“I’m not sure. Just keep walking.” Shiva risked a glance over his shoulder. “I don’t think that guard saw us.”
And so, on they went, Aelia fighting the urge to run with every step they took. The streets were surprisingly busy considering they were approaching the early hours of the morning. Some seemed to be enjoying every last minute of the city’s nightlife, and others looked as though their day was only just beginning. Each passed the other with mutual respect and equal affluence, their wealth dripping from every inch of them. Aelia had never seen such clothes, such colour, such elegance.
She’d also never felt so out of place.
Aelia’s heart raced more quickly with every minute that passed, the moment of discovery seeming increasingly likely with each corner they rounded. When Aelia thought she couldn’t bear it any longer, Shiva finally stopped.
“I think this must be it.” He cast his eyes over an innocuous building, one of the few without a flaming Dragon perched on its roof.
“How do you know what we’re looking for if you’ve never even seen it?” Aelia said, concern furrowing a crease between her brows as she scanned the empty street.
“That’s the sign for flashfire, the oil they use.” He pointed to a symbol etched above the door, right before kicking it open.
They both held their breath, but the street stayed empty, so they disappeared inside, pulling the door shut behind them.
A small flame flickered in a glass lantern by the door, the only one in the whole room, casting just enough light for her to see the drums lined up in stacks against the walls. Aelia grabbed one and pulled the cork free with a satisfying pop, quickly slopping the oil everywhere.
“Are you sure you want to do this, Aelia?” Shiva stood unmoving by the door.
Aelia righted the drum and hugged it against her chest. “Yes, I’m sure. Whatever’s got the guards so riled up might not be enough to get us into the cells, Shiva. We need chaos.” She swung her arm over at the drums. “Help me make it.”
Shiva ran a hand through his hair and looked up at the ceiling. “This is not going how I thought it would go.”
Aelia laughed, turning to slosh more oil around. “When does it ever?”
Shiva groaned and grabbed a drum, helping her cover most of the room.
“It doesn’t need to be that thorough. They mix a little flash powder with the oil to help it catch, so when this lot goes, it’sreallygoing to go,” he explained, begrudgingly.
“You think that’s enough?”
“I think that’s plenty,” he said with a grimace.
Aelia chucked her drum back on the pile, whilst Shiva poured a careful line of oil to the door, tore a thick strip of cloth from his tunic and rolled it into a straw. He dipped one end in the oil before setting it down, the undipped endjusttouching the lineof oil. Aelia handed him the flint she’d taken from the changing rooms.
“Ready to run?” he asked, looking over his shoulder from where he crouched.
She opened the door and nodded. The oil-covered tip of the fabric caught on the first strike of the flint against the stone floor, and they both bolted from the building, arms pumping furiously.
They made it two streets over before the oil ignited, the core of the mountain trembling with the force of the explosion.
Shiva threw her against a building, shielding her with his body against the wall of heat that battered them, and stayed there until the world stopped shuddering.
“That should draw some attention,” he grinned down at her, his earlier reservation seeming to have disappeared in the rush of adrenaline. She couldn’t help but grin too, looking back at the column of smoke billowing over the buildings.
“Come on.” He pushed himself upright and took off down the street once again, with Aelia in hot pursuit.
Screams began to infiltrate the peace of the Main Chamber, and soon the people they passed were running just as wildly as they were. In the chaos, they were just another terrified citizen, fleeing the scene of an attack.
The prison was easier to find than she expected, buried beneath an enormous arena, a landmark even they couldn’t fail to miss. As they drew closer, Shiva slowed to a walk, allowing them time for their breathing to settle.
“Remember, you have every right to be here,” he ducked his head to whisper in her ear. “You’re a member of the Astraea. Make sure you act like it.”
And just like that, the Shiva she knew from home was back in place. He nodded to the guards at the entrance and strode rightpast as if he owned the place. They gave him a long, hard look before their eyes settled on Aelia, but they didn’t stop them.
As they entered the twisting tunnels that swept down into the underbelly of the mountain, Aelia could almost taste the blood in the air. She dreaded to think what atrocities these walls had seen, but the very stone seemed polluted by violence. Even the fire that burned in the overhead lip seemed dimmed, spluttering as if it too was struggling to breathe in the heavy air.
These cells had been designed to contain the most dangerous creatures their country had ever seen, buried too deep within the rock for any Dragon to Shift without crushing itself. It was utterly inescapable.
