The corridor feels positively dull in comparison to the room we leave behind. It is emptier now, the Oscensi captives and many of the Neyaibet soldiers -- including Edita and Tyler -- absent. Only a few remain, though their stares still press down on me with the same force the moment I enter the corridor. I glance down at my hands, making sure no fire flickers at their surface.
Harlow salutes them, and they return the gesture, despite hardly looking his way.
“Follow me, and fast, before the general changes her mind,” he mutters into my ear.
Before I can even think about questioning him, he is away, and all I can do is hurry in his wake. I trail him as we traverse a corner and wind through the passages. He may as well have been dragging along my arm for the pull of the string that binds us, for I cannot hesitate for even a moment. I’m afraid that if I fall behind, I will lose him in the maze of the castle’s halls, and be left stranded in a sea of blood. I don’t trust he will come back for me.
The rooms blur past in flashes of white and silver, lost in the haze of my thoughts. The change in the general at Harlow’s mysterious suggestion lingers with me, a persistent tendril of fear. What does he plan for me that she opposed so strongly?
Maybe it was merely an ask to keep me alive. She hardly seemed keen on that. I stare after Harlow, hoping to catch his attention, but his narrowed eyes evade me.
My questions dive in endless circles, never venturing any further without an answer to free them, and all too soon we reach what seems to be the castle’s exit. The remains of what looks like something of a door lies shattered before us, splintered planks jutting from the heaped tangle. Neyaibet must have used a lot of force to break through it.
I remember the shuddering bangs that reached my cell, and suddenly there is one less question. That must have been the sound of this door falling.
A small smile reaches my lips. I retract it before Harlow sees it, but the faint joy remains. I can figure this out. I just need to keep moving through this new world, and as I discover more my answers will present themselves.
Ahead of me, Harlow is already picking his way through the wreckage. I raise my gaze to see where he heads, and hurriedly shield my eyes with the back of my hand.
What awaits outside is, somehow, even brighter than the general’s room. The sun’s rays cut cleanly through a feeble sheen of cloud, returning the dots that dance before my stinging eyes. When I dare to peer through my fingers to observe more, I catch a glimpse of the vibrant blue hue of the rest of the sky. It stretches so far up, limitless, an expansive room with no ceiling. If I could spread wings like the birds I was told of, I’m sure I could fly on eternally, the path a steady blue as long as time itself.
With the rays comes an odd prickling sensation, a warmth that digs into my skin more fiercely than that of my flame. I’m not entirely sure I like it.
From somewhere in front, Harlow lets out a long sigh. “Please don’t tell me you’re allergic to the sun.”
I frown. I don’t think so, but then I cannot even recall the last time I saw the sun. But I’m sure I have, a long time ago, when I first came to the castle. I must have.
Giving my head a hard shake, I force myself to lower my hand. I’ve been in a cell for much of my life. Of course the sun will feel strange. I have no reason to fear it.
Still, as I start forwards, eyes fixed on the ground to map out a course through the cracked planks, my legs have begun to tremor again. I bite down on my tongue, feeling Harlow’s gaze latch onto me. After all he has seen, he doesn’t need more reason to see me as a creature only compatible with darkness.
The warmth grows. Around my hands, flames burst up, beating with the sunlight. At the points they emerge, a thousand needles seem to stab through my skin. It’s an effort not to wince. My fire is usually a means of relief, a way to let pain disappear as unseen smoke, but now all it does is increase the glare of the sun. I try to pull the flames back, but they remain, and as I take another step they only raise higher.
I stumble forward, my ankle colliding with a discarded shard of wood. It scrapes through the skin, but I ignore it. The sun already pierces me with the same force.
“Kid, you alright?”
I glance up to see the captain has backtracked. There might be genuine concern shining in his eyes, but I’m not sure.
“I’m fine,” I bite out, pulling from his gaze. I force the last few unsteady steps to reach the vacant doorway, pausing beneath its arch to snatch a breath. The air is too lively, and difficult to grasp.
“You sure do look it.”
“I…” The world spins. Everything is pale and blue, splashed with golden light intent on searing away my skull. I reach out, my fingers brushing against coarse stone, but it is unwilling to give me support and slides from my grip.
Just in time, I stagger forwards, managing to stop myself keeling over. But the sky only rotates faster. I fall to my knees. The rays slice from above, from before me, from behind, claws tearing at my skin.
The ground is nothing but shapeless smudges, but shadows swamp it, flickering faintly as flame. Even in this universal light, it remains dark.
There is a voice. I know not what it says, only that it calls from where the light glows. I shy away from it. The darkness calls louder, reaching out, promising me a place free of the sky’s pain.
Then the shadows swallow all, and I sink into them, content to return to their embrace.
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