𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐄𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

Ⅷ 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒆𝒋𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒈𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒂

THE LARGE DOORS OHVAL ENTERED SOME TIME AGO OPENED, LETTING HER WALK INTO THE CROWDS OF PEOPLE. "Remember to stay within my sight," Nina ordered as Zoya started to walk away.

"Remember to keep up," Zoya snapped. Nina hissed and followed after her. Tenzin sighed through his nose and turned back into the alley. He walked toe-in-toe with Nina a street over, catching glimpses of Nina through the alleyways and windows. By the next alleyway, he look through at the crowds Nina was gone. "Shit." Tenzin rushed across to the other alley trying his best to dodge people as he walked through to the adjacent alley.

He rushed through the alley looking for any sign of Nina. Tenzin looked up at Ohval standing in the alleyway in front of him. He swallowed the lump in his throat and waved softly. "Evening," Tenzin greeted with a nervous smile.

"Would you like to die tonight boy?" Ohval said with a sickly sweet smile.

"If there is an option... no, not really," Tenzin said, his lips pulled tight. Ohval took a step forward and Tenzin took a quick step back, instinctively his hand slid into his side bag. "You asked and I answered!" Tenzin said in defence. Tenzin's eyes wandered behind Ohval to the empty alley. "Now!"

Ohval spun, her steps faulting as she noticed the empty alley. Tenzin had already tossed three smoke bombs at her feet and by the time she turned back, the smoke had started to fill the alley and Tenzin was running up a side staircase.

Once he got to the top her scrambled, taping together a small shrapnel bomb filled with nails and the spare rough cuts of old projects. Once she heard her steps he let the bomb fall from his hands and topple down the stairs. He ducked behind a pile of stacked crates. A moment later it set itself off the shrapnel launching a few feet each way.

Tenzin glanced up before rushing down the stairs. He paused as he watched Ohval move from her crouched position to stand, the shrapnel swirling around her arms. He cursed to himself and rushed deeper into the alleys. "Nina! Zoya! Nina!"

❆

THE LOCKS CLICKED AND SLID OPEN. Kaz gripped the doors and pulled them open revealing the garden inside. His eyes wandered for a moment before stepping forward, the sound of his cane cutting through the silence. The others stepped through, Jesper and Wylan stopped by the door as Kaz and Ira continued forward toward the next set of doors.

Ira pressed her hands to the door, trying to push it apart. "Here," Kaz said, tossing her the lock-picks. "Remember how to use them?"

Ira shrugged, sliding the slim metal pieces into the keyhole. "Vaguely." Kaz shook his head, just letting his eyes watch her hands. "Leading him on will get you nowhere, relax your wrist."

"I'm not leading him on and it is relaxed," Ira muttered, shaking the piece in her left hand. "Plus he's more of a man than that boy you sent me on the Burner mission with."

Kaz hummed softly. "Don't break my lock-picks."

Elvira rolled her eyes and pushed the right lock-pick up, granting her a satisfying click. Elvira tossed them back to him and tugged the door open an inch. "Since when did you care?"

Kaz sighed softly, "I don't." He stepped up to the door and looked back at Jesper and Wylan crouched by the front gates. "Jesper. We're going in. Close the doors behind you."

Jesper stood quickly following the others through the door. "I suggest we spread out," Ira said in a low voice.

Inej nodded, "Agreed."

"I sense a heartbeat," Toyla said suddenly, his steps stopping.

"I thought the compound was empty," Jesper spoke up.

"It's faint. Further in the house," Toyla clarified. He took a small step forward, hitting a loose wood panel with his heel. Mechanical clicking echoed around them then the doors on either side of the room slammed shut. Inej and Ira threw themselves at one, trying to catch it, as did Jesper and Toyla with the other. However, they were too slow and missed them before they closed.

Toyla and Inej kicked at the door. Ira raised her hand pulling the liquid from the atmosphere and sending an ice shard at the door. The shattered, barely making a dent in the golden print. "Shit," Ira cursed, her Fjerdan strong as she tapped her fingers against the framing.

"It's impenetrable," Inej said after stabbing at the print.

"The frames are made of metal," Kaz said as his cane bounced off the framing. Ira hummed in agreement, her nails sliding metal.

"They're Durast-made," Jesper spoke up, his voice soft.

Another round of mechanical clicks echoed through the air then a small spraying sounded. "That does not sound good," Jesper said in a strained voice.

Toyla's eyes wandered upwards, "There's something in the air." Thick dark red mist floated through the air, filling their lungs. Ira was the first to cough, then quickly everyone was coughing. Their lungs were tight and their throats felt scratchy. Ira tried to cover her mouth with her sleeve, pulling the moisture to try and make a smoke mask.

"This is how we die," Jesper said through ragged coughs.

Toyla crossed his hands over his chest and slowly sat. Ira could feel her heart beating against her ribs and she rested against the wall, slowly sliding down it. Jesper tried to catch himself on the door but he fell to the floor with a nasty thud. Inej fell next, her fall was softer but her eyes rolled back into her head. Kaz stood for a moment before slamming back into the ground. Ira's eyes threatened to shut as she sat propped against the wall.

"Ira," Toyla called in a weak voice. "Ira."

Ira's head fell back against the door and her hand slipped, falling into her lap. "Elvira!"

"Elvira."

Eivor gripped Elvira's arm, pulling her down the dark staircase. It was wet with moisture, the cobblestones wet with blood and sticky water. He lit their way with an orange torch, but it barely lit a foot in front of them. "Eivor-" Elvira tried to plead but her brother kept a bruising grip on her arm. "Please!"

"You say a Grisha deserves a chance," He hissed, his voice dripping with venom. "They're just people. I'll show what they are."

They reached the rocky surface of the ground. Dozens of darkened cells with only the barest of light scattered through the halls. Elias walked away from the end cell marching towards his siblings. "What are you doing?" He spat, pulling his hand off of Ira's arm and pushing her behind him. "If father saw-"

"She says the Grisha are people," Eivor shouted, his voice bounding off the walls making Elvira flinch. "If father heard what she was saying... he would have her hanged."

Elvira shuddered, her hands squeezing her upper arms. Elias turned to her, kneeling down to meet her eyes. She was barely taller than a child, barely older than one as well. She was fourteen, skinny and quiet often lost in the crowds at dances or the markets. "You do not have to do this," Elias whispered, his voice quiet, ever thankful that Eivor had lost his ear.

"I don't want to make him any madder," Elvira whispered.

Elias turned back to Eivor whose jaw was clenched in anger. "She stays at my side, if she wants to leave, she will leave and you will not stop her." Eivor scoffed and pushed past his younger brother marching toward the end cell. Elias looked down at his sister before he led her forward.

Echoes of pained whimpers and begging of all tongues, mostly Ravkan, seeped through the cracks of the door. They begged for death or mercy. Elvira slowly followed her brother down the hall, the dripping of water sounding like gunshots in her ears.

Eivor pulled open the heavy steel door, and even with his strength he struggled to heave it open. Once the door was yanked open the pitiful whimpers and pleads doubled. Half a dozen Grisha were held up by their arms, their hands shackled at their wrists connected to metal poles to keep their arms separated.

"Who- What are they?" Elvira corrected herself, her eyes scanning their Kefta's.

"Dogs groveling at a wolf's feet," Eivor hissed. He spat one's face and Elvira flinched.

"The red are Heartrenders, play with your blood," Elias explained. "Purple are the Fabrikators. The metal and poison."

"The blue ones are the ones you watch out for," Eivor hissed. He grabbed one, a woman with blonde hair, by the scruff of her neck, and yanked her head back. "This one, Inferni. The fire." He moved to a skinnier boy, his cheeks sunken. "This is a Squaller, see the markings." He grabbed the scruff of his jacket, tugging at the silver embroiderer. "Ahh, this one..." Elvira walked to a boy, skinny and small, she could well be a child. "What is this one?"

"He has no jacket," Elvira said, her voice shaky.

"Guess."

Elvira took a shaky breath and Elias stepped forward. "Eivor that's enough."

"Guess Elvira," Eivor taunted. "Guess!"

Elvira turned, sprinting down the hall and up the stairs as fast as feet would carry her. She reached the surface, her speed slowed as she dragged her feet through the thick snow. "Elvira!" Elias called, following her. His strides caught up to her slow pace in seconds. "Elvira." He grabbed her arm, stopping her but she continued to panic. Her word melted together as she tried to speak and steady her breathing. "Hey, calm yourself. Breathe slow."

Once she was calm enough, they walked side by side to the large ash tree. The only one that was reached by the sun, it was the only one whose leaves would go red after long enough. That sat on a large rock after Elias tossed his coat over the ice. "He was a Tidemaker wasn't he?" Elvira asked in a quiet voice.

"Yes," Elias said with a nod.

"Eivor has killed people, I've seen it. We don't even know if-if they had hurt anyone," Elvira said in a shaky voice.

"It's strange how Djel works, but people will realise soon they are no different." Elvira nodded softly, pulling her fur coat tighter around her shoulders. "Show me," Elias said in a soft voice.

Elvira picked up a handful of snow, her fingers feeling light under the ice. Elvira took a deep breath and the snowflakes lifted from the pile, spinning under gaze. "I don't want to end up like them," Elvira said, her voice cracking as she let the snow fall through her fingers.

Elias took her hand, his skin warm against her chilled hands. "I promise you, Elvira. You will never end up like them. I have been made to protect you. Only in death will I be kept from this oath."

Elvira's head snapped up, looking into Elias's soft blue eyes. "That's your Drüskelle oath," Elvira said, her voice quivering.

"It applies to you all the same," Elias said, smiling at her. "If it comes to it. I will take you far away from here. You can grow and live."

Elvira shook her head softly and leaned against her brother's shoulder. "Where would we go?"

"I've heard Kerch is nice enough, it's not perfect, but it's a start," Elias promised. "I'll make us enough money, then we'll go beyond the cliffs. Find somewhere new."

"There's nothing beyond the cliffs," Evira said with a chuckle.

"We'll find something, just for us Ira."

"Ira!"

"Ira!"

Ira's eyes snapped open, meeting Jesper's chocolate eyes. He smiled and chuckled, pulling Ira into a tight hug. "Hello Jes," Ira greeted and Jesper shook his head.

"I don't know what you said," Jesper said through relieved breaths.

He leaned back and Ira smiled, resting her hand on his cheek. "Hello." She suddenly tasted the bitter taste in her mouth and wiped her lips. "What is that?"

"That's a butterfly," Jesper said with a smile. He shuffled back and took Ira's hand, hoisting her to her feet just as Kaz pushed himself up with his cane.

"Is everyone alive?" Wylan called from the other side of the door.

"We're alive," Inej confirmed, though her stance was still wobbly.

"I owe you my life," Toyla said after a moment of silence.

"It was Wylan," Inej stammered, gesturing outside. "He saved us."

"Wylan did?" Jesper questioned, his hands on his knees as he tried to steady his breathing.

"Of course he did," Ira said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Wylan called.

"We almost died, didn't we?" Jesper asked, standing straighter. "Same time... I had the most incredible hallucination." Jesper chuckled softly. Kaz turned away but Jesper continued. "Did anyone else get lulled into a comforting sense of joy?"

"Surprisingly yes," Elvira said with a breathy laugh. Jesper smiled and Ira leaned against him, he froze for a moment before, throwing his arm around her shoulder.

"I didn't see anything," Kaz said in a shallow voice.

Inej looked between Jesper and Ira before nodding, "Neither did I."

"All right, what's the plan?" Toyla asked, pulling the attention his way.

"You said there was another heartbeat in the house," Kaz spoke up, his voice stronger.

"Southeast corner. The heartbeat's weak," Toyla explained.

"I suspect she built all of this to protect that heart," Kaz said, taking a step forward. "Along with a different way in to get to it."

"Yeah, but," Jesper spoke up, "She'll come in looking for us. And what are we gonna do? Stand and wait for her?"

"Pretend her trap worked," Ira spoke up. "If Inej can get in the roof she can take her out without Ohval noticing."

❆

❝ cold as 𝒊𝒄𝒆, sharp as a knife ❞