They worked their way through the maze of halls, silent and tense, Noah leading the way.
"Do you have any clue where they are?"
"No. If we're lucky, they're close, though."
"And if we aren't?"
Noah paused, voice even lower. "They're gone." He glanced back at Cooper for just a second. "They're smart, and they're quick. I wouldn't put it past them to not be in the castle at all at this point." He checked another room, shutting the door as quietly as he could.
Cooper's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Now that I think about it, I don't remember April having a sibling."
Noah sighed, turning a corner. "That's a...touchy subject."
Cooper was quick to apologize. "Sorry."
"It's fine. It's just," he paused again, "April, her parents, and I made a pact long ago."
"I thought her parents were-"
"Yes, her parents are dead." His tone turned cold. "Arson. Her twelfth birthday. Neither of them made it out alive."
"Oh."
"And Chrysie..." He shut another door. "How do I put this...they can be used easily." Cooper raised an eyebrow. "Their Power is more like a curse, and it lets them get taken advantage of easier."
"I still don't get it."
"As I've been told, whenever they're told to do something, they have to do it. So, if you told them to, I don't know, walk out of the room? They would be forced to do it. But if you suggested it, or phrased it as a question, or really anything that isn't flat-out telling them what to do, then they'd still have free control."
"And...everyone was worried that someone would take advantage of that somehow?"
"Exactly." Noah tried a door. It was locked. "That's promising? Maybe?"
"Which room is it?"
"Uh," Noah looked around, studying the halls. "King Donovan's office, if I'm not mistaken." He paused, concentrating, before quickly grabbing at the air and holding out a key in his palm."
"You can do that?"
"Only if I know what it looks like. And," He turned the key in the lock, the faint click echoing quietly, "I know what this one looks like." Noah slowly pushed open the door, seeing Chrysie sitting on the floor, one of their wrists tied to the desk with rope.
"Chrysie?" They looked up. Noah could see fear and worry in their eyes. "Hey. It's just me." Still nothing. "You okay?"
"Who are you? And what do you want?"
YOU ARE READING
Shadowstruck
FantasyA girl wakes up in a forest with her memory wiped. Now they have to figure out who's behind The Uprising and, more importantly, how to stop them. If they can stop them. They're losing time. And the gods aren't on their side.
