ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 10 - Shimmer

Cryo did not trust Ella for even the fraction of a second it took him to blink.

But underground and within the narrow confines of the timber walls with a mission to complete, neither he nor Banshee had a choice. He just wished she'd exercise a little more caution than this headlong charge down the corridor following in the ex-Luminary's footsteps. Part of him also hated that once again, he was relying on Banshee's ability to make split-second decisions when he hadn't had the chance to influence them first. Hated that his wings were cramped. That he was a liability.

He wanted time to step back, to analyse the scene, to figure out exactly what it was that didn't sit right in Ella's story. He didn't have it, and he suspected it was all too intentional on Ella's behalf. Perhaps it was just that she needed their help regardless of danger. Perhaps it was something more.

Either way, he ran down that corridor, right on Banshee's heels.

The tunnels split off in several different directions along the way yet Ella never hesitated. There were no signs. No distinguishing markings. If they had to find their way out again, Cryo wasn't sure that they could. Using their primary abilities down here could very well be the reason that they went Dark.

Banshee stopped at a corner, her eyes still on Ella as she waited for Cryo to catch up.

"It's getting stronger!" Banshee called back over her shoulder.

He didn't need to ask what she meant, even if he still couldn't feel it himself. "Something isn't right!"

"I wholeheartedly agree!" she replied, taking off after Ella once more.

Cryo could only swear and try to move a little faster without scraping what remained of his wings off against the walls. He hated to waste Sae's power, but he was going to have to re-freeze them once they got out if he wanted to fly again.

He rounded the corner. There was no sight of Banshee or Ella.

Cryo called out for them and was answered by nothing but his own echo. He broke into a run, heedless of his wings. His heartbeat thudded in his ears each time his foot hit the ground. Banshee was fine, he told himself as he called her name again. She was fine. She could handle herself--better than he could most of the time.

Yet in the back of his mind, he couldn't stop expecting to hear her scream.

He grabbed the corner post and swung himself around, his icy claws leaving deep gouges in the wood. There was no sign of Banshee in this corridor either, but there was a door. An open door, the lock of which was discarded on the ground.

Cryo didn't slow until he was three metres from the door frame, and that was only because he didn't want to overshoot the door. Ice gouged wood once more, and with frozen shards between his fingers, arm raised and ready to throw, he launched himself inside the room--

--To find Banshee crouched over and breaking yet another lock, but otherwise completely at ease.

Cryo lowered his arm, taking in the long room. It was more or less a wider corridor lined with prison cells, and its resemblance to the city's jail was uncanny. The only difference was the number of people--there was no way the jail had held this many people. The cells stretched right back into the shadows at the end of the room, and every single one of them had no less than three individuals inside.

"Got it!" said Banshee, stepping back as the lock clattered to the ground.

Just in time too. Ella flung the door open with complete disregard for where Banshee was standing and rushed inside the cell, wrapping one of its shocked occupants in a hug.