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170

The guards outside the underground chamber kept looking at one another because they all knew Kevin was changing dangerously.
Inside the small cell, Rosa held her two children close. She tried hard not to show fear, but her hands shook. Kevin stood in front of her and shouted, “Keegan will give up once he knows his family is in danger. He will fall to his knees. He always breaks when it comes to you.”
Rosa lifted her chin, even though her voice trembled. “I will not let you use me against him. He will not give up.”
Kevin’s face twisted. “He will. Everyone breaks. Even you.”
He began pacing around the room. His boots hit the ground loudly with each step. He whispered things to himself, words that Rosa could not understand. His fingers twitched, and he kept gripping the dagger at his waist. He looked like someone who no longer knew what he wanted except violence.
Rosa watched him closely. She tried to think of any path to escape, but each time she moved, Kevin snapped around and shouted, “Don’t try it!”
The children began crying softly.
“Stop making noise!” Kevin yelled.
Rosa pulled them close. “Please. They’re only scared. Let them be.”
Kevin turned away and kicked a wooden box across the floor.
Outside the cell, two guards whispered.
“Should we call the others?” one asked.
“If we do, he might turn on us,” the other answered.
They both stayed frozen.
Inside, Rosa breathed slowly and whispered to her children, “Stay calm. I am here. I will keep you safe.”
Kevin slammed his hand against the door. “Keegan thinks he can beat me. He thinks he can rule over everything. He forgets who taught him half the things he knows. He forgets that I built this kingdom before he ever touched a weapon.”
He turned to Rosa again.
“When he sees you bleeding, he will understand he cannot win.”
Rosa shook her head. “You don’t have to do this. You can stop. Nobody has to get hurt anymore.”
Kevin laughed in a way that made the guards outside step back.
“You think this is about choice? There is no choice. Only victory or loss. If I lose, I lose everything. If I take you, Keegan loses everything. It is simple.”
He stepped closer to her. Rosa held her ground, even though her heart beat fast.
“You will not break me,” she said.
“I already have,” Kevin replied.
Rosa’s mind raced. She had tried to escape earlier when Kevin was distracted, but he caught her before she reached the exit. She tried again when he stepped outside for a moment, but a guard grabbed her. Every attempt failed.
Now she watched Kevin grow more unstable.
Far above them, Keegan moved through the forest with two of his best trackers. They followed broken branches, destroyed traps, and footprints left behind by Kevin’s forces.
Keegan knelt and touched the dirt. “He passed here,” he said quietly.
One warrior pointed further ahead. “And he was dragging something. It looks like something heavy.”
Keegan’s jaw tightened. “He has Rosa. We are close. Move.”
They ran.
Back inside the chamber, Kevin finally stopped pacing. His breathing slowed. His anger softened for a moment. Rosa saw a brief chance.
She quickly lifted her children and placed them behind some old broken debris in the corner of the room. She whispered, “Stay quiet. Stay low.”
Both children nodded, eyes wide with fear.
Kevin watched her, confused for a second. “What are you doing?”
“Trying to stop you from hurting them,” Rosa said calmly. “They have nothing to do with this.”
Kevin stared at the children, then at Rosa. His calmness faded again.
“You think Keegan will fight harder if he knows they are safe?” he snapped. “You think you can stop what is coming?”
Rosa tried to reason with him. “You can still leave. You can run. You do not need to use them or me.”
Kevin shouted, “Stop talking!” He paced again, talking to himself. “Keegan… always Keegan… always thinks he is right… always thinks he can stop me…”
The guards outside looked worried now.
“He is losing control,” one muttered.
“If he kills her, Keegan will destroy us all,” the second guard whispered.
Inside the cell, Rosa looked for anything she could use to escape. A loose stone. A weak bar. A sharp edge. Anything. She walked along the walls, touching them one by one. But everything was solid. Nothing gave way. She felt frustration rising in her chest.
“I cannot stay here,” she whispered to herself.
Kevin suddenly swung the door open and walked out for a moment as a guard ran up to him.
“Sir! Keegan’s forces are close. Very close.”
Kevin’s eyes widened. “How close?”
“A few minutes away.”
Kevin grabbed the guard by the collar. “You let them get close?”
“S-sir, there are too many—”
Kevin shoved the guard aside and rushed back into the cell.
Rosa froze.
Kevin’s breathing was wild. He grabbed her arm and pulled her up. “You are coming with me.”
“No!” Rosa pulled back. “Leave my children alone!”
“You will walk. If you fall, I will drag you.”
“No!” she shouted again.
Kevin, fueled by fear and madness, grabbed his dagger.
“Stop fighting!” he screamed.
Rosa pushed him back. “Let me go!”
Kevin’s eyes filled with rage. “I told you not to fight!”
Before she could step away, his arm swung.
The blade stabbed her side.
Rosa gasped and fell to her knees. Pain shot through her body. She pressed her hand against the wound. Blood slipped between her fingers.
Her children screamed from behind the debris.
“Mama!”
Rosa forced herself to lift an arm toward them. “Stay there… don’t move…”
Kevin grabbed her hair and yanked her back up. “You will come with me. Keegan will see you like this, and his heart will break.”
“Leave… them… alone…” Rosa whispered through tears.
Kevin ignored her. He dragged her toward the exit. Her legs scraped the floor. Blood dripped behind them in a slow trail.
Outside, the guards stepped back. One whispered, “He stabbed her. He actually stabbed her…”
Kevin shouted, “Move! Keegan is almost here. I will end this my way.”
As they reached the exit of the underground chamber, Rosa screamed as Kevin pulled too hard on her wounded side.
Deep in the forest, Keegan stopped running.
He froze.
He heard it.
A scream.
Rosa’s scream.
Keegan’s heart slammed in his chest. “That was her.”
He took off at full speed, faster than the warriors behind him.
“We are close!” he shouted. “Move! Now!”
Rosa’s voice echoed through the trees again, faint but clear.
“Keegan!”
He ran harder.
Inside the chamber entrance, Kevin dragged Rosa up the steps. She trembled from pain but kept trying to shield her children by staying between Kevin and the room.
“Let them go…” she begged. “Take me… but let them go…”
“Quiet!” Kevin barked. “You will speak when I tell you to speak.”
The guards followed behind them but kept their distance, terrified of Kevin’s growing madness.
Keegan reached the clearing above the chamber and saw the entrance hidden behind thick roots and rocks.
He yelled, “Rosa! I’m here!”
His voice reached inside.
Rosa sobbed with relief. “Keegan…”
Kevin pulled her harder. “Shut up!”
Keegan jumped down toward the entrance, sword drawn.
The last thing Rosa heard before darkness blurred her sight was Keegan shouting her name again, louder, angrier, and more desperate than ever.