Best laid plans (Ferra POV)

With a brilliant flash of light, the five would-be rescuers appear in the room. For a moment, they stand motionless, until Melora sighs. “Empty. Thankfully no one is in my old room.”

Ferra looks around, noting that it’s hardly more than a prison cell. Even the door has bars on it, though it stands open at the moment. Clearly, Melora was not exactly a guest of honor when she was kept here. Still, if she was able to escape, blind and with only Victor to guide her, then the five of them should be able to get Nicholas out. Ferra checks to be sure that Nicholas’s sword is still secured on her back, then starts towards the door. Victor is a step ahead of her, leading the way.

No sooner are they all in the hallway when Melora suddenly clutched her head, grimacing. “He knows…the Great One felt us arriving. He’s trying to get in my head…”

Victor rushes to her side, but she pushes him away, shaking her head. After a moment, she straightens, though the strain is visible in her eyes. “I can keep him out for a time, but we must hurry. The longer we’re here, the harder it will be.”

Victor nods. “Fortunately, it’s not far to the secure cells where they’re likely keeping him.”

Just then, Cassie gasps, pointing at Ferra. “The sword, it’s gone!”

Ferra feels on her back, and sure enough, the blade has vanished. “There is only one way that could happen. Nicholas has called it to him. He will know we are here. I must get to him!”

Without any further delays, the group moves down the hallway, Victor leading the way. Directly behind him, Ferra follows, arms shifted into blades, ready to pounce. They pass several more doors, some closed, but all similarly designed to be prison gates. Ferra doesn’t spare them a glance, fixated on her goal. Behind her, Melora explains that these cells are for captive nobility, and that Nicholas would be kept in the ‘important commoner’ cells, lower down.

The halls are surprisingly clear of guards, so much so that Ferra wonders why security is so light. She shrugs, and figures that she’s not going to question their good luck. Victor moves cautiously towards a closed door at the end of a passageway.

Before he opens it, he turns to the rest of them. “These stairs go down to the guard station for the secure cells. We’ll likely need to fight, so be ready.”

Everyone nods, and Victor opens the door. When he does, there’s someone standing on the other side. The panther man staggers back in surprise, gasping out a name. “Kaeli!”

The woman, dark skinned with black, curly hair, looks over the group dispassionately. Ferra tenses, preparing to leap at this ‘Kaeli’, but she holds up a hand and Ferra finds she can’t move!

Kaeli looks at Ferra and shakes her head. “I am not here to stop you. I will take you to Nicholas.”

She lowers her hand, and Ferra can move again. “So, these are his…companions. Very heroic, making a rescue attempt, but foolish. You’re fortunate that Victoria and Niran are away. I will explain once I take you to him. Come with me.”

Ferra steps in front of her. “If you’re trying to deceive us, I will kill you.”

Kaeli pauses, looking at Ferra, and even the golem girl can see the sadness in her brown eyes.

“I wish you could.”