“This way, this way!” Cryzari waved from the end of the hallway.

“Jeez, she’s faster than I remember,” Lysandra panted.

Raine had an arm slung over Nikolay for support. “It’s like the faster we walk, the further she gets.”

Seemingly impervious to exhaustion, Cryzari jumped up and down in excitement as they slowly made their way towards her.

“We’re almost there!” she cheerfully announced, before setting off on another winding path.

As they’d found out early on, her definition of ‘almost there’ differed greatly from their expectations. Cryzari led them up and down the place, through convoluted corridors and musty storage areas. After entering and promptly leaving countless rooms, they were sure they’d seen everything except the area that they were looking for.

“I just hope it’s actually close this time,” Raine muttered.

“It’s here!” Cryzari said, finally coming to a stop at a thick metal door.

While waiting for the fatigued adults to catch up, she pushed on the door with all her might. Because of her small figure, she didn’t get far before Lysandra and Raine went to help her push it open.

Nikolay traced a hand over the sign on the wall outside.

“‘Subject Holding Area’,” he read aloud. “They’re wording it quite nicely.”

Lysandra scoffed. “I’m not surprised. Who would want a sign with ‘Illegally Captured Test Subjects’?”

Behind the thick door was a completely different environment to the laboratory. While the previous hallways and rooms had all been a blinding shade of pure white, there was nothing clean about this area. Dark grey concrete made up the walls and floor, exposed wires snaked across the room, and most obvious were the iron bars that trapped multiple people dressed in simple clothes similar to Cryzari. They looked exhausted and hungry, most of them barely standing on their own feet.

Cryzari waved cheerfully at the civilians, despite the grim situation. “Hi! I’m back, everyone!”

“This is what you’re looking for,” she said to the three behind her, the smile on her face much dimmer. “The scientists open the doors with that lever, but I’m too short to reach it. I was waiting to grow taller so I can help everyone.”

She pointed upward to an unassuming lever nestled in the corner of the ceiling. Its position and colouration blended into the dark grey, dimly lit background. If Cryzari hadn’t told them, it would’ve easily been mistaken for an electrical or ventilation switch.

“My magic can reach it,” Nikolay said. “I’ll release the gates.”

He walked past the cells, ignoring the outstretched arms of the imprisoned. His head stayed bowed towards the floor, his eyes steadily trained on the dull concrete. Behind him, Lysandra and Raine paused at the cell doors.

Nikolay continued walking to the end of the suffocating room until he stood directly underneath the lever that Cryzari pointed out. As he extended an azure tendril to flick the switch, a memory echoed inside his mind.

Fighting against the gods is futile.

His right hand trembled against his will. The glow of his divine mark spluttered and died out, causing his magic to dissipate into useless, scattered fragments.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Nikolay clutched his arm and quickly darted his gaze behind him, checking that nobody had noticed. Sure enough, the other three were preoccupied with the prisoners.

This was the first time in a long while that something like this had happened. As much as he hated to admit it, Irideis’ words cut far deeper than he’d thought.

Then, Raine looked over and noticed that the lever hadn’t been activated yet.

“Nikolay?” he called out, walking over to him. “Can your magic reach? I can get a long stick if you can’t do it.”

“No, I just… got distracted. I’ll release the door lock now.”

Nikolay quickly re-summoned the magic extension and flicked the level decisively. As soon as it served its purpose, he immediately recalled his magic. He didn’t want it to falter again, especially not in front of Raine. It would only spark suspicion that he wanted to avoid. All he had to do was appear in control. Pretend to be the self-assured, confident Kolya that Raine could rely on.

Not long after, screeching metal filled the enclosed room. Doors on every cell swung open, allowing the trapped civilians to pour out into the open space. Lysandra quickly lifted Cryzari up on her shoulders to prevent her from being trampled.

Meanwhile, Raine crossed his arms. “You got distracted? By what?”

“It’s nothing,” Nikolay curtly replied, making his way to join Lysandra and Cryzari.

This time, two simple words weren’t enough to dissuade Raine. He grabbed Nikolay’s shoulder and pulled him back so that they were face to face. Although Nikolay averted his gaze, he could still feel Raine’s eyes searching his face for an explanation.

After a while, Raine sighed. “You’ve been acting off this whole time. At first, I thought you were just nervous, but back then, and now... What’s going on, Nikolay?”

Was he too obvious? It was difficult to keep a grasp on things when said grasp kept slipping out of his control. Everything felt unreal, as though he was watching a movie play out before him.

Nikolay didn’t like keeping something so big a secret, but he didn’t want to test the Seer. Irideis had already demonstrated the scope of their all-seeing eyes, so there was no cheating out of their rules. If he tried to tell Raine in secret, there was bound to be a consequence worse than Irideis initially threatened.

Nikolay replied neutrally, “We can’t be delaying like this. The parade’s distraction won’t last forever.”

Raine made a frustrated sound, but seemed to agree with Nikolay’s point. “Once we rescue all the prisoners and burn this place to the ground, we need to have a serious talk.”

For now, it was the best deal he could agree to. Finding a way to escape Raine’s interrogation was a later problem that he didn’t have the mental resources to figure out yet.

“Sure,” Nikolay replied offhandedly.

As their heated exchange drew to a close, Lysandra turned to Nikolay and Raine with a relieved face. “Everybody’s relatively unharmed. Their magic reserves are depleted, but it’s not life-threatening if nobody forcefully takes more. They should be fine to return to their homes.”

“Oh, I know how they can leave!” Cryzari chirped up from Lysandra’s shoulders. “There’s a secret passage that they used to bring everyone in. They can use it to get out.”

“Can you show us the exit?” Lysandra asked, setting Cryzari back down on the floor.

The little girl danced in between the crowd’s legs, weaving her way to the open door.

“It’s not far! Over here!” she called out.

Lysandra guided the small groups of kidnapped civilians towards Cryzari’s voice, while Raine and Nikolay stayed at the rear to ensure nobody was left behind. Thankfully, it wasn’t as far as their initial walk. Before long, they approached yet another heavy steel door.

Without much difficulty, Lysandra pushed the door open like last time. Instantly, a warm gust of outside wind blew into the facility. An unfurnished, incomplete-looking corridor led to a set of ascending stairs.

“Through here, I’m guessing?” she asked Cryzari.

Her friend nodded. “Yeah, that’s right! I can help them up the stairs. Wait here!”

The dishevelled prisoners followed Cryzari’s lead down the hallway, their movements much slower than her energetic bounces.

When they were a decent way away, Raine stepped forward.

“Lysandra, I’ve been meaning to ask you this. How do you know Cryzari? And how come she knows the layout here?”

The redhead didn’t seem offended by his question. “Cryzari, like me, was also a frequent magic donor. We spent most of our time in a different lab, so I’m not really sure how she knows this place. My guess is that she got moved here once I left. I’ve… always regretted not bringing her with me when I escaped.”

Even though her answer made sense at face value, it still felt as though some information was being purposefully left out.

Raine couldn’t stop himself from heaving a weary sigh. He’d had enough of his friends hiding things from him.