“Are you all right?” I asked in concern.
“Oof… she’s a lot stronger than she was,” Emma said reluctantly. “I barely got through.”
“Is your magic okay?” It seemed weaker than usual.
“It’ll hold up until we get out of here. Keep going.”
Theo and Alexei used their magic to cut through the bars of the golden gates. We slipped onto university property, then kept low as we crept through bushes and trees for cover.
I expected my old trap door entrance to the dungeons to be unguarded, but there were soldiers stationed outside of it. Gabby really had thought of everything.
“Wait here,” Alexei whispered. He crept behind a decorative hedge in order to get closer to the guards. While we waited, I listened to the guards’ conversation.
“Do you think the dark lord is serious about starting another war?” a soldier asked as Alexei crept in.
“I suppose so,” the other soldier replied. “We should be receiving orders soon. That’s what the general said. Octavia Falls is first on the list, I reckon.”
“I don’t want to go back to war. I lost friends in the last one. I’ve seen enough of it. Why can’t the dark lord be satisfied with Malovia?”
“You should be honored to make such a sacrifice for your country, you coward. Do you want to die with your boots on, or hiding in some hole somewhere after the witches decide to bomb us first?”
It was a harsh response for such a simple question. Alexei was using his empathy magic to infuriate the guards.
The other soldier barked, “Who are you calling a coward? You’ve never even seen military action. Not all of us have an uncle that can get them out of combat duty.”
“Shut your mouth, you son of a whore!”
I could feel the heavy emotions from here. Alexei channeled his rage at losing Kiara into them, making them go mad.
“Keep my mother out of this, you draft dodger!”
The soldiers began fist-fighting. I heard the heavyclunkof punches landing, then the collapse of bodies. The two guards had knocked each other out. Theo and Alexei dragged the bodies behind the bushes, and we used the trapdoor to slip inside the dungeons.
The dungeons had never been a very welcoming place, but they seemed colder and crueler now. Blood was spilled on the floor, and the smell of disease infected the place. My eyes adjusted to the darkness as we moved forward, and I grabbed Emma’s hand to lead her through the halls. We didn’t dare ignite a light down here.
“This way.” I led the group through the dungeons. The sounds of battle orbs and bullets still resonated outside. The others were putting up a good fight, but there’d be reinforcements eventually. They could only buy us so much time.
There was a lone figure slumped against the floor in the last cell in the hallway. Emma dared to create a small light, and we gasped in horror as we took in Kiara’s form.
Kiara’s face was full of bruises and cuts, but it didn’t look like any bones were broken. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth as she lifted a half-smile. “I knew you’d come.”
“Kiara!” Alexei put his hands on the bars and tried to wrench them apart, but gasped when he touched them. His skin came away blistered from the iron.
“These noxite bars are impenetrable. Magic doesn’t work on them,” Kiara moaned.
“There’s always the possibility of doing things the old-fashioned way.” I pulled out my lockpicking kit and began working on the mechanism, careful to avoid touching the metal.
“Where’s Odette?” Theo asked immediately.
“The guards took her this morning. They’ve had her for hours,” Kiara whispered.
“Is anyone else down here?” Emma questioned.
“Not that I know of. The other cells were full two days ago, but prisoners don’t last long around here. They get rid of you if they can’t extract information fast enough,” Kiara rasped.
“Who was imprisoned?” Alexei asked.
“A couple of rebels. People who still want things back the way they were.”
