
While his Commander continued to work above him and he continued to have faith in her determination, Vangelis felt doubt creep in at the edges of his mind when the water level was at Nike's knees. His entire body deep under the water and his head shifted as high above his rocky bed as he could get it, Vangelis felt the water lap at his temples and flush into his mouth whenever he opened it for an easier exhale.
Spitting the salty water free from his mouth and lips each time he tried to breathe, Vangelis made a pull at his stuck limbs and while his hip now seemed freer to move, his arm was still deep under the rocks - his wrist pinned at an odd angle and the entire limb feeling numb and now... oddly pain free.
That couldn't be a good sign... Vangelis thought as he blinked water from his eyes and tried to speak over the torrents.
"Nike..." He told the woman who had yet to slow after nearly half an hour of ceaseless digging. "Nike, it's okay. Start getting ready to get up that tunnel... you'll be getting out of here soon."
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.
There was little for Euphemia to do now that she had led the soldiers to their general and commander. She heard the words called out by the latter of the two, and she nodded. “You heard him” she shouted. “The rope will be secure if you attach to that large rock!” Although it was dark, the men and woman could see where she gestured, and followed her echoing of Commander Nike’s words. Continuing to follow them, she reached up and behind her to undo the cloak’s fasteners.
Gripping the rope, she tied the cloak to it, and then tossed it down into the hole. As soon as the rope was secured, Euphemia called down to the pair. “It’s secure! We’re sending two more men down!” There was only a handful of them, and so two to aid in lifting the rocks pinning the man and the rest to haul the four up was a wise division of resources.
The blonde heard the men slosh about when they made it onto the floor of the hole. Staying at its edge, peering down into it, she could just barely make out the two men making their way to the pinned man. Together they aided Nike in shifting the rocks off of the crowned prince. With three instead of one, as well as the water shedding pounds off of their weight, the all of the rocks were moved off of the man, allowing him to float in the water. One of the men grabbed Vangelis and shifted him onto the other’s back, securing him with a spare rope so that they could climb back up the rope. It took quite a bit of strength to get him up. However, it would be the only way to get Vangelis up with his injuries.
“They’re on!” she told the men remaining above ground, and they began to tug at the rope to host the four men out of the hole. Keeping as the lookout, Euphemia remained on her knees, gazing into the hole. As soon as she spotted one of them, she laughed in relief. “They’re up! They’re up!” It seemed as if they had been tugging them up for hours, even if had only been minutes.
“Oh thank the Gods,” she exhaled, pushing herself up onto her feet once more. “Now, we have to get out of here! W-We have to clear out before the water pools up and floods the rest of the mines.” While the men had listened to her before because she possessed the ring of their general around her neck, the general was now with them once more, meaning that they waited to be instructed by him rather than listen to her. Dipping her head meekly, the girl laced her fingers behind her back and did the same: Stand silent and wait.
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.
By the time the men descend, Nike had a full plan running in her head with only one focus - get Vangelis back to the castle. As she worked, her worried look that kept flickering back to her general noted the blueish lips, the consciousness slipping in and out, and that no matter how hard she tried to keep conversation going so he would stay awake, it was a futile effort on her end. He needed to get back to the palace right now.
Catching the cloak Euphemia tossed down, the commander was quick to wrap Vangelis up in it the moment the men that had came down dug him out and lifted him out of the water. Using the rope, she bound it around him, ensuring his injured arm and legs were not left dangling as he was lifted out, before she too caught a length of the rope for herself.
Denying the help offered (as she did not want anyone to note the bodily difference, which they would if they held her to go up the sides of the cavern), and despite her palms being now completely ruined by the amount of work she had placed them through, Nike gritted her teeth and hoisted herself up the sides until she got her knees on the floors of the mines, just in time to watch Vangelis's eyes roll back after his final words.
Cursing, Nike leapt up as if she had no injury at all, running over to Euphemia. With a curt thanks to the young maid, she grabbed the signet ring that Nike had earlier wound around her neck, and gripped it tightly in her palm. "Bring the general back to the nearest manor. Dunk him in a hot bath immediately. Stop for nothing."
Her words were sharp and no-nonsense,as she turned to Euphemia with flashing eyes. She had a suspicion that this maid was half the reason why her general had no ended up in this position - but she'll withhold for now. They had nothing to gain for now. "There is a young boy at the mouth of the tunnel. Ensure he is brought to safety." she instructed, before taking off down the tunnel to the outside once again, right in to the eye of the storm tht showed no signs of calming down.
Her hair that had began to dry with her half hour in the cave, immediately was sodden the moment she stepped out. Shielding her eyes from the rain that pelted down unforgivingly, Nike sought out the last group of people who were still working hard at securing the last ship, the rest having been firmly tied and goods abandoned where they were left.
Throwing a look over her shoulder to ensure that the men were bringing Vangelis back into the capital, she darted for the last ship, throwing whatever strength she had to help secure the large ship. "Everyone, get in the capital. The storms won't stop anytime soon. The gates will be bolted!"
Her voice carried its way across the storm, and taking heed of her instructions as they would the crown prince's (for despite her stature, Nike can be very commanding if and when the situation called for it), they turned and started running, with the commander taking up the tail end.
At the gate, Nike skidded to a stop, turning on her heel to observe and scan the area one last time. Once she was sure no one else was left outside, Nike turned to look at the city guards, and flashed the signet ring in her grip.
"Close the gates, seal the tunnels!"
Watching to ensure they heeded her instructions, Nike turned on her heel and started running up towards the people still straggling to head to higher grounds, helping as many as she can. At this point, the commander has lost just enough blood to make her feel light-headed, yet the adrenaline forced her through to ensure everyone was headed for safe grounds. She had a duty to do, and Nike of Acaris never forsook duty.