We slipped out into the early morning light, the streets had filled to the bustling metroplex that Oculyan was. Moving through the city streets that had filled out with the daily gatherings for the market square, it required more weaving in between people. The game had changed, and I was no longer just a thief trying to survive but to get back what was mine. I was a girl with a mission, a girl with the power to bring the tyrants to their knees. And I was ready to face whatever dangers lay ahead, but first I had to face the dangers that were lurking in the square.

Äezli took the lead as we slipped out of the busy square into a solitude and dark side street. The morning suns were casting dancing shadows across the vast interconnected buildings, windows glimmering with rays of light. The pearl-like jewel felt like it was on fire against my hip, the more I tried to ignore it, the more it seared into my side.

“Next stop, Elrik’s shop.” Äezli whispers, as he nudges me for my response. I had been distracted by the stone that I had not noticed how far we had actually travelled. We had made it to the far outer ring of Oculyan without a hint of the man in black.

“Äezli, if we get separated I want you to meet me at the old creaking shack by the river.” I quickly said as the hairs on my body started to raise. I started to feel like the eyes from this morning were on me again. Panic is all I could feel and I think Äezli could tell something was wrong with me.

“What’s you feeling?” He quickly retorted. “You seem on edge all of a sudden.” His eyes darted around the area, observing anything that might be strange and out of the ordinary. At this moment, I found Äezli’s protective stature of devotion towards me attractive, and started to see the handsome features I had been refusing to recognize. He was taller than me by at least a foot, had dark hair with soft spiky locks that were wildly pushed around his face. His skin was sun-kissed, with scars above his lip and across his eyebrow that he got as a young boy but aged well with him as a man. He had a sculpted face, with a lean and muscular body, even under all the tunics and clothing, his physique was noticeable. Äezli, my best friend at this moment, showed up as my protector.

“I have the feeling we're being watched. It’s the same feeling I had this morning, when you said that I was being trailed.” I said quickly as I tried to keep my composure, and my voice steady. “Let's just keep going.” I muttered as I gently shoved Äezli to keep moving forward. The feeling of being stocked like prey had started to become overwhelming. However, I did not let on that it was getting to me. We continued forward, and with every step the eerie feeling of being caught got stronger.

The front door to the spot Äezli led us to was a typical business front for traders, unless you knew what was going on behind closed doors, no one would ever assume otherwise. As Äezli was about to grab for the door the feeling of being caught was unbearable, I grabbed the bag off my back and threw it at him.

“Äezli, no matter what happens, I need you to find out what all this means and get it into the right hands. Get us a good price because this is all we will have for a little while.” As I was finishing my statement, the man in black came emerging from the shadow behind me and grabbed me by the waist. Before Äezli could even respond, I was being dragged back into the darkness of the shadow in which the man just appeared from.

My heart pounding in my ear as the masked man’s rod-iron grip clenched around my waist, pulling me back into the shadowy depths. The last thing I saw was Äezli’s handsome face, horrified as he clutched the bag tightly to his chest, his eyes filled with a mix of emotions I could not quite read. I struggled against the masked man, but his size was overwhelming, and my efforts were futile against him. I tried to scream a breathy response to Äezli as he faded into the darkness but all that escaped from my lips was an exhausted wheeze.

The man dragged me through a narrow corridor, I contorted against his unyielding grip, trying to break free, but his hold was like a trap around my body. The reverberating sounds of the man’s footsteps across the hall faded into the distance as we moved further into the unknown building. Panic surged through me, demanding I act, but I forced myself to stay calm, so I could come up with a plan. I needed to find a way to escape and meet back up with Äezli.

"Let me go!" I screamed, as I beat my hands across the man’s stone like chest. The more I hit him, the more it seemed to hurt me more than him. My efforts were exhausted against the wall of a person that was still clutching me with a grasp that surely was breaking my rib bones.

"Silence." He hissed, his voice menacing and dripping with ice. "You’ve meddled into matters that are beyond this realm." His response made me feel heavy and weak. I grew limp in his grasp, as we continued down the winding and empty hallway. As we emerged into a deserted tower, surrounded by stone walls and devoid of any escape routes besides the one being blocked by my captor. He finally released me, throwing me roughly to the ground. I scrambled to my feet, as blood started to dribble down from my hands and knees.

"Who are you? Where did you bring me?" I demanded, trying to put space between me and this brute of a man. Thinking about if there were any other escape routes out of this unknown tower. Maybe if I knew where he took me, I would know how to get back to Äezli faster.

He stepped into a patch of light casted from one of the torches anchored into the wall, revealing his war torn face. He was tall and imposing, with piercing green eyes and a face marked by a troubled past. His black cloak billowed around his muscular body like the wings of a crow. "I am the one who does the dirty work of nobles." He said, his voice dripping with blood-lust.

"Lord Canlin sent you, didn’t he?" I spat through my teeth, my temper flaring at the thought.

A cruel smile twisted at his lips. "You’re smarter than you look, girl. No, Lord Canlin has things to do, but you aren’t one of them. Try again." The nameless man said as he took a step towards me, closing the gap almost instantly.

I grazed around the small flat, searching for anything I might use as a weapon. The tower’s small entrance was barren, save for a few crates and the anchored down torches. Desperation gnawed at me as I realized how dire my situation was becoming. If I wanted to get out of this, I needed to act swiftly.

"You don't have to do this! I have gold and silver, I can pay you!" I plead out, trying to appeal to whatever sense of humanity the man had left. "I can disappear. No one in Oculyan will ever hear from me again."

His green eyes darkened as he began to chuckle softly to himself. "I’m afraid it’s too late for you. Plans have already been made." He took another step towards me, further closing the gap and now was close enough to grab me once more.

With a sudden flash of adrenaline, I lunged for one of the broken crates, hoping to find something—anything—that could help me defend off my attacker. The man was faster than I thought, and moved like mist across the space. He grabbed me by the arm and yanked me down to the ground, his other hand drawing a small dagger from under his tunic. The cold blade pressed against my throat, holding me in place. I could feel the warmth of my blood beading up slowly on the blade. I let myself go to the thought that this was going to be the end. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath as I relaxed into the cold stone ground.

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I noticed my captors weight shift slightly but out of fear, I kept my eyes closed. The new sensation of cold metal pressing into my wrist made my eyes spring open. I saw he bound me in heavy steel handcuffs and he was preparing to do my ankles next. Kicking, I tried relentlessly to get away but the nameless man held me firmly in place.

“Guess who sent me, girl.” The man asked again, smirking as he continued to chain me in the heavy ankle-shackles. He was getting some sick pleasure out of me squirming from his grasp and fighting to free myself.

“If it isn’t the Lord, then I don’t know who sent you!” I retorted back, violently thrashing against the inevitability of my capture. There was searing pain through the limbs where he was able to quickly disarm me and across my broken ribs when he squeezed me so tight that they snapped like twigs.

“I never said it wasn’t the Lord. All I said was it wasn’t Lord Canlin.” The same darkened smile across his face as he licked my blood off his blade before slipping it back in his tunic. He had my arms chained up behind my back and my bleeding knees digging further into the stone ground. My smeared blood seemed to entice him as he looked down at me with menacing eyes and a grin of a killer.

“Was it the Lord’s son, Baron Damaino?” I said softly, trying to pull myself off the ground as much as possible and away from the man above as I could. The metal handcuffs digging into my wrist with every attempt to get to my feet.

“Beautiful, smart, and a nobody, I see why the Baron has taken a fondness for you.” With that he put his foot into my bruised abdomen and shoved me onto my back, further crushing my arms against the heavy handcuffs. Before I could regain composure, he grabbed the chains that held my hands together and roughly pulled me to my feet. The new weight of the shackles through me off balance, stumbling over the weight. Wincing from the pain, I had no time to recover before he started to pull me up the winding stairs that lead up the lone tower. The man led me to the top of the tower, where a lone stone cell was. The room was bare, and cold with a singular ring to chain a prisoner up to. .

“If you behave and don’t cause a racket, the Baron will be calling upon you tomorrow. If not, I will be back for you and trust me, you won’t like to see me again.” The man said, his voice still dripping in bloodlust as he licked the cut across my throat. I pulled back with disgust but this only seemed to make him more excited. He pulled my matted silver hair, exposing my face to him. Looking down at me, bearing his teeth the man laid a wet and sticky kiss on my mouth before turning around and leaving me alone chained to the cold stone wall.

As the heavy cell bar door slammed closed behind him with a large clank, I was left alone in the isolated tower. The echo resonated through the stone walls and reverberated down my chains, shaking as it went. I tugged at the heavy steel, testing their strength to the wall but they held firmly in place. The cuffs were cold and digging against my wrists, with each futile attempt to escape. I sat still against the wall, my mind racing trying to grasp for a plan, anything that would help me out of this dire situation.

I took a large inhale, steadying myself. The sound of the city far off in the distance below the cold stone tower. I continued to breathe slowly, panic would only cloud my judgement. My captor had mentioned Baron Damaino, the son of Lord Canlin and the heir to the Vaelin family reign. If he was behind this, then I was in even more danger than I initially thought. Baron Damaino was known for his ruthless tactics and unyielding pursuit of power. Whatever his plans were for me, I knew they couldn't be good.

I scanned over the small, dimly lit cell, searching for something that might aid my escape. There stood in a discarded pile, a crate on the far wall. Perhaps there was something useful, like a forgotten tool. I pulled myself towards them, the chains softly scrapping the stones with each movement. Reaching the broken crate, I began to pry one of the planks with my fingers, my nails scraping into the rough wood that was splittering into my nail beds.

Inside the discarded crate, I found a small assortment of items—parchment, ink, quills. Nothing that looked like it could be strong enough for me to break free. Then I spotted it at the bottom of the crate, it was a small, rusty nail. It wasn’t much, but it was more than nothing. I quickly grabbed it, tucking it into the sleeve of my tunic.

The hours ticked by as I patiently worked the nail against the lock of my shackles, my hands trembling with each failed attempt. Sweat dripped down from my clammy hands, mixing with the dirt and blood beneath me. As the first of the morning light started to peer into my tower cell, despair began to creep in, faintly I heard the click. The shackles around my right wrist loosened and fell away to the stones with a chilling crash. Hope surged through my veins, pushing me to my feet. I redoubled my efforts on the other wrist, and soon, I was free.

I stood, rubbing my bleeding and raw wrists. I quickly undid the shackles at my ackles and made my way to the cell door. Pressing my ear between the bars, I listened intently. There was an eerie silence, there was no life but me inside the tower. Slowly, I eased the door open with a soft creaking as the worn metal brushed against itself. Peering into the corridor beyond, it was dimly lit and empty like I had expected. I slipped out into the corridor, moving as quietly as possible against the stone wall, and began to make my way down the winding tower’s stairs.

With every step I took, the wooden staircase groaned with an echoing along the distance of the tower. Every sound, even the chirping of the songbirds outside made my heart pound against my chest. I knew I had to be vigilant, because if I was caught; no telling what the man in black would do. The stone walls seemed to close around me as I descended, my mind racing with thoughts of what awaited me outside.

As I reached the bottom landing, I found myself staring down at my dried, smeared blood from my brutal jailing the night before. In my enchanted daze, I had not noticed the door to the tower was left ajar. There was soft mummering coming from the long hallway just on the other side of the door. A glimmering of light peeked through the crack, breaking my trance. Taking a deep breath and calming the fear that was building in my hollowed stomach, I moved towards it, hoping it led to my freedom. As I grabbed for the door, it swung open, nearly missing my already battered body.

The morning suns were just beginning to rise, casting the dancing shadows across the cityscape of Oculyan. The air was still cool with the morning dew clinging to the air. A slight shiver in response to the difference of the relentless heat in the tower that had built through the night. I glanced around between an aged man and a glass-eyed girl. I needed to find Äezli but now, I do not know when I will be seeing him again

“Ah, I knew this was the time to meet,” the aged man said. “You might just want to come with us and don’t make a fuss.” His voice was calming and the soft smile he wore, only illuminated the deepened wrinkles of his weathered face. The man was warm and friendly, but I could feel that I was outmatched.

“Where are you wanting to take me?” I said, not moving. The girl seemed to be distant, the glazed over eyes and blank expressions she emoted, made my skin prickle up with an uneasy feeling. I could not put my finger on it, but I felt that if I kept looking at her then I would never escape this dread.

“You’re right, she will keep you in a space of dread and despair. It’s hard to resist when there isn’t much to live for,” as the old man talked, he took shuffling steps toward me. Flinching away, the girl moved towards me at a speed that was nearly incomprehensible. “She isn’t trying to escape, Glynna. She distrusts us because Drax beat her nearly to death,” He looked my battered body over, “Against orders, I might add.” He smiled at me.

The man from last night, his name is Drax. I made a mental note to remember him so that I could repay him for the abuse he inflicted on me. “Why should I go with you two?” I said, still in the ready to try and dodge for an escape.

“My name is Amon, this is Glynna. We serve Baron Damiano, and he has beconded us to retrieve you. We are to take care of any wounds, and then have you manicured to the Baron’s liking. Now come, girl” Amon and Glynna quickly grabbed me and escorted me to another section of the palace.