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With those thoughts in mind, I take them out without even blinking. I don’t feel anything. They wanted to hurt Elena. They wanted to hurt Cal. They wanted to hurt everyone in my village. They deserve whatever happens to them here. The mutedstruggle plays out in near silence, hidden from the watchful eyes of the camp. No one has seen a thing, and that is how I need to keep it.
The guards crumple to the ground without any noise, and my attention shifts to the surrounding darkness. I look around to make sure that I’m not seen. I pickpocket the two guards, finally finding a set of keys on the second guard. I’m sure that wherever they are keeping Cal and Elena, it is behind a lock and key.
Moving with the grace of a shadow, I venture deeper into the underground passage. There is no more moonlight to guide my path, but there are torchlights along the walls. I follow their trail, not sure if I will reach where I’m supposed to go. I keep a watchful eye on my surroundings, just to make sure that someone doesn’t surprise me and raise alarm in the process.
I see two cells. One is empty, and the other one is too dark to see, as the torch has gotten extinguished.
“Cal?” I whisper as softly as I can.
There is nothing at first, then a moment later, something stirs in the darkness. Not something, but rather… someone.
Cal drags himself to the bars, looking bad. His right eye is swollen. His lip is cracked. There is a trickle of dried-up blood running down his chin. I can’t imagine how beaten he must look under those clothes, but I don’t intend to stay here and find out.
“Rock?” he whispers back, and just from the sound of his voice, I can hear that he is in very bad condition. He hangs onto the bars, and I gently touch his fingers with mine.
“Hold on, Cal,” I urge him. “I have the keys.”
The metallic jingle of the key in my hand seems deafening in this solitude, so I try to work swiftly, before some of the other guards realize what’s happening and come after us.
“How did you get inside?” he asks, his voice lower than a whisper.
“You know me,” I grin as I unlock the cell door. “I like to do things without being in the spotlight.”
We both grin, but neither of us releases the chuckle that we desperately feel like bursting into. It’s too dangerous to make loud and unexpected noises. There will be enough time for spontaneous laughter when we’re all safely back in the village.
I unlock the door easily, and the lock yields with a soft click, freeing the door to swing open. Cal, up until that moment confined in the dingy cell, looks up at me with a mix of surprise and hope as the door creaks open.
“Where is Elena?” I ask, looking around. “I thought she would be here with you.”
“I think they took her to Abonos’ tent,” he reveals.
“Abonos?” I raise an eyebrow at the unfamiliar name.
“The leader of this bear shifter clan,” he clarifies. “My… brother.”
My jaw almost drops to the ground, but I manage to control myself. “Brother?”
“It’s a long story,” he whispers back. “One I’ll tell you all about, but now, we have to find El first.”
“Do you know where she is?” I ask.
“I don’t think they took her down into the chamber where I was,” he tries to remember. “They took her in the opposite direction, which means back up to the surface.”
“I saw a few tents,” I look back. “One of them could have been different from the others. Maybe that’s the one that belongs to the leader?”
“Mhm,” he nods. “One has to be different. The guy is too arrogant to have the same tent as everyone else.”
“Yeah, sounds like a brother of yours alright,” I remark playfully.
His eyes widen, then roll at me. “Seriously? Now?”
“Sure,” I shrug. “We need to unwind a little bit before we go for the leader. That will need all our cunning and focus.”
“Yes,” he nods.
“Let’s go,” I instruct, heading back the way I came from.
We navigate the intricate tunnels leading out of the underground cave, our movements calculated and soundless. The subterranean darkness is gradually substituted by the pale glow of the moonlit night as we ascend towards the surface.
