Chapter 167 The Master Key

Chapter 167 The Master Key
Serafina

The Penitentiary was quieter than I remembered.

But it wasn't peaceful.

It was the kind of silence that belonged to places where hope had died long ago.

As I crept down the corridor, I glanced into the open cell doors.

People stood inside every one of them.

They all faced the corners of their cells with their backs to me, motionless, as though they were under some sort of spell.

I could hear them breathing. At least they were alive.

But something about the way they huddled there unsettled me.

A rat suddenly darted across my path. I accidentally stepped on its tail, and it let out a loud, piercing squeak.

The nearest prisoners growled. The sound spread. One cell after another answered with low, animalistic snarls.

They were sensitive to noise.

I slowed my breathing and timed each step with the steady drip of water falling from the ceiling into shallow puddles that reflected the flickering torchlight.

"Ryven?" I whispered. Nothing. "Helga?" Only the echo of my own voice answered.

At last, I reached the end of the corridor.

As I stepped into the junction beyond, I froze.

Figures moved in the dim light.

A muffled curse echoed through the chamber.

"Hold him still!"

"I'm trying!"

"No, you're making it worse!"

Ryven and Helga.

Their voices immediately drew another chorus of growls from the nearby cells.

"Ssshhh," I urged as I hurried toward them.

The corridor opened into a circular junction.

Ryven had one of the prison guards pinned against the wall. Jehan stood watching the opposite passage with his bow drawn, while Helga enthusiastically searched the guard's pockets.

"There has to be a key somewhere," Helga muttered, patting him down. "How in the seven hells are we supposed to open the cells without one?"

"I already told you," the guard hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't have it."

Helga frowned. "You expect me to believe that?"

"I don't care what you believe."

"Where are the keys?" Ryven asked quietly. When the guard didn't answer, Ryven pressed his forearm harder against the man's throat.

"Answer."

The guard coughed. "There is only one key."

Helga stopped searching. "One?"

He nodded weakly. "One master key."

"Where is it?"

He hesitated.

Ryven slammed the back of his head against the wall. "Answer her."

"I don't know!" the guard gasped. "It should be in the desk. The Lieutenant must have taken it."

"One master key..." Helga repeated thoughtfully. "What does it look like?"

"It's small. Silver." The guard swallowed. "General Sallow replaced every lock in the Penitentiary. They all respond to the same key."

A strange expression crossed Helga's face. "Wait." She reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a tiny silver key no bigger than her little finger. She held it between two fingers. "Would it happen to be this one?"

The guard's eyes widened. "Where did you get that?"

Helga grinned. "Someone was here before us." She twirled the key between her fingers. "I'm guessing she planned to spring someone out herself."

Ryven couldn't help smiling. "I think you're right." He reached for the key. "Only one way to find out. Jehan, open the first cell."

Jehan accepted the key and started toward the nearest cell.

"Wait."

He stopped and looked back at me. "What's wrong?"

"The prisoners," I said quickly. "They're reacting to sound. They aren't acting normally."

The guard laughed. The noise echoed through the prison.

Immediately, growls erupted from the nearby cells. Bodies slammed against iron bars. Fingers clawed through the gaps.

The sound sent chills racing down my spine.

"Quiet!" Ryven hissed, smashing the side of the guard's head against the wall. "What have you done to them?"

Blood trickled from the guard's temple, but he only smiled.

"Lieutenant Dread has a signature curse," he muttered. "The Ravening Curse." He chuckled again. "It strips away memory... reason... everything that makes a person human."

"So that's why they're facing the walls," I whispered.

"The slightest sound awakens the hunger," the guard replied. "Anyone foolish enough to open those cells..." His smile widened. "...will be torn apart."

"My father," Helga breathed. She seized the guard by his breastplate and yanked him close. "Where's General Kraven?"

The guard smirked. "Somewhere in this maze."

"Oh, is he?" Helga smiled back, though there wasn't an ounce of humor in it. "Then you're going to find him for us." She rested the edge of her axe against one of his fingers. "And every wrong cell you lead us to..." The blade bit ever so slightly into his skin. "...I'm cutting off another finger."

Ryven released him with a shove. "You heard her." He pointed down the corridor. "Lead us to General Kraven."

A familiar black shape suddenly bounded around the corner.

Blink.

She skidded to a stop beside me. I've found him, Serafina, she huffed quietly. Actually... I've found them.

"Them?" I asked.

Azerath and General Kraven. They're sharing the same cell.

"Blink found Azerath," I said, looking at the others. "General Kraven is with him."

Helga let out a relieved breath. "Thanks, Blink—"

A scrape of metal echoed behind us.

The guard.

Somehow, he had slipped a narrow dagger from inside his boot.

"My Emperor..." he whispered, his eyes fixed on Helga. "...will reward me for killing the daughter of General Kraven."

He lunged.

Time seemed to slow.

The dagger flashed toward Helga's ribs.

I moved without thinking.

The Sword of Elias leapt into my hands. One step. One swing.

The glowing blade sliced cleanly through the guard's armor and into his chest.

He froze.

His eyes widened. He looked down in disbelief at the radiant sword protruding from his body.

Then he crumpled to the stone floor without another sound.

Helga looked at me, then at the body. "Remind me never to stand on the wrong side of you."

A faint smile tugged at my lips as I lowered the sword. "I'll try."

"Anyway..." Helga said, clearing her throat. "Thanks." She looked at Blink. "Lead the way."

Blink trotted ahead, guiding us through another maze of narrow corridors before stopping outside a familiar cell.

Jehan slowed. "No way..." he murmured. "Cell Three."

I sheathed my sword and stared through the bars.

A lone figure sat motionless on a thin straw mattress, elbows resting on his knees, head bowed toward the floor. Long dark hair concealed most of his face.

He didn't move. He didn't even acknowledge our footsteps.

Jehan stopped beside me. His voice was unusually quiet. "That's the mattress Bram slept on when we first met him."

Helga and I stepped closer.

"Azerath?" I called softly.

Nothing. Not even a blink.

"Father?" Helga called.

Movement stirred in the far corner. An older man slowly rose to his feet, chains rattling as he stepped into the torchlight. His face was bruised. Blood stained his clothes.

Yet Helga recognized him instantly. "Father!"

For one terrible moment, I feared he too had fallen victim to the curse.

Then he smiled. "Helga!" General Kraven exclaimed. "About bloody time."

Ryven slid the tiny silver key into the ancient lock.

Click.

The heavy iron door swung inward. Helga rushed inside and threw her arms around him.

Kraven grunted. "Easy," he said through clenched teeth. "I've got more broken bones than I can count."

She released him immediately. "Sorry."

He smiled despite the pain. "Worth it."

I knelt beside him.

His ribs were fractured. His wrists had been rubbed raw by the shackles. One eye had swollen almost completely shut.

I placed both hands against his chest. Violet light flowed beneath my palms.

The bruises faded. The swelling around his eye receded until he could open it fully. His broken ribs knit themselves back together, and the cuts covering his body sealed one by one until no fresh blood remained.

Kraven drew in a deep breath. He looked down at himself in astonishment. "I'd almost forgotten what it felt like... not to hurt."

One by one, I unlocked the collar, then the shackles around his wrists and ankles. "Can you stand?"

The moment the collar came off, Kraven flexed his fingers. A faint glow danced across his palm.

"Ah... my magic has returned." He climbed slowly to his feet and rolled one shoulder. "Better than I could a minute ago."

"How come you're not cursed like the others?" Helga asked.

Kraven gave a humorless smile. "Because Dread wants me to watch." His gaze settled on Azerath. "He said I was too valuable to waste on the Ravening Curse." His smile vanished. "After they execute Azerath..." He met our eyes. "...they'll use the Veilbreaker on me."

My gaze returned to Azerath.

He hadn't moved. Not once.

I walked toward him and knelt. He didn't look up. His breathing never changed. It was as though the world had simply... ceased to exist.

"Azerath," I whispered.

Nothing.

Even the brilliant gold of his eyes had dulled to lifeless amber.

Blink padded quietly to my side..She lowered her head, listening to something I couldn't hear. Then she looked at me. His mind is broken.

Ryven's expression darkened. "Veilbreaker."

General Kraven nodded grimly. "They used it on him." His voice was heavy with sorrow. "I've never heard anyone cry out the way he did."

I looked at the dragon before me. A being who had lived for thousands upon thousands of years...

Reduced to an empty shell.

Gently, I raised my hands and rested them against his temples.

"I helped mend Andreas' broken mind."

Violet light gathered around my fingertips. I closed my eyes.

"But a dragon..." I whispered, "...who has lived for millennia carries countless memories."

I took a slow breath.

"I only hope..." The light around my hands grew brighter. "...I can still find you."

Then I let myself fall into the endless darkness of Azerath's mind.