And soon, all above us.
We sprinted towards the closestcopseof trees, taking cover as dozens upon dozens of Northern soldiers and guards flew over the wall and out of view. These werelikely allthe oneswe’dseen around the area—along with the ones wehadn’tseen.
They all wore the same navy material, and all had multiple weapons strapped to them in various places.
But were they working to keep fae in, or keep them out?
Orworse—both?
“It must be shift change, with dawn coming so soon,” Matea observed.
I nodded my agreement, taking a step toward the wall again once I could no longer hear wing beats coming fromthe other side.
Matea tugged me backwards,whisper yelling, “What are you doing? We need to go back!”
Shocked, I pulled free of her grip, turning back to face her.
My expression must have been more angry than shocked, though, because the realization of who she was talking to seemed to pass over Matea’s face.
“I am not leaving here without confirmation,” I said through clenched teeth.
Approaching the structure again, I placed my hands on the stone before me and reached my power out, feeling what I could with anyziriliumthat would respond.
To my surprise, it felt as though they were all reaching for me, too. Like they were trying to remind me that they were still there—still with me.
I picked earth wielding first and used it to check our surroundings without moving a muscle. It was like I could sense not only the earth below, but anything touching it or made of it. I could feel the vibrations of the wingedfaelanding on the ground inside the wall, as well as thelackof vibrations within the watchtower above.
Gasping as I dropped the connection, I turned towards my sister, who had drawn closer.
“Now,” I said urgently. “We can shadow wield up the watchtower, but we have to gonow.”
A look of uncertainty passed over her face, but quickly vanished.
“Alright,” she responded. “I’m trusting you.”
Without warning, she grabbed my shoulder and suddenly, we were dissipating into what almost felt like nothingness. Withinseconds, we were slinking up the crevices of the watchtower, using the still semi-dark sky to our advantage.
After a swift check of the top of the watchtower, we stood in the middle and materialized.
As I lifted my head to look inside at what the North was sodesperatelytrying to hide, I felt as though the breath had been knocked out of me.
Stumbling toward the edge, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
That was most definitely the place we had been looking for.Encampmentsdidn’tseem likea harsh enough wordfor what I was seeing, though.
I watched as navy-clothed figures walked into wood and stone structures—which I could only assume were where the captivefaewerebeing held. Butit seemed theydidn’thave enough room inside, since there were also countless groups of prisoners huddled together outside. More blue soldiersralliedthose groups, too. Every captive wore shackles or cuffs and was beingroughly tuggedto their feet or outside of the buildings before the sun could even rise. They allseemed to knowthe drill, though, as they filed themselves into lines and began heading up a gravel trail into the mountains.
But why…
I gasped as it dawned on me.
This wasn’t just an encampment for prisoners.
This was a labor camp.
A small commotion drew my eyes back to one of the nearest houses—if you could call it that.
Then I fell to my knees as I watched the soldiers drag children out of the grasps of their parents and put them in a separate line from the adults.
