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Mysteri 192

Mysteri 192

192 Lyre: Restricted 

192 Lyre: Restricted 

I’ll take them back to the safe house,” he says, turning to me once they’ve all been through a quick examination. Every one of them is able to walk, even if it is a shuffling gait. With only ten of them, all mobile, this will be the easiest rescue we’ve had

But this is a ridiculous time to be distracted by his pretty looks.

The chamber branches in two directions. Both are equally dark, equally damp, and equally likely to hide more atrocities

Our little warlock is growing

Me, obviously

But worst of all, none of us had expected to smell and hear the distinct sounds of people in cages

Owen moves past me, his fresh angelic scent a welcome break from the festering air. The angeldescendant doesn’t speak as he kneels beside the nearest shiftera woman with hollow cheeks and toothin wrists, and a slightly protruding belly. Could be a nasty case of internal parasites, or pregnancy. It’s hard to tell.

The stench flooding out is unbearable with unwashed bodies, rotting flesh, and human 

waste

Usually, his eyes are wide and worshipful every time I’m within ten feet. But not anymore. Today his gaze is dark. Haunted

It’s a habit at this point to check my phone. Divinity Connect ignores such mundane details as cellular connection and works regardless, but there are other small issues to deal with. Like battery life and the lack of ability to send or receive texts

We’ve acquired a routine for these situations

And I definitely didn’t expect removing one to cause an immediate Plausibility Warning to alert on my app, giving me a 36hour limitation on arcana use

Trauma has a way of changing people. Not always for the better, but sometimes

Over twentyfour hours without sleep, crawling through mud and filth and who knows what elsesome of these tunnels seem to serve as the sewer systemhe still moves 

08:40 

192 Lyre: Restricted 

like he’s fresh off vacation and filled with vitality

LYRE 

Under normal circumstances, I’d call it a day and book myself a spa retreat

The nearworship has been replaced by something harder, something that looks too much like the beginning of actual backbone

His mouth snaps shut, color draining from his already pale face

Save it,I tell him, keeping my voice serene. Better not to show the boiling rage in my veins. All three of these men feed off my mood, and I don’t need them agitated. It’s a waste of energy

The ward flickers. It’s a sickly yellowgreen membrane, at least to the eyes of those who can see arcana, stretched across what appears to be solid rock. It pulses once, twice, then dissolves without a sound

It takes him less than seconds to get the cage open. Practice makes perfect, I suppose. This is the fourth collection pointwe’ve found. The prison door creaks open with a loud, rusty screech, and my teeth tingle at the sound

Thom’s glasses slip down his nose. His hands tremble as he traces the final sequence in the air, his fingers leaving pale blue trails of light to shimmer against the dank tunnel walls

Let’s keep going,” I tell Owen as Aaron takes the survivors back. He’ll catch up; backtracking doesn’t take long, but making our way through the ridiculous amount of wards and traps Fiddleback’s thrown down slows our rate of advancement to a crawl

These ones can walk; mostly,” Aaron continues, his gaze sweeping over the group. The old man might need help, but- 

The man’s exhausted. We all are. But there’s something particularly heartbreaking about watching a warlock drain his arcana to the dregs

Wolves are useful in this way, but some people who had their access to arcana blocked by a particularly annoying divinity control system are exhausted

So, even though I pull my phone out of my pocket to glance at it, the screen remains dark, the device powered off to conserve battery

216 

192 Lyre Restricted 

I glance over my shoulder, one eyebrow arched. They were all people once. Are you really sure about that?” 

Priorities

I’ve already failed too many; turning back isn’t an option

I point to the right path. We’ll go right.” 

His fingers curl weakly around my palm as I let a trickle of my power flow into him

It’s as if they’ve forgotten that freedom is a possibility

Aaron, having been impatiently waiting for this moment, doesn’t wait

Thom sighs behind me, his shoulders hunched as he follows. His glasses have slid down his nose again, and he doesn’t bother pushing them up. I think I’d rather take the ghouls,he mutters

Thank you,he murmurs, and the difference in his voice is stark, flat and drained instead of soft and dreamy

Admittedly, I hadn’t expected the Fiddlebacks to have such extensive warding through their little underground tunneling system, though it isn’t like I thought there would be no warding

My lips tighten. If I had access to arcana, giving the old man a boost would be little more energy than a single breath

While we call it an illusion, it was sturdy enough to hold anyone back

Always the fear

Isabeau didn’t have this level of craftiness in her skillset. Aside from her ability to manipulate, she was never able to master more than the basics. If it wasn’t for her depraved proclivity as a sanguimancer, she would be considered worthless two hundred years ago

Sixteen hours before I can use significant arcana again, and even then I’ll be under harsher restrictions than before

Owen clears his throat, and I realize I’ve been caught staring at my phone like some lost teenager after I said we were going already

192 Lyre fiestricted 

I’d regretted filling him with arcana when the new mission had arrived, but it came in handy. Once the restrictions are lifted, I’ll have to fill him again

Which basically brings us to nowover a day later, watching Thom shakily pull through his meager amount of arcana storage to dismantle yet another ward. He’s swaying on his feet and almost bonedry, but we’re only ten feet from yet another cage of pitiful shifters

Meanwhile, I remain in the tunnel, holding Thom’s cold, damp hand in mine

He charges forward the moment the opening appears, his shoulders squared with his irritatingly heroic presence

It isn’t much, but it’s enough to keep him from collapsing

My lips tighten, but I stay back

We’re still mapping this place, so it’s always right

There’s a crisp taste of mountain air and sunlight, an orderly tug of arcana threads, and then a soft breeze of magic spreading through the room like a physical thing, revitalizing what it touches

Somehow, while the rest of us are dirty and covered in muck, Aaron’s red hair is pulled back with what looks like a shoelace and yet remains clean. His face, on the other hand, shows the passage of time in his growing stubble

But it’s hard to ignore the sliver of affection I’ve grown in the past day, watching an efficient and reliable Aaron instead of charming playboy JackEye. The mystery of his position as Lycan Beta is finally revealed

I incline my head to show I’m listening. This is our dance nowhe speaks, I acknowledge, we pretend there isn’t something messy and undefined growing between us.

JackEye sneezes, like he does every time

Sixteen hours of effectively running off human power, with Thom drained dry. Despite pumping him to the brim with clean arcana, his skills are subpar; he’s never learned how to use glyphs in his life, and he’s now learning on the job

Ten of them this time. Adults, all different species of shifter. An elderly man huddles in the corner, his white beard matted with dirt. He doesn’t look up when the door opens

192 Lyre: Restricted 

None of them do

Almosthe whispers

Aaron moves through the small space with efficiency, helping the shifters to their feet, murmuring reassurances that sound sincere even to my cynical ears. He’s good at this part. The hero part. It’s almost enough to make me forget how insufferable he can be

Shoving the useless device into my pocket, I stride ahead. Let’s move.” 

My skin itches. Aaron reports back every time he surfaces, and I know she’s fine, but his stupid broody alpha is terrible at filling in details

The illusion of stone melts away, revealing another chamber beyond

And fear

These aren’t wolves, but others. Bunnies, cats, even a lone cougar shifter who came from California. All with a sad story, an even sadder capture, and a fractured future

His legs quiver under his weight, but he announces with surprising calm, Seven decades as a bear shifter. I’ve survived worse than this.” 

I can carry myself,the elderly shifter interrupts. His voice shakes, as does his head, but he pushes himself to stand to prove his point

But nothing about this is normal, and lives are at stake

Almost

He’s as thin as a rail now, with no part of his physique betraying his bear shifter attributes

The shifters respond to Owen’s touch like wilted flowers to water. Their backs straighten, just a bit. Their eyes focus. It’s not a miracle curesuch a thing doesn’t exist for the trauma they’ve enduredbut it gives them enough strength to stand and hope for something different

Even under my tutelage, too much was wasted

Mysteri

Mysteri

Score 9.9
Status: Ongoing Type: Native Language: English
Mysteri

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