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Rythos, Galon, and Marth crowded into the room. Some of the tension melted from my neck and shoulders. They must have traveled quickly to meet us this far north. For the first time in days, a tiny spark of hope slid into the dark cavern of my mind. More of us searching meant we had a greater chance of finding Prisca quickly.
Asinia hugged each of them, while Demos nodded a greeting.
Galon’s eyes met mine. “What happened?”
I had to tell them. And I had to do it quickly. But the words burned up my throat, until I could barely force them out of my mouth.
“Cavis was one of the king’s spiders.”
Rythos went eerily still. “I don’t believe it.”
“It’s true,” Demos said tiredly. “He was fighting against whatever orders he’d been given, but the moment we got to the hourglass, those orders must have overridden his will. He took Prisca.”
“We’ll fix him,” Rythos announced. Someone who didn’t know him might assume he didn’t understand the gravity of the situation. But he’d immediately channeled his unwavering determination and optimism. His response was so like Prisca’s, I had to turn away.
“Let’s get some sleep,” Galon said. “We’ll leave at first light.”
And so we continued to travel, choosing our direction based on the slightest rumor, the tiniest spark of hope.
Sleep had become something foreign. Instead, I spent my nights writing letters to Prisca. Letters I would probably burn.
Wildcat
I don’t know if you’ll ever see this letter. I don’t know if I’ll ever give it to you. But I spend my days talking to you in my head. By now, I know you well enough to know how you would answer most of my questions. Your quick humor, sarcasm, and the way you occasionally take my breath away with your honesty…
Gods, I miss you.
Rythos told me that writing to you might help. I snarled at him, and he just gave me that steady, patient stare—you know the one. Galon nodded, and finally, with nothing else to do, I stalked away to the river to talk to you.
Some of our biggest moments have been by water, wildcat. The day you almost died, when Galon was the one to save you—that day still haunts me now. Sometimes, I wake from nightmares that you succumbed to the river and I never knew you. My life would have remained dark and cold if that had happened.
I would have deserved it.
In my best dreams—the dreams I don’t want to wake from—I manage to get to you in those caves. I pull you from Cavis’s arms, and we find a way to help him. A way to undo the evil Regner spawned in him.
But in my nightmares, all I see is your face. You were terrified—I could see it in your eyes. But your expression was strangely calm. Subdued. I’m not sure if you knew there was no way out of the situation, or if you were still planning your escape.
You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Did you know that? Some part of me is sure you must have known. But I’ve never been good at letting anyone in. When I think of you, alone and afraid, never knowing just how much I love you…it’s all I can do to stay sane.
Just…stay alive for me. Stay alive, and I swear I’ll find you.
-Lorian
And so, each day, we slaughtered our way across the kingdom. Each night, I wrote long letters to Prisca, until the early hours of the morning.
Each moment stretched as long as a lifetime, until I began to question my own sanity. And still, we continued to search. We knew Regner’s secret dungeon wouldn’t be in a city. So we traveled north through tiny villages and large towns, not bothering to hide our path. Regner had painted my people as monsters, so we became the monsters who raged through his kingdom.
Until one morning, Galon received a message from someone I’d almost forgotten existed. Prisca’s friend Madinia.
“I know where she is.”
My people often referred to those with Madinia’s magic as dragons. They were believed to have a closer connection to the gods.
Perhaps that was why Prisca’s dragon had somehow achieved what none of us had managed.
Written in Tibris and Prisca’s code were the directions to Regner’s secret dungeon.
* * *
