The Peregrines

Chapter 31

"Please," Emma begged. "We're peculiars. We're here to help you, but first we have to find our ymbrynes. Which building are they in?"

"This way, guys," Bryce chimed in and indicated something behind us. I pivoted and observed, cleverly hidden in the tile floor, a handle - as well as the square outline of a hatch door.

On top of them. Literally. Caul, you sneaky bastard.

We ran to the handle, turned it, and pulled up a door in the floor. A set of metal stairs spiralled into darkness. We hurried to the handle, twisted it, and lifted a door in the floor. A series of metal stairs twisted into the darkness.

Emma seemed conflicted, her eyes darting from the staircase to the beds surrounding us. I could tell what was on her mind, but she didn't say anything - there simply wasn't enough time to go from bed to bed, unfastening everyone. We'd have to return for them. I just prayed that when we did, there would still be something left to return to.

Emma sat down on the metal steps and went down into the dark opening in the ground. Just before I joined her, I made eye contact with the crazy person and put a finger to my lips. He smiled and mimicked my actions. I was really hoping he was serious. The guards would arrive shortly, and if he stayed quiet, maybe they wouldn't come after us into the hatch. I began descending the stairs and closed the door behind me.

We gathered closely at the top of the winding staircase, looking down into the dimly lit dungeon carved into the rocky walls. It took a while for our eyes to adjust to the brightness above. She held onto my arm and quietly spoke into my ear. "Cells." She gestured towards it. Gradually, the bars of a prison cell became visible.

As we descended the stairs, the area unfolded before us: we stood at the end of a lengthy underground corridor filled with cells. Even though we couldn't make out the occupants just yet, a surge of hope washed over me. This was the moment we had been waiting for.

Suddenly, the sound of boots echoed down the hall. I could feel my heart racing as adrenaline pumped through my veins. A guard was making his rounds, armed with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a pistol on his hip. He hadn't noticed us yet, but it was only a matter of time.

We found ourselves too distant from the hatch to make a quick escape back the way we came, and too high above the ground to simply jump down and confront him. We crouched down and moved back, praying that the slender railing of the stairs would provide enough cover for us. It seemed impossible. We were almost at the same height as his eyes. He was twenty steps ahead, then fifteen. We needed to take action.

It was also clear to Jake, that he was the one who initiated the action. After rising to his feet, Jake descended the staircase. The wight immediately caught sight of him, but before it could fully observe him, Jake began to speak. Loud and bossy, he said: "Didn't you hear the alarm? Why aren't you outside defending the walls?"

When he finally understood that Jake wasn't someone he obeyed, I was already on the floor. As he reached for his gun, I was closing in on him, charging forward like a quarterback. I targeted his face with my palms and unleashed a lightning bolt right as he fired.

The gun went off, the bullet bouncing off the walls. We tumbled to the floor. The guard slumped down and collapsed. Bronwyn then approached the cell, leaned against the bars, and grinned. "Kira! Jake! Emma! And Bryce!"

I was overjoyed to see her. Bronwyn's big, gentle eyes, her sturdy chin, her long brown hair - it was her! We reached out our arms through the bars and embraced her tightly, unable to contain our excitement and relief, talking nonstop. "Bronwyn, Bronwyn," Emma gasped.

"Is it really you?" Bronwyn seemed to ask in disbelief. "We've been praying and hoping and, oh, I was so worried the wights had got you—" Bronwyn's grip on us was so tight against the bars that I felt like I could burst. The bars were as solid as bricks and made of a material stronger than iron, which I soon realized was the only thing keeping Bronwyn from escaping her cell.

"Can't... breathe," Emma let out a groan, and Bronwyn offered her apologies before releasing us. 

After taking a closer look at her, I spotted a bruise on Bronwyn's cheek and a dark stain that could be blood on one side of her blouse. "What did they do to you?" I asked. 

"Nothing serious," she replied, "Though there have been threats."

"And the others?" Emma said, panicked again. "Where are the others?"

"Here!" Came a voice from down the hallway. 

"Over here!" Came another.

We looked back and spotted our friends' faces, peering through the bars of the cells along the hallway. Horace, Enoch, Hugh, Claire, and Olive were all there, with Olive even gasping from the top of her cell, pressed against the ceiling—Everyone was present, all alive and breathing, except for poor Fiona who tragically fell from the cliff at Miss Wren's menagerie. However, we couldn't afford to mourn her at that moment.

"Oh, thank the birds, the miraculous bloody birds!" Emma cried, running to take Olive's hand. "You can't imagine how worried we've been!"

"Not half as worried as we've been!" Hugh said from down the hall.

"I told them you'd come for us!" Little Olive said, near tears. "I told them and told them, but Enoch kept saying I was a loony for thinking so..."

"Nevermind, they're here now!" said Enoch. "What took you so bloody long?"

"How in Perplexus's name did you find us?" said Millard. Out of all of them, he was the only one the wights bothered to dress in prisoners' garb—a striped jumpsuit that made him highly visible.

"We'll tell you the whole story," said Emma, "But first we need to find the ymbrynes and get you all out of here!"

"They're down the hall!" said Hugh. "Through the big door!"

There was a massive metal door at the end of the hallway. It seemed sturdy enough to protect a bank vault—or keep a hollowgast at bay. It was the very door that the wights used to enter from. 

"You'll need the key," said Bronwyn, and she pointed out a ring on the unconscious guard's belt. "It's the big gold one. I've been watching him!"

I rushed to the guard and snatched the keys from his belt. Then I stood there, holding them in my hand, my eyes quickly moving between the cell doors and Bryce. "I don't suppose, by any chance, you would know which key is for what?" I asked him.

"No?" He says sheepishly.

"What do you mean by no?! You've been working for your uncle for ages, haven't you?!" Enoch snapped.

"Sorry but Caul didn't trust me enough for that kind of information!" Bryce snapped back.

"Both of you, shut up!" I couldn't help but chime in, feeling quite annoyed. It was obvious that both of them were equally ineffective, and their shouting only made things worse.

"Hurry up and let us out!" Enoch said impatiently.

"Keep talking, I dare you," I warned. I could feel my irritation rising, and tingling energy began to swirl around my palm and fingertips, causing quick and tiny bolts of electricity to travel across my hand. "With which key?" I said. The ring featured many identical pieces, except for the large gold one that stood out.

Emma's face fell. "Oh, no."

We knew more guards would arrive shortly, and taking the time to unlock each cell would waste valuable minutes. So, we dashed to the end of the hallway, opened the door, and handed the keys to Hugh, since his cell was the nearest. "Free yourself and then the others!" I said.

"Then stay here until we come back to get you," Emma added.

"No chance!" Hugh said. "We're coming after you!"

There wasn't a moment to debate—and I felt a sense of relief at that. After all the time we spent fighting our battles alone, I was eager to finally have some support. Emma, Bryce, Jake, and I pushed the heavy bunker door open, glanced back at our friends one last time, and quietly slipped away.