Approaching the very edge of the zoo, we stand on the cliffside and peer down. There are a few jagged outcrops of rock, but after that, nothing. What’s deeper than the Below?
I turn to my party, their faces solemn. With no one around, we’ve ditched our underfae getups. Now Dayton and my brothers wear matching weary expressions.
Without Ez, I’ll have to decide where to go next. “Kel’s not here. If we hurry, we can meet up with Ezryn and George and help search the palace.” I walk away from the edge of the cliff and start making my way down the path, trying to block out the moans of the creatures, the stink of feces and blood.
Dayton steps in stride with me. “Or we could investigate the celebration at Nether Reach. Something’s happening there, and I bet Caspian’s involved.”
Dominic shadows my other side but stays silent, head downcast.
“Let’s get out of here—” I begin but notice someone’s missing.
Turning around, I see Billy standing rigid in the middle of the pathway. “Come on, Billy.”
“We can’t,” he says. His hands have formed tight fists.
“What are you talking about? Let’s go,” I urge.
He crosses his arms and shakes his head back and forth. “We came to the Below to save people, didn’t we? Well, then that’s what we have to do. Nobody gets left behind.”
Understanding dawns, and I look over at the cages. A wave of defeat hits me square in the chest. “I hate this as much as you do, but we don’t have time.”
Dom skitters from my side, running over to stand with his brother. “Rosie would make time. No one gets left behind with her. Not the people of Hadria, not the soldiers on Voidseal Bridge.” He points a finger to a cage where a gryphon is curled in the corner, tattered wings wrapped around its body. “No one gets left behind.”
I take in a deep breath, the scent of neglect heavy on the air. Rosalina’s love hasn’t only touched me. It’s changed them, my brothers. Of course it has. Stories of the Golden Rose have spread across the realms.
And isn’t this what she’d want? These creatures have been left to rot and be tormented for how many years. What would Rosalina tell me?
Compassion is stronger than hate. And when we lead with love, we become all the more emboldened by it.
I turn to Dayton and raise a brow.
He shrugs. “Your brothers. Your call.”
I flick my gaze to the fierce faces of the twins. Little brothers. Boys. These words seem diminutive for the men they’re becoming. “Alright,” I grumble. “But if you free anything with teeth…run.”
A chorus of roars,hoots, and whinnying fills the air. I’m surprised all of Cryptgarden hasn’t come down on us by the racket we’ve made. Whatever’s happening in Nether Reach has stolen their attention.
I squat back on my heels, panting. My hands are still hot from melting so many locks, and fur and feathers stick to my clothes. I wonder if this is how Aurelia felt when she first created the Vale with all its inhabitants.
We are surrounded by creatures. Even the ones that make my hair stand on end, like the giant blue spider with its eight spying eyes, seem docile. Maybe they’re all weak and underfed. But a part of me thinks they understand we’re trying to help. A giant queen’s winter fox, whose soiled fur I imagine was once a stark white, rubs up against Billy, nearly knocking him off his feet, while Dom sits on the ground, picking thorns out of a gryphon’s paw.
“Hey! Over here!” Dayton calls. “There’s one more.”
I follow his voice behind a couple unlit lampposts and a tree crafted of obsidian. A small glass tank looms in the dark, so dirty the water appears black. But I catch glimmers of light within.
Dayton wraps on the glass. “Hello? Come to the surface if you can.”
Slowly, a pale face, two pink eyes, and stringy hair appear. With her now motionless, I can make out a tail through the gloom. A siren.
“Are you really here to help?” she says, her voice low and raspy. Her gaze flicks over the pathway, filled with meandering creatures.
“We are,” Dayton calls. “What’s your name?”
“Megaera.” She pulls herself up to the lip of the tank, then peers down, her eyes like glass orbs. “I know you. Son of Ovidius. Your father used to sail our waters.”
“And I will return you to such waters as soon as possible,” Dayton responds.
My eyes catch on her arm, hanging over the side. A steel band emblazoned with waves and stars winds around her forearm. A bargain circle.
