“I’ll see what I can do.”
Thank you, little Cas.Now Zephyra must fly.
She flapped her wings and took to the air.
Darion stared at me, that questioning look still on his face.“You can…hear whisperhawks?”
Heat crept up my neck.“Yeah.I—I haven’t really shared it with anyone.”
Darion smiled, but there was something else there, too.He seemed thoughtful.Curious.
“Cas,” he said quietly, “that’s remarkable.”
“It’s just something I can do.”I shrugged.“Let’s go.”
We ran along rooftops until we approached a notorious district of Analon.Smokestacks belched out black smoke, and the buildings shifted from the typical eclectic wood to harsh stone.The acrid smell of burning coal hit my nose, and the harsh sound of metal clanging against metal reverberated up to the rooftops.This was the Industrial District, home to many of the factories that were the backbone of industry for Analon.
But as with most things in this grand and terrible city, a duality existed.Along with the factories, this district contained the prisons required to house all the slave labor that kept the factories staffed.
“Why did you bring me to this horrible place?”I asked.
“I’m sorry.You’ll see why soon,” Darion said with a frown.“We’re almost there.We’ll need to be very quiet, as this place is crawling with Royal Guards and Sentinels.”
A looming shadow appeared through the smog—the hulking shape of a building with a massive stone facade and only a handful of barred windows.It had been designed to be imposing and unforgiving.
This was the Pyrehold prison.
Darion crouched low to the ground and bade me do the same.“If you look carefully, you’ll see Sentinels surrounding Pyrehold.”Darion pointed off to the left.Sure enough, a Sentinel stood at attention, tucked into a shaded corner of a building.
“It’s not that strange to have afewSentinels guarding a prison,” Darion said.“But by my count, there are twenty surrounding the building—a building famous for never letting a prisoner escape.”
“They’re trying to keep people out,” I said.
Darion nodded.“I don’t know how your Veilsense works,” Darion said, “but do you feel anything unusual here?”
I paused for a moment to focus on my senses, but the air stank of soot, and the banging machinery rattled in my mind.
“I don’t.When people use their Embers, I can smell it and see it a bit.Maybe there are just too many distractions.”
Darion nodded.“Can you block them out?”
“I can try.”I closed my eyes and imagined pleasant things, like the farm I had always wanted for Elena and me.Gradually, the acrid smell and harsh sounds faded into the background, and a warmth grew in my core.
Slowly at first, then with increasing intensity, a thrumming surrounded me.It wasn’t a sound or a vibration, but something beyond my five senses.
The faintest scent tickled my nose: ozone.But underneath it was something different.An astringent sensation burned my nostrils—not exactly citrus, but close, like fruit left too long in the sun.This was unlike anything I’d ever sensed.Usually the scent of Embers was sharp and acute, but this had a muted, pervasive quality.And there was something else.It was dark.Festering.Evil.
My instincts told me to pull back.But I felt like I was on the cusp of understanding what was happening, so I kept exploring with my mind.I could almostfeeleach of the Sentinels.Maybe if I just pushed a little bit harder…
The darkness grew quite suddenly; it almost felt like it was reaching back out to me, as if it could sense me back.Panic flooded my mind.I tried to escape, but I was powerless to stop it.I wanted to open my eyes, but I could barely even feel them.The darkness wrapped its cold, bleak hands around my body, constricting my lungs like the tentacles of a giant sea monster.
My body convulsed, and a sharp pain seared across my cheek.That was enough to break my trance, and I opened my eyes to see Darion shaking me with a wild look of panic on his pale face.
A sickeningly high-pitched wail resounded off the nearby buildings—the Sentinels’ signal of alert.
“Thank dust you’re okay,” Darion whispered.“We have to run.”
I started out a bit wobbly, as the fog hadn’t fully lifted from my brain, but getting even a few steps away from that dreaded building helped.Once I had my equilibrium, we moved as fast as stealth would allow, racing along the rooftops.Gradually the Sentinels’ alarm faded, then stopped altogether.
