“What do you mean?” Hansa asked.
“Well, the entire tunnel didn’t cave in. Just a hundred or so yards of it,” Peyton explained. “My Maras and I once explored the above-ground length of the tunnel. We drilled holes here and there, just to see if there were parts of the passageways that we could still use. After a couple of weeks of digging and mapping, we were able to figure out that the collapse itself only covers about a hundred and twenty yards, at most.”
“Shouldn’t we just dig in from where the tunnel is clear again, then?” I asked. “Instead of working our way through the mine?”
“Strategically speaking, it wouldn’t work to our advantage,” Peyton replied. “It is, in fact, easier if your Druid or one of your fae clears the collapsed tunnel directly. It will take less time, as well, and it will keep our access route secret. Digging on the surface anywhere beyond the hill would leave the tunnel open to discovery.”
“There are daemons and probably Correction Officers roaming these parts of the land, now,” Jax muttered. “Especially after our stunt at Ragnar Peak.”
“Absolutely,” Peyton smirked, then pointed at the entrance. I had to use my True Sight to see the opening, framed with dark wood beams. “There. We’ll go through there.”
“Harper, how are we looking, position-wise?” Hansa asked me, just as we reached the mine entrance.
I looked around again, using my True Sight.
“Pleased to confirm we’ve got zero hostiles on a three-mile radius at this point,” I replied. “There is some movement on the far west side, but it’s getting farther away, beyond my scope.”
“Perfect,” Peyton muttered, then went first into the mine.
One by one, we followed. As I took my hood and goggles off, I quickly adjusted to the pitch black surrounding us. This was just the first pocket of the mine, with three possible offshoots—three narrow, rectangular tunnel openings.
The walls wore a faint red shimmer here and there, remnants of raw red garnet deposits.
“You’ll go this way,” Peyton said, pointing at the tunnel opening to the left. “The other two lead deeper and into the north. This one goes south.”
Vesta settled on a large rock by the entrance, clicking her teeth at Hundurr and Rover.
“Come on, fellas. Looks like we’ll be here a while.” She chuckled.
The pit wolves sniffed around and stayed back. Hundurr kept his red gaze focused on the outside, while Rover sat on his hind legs next to Vesta, looking at us with big, curious eyes.
“You look after Vesta and wait for us here, okay?” Scarlett addressed Hundurr.
He groaned, as if unhappy with the order, but eventually huffed and lay down as a sign of submission. Scarlett gave him and Rover a quick scratch behind the ears.
“Don’t worry, Scarlett,” Vesta said, “we get the boring side of the mission. Hundurr and Rover can hunt something nearby if they get hungry. Or bored.”
Scarlett chuckled softly, then Hansa gave Vesta a gentle shoulder squeeze.
“Keep your eyes open,” Hansa said. “If any hostiles come through from the tunnels, it’s up to you, the Maras and the pit wolves to stop them from getting out. The same goes for fiends coming in from the outside, looking to use the tunnels.”
Vesta offered a firm nod in response.
“Be careful,” the fae murmured.
Hansa turned around to face us and motioned for Arrah to go deeper into the mine.
“Let’s go,” she said. “Your turn to guide us, Arrah.”
We made our way down through the narrow shaft, using the carved steps. I welcomed the tranquil darkness enveloping us as we reached the collapsed part of the tunnel. Faced with a wall of crushed stones, we stood back, and Caia and Patrik worked together to unblock the passageway. After all, Caia was a fae—she could manipulate all the natural elements, though fire was her strong suit. In this case, she focused on her ability to work the earth.
Caspian held my hand, and we exchanged glances. My nerves were already stretched thin, and we hadn’t even reached Azure Heights yet. Caspian was equally on edge. I gave him a soft, reassuring smile. The warm, golden light of his love filled me to the brim, easing the tension and reminding me of what was at stake here.
I rejected failure as an option.
Avril
It took Caia and Patrik less than an hour to ease our access through the tunnel. The move was a joint effort to shift and drill through large slabs of stone, using her earth elemental abilities and a plethora of Druid spells. They were, of course, assisted by Velnias, Zane, and Fiona, who used their strength to remove the stone clutter.
We made our way through the narrow passageway that resulted from their teamwork. We had a smooth trip ahead, keeping a steady but rapid pace. Harper used her True Sight along the way, looking at the terrain above. We passed several small groups of daemons and Exiled Maras searching the northern edge of the Valley of Screams for us.
By the time we reached the gorges, hostile activities increased.
“Fifty daemons and twenty Correction Officers directly above us,” Harper muttered, keeping her voice low. “Headed west now.”
We kept quiet for most of the journey, in case anyone had their ears aimed at the ground. The daemons were well aware of potential tunnels running beneath the gorges, so it stood to reason that we should keep a low profile so as not to alert them to our presence.
“A good daemon scout could track us above ground, if they hear us,” Zane said.
The tunnel itself ran in a straight line beneath the ravines. At some point, I caught a whiff of moss and heard water running above. We were directly under a river flowing into the plains. Going through my memories of the Maras’ city, the green fields surrounding it, and the rivers snaking toward the eastern ocean, compared to where we’d come from, I had a pretty good idea as to where we were.
By the time we reached the plains, I knew our location with great accuracy. If given a map, I could even point us out—invisible dots sneaking in from the northeast, directly under the southernmost of three rivers crossing the fields toward the ocean.
“We have two miles left,” Arrah said. “How’s it looking up there?”
Harper used her True Sight again, then smirked. “It’s clear. There’s movement farther down, but they’re more than a mile away.”
“Perfect. We can run till we reach the mountain,” Hansa replied.
Arrah gave her a brief glance over the shoulder, then nodded and started running. We dashed after her, shooting through the tunnel.
Less than half an hour later, we reached the mountain base. Harper looked up, frowning as she scanned the area.
“The first moon is up,” she muttered. “There’s more activity on the lower levels, particularly on the first, second, and third. Imen are going home now. Correction Officers are out in pairs and groups of four. Some are wearing red lenses, as we’d suspected.”
“How many red lenses do you see?” I asked.
“One per group. Some don’t wear them, though. The fifth and sixth levels are heavily guarded, from what I can see, but I don’t remember exactly what’s in each of the buildings they’re posted in front of.”
“Any daemons?” Velnias replied.
“I don’t see any from here,” Harper said. “However, there are several buildings with meranium coating. I’m not able to tell which is the one we’re looking for.”
Hansa cursed under her breath. “We’ll need to find someone who can tell us, like we expected.”
“Yeah, I, too, was hoping for an easy one on Lumi’s location.” Harper sighed.
Jax pursed his lips, then looked at Caspian.
“Lord Kifo, do you think a superior Correction Officer might know? Nod or blink once,” he said.
Caspian thought about it for a moment, then nodded and instantly cringed from a burning sensation. That blood oath was such a pain.
“Any of the Mara Lords’ family members and lieutenants might know, as well,” Zane r
eplied. “Like Vincent, for example. I’m sure Fiona would love to catch up with him,” he added, chuckling softly.
Fiona smirked. “Absolutely.”
Hansa took a deep breath, then nodded slowly.
“All right,” she said. “Let’s head up, then, and scope out our exit area first.”
We kept going as the tunnel began its ascension through the mountain.
“Crap, this part of the tunnel is coated with meranium,” Harper muttered. “I can’t see past it.”
“Then be prepared for anything once we reach the top,” Jax whispered.
The tunnel got narrower as we passed the middle levels of the city. There were carved steps for us to use, along with numerous swamp witch inscriptions on the stone walls. I ran my fingers over them as we continued our climb.
“What are these supposed to do?” I asked.
“Protection for the tunnel,” Arrah replied, panting from her climb. “This is one of the few tunnels that no one left in Azure Heights knows about. All the rebels who’ve used it before have either fled or died. They went to a lot of trouble to keep this route hidden, just in case a day like this might come.”
The tunnel ended at a small square door. We all stopped behind Arrah, listening carefully to the world beyond the meranium walls. My nostrils flared as I tried to catch as many foreign scents as possible, in a bid to identify hostiles outside.
“The door’s made of meranium, too,” Harper whispered, frowning.
“And charmed,” Arrah added, then produced a pair of thin metal tools, which she used to pick the lock. We all watched in silence, somewhat befuddled. Picking up on the question we all wanted to ask, Arrah smirked. “Only a handful of the rebels had a key to this,” she murmured. “Like I said, this tunnel was super secured. I never got a key because I never saw the last Iman who had it after he ran away last year. But I can still pick a lock.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m wondering. When and how did you learn to do that?” I replied, my voice low.
She shrugged. “I had to get around the city without being noticed,” she muttered. “Plus, the Rohos kept a lot of documents under lock and key in their mansion. I was a curious child.”
I stifled a chuckle. She successfully unlocked the door, put her tools away, and prepared her crossbow. We’d laced all our short arrows with Pheng-Pheng’s venom, to quickly and discreetly disable any hostiles coming our way, prior to killing them.
Arrah opened the door slowly, keeping the crossbow aimed through the increasing crack. Moonlight came through, along with a gust of cool mountain air. She briefly glanced at us, then nodded and slipped out of the tunnel.
We followed in silence, then closed the door behind us. It was fitted with a stone mask on top of its meranium plating, perfectly blending into the stone wall of the mountain and facing the back garden of some rich Mara on the sixth level.
I heard Jax mutter a curse under his breath as we all looked around. We’d made it into Azure Heights, only none of us had known exactly where the tunnel would lead, other than the general proximity of the sixth level. We’d gotten the level right, but we were all standing in the middle of a gorgeous flower garden behind a white marble mansion—two floors of noble grandeur, with forged iron decorative details and a plethora of garden sculptures poking out of the sea of fragrant flowers.
We all quickly ate our first batch of invisibility paste and put on our red garnet lenses. A minute later, we were all just faint ripples in the air.
“Get ready to deploy,” Hansa whispered. “Dion, Jax, and I will wait for you here.”
We split up as per our initial plan, headed for the front of the house, when footsteps made us freeze. I held my breath as a male Mara walked into the garden, frowning and looking around. He’d heard something, for sure. He sniffed the air, visibly concerned.
My team was first on the stone path in front of the Mara, with Harper’s group behind us, and Hansa, Jax, and Dion at the back, by the hidden tunnel door. I looked over at Heron, who didn’t let the Mara out of his sight. He gave me a brief look, then slowly drew his sword.
“Who’s there?” the Mara asked, his voice low and rough.
He seemed relatively young, though it was impossible for me to ascertain a possible age, given his species. But he was on edge. He fumbled through his coat pocket and produced a red lens. My heart skipped a beat and my stomach tightened as I quickly realized that we were in the backyard of a well-to-do Exiled Mara who knew we could very well be in this part of town, using invisibility spells. He’d been briefed.
Heron didn’t give him a chance to put the lens on, though.
He dashed across the stone path and put his blade up to the elegantly dressed fiend’s throat. The Mara stilled and gasped. The sword pressed against his pale skin. He instantly put his hands up in a defensive gesture.
“Please don’t hurt me,” he whimpered.
I couldn’t help but scoff.
“Where are they keeping the swamp witch?” Heron hissed.
The Mara trembled, his expression morphing from one of shock to one of horror. “I don’t know, I swear! They don’t tell us.”
“What if I don’t believe you?” Heron replied.
I looked around, checking our team’s expressions. Nobody seemed to believe the Exiled Mara, and everyone was ready to intervene, if needed. The tension was high.
“I’m telling the truth. I’m just a magistrate,” the Mara replied. “I’m not in the inner circle. I don’t know where they’re keeping her!”
He reached for his sword, but that was a foolish move. Heron was infinitely faster. A split second later, the Exiled Mara’s head rolled into a nearby flowerbed. Scarlett rushed to get his body, while Patrik grabbed the head. They hid them behind a gazebo, beneath a rich layer of crimson flowers.
Hansa exhaled sharply.
“Clearly, they’re taking precautions,” she whispered. “This doesn’t change the mission, of course. Do what you have to do. Be careful. And may the Daughters be with you, every step of the way.”
We all nodded and headed out of the garden.
This was it. The moment we’d been mentally preparing for over the past week. Our make-or-break moment.
Our way out of here.
Harper
Arrah, Caspian, Pheng-Pheng, Fiona, Zane, and I moved through the sixth level of Azure Heights, while Avril and the others made their way down into the prison, and Blaze and Caia tailed our trio of rebel-allied leaders. The city was on alert, with Correction Officers wearing red lenses at every corner.
It made it difficult for us to sneak around, but we managed to stay out of sight. The numerous alleys and narrow spaces between neighboring buildings helped a lot.
The Exiled Maras were out enjoying the fresh evening air. The taverns and cafes were open, the terraces loaded with nobles sipping on blood. This time, however, something was horribly wrong with the picture, and it took a lot of self-control to stop myself from going out and beheading each and every one of these bastards.
There were plenty of Maras drinking blood from crystal glasses, but some had Imen sitting on their knees at a few tables, mind-bent and docile as their overlords fed directly from open wounds on their necks and wrists. The Maras draining the Imen grinned and giggled, their mouths smeared with fresh blood, as they exchanged gossip and pleasantries.
It made my stomach churn.
Caspian squeezed my hand and offered me an understanding look, then nodded at the end of the alley to our left. My breath hitched at the sight of Amalia, Emilian’s daughter and heir to House Obara. My blood boiled as I remembered how overly fond she was of Caspian, despite her claim that they were just friends.
She was escorted by two Correction Officers walking toward the dead end. There was a small but pretty-looking house there, with flowerpots and lights flickering in the wall-mounted fixtures. She went inside, while the COs waited by the door, looking around occasionally.
We moved in, hidden in a small nook between t
wo houses. I used my True Sight to keep an eye on the COs and to see what Amalia was up to inside. I stilled at the sight of her walking into the living room and sinking her fangs into the throat of a young Iman girl. Her parents cried as they tried to stop her, but Amalia hissed and mind-bent them into submission. They were forced to watch as she fed on their daughter.
“Imen live in these parts, I see,” I murmured, then looked at Caspian. He nodded. Fiona, Pheng-Pheng, and Zane looked at me, slightly confused.
The only one who knew what I was watching and could also speak up was Arrah. “They breed them in this neighborhood,” she whispered. “They’re mind-bent into thinking they’re well-to-do, and they run good businesses on this level. They’re just populating the Maras’ feeding ground. But they’re dying out, still. There used to be hundreds of them here.”
“I’m counting a few dozen in this quarter, at most.” I scoffed, scanning the area briefly.
Each house lining the alley was home to a family of just three or four Imen.
“This is where the richest of Maras come to feed,” Arrah explained.
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Fiona groaned, shaking her head in disgust.
“I wish I could bring my entire nest here,” Pheng-Pheng muttered. “We’d have the Maras on the ground in excruciating pain in a matter of minutes.”
“Yeah, but they’ve got red lenses and swamp witch magic on their side,” Zane reminded her with a raised eyebrow. “You wouldn’t get to do as much damage as you’d like.”
Pheng-Pheng sighed, her shoulders dropping with disappointment. “I know…”
“Is this what it’s always been like?” I asked Arrah, still coping with what I was watching unfold before my very eyes. She nodded, and the sadness in her pale green eyes made my heart hurt.
I looked around again, noticing that Amalia was still in the house, taking her sweet time with the poor Iman girl. It had to stop, and we needed to find out where they were keeping Lumi. Two birds, one sword.
I walked out of our hiding place, prompting the rest of my team to follow me.