In Keotom

Chapter 3

Thomas opened his eyes and sat up. "How long was I asleep?" He turned and saw Sana glaring through the thick, grey bars of their cell. It was dark and hard to see. The only thing Thomas could make out were the door and walls of the dusty dark cell and the dark passageway where the stairs probably were. The stone tiles of the floor were cracked and old. They were in a dungeon, likely under the castle.

"It's only been an hour. I knew we couldn't trust him," she snarled to herself. She pulled a hidden piece of mirror glass from inside her sock and whispered some strange words. It glowed faintly, the light growing until the whole cell was illuminated. Smoke swirled in the glass, forming an image of inside Sana's cottage "Yosei, are you there?" Sana whispered to the mirror glass.

A small voice came through. "Yes, ma'am. Yosei, reporting for duty."

Sana looked around and turned back to the glass. "How much longer does he have?"

The little voice was silent. "He has about two and a half weeks, but the pain will be worse in about two days." Yosei said after a moment. "It was a high concentrate." Sana nodded slowly, a cruel smile playing across her face.

Someone began to walk down the stairs, and Sana ended her call, quickly hiding the mirror glass. A guard handed them their dinner and left.

After the guard was gone, Yosei called Sana back. "Ma'am... you aren't going to just leave him, are you?" he asked. The cruel smile danced across her face again.

"Well, mister, I'll make him give me answers and get us out. After that, we'll see."

Thomas looked over her shoulder at the pale fairy on the shiny glass that was in Sana's hand. Its bright orange hair contrasted with its deep magenta eyes. The lacey, bright blue wings shook as the fairy flew around the room. "That's a guy?" he asked, surprised. They both stared at him, and the fairy started to giggle.

"Pfft, no. He's a girl," Sana said sarcastically.

The next morning, a guard walked up to the cell and banged on the bars, scowling at them. Thomas startled awake and turned, staring at the guard.

"What did you do to him?" The guard demanded.

Sana smiled sweetly at him with false innocence. "I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. What happened to whom?"

The guard growled. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. The prince..."

"Of evil that tricked a poor lost boy? I don't know what happened to him. Is something wrong?" Sana cut the guard off, frowning mockingly. The guard huffed and stomped away, leaving them alone in the dark until a different guard came down to feed them.

After night fell and the guards stopped hanging around, they heard someone start walking down the stairs. Their footsteps were heavy, and it sounded like they were struggling to breathe. Something big fell down a few stairs and hit the bottom with a muffled yelp.

Thomas sat up on his bed, looking over with concern, and Sana glared in the direction of the noise. It was quiet for a moment, and then someone coughed. Something dragged itself to the cell, and a thin, pale hand grabbed the bars.

Sana looked at the boy, who was pulling himself up and leaning against the bars. "Is there a problem?" she sneered at him. Salca didn't look at her, bowing his head. "Oh, I know why you're here. You're early, though," she said, frowning and looking at the mirror glass, which had a series of numbers floating in the smoke. "Oh well." She looked at him again, and the cruel smile came back. "I'll help you on one exception. You help us."

Salca opened his mouth to object, but he fell sideways, moaning in pain.

"Pfft, you sound like a zombie. Did you forget how to talk?" Sana teased, looking almost like she was enjoying herself.

It took about an hour before Salca agreed to Sana's terms and left to get the keys. He came back with the key ring in his hand and frowned at it, his eyes scanning the mass of brass and silver keys.

"Ugh, give it here," Sana said, unimpressed, holding her hand out through the bars. He handed her the keys and slumped down on the ground. She quickly found the key and gave it to Thomas. "Open the door," she ordered.

He stared at the key, confused. "Why don't you do it?" He asked, looking at her.

"Just do it," Sana hisses, shoving the key at him. "And hurry up with it." He sighed and took the key, opening the door. The two of them slipped out of the cell and stretched, glad to be out. "Now, we need to find out where they put Neeba," She looked at Salca. "Do you know where?" she asked him. He nodded, and she pulled him up off the ground, making him lead the way.

Salca quietly led them to the new "queen's" room. Sana unlocked the door and cracked it open. The witch was sleeping, and snoring rather loudly, on the large, four-post bed. A guard was sitting in a nearby chair, obviously to keep watch, but he had fallen asleep.

Salca took the keys from Sana and put a glove in his mouth, carefully sneaking towards the cage full of Orbons and small Fairies. He had just reached it and was about to put the key in the lock when the witch sat up.

"THEIF!" she screeched, making him jump. The guard leapt up and turned. "False alarm," the witch muttered after seeing it was just Salca.

Netaira sat up and glared at Salca, who was standing next to the cage frozen in fear. "What are you doing in here? And why is there a glove in your mouth?" She reached over and yanked the glove out of his mouth.

Salca bit his lip and forced himself to breathe normally, though it was still a bit shaky. He took a deep breath and unlocked the cage behind him, pulling the door open. Everything flew out and left through the open bedroom door.

The guard hid under the bed, frightened by the mass of small flying creatures. Salca tried to dart for the door, but Netaira grabbed his arm and pulled him back. He cried out in pain and began to thrash about. It only hurt more, and he gave up.

Sana and Thomas ran down the hall, searching for an open door, the second the creatures flew away. Sana found an unlocked room and pulled Thomas in, holding onto his arm a little tightly. She locked the door behind them and stepped back.

Her hand brushed against something glass, and she turned. She covered her mouth to keep from making noise, her eyes wide in shock. Her mother was lying in a large glass coffin but still breathing. Sana stared at the scene with her mouth open, her mind trying to comprehend what she was seeing. She couldn't believe it. All the evil was coming back because of a jealous sister.

Sana waited with her ear to the door for a few minutes before she opened it and looked around. No one was there, so she pulled Thomas along the hall to the front door. He tore his arm from her grasp once they reached it. "We can't just leave him there," he shouted at her.

"Keep your voice down, and yes, we can," she snapped back, placing her hands over his mouth. He let out a frustrated, muffled growl and followed her out the door.

Yosei was waiting outside with Neeba, who looked a little under the weather. They flew towards the two kids, watching them glare daggers at each other as they walked down the front steps. Yosei pulled on Sana's ears, and Neeba flew around Thomas' head, trying to get their attention.

Sana snatched Yosei out of the air and glared at him. "Do NOT pull on my ears," she hissed, the cloth over her left eye smoking slightly.

Realizing he had her attention, he said, "We don't have time for this. She's really mad at the boy now, and she's taking him into the secret room."

Sana shrugged, releasing him. "So we don't have to deal with him anymore, good riddance."

Neeba flew straight into her face, furious. "YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO HIM!"

Sana stepped back, startled at the sudden aggressiveness. She growled and pulled a whistle from her sleeve.
Sana blew into the whistle and waited a moment. A large bird flew down from seemingly nowhere and landed in front of them. "Fine," the girl snarled, using her finger to put frost on the still smoking cloth over her eye. "But we need to get something first."