The parchment crinkled as I unfolded it, spreading it across the stone between us. Detailed topography, territorial boundaries marked in different colors, cities indicated with symbols I'd learned to read during my months in Scalvaris. I'd spent hours studying maps in their libraries, memorizing routes and landmarks.
This particular map I'd stolen three days ago.
Nyx went very still. That predator stillness that meant he was focused entirely on something. His eyes locked on the map, then flicked to me.
"Where did you get that?" His voice was flat. Dangerous.
"The restricted section of the archives." I traced a route with my finger, not looking up. "Second level, behind the historical texts."
"You stole from the Scalvaris libraries."
It was an accusation wrapped in disbelief.
"Borrowed," I corrected. "I'll return it when we get back."
"That section is restricted for a reason. Those maps contain strategic information about our defenses, our territories, our vulnerabilities."
"Good thing I'm on your side then." I met his gaze, kept my expression neutral. "I needed accurate data. You said yourself the Blade Council suspended active search operations. They weren't going to hand me a map and wish me luck. And it wasn’t like I was going to walk into this blind."
His jaw clenched. I could see the tension in his shoulders, the way his claws flexed against his thighs. Honor and duty warring with pragmatism.
"You had no right," he said.
My words came out sharper than intended. "I'm a human trying to find other humans that your people decided weren't worth the effort. If I have to bend some rules to do it, I'll bend them."
"There are protocols. Chains of command. You can't just?—"
"Can't just what? Take initiative? Act without permission?" I leaned forward, anger sparking in my chest. "Your protocols left Larissa and the others out there to die. Your chain of command voted to abandon them. So yeah, I stole a map. Court martial me when we get back."
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut. Nyx stared at me, silver eyes intense, something shifting in his expression.
Then his shoulders dropped fractionally. The tension bled out of his posture.
I looked down at the map, trying to ignore how close he was now. Close enough that I could smell him, smoke and stone and male. Close enough that his tail could reach me if it wanted to.
It didn't move. He was keeping it carefully coiled behind him.
Professional. We could do professional.
"So what do you think happened to them?" I tapped the area marked as Ignarath territory. "Some other Drakarn captured them? Or did they somehow escape on their own?"
Nyx studied the map, his claw tracing boundaries and geographical features. When he spoke, his voice had shifted into the clipped efficiency of tactical briefing.
"Unlikely to be another city. Look at the natural defenses." His claw indicated a massive feature south of Ignarath. "The Great Lava Lake. Actual lava, miles across, constantly fed byunderground volcanic activity. Impassable except by air, and even then, the thermals are treacherous."
I followed his gesture, noting the scale. The lake was enormous, a natural barrier that would make southern approach nearly impossible.
"And here." He pointed east. "The Harrovan Mountains. Sheer cliffs, unstable rock, frequent seismic activity. The passes are heavily defended because they're the only viable routes through for supply caravans. Any force trying to cross would be spotted days in advance."
"So Ignarath is a fortress," I said, processing the implications. "Natural defenses on two sides, easy to protect."
"Exactly. Which makes them overconfident." His claw tapped the northern approach. "They don't patrol as heavily as they should, outside of those passes. They assume the terrain does the work for them. That's why my team was able to get close enough to investigate without being detected."
"But it also means the humans couldn't have walked out." I traced potential escape routes, found them all blocked by impossible terrain or monitored chokepoints. "Even if they somehow got away from their captors, they'd be caught before they made it ten miles."
"Yes."
The word hung between us. Confirmation of what we both knew. The humans hadn't escaped. Someone had taken them. Moved them deliberately.
