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The breaking turned into a shattering, but she swallowed it in. “Then we fly back and bring them with us. All of them.”
Silence. Charlie muttered a short curse under his breath before finally responding.
“All right. If you wish.”
Chapter 5
Trying to resist Daria’s pleading state would have been the same as resisting a bundle of mewling, staring kittens: impossible, preposterous, and the one thing Charlie couldn’t do. More curses swam in his mind, held back as he was torn between two severe emotions: pride that she was as selfless as always; and dismay that she would sacrifice her joy without hesitation. Anger became the third emotion drilling in as they backtracked their way towards the large clearing, which was still as empty as when they had passed it. A few minutes later, dread joined in.
“This is a bad idea.”
“Too many traps?”
“No traps.”
“Oh.” Silence. He felt her dilemma, too, a battle that raged inside her frown. Then he saw her answer as she darted forward without a word, already zoning in on the first dark blur she already saw.
“Wait—”
Daria was on the first container before he could even take a step, forcing him to scramble to the next one. He studied the locks, figured it out, and was opening it before he could contemplate the pros and cons. The inside reeked even worse, and a press on the slumped figure’s pulse point told him he was too late.
It was the same in the next container, then the next. The hope dwindled until he got to the fourth one, where a figure shot up at the opening door. He took in the scales on her chest and lower body that resembled a snake.
“This is a rescue,” he said gently. “Tell me what you need.”
There was a wary pause.
“Water,” she croaked out, voice so small and dried up.
“I got it,” Daria announced, already tossing a flask in her direction. The scaly woman ogled it, wrenched it open, and gulped down its contents with desperation. Seconds later, legs replaced the snake tail, and the Fae was marching inside to pull the woman to her feet. “I’m Daria.”
“Sona.”
“Come on, Sona,” Daria said. “Come with us.”
To Charlie’s amazement, the woman shadowed Daria without a word, body language that of someone ready to do whatever Daria said. He watched the two head to the next container and leaped towards the rest, managing to free one more person—a human male—in his quest.
“How did you even get here?”
“Drugged,” the male exclaimed. “I witnessed an event. I made up a lie that prevented them from killing me. I didn’t even know they existed, man.”
“We,” he clarified, then saw the man’s eyes widen at the fur Charlie sprouted to demonstrate. “What event?”
The man didn’t fight his hold upon stumbling, seemingly okay with the idea that he grew fur. Eyes darted around wildly, then latched on ahead. “Her. They were capturing and trapping her.”
Charlie glanced at the scaly woman, who was pulling open a door on her own.
“Who is she?”
A crashing sound tinkled somewhere in the distance before Charlie’s query could be answered, the object knocked down by another prisoner stumbling out of yet another container. He watched as gas leaked from the lamp he hadn’t seen earlier before fire spat out next, spreading over where the liquid touched and making its way toward dried grass. It didn’t take long before it was consuming the trees and bushes surrounding them.
“I’m going to die,” the man moaned.
“No, you are not.”
He tugged the man towards a steeper path of rocks leading to the last container, which Daria was already opening. When Sona launched at her as if to strike, Charlie ran towards the scaly woman and leaped.
“Don’t! That’s a trap! The man inside is—”
