Chapter 166 Look to the Skies

Chapter 166 Look to the Skies
Serafina

Silence settled over the camp once more.

The laughter from Helga's antics had faded, replaced by the steady rhythm of preparation. Refugees sharpened blades against whetstones. Archers bundled arrows into leather quivers. Children carried baskets of bandages from tent to tent while the elderly boiled herbs over crackling fires. Everywhere I looked, fear had been replaced by purpose.

For the first time since the evacuation...

We had a plan.

I glanced toward the prisoners.

Elyndra still lay unconscious where Helga had chained her between Florian and the shadow-turned-mortal, Kier. Florian sat with his usual impeccable posture despite the chains around his wrists, while Kier leaned against the tree behind him, silently studying everyone who passed.

"They'll need watching," I said.

Aldo followed my gaze. "They're not going anywhere."

"I'd rather not gamble on that."

"I have an idea," Lio said quietly.

He stepped toward the three prisoners without another word.

Florian looked up, curiosity replacing his usual composure. Kier shifted uneasily beside him. Elyndra remained unconscious, her head lolling against Florian's shoulder.

Lio planted the butt of his staff against the earth. Violet light rippled outward in a widening circle.

The ground trembled.

Roots withdrew beneath the soil as stone rose from the forest floor, slabs of rock grinding against one another. Thick ironwood vines twisted through the cracks, weaving themselves into bars as the walls climbed higher and higher.
Within moments, the three prisoners found themselves enclosed inside a sturdy cage of stone and living wood.

Lio lifted his staff. "That should hold them."

Helga gave an approving whistle. "That's one way to solve a problem." She walked around the cage, rapping one of the bars with the flat of her axe.

Thunk.

She nodded in approval. "Solid."

Florian examined the walls with professional interest before sighing. "I suppose escape is no longer an option."

"Not unless you learn to walk through stone," Helga replied.

Florian inclined his head. "Remarkable craftsmanship, by the way."

"He wasn't asking for your opinion," Helga replied.

"No," Florian agreed. "He wasn't."

Aldo turned away from the cage and faced the gathered rebels. "I need someone guarding these three at all times. If they escape, everything we've planned falls apart."

"I'll do it."

The voice carried clearly over the camp.

Beside me, Ryven stiffened.

A young woman stepped out from the crowd. A bow hung across her back, a quiver of arrows over one shoulder. Her long dark hair framed a face marked by sleepless nights, her eyes swollen and red, as though she hadn't stopped crying for days.

She came to a stop before Aldo. "I'll guard them."

For a heartbeat, no one spoke.

Then Ryven frowned. "No. Not you, Rowenna."

The woman's expression hardened. "No?"

"Not in your current state. You're too emotional."

Her eyes flashed. "You only have yourself to blame for that." Her voice was sharp enough to cut steel. "Today, of all days, you decided to break up with me."

An awkward silence settled over the clearing.

Several nearby rebels—including me—suddenly found the sky intensely interesting.

Ryven folded his arms. "This isn't personal."

"It certainly sounds personal."

"You've been through enough."

"And because I've been through enough," she shot back, "you think I can't handle guarding three prisoners?"

"I think you're distracted."

She let out a short, bitter laugh. "Distracted?" she echoed. "By what, exactly?"

Ryven didn't answer.

"You ended things," she continued. "Not me."

The silence between them grew heavier.

Then she took a single step closer. "Or is it because you think I'll make the same mistake you did?"

Ryven's jaw tightened. "I don't make mistakes."

"No?" she said quietly. "You let Magnus into our home."

His expression faltered.

"You stood there..." Her voice trembled with restrained anger. "...and watched while he did those things to me."

"You know I couldn't fight him," Ryven replied. "He cursed me. I physically couldn't raise a hand against him."

"Then keep telling yourself that." She gave a humorless smile. "Maybe I liked being manhandled by your father."

The clearing fell deathly silent. Even the birds seemed to stop singing.

Ryven simply stared at her.

But she wasn't done.

"Or perhaps," she said, her voice deceptively calm, "it's because you weren't much of a lover to begin with."

The silence that followed was almost painful.

Then, Jehan cleared his throat into a closed fist.

Helga blinked once. "...Bloody hell."

The tips of Ryven's ears turned bright red. "That," he said stiffly, "is completely irrelevant."

"I thought so too," Rowenna replied. "Until I came. You remember that, don't you?"

Aldo pinched the bridge of his nose. I wasn't sure where to look anymore.

Fortunately, Helga solved the problem the only way Helga ever did.

She marched between them, planted the butt of her axe on the ground with a heavy thunk, and pointed the haft at each of them in turn.

"Right." She looked from one to the other. "This isn't the time to compete over who can throw the nastier insult. Save it until after we've overthrown the Emperor."

She jabbed a thumb toward the cage.

"Now..." She looked at Rowenna. "Can you guard these three or not?"

Rowenna didn't even glance toward the prisoners. Instead, she reached over one shoulder and pulled her bow free. Then she drew an arrow. The string creaked as she pulled it halfway back.

"If any one of them moves..." she said calmly, aiming directly at Florian's forehead, "...I'll kill them myself."

Florian looked at the arrow. "I appreciate the honesty."

Helga nodded once. "Good enough for me."

Ryven remained unconvinced.

For a moment, I thought he would argue again.
Instead, he sighed. "Fine."

Ryven reached into the pouch of travel orbs and carefully withdrew a smooth white sphere.

He held it out to me. "This should place us somewhere inside the lower prison corridors."

I accepted the orb.

"You've used these before?" he asked.

"A few times."

His expression didn't change.

"They're imprecise."

I frowned. "Meaning?"

"They'll take you to the place you're picturing." He paused. "Usually."

Helga groaned. "'Usually' isn't exactly reassuring."

"It's the best we've got." Ryven glanced around at the rest of us. "Picture the lower corridors of the Penitentiary as clearly as you can. Hold that image in your mind. The stronger the image... the better the odds."

"The better the odds?" Helga muttered. "You're really selling this."

Ryven ignored her.

I looked around the camp one last time.

Aldo rested one hand on the pommel of his sword. Andreas stood beside Ysoria and Veylorn at the edge of the clearing, already discussing defensive positions. Mira offered me a small, encouraging smile despite the worry in her eyes.

Finally, my gaze found Lio.

"Take care of yourself, sister," he said quietly. "I already thought I'd lost you once. I can't lose you again."

I smiled and placed a hand on his arm. "I'll come back," I promised. "Besides, Vaelric still wants me as his bride. He won't kill me."

"It is true," Florian said. "His Majesty intends to marry Lady Serafina. Killing her would defeat the purpose."

I pulled Lio into a tight embrace. "Look to the skies, brother," I whispered. "You'll see me there sooner than you think."

He held me for another heartbeat before finally letting go. "You'd better," he murmured.

I crouched beside Blink and wrapped an arm around her neck.

"Ready?" I asked her.

She leaned into me.

Always, she said with an enthusiastic huff.

Ryven stepped beside us. Helga placed one hand on his shoulder. Jehan rested his on the other.

He looked at me and smiled faintly.

"If everything goes according to plan..." he said, "...I'll meet you at the dark end of the prison corridor."

"I'll see you there."

We each closed our fingers around our travel orbs.

I closed my eyes and pictured the Penitentiary.

Cold stone, iron bars, dark corridors.

Don't think about anything else.

The orb grew warm.

Then, white light swallowed the clearing. The Veiled Sanctum vanished.

The trees, the refugees, the rebels, and Lio.

Everything dissolved into brilliant radiance.

The world twisted violently. My stomach lurched. For one impossible moment, I felt as though I were falling through endless sky.

Then, stone slammed beneath my boots.

The light vanished. Cold air rushed into my lungs.

The smell hit first. Damp stone. Rust. Decay. Old blood.

I opened my eyes.

I stood inside a narrow corridor lined with iron-barred cells stretching into darkness. Water dripped somewhere in the distance.

Blink landed silently beside me, her ears already twitching.

I looked left. Empty.

Then to my right. Empty.

No Ryven, Helga or Jehan.

"So much for usually," I murmured.

I reached into my satchel and drew the Sword of Elias. Its blade shimmered faintly in the gloom.

"They're not here. And that's not good."

Blink sniffed the air before looking up at me. I can find Azerath.

I looked in the opposite direction, toward the distant glow.

"And I'll find the others."

Blink gave a single nod before vanishing soundlessly into the darkness.

I watched her disappear, then tightened my grip on the sword.

If Ryven had arrived elsewhere in the Penitentiary, there was one thing he'd do before anything else.

He'd look for the keys.

I started toward the light.

"So that's where I'll start too."