Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

N ight creeps across the small cell, gliding over the last of the daylight to blanket it in night's dusk. I wait a few moments before complete darkness encases my cell.

Standing up, I stretch my tense muscles, loosening the phantom pain from the Breaker's cruel administrations. Testing my body, I notice the pain is quickly disappearing. It must be because the Breaker's form of torture is not physical. I can only hope that any further sessions will bring about the same result. It will make getting through them a little easier.

Bringing my shadows to the surface of my skin, I pause when I remember the shadow void block in place at the palace. Using the void would be easier than having to sneak in and out of my cell. And I wouldn't be surprised if the guards used it purely as a fear tactic to hoard over all those who believed it.

The cool, dark tendrils of my shadows curl inside me as I reach down to the deepest part of them. Beginning to take a step into the center of it, I imagine myself on the other side of the cell.

But the minute my foot hits the floor, I feel it. A solid barrier that obstructs my way through the void to the other side. I try to push against it, hoping to feel the rush of cool ice flood my veins, but I can't reach beyond the barrier to get to it.

I open my eyes and sigh as I glance around my cell. Although I'm disappointed that the barrier is not a lie fabricated by the Caligo guards, I'm glad that they also cannot use it.

After listening for a few minutes and hearing nothing but silence, I form a small shadow in my hand, pushing it through the lock and manipulating it to open my cell door. A low click brings a smile to my face.

While I slept and healed from the Breaker's session over the last couple of days, I made sure to give the guards no entertainment and to ignore them completely. They quickly grew bored with me and soon left to do whatever they usually do when not attempting to watch me.

Today they showed up as usual to give me my slop of a meal before checking on me once more. If my presumption is correct based on the last two nights, I should have most of tonight to search for what I'm looking for.

On limber feet, I ease the cell door ajar and slip out, closing it softly behind me. I listen again for any sounds before moving down the hall to where the guards brought me before.

I pass the empty brick cells, and my gaze falls on the odd door from when the Breaker paid a visit. Making my way over, I listen up against it for any sound on the other side. But only silence greets me.

I hesitate before pushing it open as a sliver of doubt creeps in. This door could be deceiving, containing any noise behind it. For all I know, the entire guard could be concealed behind it, ready and waiting.

But I have no other choice if I want to find a way out of here.

Shaking my wayward thoughts aside, I step forward, ready to see what lies beyond it.

After waiting another moment to listen for any sound, I push it open slowly, releasing a sigh of relief when I spot an empty stairway with no guards in sight.

My ascending steps are hasty yet silent while I stay alert. Halting at the top, I face a plain brown-and-cream door, one a lot more ornate than the prison below. A small shard of hope makes its way into my chest.

Not allowing myself to worry over what may lie behind it, I push it open and smile to myself when I spot the familiar large corridor of the main palace.

Arches with shimmering lights hanging on each side guide my path.

Stepping forward, I glance around, keeping my senses open and alert for the slightest of noises. All I need is the guards to catch me, and then this will all be for nothing.

The shimmering lights along the arches shine bright as I make my way past them. At night, the palace looks like something the Sidus would create. A land full of twinkling stars that drift along the darkness of the cool night.

After a few moments of following the long arches, I come to a large open area with three other long halls trailing off in different directions. None of them give me any hint as to what may lie ahead of each.

Taking a deep breath, I follow my instincts and start my way down the corridor on my left.

Passing the long hallways, I ignore their decorative features, making sure to keep watch for any guards coming my way. Moving to the spiral staircase, I peek over, and my gaze is immediately drawn to the expanse of extravagance below.

Although extravagant and eye-catching, it gives me no clue as to how to find another way out.

Sighing to myself, I continue on, but time starts to blur as the halls become a labyrinth. One so endless that any hope for finding a hidden way out of the palace is slowly waning. I come to another hall with rows of doors, each closed, with no sound from behind as I edge past them.

Coming upon another corridor that opens up, I veer to the right and decide to give it one last shot before I make my way back to my cell.

After a couple of minutes with nothing but more grandeur and doors, I'm about to turn around when I hear a loud chuckle echo down the hall, halting my search.

I whip around, looking for someplace to hide. Choosing a door to my left, I silently open it and slip inside. Glancing around, I see it's another hallway with a small staircase. A sigh of relief leaves my lips as I descend the stairs, which bring me out to an open corridor.

Large paintings hang on the walls. Portraits of what must be the royals who have come before me. Their eyes follow me as I make my way down the hall when whispers and a familiar light draw my attention.

There is no mistaking what type of light it is nor the draw I feel toward it.

A Sidus light. Which must mean there is another Sidus in the palace.

I quickly follow it, but when I turn the corner, I freeze and my entire body grows taut with what lies before me.

The brown-haired man from the throne room, the one who stood up for me, has his hands outstretched, one wielding shadows while the other directs light. A Sidus light.

A wielder of both light and dark, and something that I never thought was possible. The thought that there may be more than just me and now him out there starts to unravel something inside me.

His light grows, expanding around the door from the other side. A gasp slips past my lips at how easily he wields both abilities together at the same time. He whips around, his shadows and light quickly dispersing, his eyes widening in fear when he spots me.

"It's not what it… I mean, what you saw…"

There was no denying what I saw. "I saw you using a Sidus light and Caligo shadows."

"Yes… but, I mean, no." He shakes his head as his face grows pale. But I am the last person he needs to worry about finding out his secret.

"How are you both?" I ask, needing to know everything about him and where he came from. Are there more of us?

"Both?" he asks.

"Both Sidus and Caligo. Were you born with both abilities? Or did they show up later?"

I was born with mine, but maybe they manifested differently in others.

He swallows hard, glancing at the door before slowly nodding his head. "Yes. I was born with both." He moves to take a step forward but thinks better of it and steps back, fisting his hands at his side.

"But you can't tell anyone. They'll kill me," he pleads.

"I know." It has been my own fear for as long I can remember. "I won't… I won't tell them," I promise.

He runs a hand over his face, a frown now marring his brow. "How can I trust you? This secret is… It means life or death to me."

"I'm a Sidus. Who would believe me anyway?" I ask, reminding him with a raised brow.

He winces at my reply but realizes how true it is. They think him to be a Caligo. If I were to tell them he is both, they would simply laugh at me and then punish me for lying about him.

I should despise him for choosing the Caligo side of himself. Choosing the easy way, full of comfort and protection. But in truth, all I feel is hope. Hope that I am no longer alone in this world. That what I am is not some form of abomination but an evolution of our kind.

"I would never tell them," I promise him again. He has no reason to trust me, nor I him, but knowing what he is, that he's like me, makes it hard not to want to.

"I will keep your secret," I tell him. But his eyes narrow on mine, searching my face for something. A lie, perhaps, or some form of distrust. But he will find neither.

He seems to think so too, when he releases a harsh breath and nods. "Thank you, Seren. I'm Oryn."

"You know my name?" I ask, quickly forgetting he was the one to mention I was trained by Ryuu.

A small smile tilts his lips. "I've heard about you. You're one hell of a fighter. You could have entered the guard's competition any other year. Why now?"

Realizing I don't have much time, I ignore his question and tilt my head toward the door. "What were you trying to do?"

Oryn glances back at the door with a frown. "I wanted to unlock a door that seemed to be locked by some other means. I thought I could use both abilities to break it open, but I wasn't having much luck." He rubs a hand down the back of his neck and gives me a small smile.

"What did you think was behind it?" I ask.

He glances around the hall, frowning. "I thought there might be a clue."

"A clue?" I step toward the door, leaning against it, and I listen for any sound on the other side but quickly find none.

The guards could have it shielded somehow, blocking any sound from within. But I have a feeling there is nothing inside it, as we would have both been overheard by now and caught. I tell Oryn as much.

Oryn nods as if it is something he might have already been aware of but also hoping it was not true. His face grows grim.

"I thought so too." Oryn releases a harsh breath, staring at me once more. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but something tells me I can trust you. That you have enough of your own problems to deal with rather than try to turn around and betray me." He sighs before turning to me completely and looking me straight in the eye. "My sister was taken three days ago. It's the only reason I'm here. And I need to find her before it's too late."

Everything inside me freezes. "Taken by whom?"

"I don't know. But it wasn't a Caligo." He says it with complete certainty in his voice.

I raise a brow. "Do you think it was a Sidus?"

His eyes widen as if he's only now realizing what he has implied. He quickly shakes his head. "That's the thing. I don't think it was either."

The dark creatures flash across my mind. "How do you know your sister was taken and not…?"

"Killed?" he says, finishing my question. "There was a… residue of some kind left behind." His frown deepens. "A silver film that glimmered in the light. When I touched it, it felt… off. Like it didn't belong in our world." He shakes his head again, but more to himself. "I know it sounds crazy, but I know my sister is alive." He brings his hand to his chest. "I feel it. Here."

I have no reason to help him, with the list of things I should be trying to figure out myself. But the sadness in his eyes makes me want to at least try.

"What is your plan?" I ask.

He gives me a grateful look for not questioning him on his strange hunch, but who am I to judge him and what he feels is right? Many of my own decisions are based on my gut instincts rather than knowledge. If he feels his sister is alive, then she is alive.

"I wanted to search the palace. I assume that whoever has taken her has to be powerful. That the royals may know something… But?—"

"You thought they may be in on it?"

He nods. "I thought it may be a possibility. I decided to search the palace first. So far, I've found nothing that would?—"

Something clatters around the corner, making me freeze. Oryn doesn't think twice as he grabs my arm and pulls me down the hall in the opposite direction.

We move quickly, finding ourselves in another dark, quiet hallway.

"I think we lost them," Oryn says, glancing back.

My mind mulls over what he just told me, realizing that maybe there is a specific reason why they took his sister.

"Is your sister a Caligo?" I ask, and he immediately understands what I am asking.

"Yes, only Caligo. I'm the only one that's a little… different ." He gives me a quick look before glancing away.

"Does anyone else know about you?" Maybe they found out about him and thought his sister was the same. Or maybe they are using her to lure him out.

"No. No one knows. Not a soul," he says before frowning.

"Then why would they have taken her? Why her? Why not?—"

"Others?" He nods. "She's not the only one. There's more. More women going missing. My sister was not the first, and I fear she will not be the last."

Ice fills my veins. This changes everything. How long has this been going on? Is it just Caligo women and women in general, or is it males too? I'm about to ask him when I hear footsteps sound out down the corridor from us, and it forces us to get moving.

Finding a small black spiraling staircase, we move swiftly down it, only to come to another damp and dark hall similar to the passageways I was brought through to the cells.

Halfway down the passageway, Oryn stops and turns to me. "I know you have no reason to trust me, but I need to know why you are here."

I stay silent, wondering what he has deduced so far.

"My only reasoning is that you have also come here under a guise for something else. That you do not care for the winning position of a guard, and that whatever it is that forced your hand means a great deal to you."

I search his face for any ill-intent or deceit but find nothing so obvious. And I decide to give him some of my trust for now and hope it does not come back to bite me.

"There is something killing the Sidus. Creatures that are slipping past the shield," I tell him.

Oryn's eyes widen in shock and fear. "Why haven't you told anyone? The Caligo?—"

"Already know." My words stop him silent. "They know and they do not care. At least not about the Sidus."

Oryn's mouth drops open in shock. But then a spark of dread fills his eyes.

"These… creatures? Do they leave any residue?" The fear seeps into his face, turning it ashen.

I shake my head, stopping his downward spiral. "Nothing. It is as if they are made from smoke. They kill and leave no evidence behind."

He releases a harsh breath, rubbing his chest. "Then it can't be them." He looks at me. "Taking the missing women, I mean."

"No, it doesn't sound like it," I tell him, hoping we are right.

He nods his head again, more to himself, before his eyes land on my bracelets.

"What are those cuffs you wear? I have a feeling they are not your normal attire."

I glance down at them, still feeling the lack of warmth from my missing abilities. "A gift from the lieutenant. One that inhibits me from using my Sidus abilities."

Oryn winces before releasing another harsh breath. "I understand why the Sidus see us as nothing but their enemy when you have people like the lieutenant making it look like we are."

We start moving again and turn into a room full of empty cells. Cells so old the bars are rotting from within, and the stench of blood and death still fills the air.

"Do you know where we are? Maybe we took a wrong turn?" I glance around, trying to figure out where we ended up.

"It's one of the many prison cells that are located underneath the palace. This one seems to be one of the older ones." He walks down to the end of the room and glances around as if double-checking it is empty before turning back to me. Scanning my face for something, he nods when he seems to find it, a determined expression now on his face.

"Maybe we can help each other? The palace is endless in size. Too large to search individually. I can help you with whatever you're searching for, and you can help me with mine."

I look at him closely and try to sense anything off before revealing what I am searching for. Still not sensing any deceit or anything malicious, I decide to reveal it.

"Do you know a way to come and go from the palace? Some hidden entrance the guards leave unguarded or unused?"

Oryn frowns. "I?—"

Chains rattle as movement comes from within the small cell beside us. Moving a step back, I notice strange silver symbols carved into the ground around the cell, swirling and slithering up and along the bars.

Oryn gasps as he reaches out to touch it.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A man with wavy shoulder-length dark brown hair and striking blue eyes steps from the shadows. One of his ears is pierced with a small blue gem that matches the color of his eyes. But it is the energy around him that draws most of my attention. It feels different and otherworldly.

Goose bumps break out across my skin as he glances from me to Oryn.

"Who are you?" Oryn asks but heeds his warning and pulls his hand back from the bars.

That is when I feel it. Him . His power. It reaches out, searching, his eyes landing on mine as a wide smile spreads across his lips.

" What are you?" I ask, and his smile grows wicked.

"Veles. And I'm what you call a Fae."