Chapter 74 The Departure

Chapter 74 The Departure
The village was still dark when we gathered at the gates with the sky heavy and gray above us, the last traces of the night clinging to the edges of the mountains, and I stood at the head of the group with my rod in my hand and my pack on my back. I watched the faces of the people who had chosen to follow me into the unknown, each one a person I'd come to care about more than I'd ever expected.

Dorian stood at my side with his shoulder pressed against mine, a steady anchor in the cold morning air. Jenna and Kael waited behind us with their weapons ready and their expressions grim, while Mira and Zoe kept their hands intertwined, their eyes meeting for a long moment before they turned to face forward together. Vance was already consulting his grimoire, his lips moving as he traced a protective sigil in the air with his finger. Cassandra held herself apart from the group with her face unreadable, and Thorne waited at the gate itself with her dark coat blending into the shadows like she was already part of the darkness.

I looked back at the village one last time, at the windows where faces watched us go and the smoke rising from the chimneys, at the place we had called home for a few precious months, then I turned and stepped through the gate. "Stay close and stay alert," I said, my voice carrying in the cold air. "We don't know what we're walking into, so keep your eyes open and your weapons ready."

Thorne moved to the front of the group without a word, then began to lead us through the snow-covered terrain with her steps sure and steady on the frozen ground. The village disappeared behind us, swallowed by the mist and the trees, and the silence of the mountains settled over us like a blanket that muffled every sound except our own breathing and the crunch of our boots.

We walked for hours with the terrain growing steeper and the snow growing deeper, and I could feel the exhaustion settling into my bones like a familiar weight. But I kept moving and kept my eyes on Thorne's back and kept my rod ready in my hand, because stopping wasn't an option and slowing down wasn't either.

Dorian moved up beside me, his voice low and rough from the cold. "How are you holding up, Arya?"

I looked at him, at the frost on his eyelashes and the set of his jaw, at the way he kept his rod ready despite his exhaustion. "I'm holding up fine," I told him. "I'm always holding up, it's what I do."

He reached out and touched my hand with his cold fingers. "I know you are, I just wanted to check on you."

I squeezed his fingers and let the contact ground me. "I know you did."

Thorne stopped at the top of a ridge a few hours later and pointed down into the valley below, where a dark fortress sat hunched against the snow. "Their base is there in the old fortress," she said, her voice flat and precise. "It's been abandoned for decades, but they've fortified it heavily since they took control." She turned to look at me. "There are at least forty inside, maybe more, with guards on the walls and patrols at the gates."

I studied the fortress below, the dark stone walls and the flickering lights in the windows, and I let my eyes trace the lines of the structure. "We need to find a way inside without being seen."

Thorne nodded slowly, her eyes still fixed on the building below. "There's a drainage tunnel on the north side that leads into the lower levels," she said. "It's narrow, but it'll get us inside if we're careful."

Jenna moved up beside me with her rod in her hand. "How do we get past the guards without alerting them?"

Thorne pointed at a small copse of trees near the base of the wall. "We wait until the patrol changes, because the guards on the north wall switch out every two hours. We'll have a small window to get to the tunnel entrance while they're distracted."

I nodded and felt the weight of the decision settle on my shoulders. "Then we wait."

\---

The cold seeped into my bones as we crouched in the trees, watching the fortress below, our breath fogging in the thin air while the guards walked their patrols with measured steps and their voices carried faintly in the wind. Dorian pressed against my side, his warmth a steady presence in the frozen silence. "We're going to make it through this," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

I looked at him and let myself believe it. "I know we will."

The patrol changed a few minutes later, the guards descending from the wall and new ones taking their places, and Thorne moved forward with a whispered command. "Now, move now."

We moved as one, silent and fast with our feet sure on the frozen ground, and the tunnel entrance was hidden behind a thicket of dead brush that Thorne pulled aside to reveal a dark opening. "Inside, stay low and stay quiet," she said, her voice barely audible. "Don't make a sound until we're clear."

I crawled into the tunnel, the darkness swallowing me whole, and I could feel the cold stone pressing against my shoulders as I moved forward.

\---

The tunnel was narrow and damp with rough walls scraping against my shoulders, the air thick with the smell of mold and old stone, and I could hear the others behind me with their breathing slow and careful. The tunnel opened into a small room after what felt like an eternity, dimly lit by a single torch on the wall, and I scanned the space with my rod ready in my hand.

Dorian emerged beside me and swept his gaze across the room. "Clear?"

I nodded and let my shoulders relax slightly. "Clear for now."

Thorne appeared last, her blade already in her hand, her eyes sharp. "We're in the lower levels," she said, her voice low. "The main hall is two floors up from here."

Kael limped forward with his cast scraping against the stone. "Then let's move before they find us."

We made our way through the lower corridors with our footsteps silent and our eyes sharp, the sounds of voices growing louder as we approached the stairwell. I held up my hand to stop the group and listened.

Jenna moved up beside me, her voice barely audible. "How many in there?"

I listened for a moment longer. "At least a dozen in the main hall, maybe more in the side rooms."

Mira's voice came from behind me, soft but steady. "We can't fight all of them at once, we don't have the numbers."

I looked at her, at the steadiness in her eyes despite everything. "We're not going to fight all of them. We're going to send a message and get out."

Vance moved forward with the grimoire open in his hands, its pages glowing with a faint blue light that cast strange shadows on his face. "I can cast a distraction spell," he said, his voice low and certain. "It'll draw them out of the main hall and give us a clear path."

I nodded and felt the plan settle into place. "Do it."

He began to murmur, the words curling around us like smoke, and I felt the air shift around us. Then a crash echoed from somewhere in the fortress above, followed by shouts and the pounding of running feet.

Thorne grinned, a rare expression on her usually stoic face. "The tunnel, now."

We moved as the fortress emptied around us, our feet carrying us through the chaos until we stood at the edge of the fortress grounds with the night stretching before us. We had sent our message and survived the fortress, but I knew the journey back would be just as dangerous as the journey there.