My breath came in ragged, sharp gasps as I dragged myself across the floor. If I don’t die from escaping this damn place, it’ll be from suffocation, I thought grimly.

Why was I doing this again?

Despite the stabbing pain in my side, I reached a hand back and grabbed the arm of my fellow escapee. The old woman was dazed and terribly thin, but both worked to our advantage. She wasn’t screaming random things or asking questions, and she was (sadly) small enough to squeeze between the bars of her cell once we removed a loose one.

A yell from downstairs echoed up the stairs. Had Treznor realized we were gone?

With a light groan, I started dragging myself down the hallway again. The door to Treznor’s secret study was slightly ajar. I pushed it open and scooted inside.

The window loomed above my head. I reached up to open it, then doubled over and stifled a scream as my injured ribs protested.

Suddenly Elubarin’s face appeared on the other side of the window.

He shoved the window open and leaped inside. “Oh jeez… Are you alright?” he asked after taking one look at me.

“Fine. Just get us out of here.”

Elubarin carried us out the window onto the turret. “We have to climb down the side now. Can you two manage that?”

The woman didn’t reply, so I said, “Carry her down. I can manage on my own.”

He made a face, but didn’t object.

There was a faint pattern of handholds and footholds carved into the side of the turret. They weren’t particularly difficult to climb down, but not wanting to move half of my body wasn’t helping things. Despite that, I was descending at a slow but steady pace.

And then my foot slipped.

That tugged on my injured side, which in turn made me let go of the wall. I felt myself land on the ground with a heavy thump. Elubarin was saying something, but his voice was so far away…

“Before you say anything – I apologize for the fall. It was the only way I could get you asleep fast enough to talk to you.” Matt was standing in front of me, looking as drained as ever. I shuddered when I saw a vampire there too.

“Wait… You made me fall? Elubarin must be so worried right now! I have to go back and tell him I’m okay and-”

“No time for that.” Matt scowled. “I hunted down a dead vampire that knows how to get rid of those power-blocking rings.”

With a hard nudge from the Matt, the vampire reluctantly muttered a string of words. I guessed it was a deactivation spell of some sort. After a moment, Matt nodded.

“When you wake up, you should be able to teleport. And I would teleport, if I was you.”

I smiled. “Thank you, Matt. It means a lot that you helped us.”

“Teleport,” he mouthed in response. With a wave of his hand, the scenery faded and my world went dark. But right before that, I thought I saw him smile.

“Oh, thank god you’re alive.” Elubarin dropped off the turret and kneeled beside me, the old woman still in his arms. “That was a pretty long fall.”

I started to reply, then noticed a guard running towards us in the distance. I hoped the spell really did destroy that ring… I grabbed Elubarin’s arm and closed my eyes.

We arrived at Elubarin’s cabin instantly.

“How did you… I thought…” He was at a loss for words.

“Long story. The ring’s gone. We can use magic there now.” I winced and put a hand over my side.

“We really need to do something about that,” Elubarin sighed. “I have a restoration spell that might work…”

After safely putting the old woman in another room (with the unicorn, Valor, to watch her), Elubarin bandaged my bruised ribs and waved his wand around a couple of times. The bruises faded and it started feeling better, though not completely healed.

“We need to destroy that castle,” I said as I walked around, admiring how the once roaring pain in my side was now reduced to a twitch. “You know any spells for that?”

“Kaste brann.“

Flames burst from the tip of his wand and landed on the bedside table, promptly setting it on fire.

I grinned. “That might just work.”

We teleported back to the castle, although my aim was a bit off and we ended up inside it.

“Stay behind me,” Elubarin whispered. “Get outside. I’ll set any vampires we see along the way on fire.”

We crept out of the room and down the hall. I glanced in each room as we passed it, and jumped when I looked in a random storage room. Vox was sprawled on the floor, unmoving.

Don’t think about it. He deserves that.

I kept walking. We finally arrived outside and Elubarin pointed his wand at the building. He looked at me before saying the spell.

“Do the honors,” I said grimly. “And then let’s teleport out of here fast.”

He didn’t need to be told twice.

Flames crackled as we teleported away. Except – I stopped teleporting halfway through. Elubarin disappeared. I turned and looked at the castle as the fire engulfed the entire right side.

What if Vox is still alive? What if he actually was helping me and now we’ve condemned him to die?

I raced back inside.

Smoke already clouded the halls and made navigating the castle impossible. Vampires were screaming in the distance as the fire reached them. Good. They were the ones who really deserved to die.

With one hand on the wall, I retraced my path until I found the tiny storage room. Vox was still in the same position as before.

“Vox?” I cautiously crossed the room and, after hesitating a moment, crouched down next to him. My ribs began to twinge beneath the bandage, though I couldn’t tell if it was real or just phantom pain brought on by seeing him.

Pulling his head into my lap, I tried to listen for breathing. Vox stirred at the movement and mumbled, “Treznor knows… traitor… tried to kill… me.”

“He… what?” Treznor would kill his son over something as petty as that?

Vox’s eyes twitched open. He started at me for a while before the recognition clicked in. “Karissa?” he slurred. “I told you… leave.”

“I did. But I came back because I didn’t want to leave you to die here,” I said. Might as well tell the truth. But only if he did too. So I asked, “Were you really trying to rescue me?”

He nodded, then grimaced as the motion made his head hurt. “I’m so… sorry.”

His gaze trailed down towards my chest. “We can talk about that later,” I quickly said. I wasn’t ready to forgive that quite yet. “But you tried to help me, so I’ll try to help you.”

“You always were… such a little trooper.” A faint smile graced his face and he raised his hand to brush aside my hair. A chill ran down my spine. How did he remember that phrase? It had been years.

A fiery crack brought me back to focus. As a flaming rafter fell from the ceiling, I kept a tight grip on Vox and teleported us to safety.