The Icy Quest

Chapter 3

Pagoniá had no idea how long she sat there in the darkness of her cell fuming. She despised Charles. That probably wasn't even his real name.

As she tried to tamp down the anger coursing through her, she heard footsteps. They were soft, as if whoever was making them was trying not to be heard. Pagoniá tried to ignore the noise at first, but given that she had nothing else to do, she decided to lean in and listen. The noise seemed to be getting closer.

All of the sudden, the cell door opened. Instead of a guard, as she had expected, she saw a boy who looked about her age. He had black hair, golden eyes, and a dark complexion. He was also wearing the signature badge of a fire person in training.

"In my training classes they say that ice people are evil. But that just seems wrong to me," he said looking directly into her eyes. "I don't have the power to take the bracelet off because I didn't put it on you. However, I could burn it off. But I have to warn you. I don't have that much control of my fire powers. I might burn you by accident. Blink twice if you want me to do it anyway."

Pagoniá quickly blinked twice. This situation might be some sort of a weird trap, but why would they need one of those. They already had her under their control with the bracelet. Besides, she would do anything to get the evil thing off. His fingertips started to flame as he gently touched the bracelet. Pagoniá's wrist began to heat up uncomfortably, but she tried not to fidget. The extra movement would probably make it worse, and she had chosen to take this course of action of her own free will. Finally, the bracelet snapped. Pagoniá was free!

"Thank you so much," she told the boy with extreme gratitude. "But I have a question. Why did you do this? If we are caught, you have given up your whole future."

"I did it simply because I believe what they are doing is wrong," he declared, lifting his head and straightening his stance. "I didn't want to live the rest of my life hating myself for going along with something I knew was wrong."

"I guess that makes sense," she mused. "What is your name?"

"I'm Pozhar," he said. "You?"

"I'm Pagoniá," she answered with a smile.

"Follow me," Pozhar told her. "No offense, but I don't think you know the way around here," he joked.

"None taken," Pagoniá answered him, grinning with amusement. "Now, lead the way."

"We've got to hurry. All the guards will be distracted at midnight. That's our best opportunity to escape," he explained, quickening his pace as he led the way through the maze of hallways.

"What's special about midnight?" Pagoniá questioned.

"Some superstition that I don't remember. They have a meeting every night at that time," Pozhar informed her.

As they crept through the jail, Pagoniá peeked into one of the rooms they were passing by. In the middle of the room was a group of adults, standing in a semicircle, talking quietly.

"That's their midnight meeting," Pozhar whispered, quickly moving on.

As they continued their escape, Pagoniá noticed a monotonous humming noise.

"What's that noise?" Pagoniá asked, eyes widening.

"What noise? I don't hear anything," Pozhar responded, confused.

"That humming noise. You don't hear it?" she inquired, wrinkling her brow.

"I don't hear any humming noise. Whatever it is, it doesn't matter. What matters is getting out of here," he told her forcefully.

They crept along the hallways, trying to make as little noise as possible. Finally, they reached a door. Pozhar produced a key seemingly out of nowhere.

"How long did you practice that trick?" Pagoniá laughed.

"Hey, it's not like I was specifically practicing for this," he responded, attempting to sound offended. He unlocked the door, twisted the handle and pulled it open.

Pagoniá broke into a run, trying to melt into the darkness. Pozhar did the same. After she felt that they were sufficiently far away, she slowed to a stop.

"We can rest here for the remainder of the night," Pagoniá declared with a sigh, stopping under the one tree within sight. With a huge yawn, she dropped to the ground, curled into a comfortable position, and promptly fell asleep.

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