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Her horse was probably starting to hate her. No sooner had she come back than she turned around again. She made sure to demand some treats from the quartermaster for Ashes, this time, and fed them to her horse before setting out. "I'm sorry, girl," she murmured. "You must be as worn down as I am."

When she dug through her saddlebags to retrieve something to eat, she realized her hands were shaking. A crust of bread slipped from her trembling fingers. Estel cursed under her breath, debating the merits of picking it out of the dirt which it had fallen into.

Then her horse stepped on it.

So much for that.

Making her way through a mountainous labyrinth on foot, Estel shrieked and threw herself to the ground as an axe swung dangerously overhead. "Who builds these things?!"

Her voice echoed dangerously in the cavernous halls, and Estel covered her mouth with both hands. There were more of the axes swinging overhead, and upon realizing this, she came to the conclusion that it might just be best to crawl for a while. Dragging her waterskin and her dwindling bag of rations along with her, Estel crept slowly forwards, pressing her body flat to the ground whenever she heard the whistling sound of an axe above her.

He wasn't.

From the summit, Estel could see down into the mountains below. No sign of the Great King. No sign of anyone. She sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees, and began to cough weakly. The air was thinner here.

She lay down on the grass, curling up into a ball, and just breathed for a while. She had thought maybe to find either of the two injured knight-apprentices, even though they had sent her off, but... no. Nothing.

Maybe she was too weak to be a knight. What a pathetic, miserable sight she must be.

Something brown at the corner of her eye drew her attention. Estel stood up, wavering on her feet. It was a carved wooden box, fairly small. The hinges had rusted, but she was able to get it open. Inside was a beautiful bolt of cloth, embroidered with patterns that almost looked like an arrangement of tiny stars - perhaps it could be made into something.

At least she had something to show for herself.

And then there were bees. And Ashes ditched her.

"I probably deserved that," Estel muttered.

And then she ate some more. And then she was out of food. Grumbling, she turned back to return. On foot.

Every noise felt like it echoed a bit too loudly as Estel and Ashes progressed through the mountainous terrain. She rubbed her horse's neck comfortingly, eyes on the ground. If Ashes tripped and fell, either of them could very easily get seriously hurt.

There came the screeching cry of a bird of prey somewhere above her. Estel looked up as it shot out of the sky and down towards her and her horse. Was it an eagle? A hawk? A falcon? She had no idea; it was coming at her too fast to tell.

"Faster, Ashes!" Estel urged, leaning low over the horse's back. Talons scraped the back of her neck, drawing blood, and she hissed in pain. "Come on! Come on, keep going!"

Eventually, she could see the canopy of the forest coming up. The two of them seemed to have left the creature behind.

After that sudden windfall of food she'd had in the forest, the last thing Estel had been expecting was to encounter yet more food in the labyrinth. She was starting to get the hang of this place - she'd managed to find a lever to disable the swinging axes, and as such take her horse through, which was probably the furthest Ashes had ever come with her.

"...is that..."

It was. Estel opened the lid of the crate and sat down to eat. It could have been poisoned, sure, but Estel was inherently a trusting person and it looked fine. It smelled fine, too; nothing was moldy or rotting.

After a while, when she was sure she wasn't feeling sick from the mysterious food, Estel shrugged and continued on.