Ethrea

III . sentry

"What did you do to make them hate you so much?"

"Me?" He wracked his brains. "The list is rather long actually."

The cat agreed. It pounced on Adrien and clawed across his chest. He screamed before being dragged away by the creatures. I chased after them until hallways transitioned into caverns and I could not see my hand in front of my face.

"Adrien!"

I kicked something so it clattered across the floor. His dagger.

 "Adrien?"

I slipped and fell a few feet onto solid rock. Air was knocked from my lungs and I couldn't think properly. Frigid water trickled beside me, joining a larger stream. I was utterly alone in the dark. Time passed, but I could not tell apart hours or minutes.

Someone padded nearby. Adrien? No, he must be too badly wounded—

"Let me go! Help!"

They dragged me to a place lit by pulsing, orange lights. Desert cats relaxed at a dozen Sentries' feet, transfixed by glowing pendants.

"Explain yourself, Maris," demanded a tall woman. Her black hair that stopped below the ear and intense gaze resembled mine.

"Wh-who are you?"

She knelt so we were eye to eye. "I am Serena. I see you have forgotten."

"Where is Adrien?"

"What were you doing with a rebel sympathiser? Adrien is notorious for aiding terrorists. Professor Calla pulled a lot of strings to spare him from execution. Why was he here?"

His mission. "Terrorists?"

"Yes, a hodgepodge of Ethrea's distasteful rejects. He was exiled after the murder of a professor. Help us find him before more damage is done."

I remembered my encounter with Micheal and how Adrien protected me. "He wouldn't tell me anything. Is he still alive?"

Serena motioned for two men to escort me. Stalactites hung from the ceiling of the silent caverns. Although limestone surrounded us, I could imagine empty space that stretched for miles.

A familiar, freckled someone lay limp in one corner. I resisted the urge to throw my arms around him since the guards were not yet gone.

"Félicie?" His shirt was ripped and bloody.

I inspected Adrien's wounds, noting the area around them was discoloured. "You look pretty bad."

"No shit. What are the Sentries gonna do with me?"

"They'll probably execute you. Especially since you have a history of murdering."

Adrien's smile disappeared. "The rebellion wanted him dead. I agreed to stay behind in the classroom so he was alone when they came. And"—his eyes turned a glassy amber—"I...I watched. Sometimes for change to happen, we make hard choices."

My heart sank. "You let someone die."

"And Sentries are angels? They're not. None of us are."

"Doesn't make what you did okay."

Water dripped from a stalactite onto his cheek and rolled down. "Shame I failed the mission. I think the rebellion will pull through."

"You're giving up."

"I don't have a choice." 

With every unspoken second, his determination slipped away. I gripped Adrien by the elbows to pull him upright. "It's not over. Come on."

"What? What are you doing?"

"Helping you finish the mission."

He looked at me as if for the first time. "But you're a Sentry...You can't help the rebellion."

"Not the rebellion. You."

Someone towered over our path. "Maris."