“Give me the keys for the cells or I’ll burn you alive.” I called to my powers, pulling fire into both of my hands.
The healer’s eyes widened in fear. I knew my reputation from being the commander of the Luxian army preceded me. Anyone who didn’t know me believed the rumors of how vicious I was in battle, of showing no mercy before I burned everything in my wake to ash, and sometimes the reputation came in handy.
The healer took a tentative step back, raising his arms slightly in defense. The Advenians chained to the wall closest to me stirred and it took everything in me not to give them my attention, because once I did, I’d lose it. I was disgusted something like this existed, that the King was using them for vessels of power and not treating them as people. The healers weren’t any better. They were gifted with the power tohelp, but instead they were using their abilities to suck the life from the people chained, only keeping them breathing enough to function for the King’s liking. And the King threatened to bring Rumor here—
When he didn’t answer right away, I sent my flames out toward him and burned the skin at his feet.
He screeched, his voice rippled in agony, “I will, I will.” I kept my flames superficial, burning his flesh off while still keeping the bones. “I’ll get you the keys,” he half sobbed, half wailed.
“Now,” I ordered, sending my fire up to his knees. I was half a second away from fully burning his feet off. I didn’t feel bad, he’d just be able to heal himself later, and he deserved the pain for how he was treating the thousands of Advenians in this room. The healing ability was always believed to be a gift from the twelve lesser Goddesses and any healer working down here was a disgrace to their names.
The healer reached into his robes and pulled out a set of three keys dangling on a large circular loop. I stalked toward him once I cleared the stairs and ripped them out of his hands.
I heard a few chained Advenians chuckle and risked tilting my head to the side to see some of them grinning. My stomach turned as I wondered how long they’d been trapped down here. It was probably the first time they smiled in centuries, and I planned on changing that today.
“Get out of my sight.” I gestured toward the long stretch of lined cells. I figured there might be another exit at the end, but I didn’t want him running past Kallon. He half ran, half dragged his burned feet as he limped away from me.
I didn’t wait as I called to the fire in my veins and focused everything I could on the shackles holding the Advenians to the walls. The other healers in the room panicked as they saw the room bursting in flames and started running in the opposite direction. I pushed my fire into every chain that existed down here, burning them off. It took all of my control not to hit the flesh that met with each shackle.
Once I burned through them, most of the Advenians collapsed to the ground, unable to keep themselves upright without the metal holding them in place. But there was a surprising number still standing.
Kallon came flooding down the stairs, her body materializing as Dovelyn’s invisibility vanished the moment she crossed the threshold. She gasped as she looked around the room, her yellow eyes widening in shock. “What is this place?”
I quickly glanced at her, not bothering to answer her question. We didn’t have the luxury of time. “Did you create the portal?”
She nodded before answering, her eyes kept scanning the prisoners. “Yes, it’s just up the stairs. Peter and Dove are already through and back at the camp. They got Vallie and Sie’s brother out.”
“Not his mother?”
She shook her head. “She didn’t make it. There were guards in the room with them…” Her voice trailed off as I nodded.
I couldn’t think about it right now. If she was dead, there was nothing I could do about it. “Can you portal all these people out?”
“I’ll manage.” I knew she couldn’t. There were too many to get out at once, but we both knew what her answer really meant. We’d keep going until we failed. Her pale skin was already ashen. She’d used too much of her reserves to create the portal, but Kal always pushed herself to her breaking point, not stopping until her body gave out. We’d done this numerous times before, bringing the rebels into Brighta. The only difference now was she didn’t have a day or two to rest after creating the portal. We had minutes before this place would be flooded with soldiers.
“Good,” I said, then turned toward the Advenians that were still managing to stand. They were hesitant, unsure what to do as they stared at me in shock. “Grab as many as you can around you,” I called out as I stepped up to the bars and unlocked the cell door to my left. “Up the stairs, there’s a portal to get you all somewhere safe.”
Relief, confusion, and agony were flooding into my senses. I tried to block out my ability, but the amount of people around me suffering was too much. Everyone immediately fled into action. The strongest in the group, who probably weren’t held captive as long, were helping hold the weaker ones. Some halfcarrying the ones who collapsed up the stairs. Others were being dragged.
I made my way toward the right side of the cells, unlocking the other half of the room. I saw in Scottie’s memories how many people were trapped down here, but to see it in person was something else. Not everyone was going to make it to the portal. Some of us were going to be left behind.
Kallon seemed to know it too. Her weak smile was proof of that. “Tezya, I’ll get as many out as I can, but Peter and Dove tripped an alarm. The King knows we’re here. We have minutes, if that.” She scanned the room, biting her lip. “I know I can’t convince you to leave right now, but come up after a minute, and let me portal you back before—”
I nodded. I knew the odds when I decided to do this.
Everyone was moving too slowly, they were all too weak. I didn’t think about it, about what would happen when the King got here. I knew he wouldn’t kill me. He still didn’t know I was Tennebrisian… I shoved the punishment room far out of my mind. I’d deal with whatever happened to me later.
For now, I returned Scotlind’s best friend to her, and if Kallon and I succeeded, we’d be getting rid of the Lux King’s powers in the process. After today, he wouldn’t be able to drink the blood of the most powerful Advenians the Golden City had. He’d be scrambling. He’d lose all his powers. This could win them the war.
My mind was made up the moment I saw what had happened to Scotlind. I didn’t want this place to exist for a second longer, and I planned on doing everything it took to give Brighta the advantage. “Get as many of them through the portal as you can. I’m going to help the ones who can’t walk.”
Kallon immediately fled into action, shouting orders at the Advenians who were closest to her as they all rushed toward the stairs. I let my eyes linger for a moment, taking in my friend as she portaled the first group through.
Soldiers flooded into the dungeons not long after. It confirmed there were multiple exits and entrances as they came at us from all angles. I didn’t think about who I was fighting as I cleared a path to the stairs. I didn’t want to recognize any of the men I fought with over the past century. Some hesitated. Others came at me willingly, some with savage smiles.
I did my best not to kill anyone, to only make a clear path for the Advenians trying to run out of this hell hole, but as time stretched and more and more soldiers flooded in, it became harder to do.
It was a mix of blood, metal, and magic. Swords, daggers, and axes were cutting into the Advenians that were too weak and too drained to fight back, and when the soldiers were too far to strike with a physical blow, they used their elemental powers to make the kill. Air was pushing everyone back down the stairs. Ground magic was wrapping around legs and yanking people backwards. Water was drowning, fire was burning. Death and gore were everywhere.
