“Thank you,” he said to her.
She hopped over to the nearby green grass, dug her toes into the damp earth, and looked for a bug to catch. “It is in my nature to help you, as you protect her,” she replied.
Something about the two Rozzers seemed oddly familiar to Cahir.
It couldn’t be them. Could it?
He shook his head, refocusing on what he needed todo. He moved stealthily around the bush and up the street, keeping an eye out for any nearby activity. Roya ascended into the air again, scanning the area. He heard a distant cry of a man and the sound of the Rozzers yelling, indicating they had found another person.
He continued sneaking up the road toward the hall when Roya flew back down and lightly advised, “Go three blocks to the west.” She lifted into the air once more and flew in the direction she wanted him to go.
He turned left and crept along the building walls, down dark alleyways, making sure to keep his steps light and his body hidden as much as possible.
He navigated through the third block and spotted the stone perimeter wall surrounding the dome’s base coming into view. He could hear the clanking of metal as he got closer. He stopped when he reached a large crack in the wall, hidden behind foliage. Light streamed through the vines.
He carefully peeled apart the hanging plant and looked through the crack to the other side of the wall.
On the other side was a group of Rozzers and a cell packed with people, their cries reverberating through the crack. The Rozzers were shoving three more men into the cell, their hands chained in front of them.
With cautious steps, Cahir carefully made his way through the narrow crack, the magic of the dome prickling against his skin. On the other side, he ducked behind a pile of wooden boxes haphazardly lined up outside the wall, staying crouched and out of sight.
“All of you have been labeled with misbehavior and will need to redeem yourselves in the Camp!” a large Rozzer with dark hair and a piercing gaze said with a serpent-like tone. He banged his baton against the cell bars, hitting someone’s fingers. A wail of pain escaped from the injured person, and the Rozzer snarled at him likean animal. The remaining people inside the cell quickly shuffled away from the front bars.
“I’ve done nothing wrong,” a brave woman begged through harsh cries. “This is a mistake. I was heading home to the Barrio after my shift in the Palatium. It was before the curfew!”
“Silence, all of you!” the Rozzer barked, striking the bars again with a loud clang that echoed through the area and bounced off the perimeter wall.
A man inside the cell caught Cahir’s eye with his graying hair and long beard.
There’s Jason.
Roya flew down and whispered, “You know what we need to do.”
“I will try. What’s our backup plan if it doesn’t work?” Cahir asked Roya.
“We run.”
He stepped out into the alleyway, fully showcasing himself to everyone at the end. A young Rozzer looked over and said, “Captain. Look!” He pointed at Cahir.
The Rozzer, who was banging on the bars, looked over his shoulder. He looked at Cahir with surprised disgust and slightly stuck out his tongue, as if to smell him.
“Gentlemen...” Cahir said confidently as the Rozzers slowly drew their guns and moved toward him. “I believe you have someone I need.”
He took a step forward, and a vibrant green mist wrapped around him, turning his six-foot frame into one that was a foot taller. His canines elongated into sharpened daggers, and the tips of his ears grew pointed. As his skin started to glow with a green glimmer, his muscles enlarged, and his clothes tore apart during the transformation.
Everyone at the end of the alleyway gasped, and a woman in the cell screamed, “Jotnar!” Frantic chaos erupted. Those in the cellrattled the bars and screamed, desperate to break free. The Rozzers all took a step back in fear.
Cahir couldn’t help but smile at the chaos and the fact that this whole thing was actually working.
“What the fuckisthat?” someone asked as they watched Cahir approach.
“That isn’t a Jotnar, you fools!” the Captain shouted. “Get him!”
Born from cunning shadows, Roya shifted from her Corvid form behind the wooden boxes into the graceful figure of a woman with sleek, azure-blue hair flowing down her back, slanted eyes like a feline’s, sharp eyebrows, and moonlight-hued skin.
She stepped beside Cahir and casually picked at her elongated, sharpened nails, poised to cut down anyone who approached.
The Rozzers surged ahead and opened fire on them. Roya dodged the bullets, bouncing out of the way with ease, and danced her way toward the cell. The bullets struck Cahir and ricocheted off his skin, clinking onto the ground in misshapen forms.
