“We heard the guards talk. We all knew this day would come, eventually,” he replied. “We just didn’t think you’d be foolish enough to land yourselves in prison so quickly.”
The other prisoners laughed. My face burned. He did have a point.
“So, you believe in life beyond Cerix,” I said, remembering what Inalia had told us about the Cerixian mindset after the Druids’ first visit. “You didn’t forget about the first encounter.”
He shrugged. “Most of us didn’t. The stories were passed down through generations. We didn’t make it the center of our existence, though. We just went on living, knowing more of you would show up someday.”
“You don’t seem scared of us,” I replied.
“Why should I be? You’re in prison,” the young Cerixian retorted, wearing a sly grin. “I’ll bet we’d already be dead if you meant us harm. You’ve got that look about you. That gorgeous brunette, in particular,” he added, briefly glancing at Eva. “She’s eyeing us like we’re dinner or something.”
“It’s just my resting face,” Eva muttered.
“So, what are you in for?” I asked him again, forcing him to look away from her. I didn’t like the sleazy grin he had on.
“I stole some food,” the young Cerixian finally replied. “You?”
“We’re not sure yet,” Raphael said. “Nalyon Martell and the high chancellor want to keep us here until they figure out who’s behind the Hermessi cult.”
The way he dropped the cult mention was downright laudable. It hit the spot just right, as the young Cerixian shook his head in dismay. “I knew they’d surface eventually…”
“You know about them?” Herakles asked.
The young Cerixian sighed. “Yeah. I’ve seen them before, sneaking in and out of the Fire Temple, with their black silks and weird masks. I knew they were up to no good.”
“When did you first see them?” I replied.
“Oh, weeks ago. I tried to follow them once, because I was curious, but I lost them.”
“Do you know who they are, or where they’re from?”
He shook his head again, this time with conviction. “No. But, like I said, there was something off about them. I caught glimpses of their eyes. They were dark and empty. It’s like the joy of life had been sucked out of them. Except when they made fire with their bare hands. Their eyes burned orange then. Weird, I tell ya.”
One of the elderly Cerixians in his cell sat up from his side of the bench. “The Hermessi are coming back, and it won’t end well.”
“What do you mean?” I asked. For a moment, I wondered if we should’ve gotten ourselves arrested sooner. This was the kind of information we’d been fishing for.
“More people are praying to the Hermessi again,” the elder said. “It caused wars before. It will probably force history to repeat itself.”
“I suggest you get as far away from here as possible,” the young one told me. “The empire doesn’t respond well to Hermessi-related threats. They’ll come down hard and fiery, and you don’t want to get caught in the middle, buddy.”
Taeral sucked in a breath, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “I think it’s a little too late for that. We, too, seem to have a Hermessi-related problem in our world.”
“Guys?” Amelia chimed in, demanding our attention. “I just got a response from Draven. He’s urging us to stay put and not cause any trouble while he talks to Derek, Sofia, and the rest of GASP. We’re obviously cleared to leave if it gets dangerous or life-threatening for us, but, otherwise, we’re being encouraged to listen and observe more.”
“The better we understand Cerix, the closer we might get to the truth,” Riza concluded. “Seems reasonable.”
I was inclined to agree with that assessment. We weren’t in harm’s way here, and the prisoners were wonderfully chatty. We’d already learned more than on our visits to the temple and the templar’s house.
“Don’t scratch the surface too hard, though,” the young Cerixian replied, stifling a smile. “You might not like what you find.”
“I’ll be right back,” Taeral said, then vanished.
He was itching to check up on Inalia. I knew it. I’d seen his aura glow whenever he looked at her. The longer he was around her, the more attached he got—and he probably didn’t even realize it. Fortunately, Taeral was half jinni. He could zap himself around the entire prison until he found Inalia. There wasn’t much for him to do in here, anyway. Not until we heard from the high chancellor again.
Taeral
It didn’t take me long to find Inalia. I could’ve asked Varga for help with that one, but, to my shame, I’d been too riled up to even think about it. I did remember what part of the building I’d seen the guards take her to, so, from there, it was easy.
What did eat up valuable minutes of my time was the constant hiding from passing guards. I teleported myself into some of the darkest locked rooms of that cell block to make sure no one spotted me. Come to think of it, this was a really good escape exercise for someone like me, especially since I’d gone in blind more than once, not knowing what lay in wait beyond the door.
Fortunately, I found practically all their supply and storage rooms, keeping company with brooms and buckets and cleaning products every other five minutes, while I waited for the guards to go by. Whenever the coast was clear, I searched the cell block for Inalia.
She’d been put in a private cell on an empty side of the wing. Eira was with her. They were arguing, so I thought this would be a good time for me to eavesdrop a little. These two knew each other well—whatever they were discussing, it could prove valuable to our investigation.
Right next to Inalia’s cell was a narrow, wooden door. Assuming it was another storage unit, I teleported myself beyond it. I could listen easily from there. I found myself in absolute darkness, but Inalia’s and Eira’s voices were clear and loud. Perfect spot, I thought.
“You have to let me go, Eira,” Inalia said. “You can’t possibly keep following orders like this. It’s blind obedience, and it’s insane! What would your mother think, huh?”
“Oh, get off your high griffin, little Miss Perfect!” Eira snapped. “Don’t lecture me! You’ve been doing the empire’s bidding since you were a kid. I joined the Armed Forces out of necessity. You did it out of ambition and nothing else!”
“You know I don’t belong here,” Inalia replied. “I can feel myself burning up. I don’t do well in confined spaces, dammit…”
“Well, you should’ve thought of that before you decided to help the foreigners!”
“Shut up! You were right there with us!”
“Yeah, but I’ve got my stuff under control,” Eira said.
