Seda collapsed and started hyperventilating. She curled into another ball, gasping for air and struggling to breathe as her chest heaved violently with each breath.
Hopeless.
Alone.
Benny.
Cahir.
Oh, Cahir… I need you.
“Seda,” whispered Esper. “Why were you talking to that creature?”
Seda lifted her head and looked toward Esper’s voice. She wiped her tears away and slowly knelt, trying to steady her breathing. “Because it talked to me. Oh, Esper… What’re we going to do? We need to find a way out.”
“There is no way out, Seda. I’ve tried. They only come in to throw food at us… Or to… to…rapeus. The only time anyone leaves is to be eaten.”
Seda curled up with her knees to her chest and rocked back and forth. There had to be a way out. Someone needed to find this stone that Elco said. Lord Mordred had it. How else could he have tricked everyone into believing that the Camp was a place of redemption? Someone needed to steal the stone and put an end to this madness.
“Did you say it spoke to you?” Esper asked.
“Yes,” she hiccuped.
“That creature doesn’t speak to us, Seda. It only eats and watches. It’s a monstrosity.”
Silence settled around them once more. She felt the sharp pain in her foot from the scrape he caused. Would she get an infection? How was she going to get out of here? And Esper was pregnant. Whosechild was it? What happens to the children born here? There were rarely orphans in Joro.
Where’s my dad?
They promised everyone that the Camp was a place to redeem yourselves, to prove that you loved Joro and could contribute to its survival. That medical doctors would help ensure a pregnancy was achieved. But that was a lie. This place was horrifying, filthy, and oppressive. She contributed to this by conforming to the expectations of being a perfect citizen who performed well and never did anything wrong.
How wrong she was about it all. Lord Mordred had to know that this was the Camp. He was meant to protect them. Everyone looked up to him and prayed, but he failed to intervene.
How did he know her?
The questions kept pounding into her until sleep’s stillness swept her away as she lay on the cold, blood-crusted floor.
Her dreams were filled with a sea of black scales, the smell of sandalwood, and the same voice reminding her that she wasn’t alone… that she never has been.
Chapter 19
Roya
The murder sped through the night with clear instructions to find Seren and Kalon, the last two Rising members. They had flown through the magical dome that was now far behind them, heading south toward the Camp. They kept their eyes peeled for any signs of campfires or movement hidden among the trees. To the west, the Jotnar thundered through, grabbing large rocks and throwing them down to shatter into many pieces, searching for precious crystals inside. They had several campsites set up around the giant willows, where some sat and cooked animals or humans over the flames. Their heavy footsteps echoed through the night sky.
The murder flew swiftly, helped by the wind to carry them further south, past the Willow Grove, where the dome was no longer visible and the warm desert air began to seep through their feathers. The Camp gradually came into view, with its massive stone walls risinghigh into the sky, topped with metal blades to prevent escape. Rozzers and Dragors patrolled around the walls and watched the exits. The three birds swooped down and landed on a palm tree to observe.
“Why are we helping these people? Let’s go in and get her out ourselves,” Feich said to his sisters.
“We can’t do this alone, and Seda has to travel north. She’ll need more protection than just us for that journey,” Roya replied.
The desert was dry and sandy, with dunes rising tall and proud to the east. Beyond the dunes, to the northeast, the massive oak trees of the Heath Forest were barely visible.
“Let’s head that way and look for them,” Roya said. “We didn’t spot them through the Willow Grove. It’s also unlikely they’re in the willows with the Jotnar, anyway. We should check the Heath Forest.”
The three took off into the air and flew past the dunes, the bright moonlight casting their raven shadows on the ground.
As they approached the Heath Forest, they saw several small plumes of smoke rising from within. Roya led the way into the trees, passing ghostly creatures who looked up at them with hostility, transforming into replicas of Seda and hissing toward the sky.
