Silver moonlight pierced through the passage as they reached its end. They had been crawling for quite some time, and Draevyn never considered how tight the space might be for fully grown men compared to when he was just a boy.
One by one, they pulled themselves out into the open air, crawling up through a blanket of moss and tangled roots, coughing, dirty, and wide-eyed.
Dense, overgrown trees loomed above in the darkness, while insects hummed around their ears. The castle was nearly a mile to their backs, swallowed behind the thick curtain of the forest. The sky was still dark, stars veiled behind heavy clouds, and ahead of them, a narrow river twisted through the underbrush, glittering faintly in the dim light.
They had made it out.
“We need to move,” Draevyn said, wiping blood from a scrape on his brow. “You’ll need to follow the river out. It flows to the south.”
Jak’s eyes narrowed. “And what’s at the end of this river?”
“The sea,” Draevyn answered. “And a pair of pinnaces prepped to bring you toValor.”
Ren let out a low whistle. “You planned ahead.”
The others began to shuffle into motion, trusting him, for now.
Draevyn gave a stiff nod. “Stay off the path and within the trees. Lay low until you see the shore.”
The group trudged forward along the muddy banks, their boots half sinking into the earth. Leaves rustled overhead, and the river whispered.
The crew turned back, confused when they realized he hadn’t moved to follow. He didn’t say anything for a moment as he stared at the winding current, heart thudding.
“You’re not coming with us?” Riven asked, tilting his head.
Draevyn shook his head, jaw clenched. “No. I need to go back.”
“What?” Jak barked. “Are you mad? You heard those guards. The whole castle’s in lockdown. I don't think I need to remind you that we left those guards alive back there. You’ll be killed if they catch you.”
“I know,” he admitted. “But I need to help my own crew get the rest of yours out of Lephyrin and meet us at the ship. If there’s a lockdown in place, it may already be too late. I can’t just run.”
A heavy silence fell, and then he pointed downstream.
“Keep going,” he ordered. “The pinnaces will be docked beneath the stone cliffs. You’ll see the torches burning low. Wait there.”
“And what if you don’t make it back?” one of the others asked.
He gave them a faint, grim smile. “If I’m not back by dawn, then light the sails and don’t look back.”
With that, Draevyn turned and vanished into the woods, flame flickering low in his palm to light the way as he scanned the city’s skyline in the distance.
CHAPTER 24
Atlas
The halls of Lephyrin’s castle rang with footsteps and the clash of armor. Shadows flickered across the marble walls, exuding from Atlas as he slipped further and further into his panicked rage.
“Lock down the gates!” he roared. “No one enters or leaves the castle. No one leaves the fucking city.”
His jaw was clenched, his heart racing with both fear and fury as the guards scattered at his commands.
Fear for his Elowynne. Fury for Esmyra.
“She was right here,” he growled under his breath. “I had her right in my godsdamn bedchamber, and she slipped away like a wraith in the night.”
He halted near the grand staircase.
“My queen was taken,” he said, louder now, projecting his voice to everyone within earshot. “By the same monster who murdered my father and corrupted my brother,” he barked. “Check every tower, corridor, and tunnel.”
