“Care to explain what that was about?” Ace asked Galina.

“I think I’ll let her explain,” Galina gestured to the open window behind Ronan’s desk.

Striding above the city, stepping on air, was a short girl with long black hair, a quiver of arrows on her back, a bow slung across her shoulder, and most notably, the symbol of a gold chain around her neck. She wore a short brown poncho over a sleeveless white shirt. Her pants were black and had both legs rolled up about halfway to the knees.

Around the girl’s neck hung a talisman made of bones weaved together to form a star; several other bones hung from the same necklace. On her head, she wore a circlet made of light pink dragon scales. Fitted on both forearms were a set of leather bracers.

As the girl crept into the office, the bottom of her sandals nearly clipping the window frame, it became clear she wasn’t entirely human. From the tips of her fingers up to her elbows, from her knees down to the soles of her feet, the girl’s skin was decorated with dragon scales—the same light pink color as her circlet. The scales could also be seen at the edges of her face, and extended out from the side of her face to under her eyes—which rather than round irises had a rectangular slit—stopping just before the nose. Instead of nails, the girl sported onyx black claws though their edge had been filed down.

Galina lowered her hand, and the window shut behind the girl. Though it couldn’t be seen, wind coalesced around the girl’s feet, allowing her to walk on it. The glass shards that once were a display case and now littered Ronan’s desk started to rattle.

As the girl floated above the desk, she stepped forward, and the wind beneath her feet sent the glass flying off the desk.

“Oh!” Galina stretched her hand and tightened it into a fist. The glass shards suddenly froze in mid-air, suspended just inches from the floor.

Floating just above the glass shards was the key that had been held in the display case. The girl snatched the key, and made her way across the office, careful not to touch the floor.

As the girl passed through the doorway, she dispersed the wind around her feet, and let herself fall. Her feet touched the ground without a sound. She spun her head around, her eyes lighting up with child-like wonder, inspecting everyone closely. Brimming with excitement and curiosity, the girl turned to Galina and asked her a question.

“Who are these fuckers?”

Ace recoiled slightly, purely out of shock, and he looked to see if everyone shared his reaction. Halvor’s jaw went slack, and his eyes nearly burst from their sockets. Riven tilted her head as a smirk crawled across her face. Draxl raised his eyebrows appearing equal parts surprised and inquisitive. The only person not taken aback by the girl’s language was Galina, who responded to the girl’s question with a smile on her face.

“Well, you have Ace.”

“Hey.”

“That’s Riven.”

“Sup.”

“This is Halvor.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“And Draxl.”

“You’re Cili, right?”

“You can say hi first, you know?” Galina suggested.

“Hi first,” Draxl said monotone.

“Very funny,” Galina remarked.

The girl placed her hands on her hips, and puffed out her chest, assuming a stance of pride like that of a statue. “I’m Cili. I’m 19. My birthday is in 52 days. I’m one-third dragon. My favorite day of the week is Monday, because it’s number one, and my second favorite day of the week is Sunday because it means Monday is tomorrow. My least favorite day is Tuesday because when it’s Tuesday it’s not Monday anymore. My best friend’s name is Willow. My favorite food is …”

“Is she always like this?” Ace asked Galina.

“Having known her for all of 1 hour, I can say with confidence, yes. Though you have to admit, it is endearing.”

“I’d find it more endearing if we weren’t all still marked for death,” Draxl said.

“Hey, I’m really glad to learn more about you, but do you think I could get a quick look at that key you picked up?” Halvor asked Cili.

“Oh, fuck, right!” Cili exclaimed, quickly handing over the key.

“No worries,” Halvor said. Once he had the key, Halvor came to a realization. “I have no idea how this thing works.”

Riven held her hand out. “Give it here.” Halvor dropped the key into her hands. As Riven studied it, her eyes narrowed as her initial confusion transformed into suspicion.

“Hey, big guy,” Riven called out to Halvor, tossing him the key. “Do me a favor. Snap it. But don’t try too hard.”

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“Could you elaborate?” Draxl asked.

“If it’s real, it shouldn’t break easily.”

“You don't think it's real?” Ace asked Riven. “You believe he has a fake key in a display case on his desk?”

“Simplest answer may often be the answer, but it isn’t always,” Riven said. “All I know is that that key isn’t anything but a key.”

“Are we doing this?” Halvor asked.

“What’s the worst that could happen?” Cili said.

“We all die,” Draxl answered bluntly.

“So we’ll be right back where we started,” Galina said. “I’ll take that.”

“Okay.” Halvor pinched the ends of the key, and the tips of his fingers turned to stone. He took a deep breath. The key snapped instantly. “Well, that was easy.”

“Which means I was right,” Riven quickly pointed out.

“And that we’re out of options,” Galina added. “According to the guard that brought me up here this was the only place worth looking. Ronan probably keeps the key with him at all times. The only way for us to get it would be by force.

“Even then, he’s part of the search party, so it wouldn’t be easy. I’m not about to kill people, just for my freedom, and with all due respect, I won’t let any of you either.”

“I’m with her on that,” Halvor said. “Even if that whole group is as corrupt as Ronan, they’re still helping innocent people right now. We can’t interfere with what they’re doing.”

“So, is that it? Do we just give up?” Cili asked.

No. Ace refused to give up on life again. There had to be something he was missing. “Why would Ronan have a fake key in an infused display case on his desk? It’s too much effort for a red herring. The key can’t just be fake. It’s got to be important somehow. Wait!”

Ace dashed toward the doorway of Ronan’s office. The pupils in his eyes darted from left to right as he scanned the mess of papers that littered the floor. Amongst the pile, he spotted what he was looking for.

“Galina, can you grab that for me?” Ace pointed to the paper.

As the papers floated across the room toward Ace, he felt his spine turn to ice. He felt himself drawn to an old rope that had been placed atop one of the bookshelves.

“Could you get that for me as well?”

Once Ace had the papers, he laid them out on the floor for everyone to see. It was the manor’s schematics.

“What if the key is the key to the key?” Ace suggested.

“Say that three times fast,” Riven joked.

“What if the key is the key to the key? What if the key is the key to the key? What if the key is the key to the key?” Cili said rapidly.

“Nice job,” Riven remarked.

“Think about it,” Ace said. “It doesn’t make sense for Ronan to always have the key. He’d risk misplacing it or getting pickpocketed wherever he went. The guard Galina was with said this was the only room worth checking, but what if that’s because he didn’t know the whole manor? What if there is somewhere in the manor this key unlocks and that’s where the key we need is?”

“It’s possible,” Galina said.

“Where would this secret room be?” Cili asked.

Before Ace could admit he had no idea, Draxl jumped in. “A basement. Everything above ground is known. That’s the only place it could be.”

“How can you be so sure?” Halvor asked.

“Trust me.”.

“Working on it,” Riven said.

“Wait a second!” Cili exclaimed. She hurried over to the eastern balustrade with the rest of the group following shortly after.

“There!” Cili pointed down to the manor’s garden. Looking over the balustrade, the group spotted something strange right where Cili was pointing. At the garden’s center, in place of the typical fountain, there was a rusted hatch.

“I spotted it while I was hovering around the place,” Cili informed the group.

“Looks like Ronan called everyone to help search,” Ace said, noticing that no guards were patrolling the garden.

“The guard I was with mentioned it when I asked him if there was anything strange,” Galina said. “He said it was rusted shut, and wherever it led to had collapsed.”

“Then why keep it?” Draxl asked. “It’s not like Ronan doesn’t care for appearances.”

“Alright, let’s find out what he’s hiding. Mind if I get some room.” Riven signaled everyone to step back. She pulled her dagger from its sheath and raised it to her head. Riven snapped her arm forward, flicking her wrist at the very last moment.

As the dagger soared through the air toward the hatch its path remained linear, never once giving into gravity. It shifted mid-flight, making micro-adjustments to ensure it hit its target. The dagger embedded itself in the gap between the hatch and the frame.

“Reveal yourself, [Dispel].” Originating from the dagger, a red light spread to encompass the entirety of the hatch, then faded. As the light disappeared, it revealed the same hatch, now free of rust.

Riven snapped her fingers, and the dagger vanished, reappearing in her hand. “Alright, let’s get down there.”

“Before that, one small problem, the key is broken,” Ace reminded everyone.

“Well, if it’s just metal I should be able to handle it,” Halvor said. He carefully aligned the two halves of the key. “[Mend].”

With a clang of metal and a shower of sparks, like a smith’s hammer striking a red-hot blade, the key was repaired.

“That’s step one. Now step two, getting down,” Ace said.

“We have rope. Let’s have Cili glide down and tie it,” Riven suggested.

“There’s nowhere to tie it that’ll support our weight,” Draxl said.

Cili examined the garden for a suitable anchor. “What about, oh no wait never mind, maybe over there, eh no.”

“Galina, you can control things. Can you keep the rope floating in the air while we climb down it?” Halvor asked.

“Weight wouldn’t be the issue, but I don’t have the control to manage it shifting as everyone climbs down,” Galina said.

Ace glanced down at the rope in his hand—the one Galina had retrieved for him from Ronan’s office. He felt a chill spread from the rope throughout his entire nervous system, numbing his senses of the outside world, and focusing them on it.

The rope felt rougher in Ace’s hand. The faint smell of blood emanating from it was elevated. Several-year-old blood stains suddenly became more vibrant. Ace could tell something, or perhaps someone was trying to get his attention. He closed his eyes and listened.