Page 20 of Phixmery

NERO PECKS MY cheek and I jerk awake. “What time is it?” I ask him groggily as I try to grasp my surroundings. Snores sound through the chambers and moonlight covers the space, giving off a dark, soft blue hue, letting me just see the shadows of those around us.

“The moon is highest in the sky. Are you ready? Everyone is sound asleep,” he states, sounding exhausted himself.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I murmur as I slip my legs out from under the covers, sliding my feet into my combat boots.

I’ve been putting this off for far too long. I need to find somewhere in the castle that I can practice—bonus points if I find a long-forgotten pathway out of here for when it comes time for us to escape. And what better than to slink around the castle at night while everyone is sleeping?

Nero takes his place on my shoulder, and when he’s settled, I begin tiptoeing across the stone towards the door. As I reach the end beds, closest to my exit, Bracken’s snores cut off and I freeze, holding my breath.

There’s no way I’ve already been caught… maybe this was a bad idea. Shit.

He rolls over and moments later his snoring resumes, and I let out a shaky breath, willing the thundering in my chest to calm itself.

“Keep going Rav, it’s okay,” Nero encourages me.

My sweaty palms grip the knob and I crack the wooden door open, slipping out and snicking it shut quietly behind me. Step one done. Now, where do we start?

Swiftly, I head down the stairs, passing the bathrooms and heading out of the South Tower. The castle is quiet, nothing but the soft glow of the sconces and the trickling of fountains throughout the hallways as I rush down corridors, being careful to peek around corners before continuing on. I wander the familiar paths I take to lessons and the dining hall, looking out for unfamiliar doors that might lead to somewhere else. Our maps only cover the communal areas, lessons, lounges, dining hall, bathrooms, etc. It would make my life a thousand times easier if there was a spot labeled‘secret tunnel’.

“Maybe there’s a door from outside leading somewhere that you don’t have access through while inside the castle?” Nero suggests after an hour of exploring.

My fingers stroke under his chin. “It wouldn’t hurt to look. This place is massive. Plus, how do the staff get around? I never see them in the halls,” I add, checking out the walls as I make my way into the training yard that surrounds the castle.

Torches flicker on top of the battlements and I see a handful of guards patrolling, thankfully looking out towards the mountains and not down below. I don’t even want to know the punishment for getting caught out of bed after hours. I keep close to the walls, sticking to the shadows, making sure to stay away from the torches that line the paths around the yard.

Eventually, I get around near the back of Phixmery, not quite in the direction of the gryphon stalls but close enough to smell them. It’s an area I’ve never been before, and I see a lone door on the side of the castle. It’s metal, with no distinguishing marks or lights and I can’t help but feel excited. What are the chances I find something on my first night?

I slip two fingers into the metal circlet on the door, lifting, sliding and pulling on the latch as quietly as I can before peeking past the door. On the other side, stairs climb down beneath the castle, lit with the flickering candle light of the stone sconces that line the wall. I swallow hard.

“Can you hear anything down there?” I ask Nero who tilts his head.

He hops down my arm a bit, listening intently before answering. “Nope, nothing. I think it’s safe to continue down.”

Taking a deep breath, I let the door shut behind me and carefully make my way down. As I reach the bottom of the steps, I realize we’re in some sort of dungeon. Steel bars cover each side of the room, leaving a decent-sized path between them. Each cell looks to contain wrist and ankle shackles that are secured to the wall. I squint and come to the conclusion that the orange tinge of rust on them means that they’re iron. In fact, I’d be willing to bet that every metal object within, including the bars, is iron.

My hands wrap around my waist as I try to block the memories of how iron against my naked flesh feels—the cold, searing pain that feels like it’s cooking you, the angry blisters it causes. I rub my wrists and Nero bops my face with his head.

“Breathe, Ravina. You’re not in Shalo anymore. Come on, maybe it’s best if we stop for the night,” he says softly, rubbing his face against mine.

His soft plumage pulls me slowly out of the panic, and I focus on how he feels before taking a breath. “Soon. I just want to see what’s down here and then we’ll head back,” I murmur.

The worry in our bond settles and I continue moving along between the cells, all of which seem to be empty thankfully. The last thing I need is for a prisoner to rat me out to the guards. The cells end, and I move through a crumbling stone archway, and that’s when I hear voices.

“No one would be stupid enough to trip the magick on the door. It’s probably just a fluke or some guard playing a prank. You know guarding these cells is more or less nothing but tradition now, anyway. It’s meaningless,” the male groans as two sets of steps continue to get louder.

I glance around, panicking, looking for anywhere to hide.

“It might be one of the trainees from the academy,” the other male grunts.

The first male chuckles darkly. “No, most of the cadets know what happens when you get caught out of bed. They’d rather have gryphon duty for the rest of their four years here. Cadets sneaking around after hours is insubordination and we can’t trust them, so you know what happens.”

“Right, thrown in the dragon keep, and if they last the night they get one last chance or they’re beast chow,” the other adds as if killing cadets is an everyday conversation.

The voices are now slightly louder and I press myself up against the wall, praying to the fates that I don’t get caught, that somehow I just vanish before their eyes, when something clicks and I fall behind a wall. Nero flaps his wings, hovering above me as I kick the hidden entrance closed behind me and hold my breath in this newfound place.

Boots thud against the ground as they continue past where I’m hiding, but I don’t move for a few minutes, not risking that they know about this hidden entrance. I’m in a passage. It all makes sense if this is how the staff get around the castle without being seen. These tunnels were probably for servants back once upon a time when I suppose even prisoners needed to eat.

When I rise to my feet and dust myself off, Nero lands on my shoulder, his talons tightening on my flesh, a comforting reminder that I’m not getting thrown into the dragons’ keep. I need to be a lot more careful, but is escaping here really worth certain death?

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