Page 249 of Of Masks and Fury

“She’s inside,” Isi said softly. “Flying through corridors. There are many Skathes. They’re everywhere, and they’re not moving randomly. They’re stationed like guards.”

Whoever controlled them was expecting trouble.

“She’s found something,” Isi said, her voice tight. “A large chamber. Lord Alfred’s there, speaking with a woman who has long red hair. She’s wearing a cloak with the hood pulled up. Pherin can’t see her face.”

“Tell Pherin to stay back,” I growled. “Don’t risk getting closer.”

“She’s moving deeper. Lower level now.” Time passed, and Isi’s breathing quickened. “Dungeon. She doesn’t dare fly past the Skathes standing guard, but she thinks she can see people in the cells beyond.”

Kerralyn’s breath hissed out. “If our friends are there, we have to rescue them.”

“Pherin’s going higher now,” Isi said. “Second level. There’s a room with… Oh.” Her face paled. “It’s like the tower in Caldrith. Tables. Restraints. Blood on the stone. Kira’s there, lying on a table. Not moving much. She’s wounded.”

The bottom dropped out of my stomach. Despite our difficulties, we’d been friends. She was a savvy advisor and a brave warrior. I’d been proud to have her by my side.

“Pherin’s checking other rooms, but there are doors she can’t get through. Fenmark could be behind any of them.” Isi’s eyes snapped open. “She’s coming back. Says we need to move now. She heard them talking about doing the ritual soon.”

“Disguises.” I handed out the pendants I’d crafted during our last hours at Syllavar, before we knew exactly what we’d face, just in case. “We already know they’ll fail near the veil, but they’ll last long enough for us to rescue our friends.”

Once we donned the pendants, our bodies began reshaping our forms into the twisted figures of Skathes. Elongated limbs, gray-scaled skin, and needle teeth. A revolting sensation, but necessary.

Isi shuddered as her body shifted. “I hate this.”

“I do too.” I touched her scaled cheek with a clawed finger, letting tenderness show in my eyes despite the monstrous face. “But it’s the only chance we have to get our people out alive.”

A patrol was making its way up the canyon toward the fortress entrance. Perfect timing.

“Stay close,” I told the others. “Move like them. Don’t speak unless you have to.”

We slipped from cover and joined the back of the patrol group, matching their gait. My heart thundered against my ribs as weapproached the entrance, but the disguised Skathes ahead of us didn’t even glance back.

The fortress loomed ahead of us, Skathe guards flanking the doorway. One turned toward our patrol as we approached.

I forced myself to meet its black eyes with the dead stare I’d observed in real Skathes. It studied us for a heartbeat that felt like hours, then stepped aside.

We were in.

The corridors reeked of decay. Torches lined the walls, casting shadows that made the stone appear to writhe. I guided our group away from the main patrol as soon as we reached a junction, following Pherin toward the torture chamber.

I nudged the door open, finding Kira bound to the top of a wooden table. Dried blood crusted her wrists and temples where the leather restraints bit deep. Her matted, tangled hair draped across her shoulders, her usually pristine appearance shattered. I couldn’t find her death adder, but if her companion was wise, she’d hidden herself nearby.

I eased the door open further and we slipped into the room. The moment I saw her up close, rage burned through my chest. Cuts covered her exposed arms, and her breathing came deep and labored.

Isi moved to the table while I kept watch at the door.

“Kira.” She touched her shoulder gently. “Wake up.”

Kira’s eyes fluttered open, unfocused and glazed with pain. When she saw our Skathe faces, terror flooded her features and she recoiled.

“Easy. It’s Trew. Isi’s here too.”

“Not Skathes?”

“Not Skathes.”

Recognition filled her eyes, followed immediately by tears that cut tracks through the grime on her cheeks. “You shouldn’t have come. They’ll catch you, they’ll?—”

“We’re getting you out.” I was already working on her wrist restraints, slicing through the leather, before releasing those at her ankles. “Can you walk?”