Page 53 of Taloned Heart

Floating past three guards who were clustered together, she discovered the entrance to the dungeons. Apparently most of Solis Occasum had fallen, but not what was underneath the ground.

Torchlight illuminated the stairs that plummeted into the darkness. They were slick with water that dripped down from the ceiling in echoing wet plops. There were three more guards at the entrance, and four stationed all along the stairwell until she reached the bottom.

Then there were even more guards.

Sighing, she shook her head at the over indulgence. Margaret really thought she had protected this place well. And perhaps, to someone who didn’t realize how powerful Lore had become, she had. A dragon could not dig through the ground to get to Zephyr. He would have to wait up top or fight down in his mortal form, which they all knew wasn’t Abraxas’s strongest form.

The guards were all stationed in a very tight stairwell. It would make it very difficult to fight their way down to him. And so, this would create a rather interesting puzzle to solve.

The first cell she passed by was filled with familiar faces.

She paused in front of that cell, staring at the other women who had participated in the bridal competition for Zander’s hand. They were all huddled together with their families, their clothing dirty and their eyes haunted. But they were well fed, and they were alive. It was a start.

She walked past another cell filled with dwarves, more filled with humans she didn’t recognize, but from the state of their clothing, they must be nobility. People that Margaret needed to keep alive and to make appearances so the others would remain quiet and calm. It was a barbaric thing to do to the people of this realm, and yet she wasn’t surprised.

What did surprise her was the troop of elves trapped in the cell beyond the humans. Elves that should have been guarding the prison not being locked inside with the others.

Peering through the shadows, she tried to see their faces, but quickly lost interest. If Margaret had trapped elves, perhaps they had tried to fight against her. It meant little to her.

There was only one person in this prison she needed to see. And that was Zephyr.

He was at the very end of the dungeon. Far away from the others, so he wouldn’t even be able to hear them moving if they called out to him. There wasn’t a single sound here, other than the shuffle every now and then of the single guard who stood before his door.

This was a massive elf. The man was almost twice her height and easily twice her weight. He stood with his arms crossed, glaring down the hallway as though he knew she might show up.

Lore waved her hand in front of his face a few times just to make sure he couldn’t actually see her. He didn’t react, and she considered that to be a good sign. At least he wouldn’t try to stop her from what she was about to do.

Walking around him, she slipped through the cage bars and stood in front of Zephyr. The boy was even worse for wear than she’d thought he would be. Apparently Margaret wanted him incapable of walking out of this prison if Lore showed up. His legs were folded underneath his body, forced to be on his knees. And when she peered around him, she could see that his feet had turned a deep, dark purple. How long had he been in this position? Too long, she could only imagine.

She ghosted her icy hand over his features, hoping that a little chill might help him.

“Lore?” he blinked his eyes open, blearily staring into the darkness around him as though he thought he could see her. He couldn’t. Not yet, at least. “Are you there?”

“Quiet.” The elf turned on his heel and snapped at Zephyr. His teeth were filed into sharp points. “There’s no one here to save you, princeling.”

She watched as Zephyr wilted in front of her. His head dropped back down to his chest and she heard them whisper under his breath, “I thought I felt her.”

“You did,” she replied, even knowing that he couldn’t hear her. “You did, my boy. I just can’t do anything to help you right now or they’ll realize that I was here. But we are coming for you.”

Even if it took an act of a goddess, she would get him out of this prison. He just had to trust in her a little longer, and then they would be here.

She readied herself to leave, knowing that she’d have to leave him behind, even though it hurt her heart to do so.

The sound of a key in a lock caught her attention. The big guard walked into the cell with a grin on his face that made her want to punch him already. He circled Zephyr, looking at the dark outlines of whip marks on his bare back and his eyes trailing over the shivers that racked Zephyr’s body.

“Did you hear me?” the guard asked, running a tongue over his pointed teeth. “No one is coming for you. No one is ever coming for you.”

Zephyr didn’t respond. He just hung there with his arms over his head, dejectedly looking down at the floor. But she also saw the way his muscles bunched and how his jaw ticked.

The boy still had some fight left in him.

The guard kicked him. Hard. Right in the center of the back so that Zephyr swung forward and his shoulders made a horrible clicking noise. The would-be prince made a noise, then. A wheezing, horrible cry that echoed around him. Neither of his shoulders went back into place. He hung there, his fingers turning blue as the guard came around and crouched in front of him.

“You are a pawn in her plan,” the guard said. “Both of them. You think you’re important to Margaret? You aren’t. And you think your goddess is going to save you? She has forgotten you exist. You are nothing more than a rotten leech that grew up in a graveyard. No one wants you, princeling. You’re ours for as long as we see fit, and then I will tear your throat out with my teeth.”

Zephyr’s eyes locked on the guard’s sharpened teeth and Lore could see the fight draining out of him. The hope. All of those emotions that she needed him to keep were slowly leaking out of him.

And she couldn’t let that happen.

---