Page 170 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
The man hurries into the cell, and for a split second I can see the fear in his eyes before he hides it behind a mask of indifference. He slams a syringe into Royan’s neck, starting to revive him. Royan gasps loudly, his eyes shooting open again.
When he saw Penelope earlier, Royan looked terrified, but now he just looks so… exhausted, and like he is ready to leave for real. He doesn’t look scared anymore, but, numb. His eyes are hollow and void of any emotion.
He is so young. All these wolves are young. They take responsibility on so early, that I sometimes forget that they haven’t even reached their mid-twenties yet.
Penelope looks ready to strike again, sending my mind into a whirlwind of thoughts. I don’t want Royan to die here. He needs to have a chance at life. But I can’t win against Penelope. There is no one here who can!
There is…I pause in my own thoughts. There is!
I don’t waste any more time, I don’t overthink it, instead I step forward towards Penelope, squeezing her shoulder softly. “Madame, I will take off for now.”
“Of course, Shay,” she says without paying real attention to me.
I toss a glance at Royan, trying to catch his gaze. I try to convey it all in it, telling him to fight for a bit longer, to hang in there. His eyelids flutter close again. I’m not sure if he understood, and I’m certainly not staying to find out.
Out of the corner of my eyes I can see one of Penelope’s closer guards leaving, and I decide to follow him quietly. When we reach an empty corridor, leading us through an underground corridor from the dungeons to the other side of the manor, where the secret area of the cult is located, I decide to step into action.
A warrior with my handicap has something up his sleeve… quite literally. King Naseem and I used to be very close friends, before his character changed, before he became so cruel towards his daughter and his own people. But, back in the days when we were friends, he would have done anything for me.
One of his gifts is my bionic arm. I step forward, pulling a hidden switch on my arm that turns my bionic fingers into a knife. I swiftly cover the guard’s mouth to prevent him from screaming, before slamming the knife into his body. I wait for a few seconds until any life has left him, before ripping off his bracelet and tugging him behind one of the thick curtains that cover the walls, hiding him there.
I use his clothes to wipe my arm clean off his blood, returning it to its usual appearance, before continuing my path like nothing happened. I pick up my pace a bit without running, trying to look like I would if I were just on an errand for Penelope. Finally, the last days of playing her puppet pay off, because everyone here has seen me at her side already.
Some nod curtly without talking to me, a gesture I return. Until I reach the door that leads me to the inner circle of the cult. One of the cult members who passes me looks at me with a frown, but when he sees my tattoo and the bracelet, he just nods and minds his own business.
For a second, I’m scared that the bracelet is crafted for each individual, carrying their blood to identify them or something else, but it doesn’t. The door opens for me, and I step into the hallway. I walk further, keeping in the shadows and trying not to draw any attention to myself.
“Finally, a full-fledged member?” a man who I identify as one of the guards approaches me.
“Yes,” I say shortly, showing him my tattoo. “Madame sent me.”
He looks skeptical. “Oh. Why didn’t she come on her own?”
“If you want to know, you need to ask her,” I say. “Alternatively, I can tell her later that you were curious about her whereabouts.”
“Oh no, I trust her judgement completely!” he exclaims, horror in his eyes. He has his expression under control soon, though, and just nods at me. “Do you need help?”
“Just the general direction,” I say, as an idea strikes me. The last time I followed her to this place, she and Rona retrieved some crystals. “She wants me to retrieve one of the crystals.”
“Oh, for the creatures,” he nods, pointing at the door that leads to the secret passage, leading directly to the place she binds the creatures at.
Secretly, I applaud myself for this idea. I nod at the man to show my gratitude. When I walk towards the door now, I don’t attract any suspicions. I still try to remain calm and collected, fortunately my years of practice are paying off. Once the door is closed, silence engulfs me, and I let out a shaky breath. If this goes wrong, I’m a dead man. It’s the last chance Royan and I have.
I carefully step forward until I’m back in the room with the platform. Cù Sìth is still there, bound by chains. Dark dust seems to be around him constantly. He raises his head when he spots me, his eyes boring into mine.
“Man,” I mutter to myself, “and now, how to free him?”
He growls. “Just loosen the chains.”
I tense for a moment, my eyes widening in surprise. “Of course you can talk!” I groan. “Why wouldn’t you?” I hurry towards one of the chains that's been fixed on the wall. “Will it kill me to touch these?”
“No,” Cù Sìth rumbles. “You are human.”
I reach out my hand to the chains, noting how my tattoo starts to light up and turn red. I hold my breath, waiting for it to do something, to kill me on the spot, bind me or do something sinister to me, but it doesn’t.
“You are human,” Cù Sìth repeats. “This is a spell targeting mythical creatures, shifters or other paranormal beings. The witch was too full of herself and forgot who you are.”
“For once, it’s good to be a plain human,” I grunt, before ripping the chain loose. It rattles as it drops to the ground, clashing and banging onto the concrete floor. I close my eyes. Shit, that was loud. I scoot back into the shadows of the room. As expected, the door flies open, and one of the guards hurries inside. “What was that?” he blurts out. “Is someone there?”
