1
Alette
The hedge loomshigh above me, twisting walls closing in on all sides, shadows stretching across the stone path like they’re reaching for me too. The air is thick, damp, heavy in my lungs, but I can barely feel it past the frantic pounding of my heart.
They’re gone.The thought slams into me again, louder this time, sharper.They’re gone, and I didn’t stop it.
My breathing turns shallow, uneven, my hands trembling at my sides as I spin, searching for something, anything, but there’s nothing. No sign of them. No sound of fighting. No trace of where they were taken.
Just silence.
I don’t know what to do.The realization creeps in, cold and suffocating.I don’t know how to do this without them.
Sylvian should be here, composed and calm, reminding me to breathe. Ashton should be talking, filling the silence with something ridiculous just to keep me from thinking too hard. Oberon should be pacing, angry enough to burn the whole maze down if it looked at me wrong. Cassius should be watchingeverything, already five steps ahead, already figuring out how to fix this.
Instead, there’s nothing. Just me. And the terrible, creeping realization that I don’t know how to do this without them.
Something sharp and unfamiliar digs deep inside me. I shove it down, refuse to name it, refuse to let myself think too long about what it means that the thought of losing them feels like this.
I don’t have time for that. I don’t have time to fall apart.
And then, as I round another corner of the castle, I see them. The cyclopes emerge from a small entrance in the stone structure dragging my men behind them.
My men. The words carry more weight than they should, lodging somewhere deep inside me.
Oberon’s face is filled with anger, his jaw working even though he doesn’t say a word. Ashton’s usual smirk is gone, replaced by a grim expression. Sylvian’s usually bright green eyes are filled with a fierce determination that doesn’t quite mask the fear lurking beneath. Even Cassius, whose intellect always seems to provide a solution, looks pale and defeated, his movements sluggish as they’re yanked along like prey.
Something inside me cracks. I’ve never seen them like this. Never seen them… vulnerable. It does something to me. Something dangerous.
They’re bound, ropes cutting into their wrists, the coarse fibers digging into their skin. I can almost hear their silent cries for help, muffled by the weight of my own helplessness.
My stomach twists violently.They’re going to die.The thought strikes me so hard I nearly choke on it.They’re going to die, and I can’t stop it.
A cyclops starts to turn in my direction, and I duck beneath the nearest row of bushes, pressing myself into the dirt, the cool earth grounding me even as my heart races. I try to quiet thethundering in my chest, but it only seems to grow louder. They keep moving, their heavy footsteps echoing as they lumber past.
My nails dig into the soil, the gritty texture biting into my skin as I fight the urge to run out and scream at them to stop. Todo something. Anything.
I can’t just watch this happen. I can’t lose them.The thought crashes into me, sharp and undeniable.Not now. Not when I’m only just starting to understand what they mean to me… what I mean to them.
The urge to jump up and fight surges through me, wild and reckless, but the cold weight of reality crushes it down just as quickly.I’d only get myself captured, or worse, and then they’d have no one left.
No one to get them out. No one to save them.
My breath catches, sharp and painful. Because that’s what I’m doing now. Saving them. I don’t know how. I don’t know if I can. But I know one thing with terrifying certainty… I will try, even if it means I die trying.
Once their footsteps grow fainter, I crawl out from my hiding place, my gut clenching. The cyclopes lead them toward a cave poorly hidden near a giant row of hedges, its entrance glowing with the guttering light of torches, the flames writhing like malevolent spirits.
The cyclopes don’t seem to care about the negative energy radiating from the cave. They drag my men into the torch-lined darkness, disappearing into the depths of the mysterious place.
When they’re out of sight, I follow. Running toward the cave. Toward danger. Towardthem. Unsure what I can possibly do against the cyclops, with only me and my sword there to stand between danger and my men.
Or maybe their magic will start working again away from the stone structure. At least when I get close to them.But I can’t bet on that.
A humorless breath escapes me.Gods. We’re screwed.
I hesitate at the cave’s mouth, my heart pounding as I weigh the consequences of my next move. But the memory of my men, dragged and helpless, pulls me forward.
The cavern opens into a massive chamber lined with dancing torchlight, long shadows stretching like grasping fingers across the rough stone walls. The shadows seem to whisper secrets, and I keep to the edges, my heart pounding in a frantic rhythm as I watch the cyclopes lead the kings deeper into the dark tunnels. The air grows colder as we descend, the smell of damp stone mingling with something metallic… blood, I think.
