It was not until the next morning that the students realized there was no way for Akora to walk into the tower undetected. Even if she had snuck in through the cafeteria, it was likely she would have been spotted by a staff member. Or, if the spiders did what Vince claimed they did, they would have alerted someone. When he, Aoife, and Asim went down for breakfast and Akora inserted herself into the little group, Kyle asked, "How did you get into our tower last night?"

Akora took a bite of sausage and grinned. "I went under."

He was a bit taken aback by that, but he was curious. "Under?"

She nodded. "Yep. My parents told me all about the tunnels under the school. I made a map with general locations of entrances and exits, and lucky for me, it was fairly accurate."

"How many tunnels are there?" Aoife, too, sounded very interested.

"Don't know how many," Akora began, "but more than they told us. Probably more than they know. They're all connected in some way, but the passageways that connect them are usually hidden, too."

"But why would there be so many tunnels?" Asim was beginning to sound skeptical.

"In case of an emergency," she explained simply. "They have the tunnels everyone knows about, as well as back-up tunnels in case there's a problem with the primary emergency exits."

"You don't think that's at all risky?" Kyle inquired. He was thinking of everything that could go wrong, being alone in dusty old catacombs no one knew about. What was possibly worse was the idea that some malicious force would follow, exposing a crucial secret. He shuddered at the thought.

"Nah, they're not heavily guarded," Akora half-laughed. Clearly, she was not as concerned about neither the danger of a potential threat following her, nor the threat the catacombs themselves could pose. "I don't even think there are spiders down there. As far as I know, there's only one thing you gotta look out for, and that's the draugr."

"Draugr?" the three echoed, Kyle with clear worry in his voice.

"Relax, there's only one," Aoife assured, "and he's a Custodian."

"But what are draugr?" Asim pressed.

Akora took a sip of water, then responded, "Just an undead human, sometimes with magic, usually guarding treasure."

Asim and Aoife both took on baffled expressions.

"They're ax-wielding zombies!" Kyle translated. "Only, they don't eat you."

"Oh, Mr. Draug!" Aoife exclaimed, suddenly enlightened. "My parents mentioned him. He's the school treasurer."

"How appropriate," Kyle groaned.

Akora grinned her terrifying grin and started rubbing her hands together. "That would be great training, actually."

The three Birchwood students went pale. "Crawling around ancient tunnels with a zombie on the prowl?" Asim shook his head. "No, thank you."

"C'mon, sneaking around is great practice for when they send us on a mission."

"I don't know," Kyle sighed. "We could get in a lot of trouble."

"Well think about it," she urged. "And think about like this: if you do it, you'll know the catacombs better. If you know the catacombs better, you'll be able to escape if you have to."

Kyle did think about that last part. He was not too keen on imagining a situation that would require this skill, but he did like the idea of being prepared. Finally, he said, "I'll think about it."

Kyle did think about it, and in the end he decided to do it. He tucked Fledermaus into his jacket and went down to the meeting place. Aoife and Asim decided against going along, but, much to his surprise, Sean was there, Drake on his shoulders, waiting with Akora and one of her beasts. When asked why he was joining, Sean shrugged and replied, "Thought it would be fun." And so, the group entered a tunnel from the cafeteria, ensured they were not followed, and then, with Akora at the helm, went through a door hidden by shadows.

There were large rocks just beyond the door. They looked natural to the tunnel. The third one on the left, however, was the door to the next secret passage. It looked like the other rocks, felt like the other rocks, and even sounded like the other rocks when the students knocked on it. Unlike the other rocks, however, this one was surprisingly light; in fact, Akora picked it up and moved it aside by herself. "A spell was put on this rock to make it lighter," she explained. "Still kind of heavy, but light enough to be pushed aside."

Kyle and Sean crawled through the opening the rock had concealed, which was about four-and-a-half feet all around. Akora pulled the rock back in front of the tunnel, and for a moment the group was blinded.

"So how many tunnels are there again?" Sean inquired.

"A ton," Akora replied. "No one knows exactly how many, though."

Kyle looked past Akora. The tunnels ran on and on, slithering like a snake. They looked so organic, carved either by some underground stream or perhaps some enormous creature. Maybe at least one had been. The walls were too imperfect, too coarse to be intentional.

"We didn't just wander into a monster's den, did we?" he asked fearfully.

Akora shook her head. "Calm down, I wouldn't do that." Then she grinned to herself. "At least not unintentionally."

Kyle turned to retreat, but Sean had positioned himself in the rear. "C'mon, Kyle, it can't be that bad." He started moving forward, pushing a begrudging Kyle along. "Let's check it out."

The three moved through the tunnels in silence after that. The tunnels wound and wriggled all about, and it was not long before Kyle, Sean, and even Akora were all unsure about what exactly was above them. Eventually they came to a tunnel, deep underground, where Akora stopped them.

"We've made it back to a main tunnel," she explained. "Listen for footsteps, shuffling, and heavy breathing. It could be Draug."

"What if we get caught?" Kyle demanded.

"We get a smack on the wrist," Akora replied, almost with a condescending tone. "Just step lightly and we'll be fine." Then she lowered her body and slowly crept forward. She looked around for signs of the school treasurer, and, when she saw nothing, she beckoned for the other two to follow.

Sean gently pushed Kyle forward, and even held him somewhat to keep him from getting away. Kyle pressed back, but Sean was significantly stronger. So, the two went after her.

This tunnel was much larger than the others, which they supposed was appropriate was for an escape route meant to hold the entire student body. It was also well-lit when compared to the others, however it was still dim enough to hide in the shadows if necessary. The group moved from rock to rock, slowly and deliberately, scanning the walls for evidence of spiders. Surprisingly, webs were scarce. Unknown to them, the spiders in the main tunnels only nested at each main end, as well as here and there in the middle. Very few people knew to look for the spiders when searching for secret tunnels, because most of the scattered arachnids nested near these tunnels, but those who did often did not stray from the path in order to venture further into the catacombs; the spiders would signal a custodian to deal with the curious student. The tunnel from which these students came did have a spider guard, but the little thing had become tired and fallen asleep.

The sound of heavy footsteps began to echo softly through the tunnel. Akora immediately pressed herself out of the way, becoming as flat against the floor, wall, and rock as she could. Sean and Kyle tried to follow suit, but the savage girl hissed and instructed, "Find your own rocks!"

The two began to search desperately for another rock. The rocks were plentiful, but Sean needed a large rock because there was so much of him that needed to hide. He figured the one right across from Akora would be best and quickly did as she had done. Kyle, too, was searching for a rock, but he felt a fear that was too great for him to be able to focus. He stumbled about, like a deer in the headlights, looking for a rock. "Just hide!" he heard Sean call, and finally he found it in himself to dive behind Sean's rock. Sean, who was not in the mood to argue, allowed it.

The echo of the footsteps came closer. It was difficult to tell their direction of origin, because the echo seemed to be coming from all over. They heard a growl that chilled the air a bit. Finally, after a few minutes of waiting, a shadow began to take shape on the floor and walls. Then Mr. Draug appeared.

Mr. Draug was slightly taller than average, though not by much. His skin was grey and dehydrated, and it barely had any give from his bones. He had blinding icy blue eyes that stuck out of his shadowy face like flashes of lightning that illuminated a black, stormy sky. He was dressed in rags of cotton and animal furs that seemed to have started to decay as well. He had wispy strands of brittle blond hair on his scalp, but there were patches where the skin was visible. At his hip was an axe, dulled with age and use, but it could still hack an enemy to pieces with a few well calculated blows.

Kyle had so many questions, questions he knew he would have to wait to ask. Involuntarily, he clung tightly to Sean. Sean thought little of it, and, if anything, enjoyed it somewhat; he, too, was terrified. The two had seen zombie movies, and both had entertained the idea of what they would do during a zombie apocalypse, but it was very different when the undead was right in front of them.

Mr. Draug continued to shuffle across the hall. He turned his head around, searching, as if he knew someone was there. He passed them slowly. He looked around until he saw the end of the tunnel from which the three had emerged. He let out a hiss and growled, "Who's there?"

The three students flattened themselves more. Mr. Draug started coming back towards them. They held their breath and they dare not move. The draugr first moved to Akora's rock. Then he looked to Sean and Kyle's rock. The zombie man then announced, "It's over. Come on out."

Kyle practically threw himself out of the shadows, so quickly he startled the terrifying custodian. "I'm sorry," he sighed with relief, "I was just curious."

Mr. Draug cast another look around. "All of you. Come on."

Sean was the next to emerge, though he was more hesitant and sheepish than Kyle. "Just curious, too."

Mr. Draug eyed them. "There's one more, I know it." He turned his head to Akora's hiding place. "Come on out, Rynne."

Akora stayed hidden.

"The longer you wait, Rynne, the more trouble you'll be in."

Finally, she came out, a look of anger carved into her face.

"How could you tell who it was?" Kyle asked the undead guard.

"All the Rynnes do it," he grumbled. "Almost like a rite of passage for 'em." Then he clasped his hands together. They were very thin and bony. "It's time to return to your rooms. To bed with you now."

Sean and Kyle looked around. "Which way?" Sean asked.

"I'll escort Miss Rynne back down from where I came," Mr. Draug started, "You two go the opposite direction. This tunnel is the hall from her tower to the dining hall."

"So we're not in trouble?" Kyle was clearly very afraid of the answer.

Mr. Draug heaved a sigh. "No. But don't do it again." He turned and started shuffling down the hall, just a few steps behind Akora. "Goodnight."

Kyle turned, needing no further reasoning to send him on his way, and trotted down in the direction Mr. Draug had pointed. Sean was a bit more hesitant, but once he realized he was almost alone, he turned and started to follow Kyle. He quickly caught up, being much faster, and inquired, "Why'd you give up so easily?"

"I didn't want to be down here in the first place," Kyle told him. "I just couldn't tell her no. I mean, I did, but she wouldn't hear it."

Sean nodded slowly. "Mom's the same way. Already, I feel bad for her future children."

The two boys managed to make it back to their tower without further incident. The other Birchwood students were standing outside their doors, waiting for the two to return.

"What happened?" Nixie demanded, feeling as though the two were early.

"Where you caught?" Elvia pressed.

The two nodded, Sean a bit slow, as if he was ashamed. "Draug noticed the tunnel we came out of was unblocked, so he was able to figure out we were down there."

"Akora must've forgotten to put the rock back last night," Kyle speculated. He wanted to finish the conversation up so he could go to bed. Fledermaus, he assumed, was exhausted also.

"What was Mr. Draug like?" Asim and Aoife asked in unison. The two had been waiting all day to hear about the zombie man roaming the tunnels below.

Sean simply replied with, "Creepy," while Kyle offered a more dramatic, "Terrifying." When Sean heard this, he looked down at Kyle and asked, "Well what would you be more scared of? Running into Draug alone at night or finding out what Akora's going to do when you see her next?"

Kyle suddenly felt more alive, awake, and alert, but totally lacked enthusiasm. "I hadn't thought about that. But thanks, Sean, I didn't want to sleep tonight, anyway."