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Chapter 33 - Chapter 32: Rise and Shine (Glimmer)

I never thought it would come to this. From inside the cold, dark, iron prison cell that Vanhiel and Sneaker threw me into, I can hear the sounds of the ongoing rebellion. At least now the explosions have stopped. For the first time since I entered the tower, I feel afraid. I'm all alone, in a strange place, and everyone wants me dead. How could it have come to this?

The inside of my cell is almost empty, except for a small mattress in one corner and a metal bucket in the other. There isn't even a blanket to help shield me from the cold, so I am left shivering. I'll probably be dead soon anyway. At the top of the back wall is a small window, so small that a sparrow couldn't even squeeze through. I slump down on the mattress, which feels like a rock. Vanhiel took my flute right before tossing me in here, so trying to use my magic is worthless. They also took my leather chestplate, leaving me with nothing but the clothes on my back.

"Throw her in the next cell." A deep, muscular voice echoes down the prison hall. "Make it quick. Vanhiel needs you and Fraken back in the third ring to help with the cleanup. All the knights need to be gone by tonight's…event."

"Don't you have better things to be doing other than bothering me?" A familiar voice responds, followed by a series of approaching footsteps. "Go catch a gazelle or something."

I rush to the bars of my cell to get a look at the passing figures. A massive, dark brown furred saber with a large hammer and a set of keys hanging from a key ring on his side walks in front of a Senat woman with red skin covered in white patches. She is carrying an unconscious Jackal woman with sandy brown and black, spotted fur over her shoulder. I recognize both of these women. Eudora, the Senat woman I had slept with earlier today, and Whisperclaw, my guildmate.

"Whisper!" I yell. "Whisperclaw! Wake up! It's me! Glimmer!"

My initial reaction of happiness and excitement quickly turns to panic as I notice the blood pouring from her forehead. She doesn't respond to any of my attempts to wake her.

"Oh my. I didn't expect to see you hear, my love." Eudora finally notices me and walks up to my cell. "By the looks of it, I'd guess you didn't manage to escape."

"Fuck you, Eudora." I spit at her feet. "What did you do to her?"

"Who?" She looks confused. "You couldn't be talking about this monster, right? I'm surprised she can even make friends."

I'm clenching my fist so hard that I feel blood begin to draw. Eudora is laughing her head off.

"You really care about this filth, don't you?" She turns to the saber. "Open the cell. I'll let these two be together since they'll both be dead soon anyway. Call it an act of mercy."

I bide my time patiently, waiting until the saber has fully opened the iron cell door to make my move. As soon as I hear it click open, I lunge at Eudora, aiming to claw her eyes out. I don't even make it two steps. The saber plunges his fist into my gut, knocking my breath out and causing me to vomit as I slide to the floor. The saber man begins to laugh.

"Damn kid almost got you, didn't he? Ha, ha, ha!" He tosses Whisperclaw's limp body in the cell beside me and slams the door shut.

"Keep laughing, and I'll carve your tongue out." Eudora's muffled, irritated voice fades away. "Make sure to keep the lights on in that cell. We don't need them teleporting away or something."

It takes me a moment to catch my breath. The same amount of time it takes for the arcane light at the top of the cell to flicker on, drowning out the shadows in the room. Whisperclaw doesn't move the entire time. I try shaking her, but it's obvious she needs medical attention, and I'm no doctor like Ironvine. I spend about five minutes, maybe more, getting Whisperclaw onto the mattress. I tear off the bottom of my shirt and wrap it tightly around her forehead in an attempt to stop the bleeding. When I'm finished, I start to get up, but she grabs my arm softly with her paw.

"Glimmer? Is that you?" She smiles at me weakly, barely opening her eyes. "I thought we'd never see you again."

"You guys came all this way instead of going to the dungeon, just to save me?" I laugh, tears filling my eyes. "You really are a bunch of idiots."

"Somebody had to do it." She chuckles, sounding even weaker than before.

"That was faster than I expected." The saber man is coming back down the hall again, this time followed by two different sets of footsteps.

"All thanks to me." An unfamiliar voice says. "Ash here didn't do anything, like always."

"Hey! There were two of them!" I hear another unfamiliar voice respond to the first voice, probably Ash. "Besides, who was it who took a saber to the neck just to give you that opening? That's right, it was me!"

I rush back up to the bars of our cell, spotting a shirtless, gray-skinned senat with a slim longsword on his back, dragging an unconscious Renald by the back of a cloak he's wearing. Still unconscious, he looks to be in much better shape than Whisperclaw.

"Hey! Renald!" I shout at his limp body, but he doesn't budge.

"Sorry, Prince Glimmer. I'm afraid the White Knight is currently under the effects of one of Doctor Fraken's anesthetics." A jackal woman with brown, spotted fur and a bull ring in her nose walks up.

She's wearing a torn t-shirt and a small leather jacket. Her eyes look past me, towards Whisperclaw, who has sat up and is limping over to the cell door beside me.

"Brownspot, you bitch!" She falls onto the bars of the cell door. "We trusted you! Renald trusted you!"

"That was your second mistake." The jackal woman, Brownspot, turns her back on us. "Your first mistake was coming to Denzen."

Without another word, the group walks away, taking Renald with them. I slam my fist onto the ground. This is all my fault. If I had never run away, none of them would have been brought into this. I hear a cell door open and shut. The group walks back past us, without Renald this time. The senat stops in front of our cell and grins.

"See you guys in the morning." He says, then follows after Brownspot and the saber.

"I wonder what they mean." Whisperclaw limps away from me and over to the mattress. "All of them have been saying the same thing. That Vanhiel guy has something in store for us. I just don't know what."

"Whatever it is, it can't be good." I slump to the ground. "I think we should try to sleep while we can."

"Yeah…yeah, you're right." Whisperclaw lies down and closes her eyes.

It's a few minutes before she's fully asleep. I, however, cannot quiet my thoughts. I jump at every footstep, every explosion, or shout outside. Then everything just goes silent. I feel a pain shoot into my side. Standing over me is the saber man. A wild smirk stretches across his face.

"Rise and shine, dear prince!" He laughs. "It's time for your royal execution."

{Volume 2 End}

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