“I think we’re lost,” Eira said.
Truer words had never been spoken, according to the sinking feeling that had taken over my gut. We could keep doing this forever. The end result would be the same. We were stuck in a maze of hexagonal rooms, and the only thing Eirexis could do for us was activate the painted arrows and open the walls to which they pointed.
We’d gone through so many hidden doors already. Where would this lead? Or would it even lead anywhere? Would we end up going through rooms we’d already explored and marked, later down the line? Would we finally get out of here?
Whatever the answer, Herakles had made a good and reasonable point. We had to try something different. But what?
Sofia
Gennen Fein had surprised us in more than one way. Not only was he a former GASP agent in possession of a red garnet lens, he was also a Hermessi child. The unexpected, jumbo-sized wrench that had suddenly thrown itself into our operation.
“Stop!” he shouted, drawing the Fire Hermessi’s attention from outside the temple.
“We need to move fast,” Derek said out loud. The Hermessi children next to us jumped back, gasping, as they couldn’t understand what was going on. “Semper Telluris. All hands on deck here!”
In a split second, the whole crew teleported inside the temple, each of them invisible and wearing red garnet lenses. They spread out quickly and jabbed the first round of Hermessi children with hypodermic needles before they could even realize what was going on.
Corrine and Ibrahim reached Sherus and teleported him out of here.
The guardian Fire Hermessi stopped in the temple’s doorways, and something strange happened. Lights went on, flames rushing across the ceiling and revealing all the elemental children, including Gennen, who set his sights on us. Using his Earth ability, he summoned the vines to strip away from the window and rush toward us like famished snakes.
Whisper’s eyes grew wide, looking right at me. “Holy hell!”
It only took a moment for us to realize that we weren’t invisible anymore. I took the red lens off to confirm, feeling my knees weaken as I understood how royally screwed we all were.
“This was a bad decision for you,” one of the Fire Hermessi said.
Corrine appeared in front of him, casting a solid energy shield that blocked the door entirely. Ibrahim, Mona, and a couple of other witches did the same at all the other entrances. “You need to hurry!” Corrine shouted. “I don’t know how long we can hold them back!”
The Fire Hermessi unleashed their blazing wrath against the shields, making our witches grunt and sweat as they struggled to resist. There was no time now, and Gennen was literally gunning for us. The vines came at me, but Whisper and his friends destroyed them with their elemental powers, and Derek rushed across the temple and knocked Gennen out before he could do more damage.
He swiftly returned to me, and I shifted my attention to Whisper and his group.
“We can help you, take you to safety,” I said to them. “Please don’t make it harder on us.”
“By all means, get us out of here!” Whisper blurted, his eyes beaming with renewed enthusiasm.
The jinni in our initial group instructed them to link hands and teleported them out of here. The other jinn and witches and warlocks continued sedating and removing the Hermessi children in groups of ten—spending, on average, a little over a minute per cluster.
Some of the Hermessi children went willingly, but most put up a fight, forcing our crew to sting them and take them down first. They zapped them out of the temple, while the Fire Hermessi roared and rammed their fiery shoulders into the energy shields and the stone walls, desperately looking for a way in.
One by one, the hostile children were subdued and removed, leaving our group with just a handful of compliant Hermessi heirs. Ibrahim reached us as Corrine, Mona, and the other witches prepared to dash out. The last of the jinn in the temple teleported the remaining children, while Derek, Kiev, Claudia, Yuri, Ibrahim, and I moved closer to Corrine.
“Dammit, they are powerful,” she croaked, dropping to one knee.
The Fire Hermessi she was fiercely holding back took another swing at the energy shield, finally causing it to crack across like broken glass. Ibrahim wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back. I gripped his shoulder while keeping physical contact with Mona and the rest of our group.
“Semper Telluris! Everybody out!” I shouted, making sure the entire crew heard me, both in and outside the temple.
My heart thudded as we vanished, reappearing outside our hidden shuttle, in the forest clearing we’d left behind. Corrine nearly collapsed, but Ibrahim was quick to give her a tonic drink that replenished her within seconds.
“That was fantastic,” Kafei said, handing out tonic vials to all the crew members who’d helped with the energy shields, including Mona, who had an arm around Kiev’s shoulders and a hard time standing on her own. “You all moved so fast!”
“The perks of being a jinni,” Samira replied with a sly smirk.
“Or a witch.” Mona chuckled and gulped down an entire tonic vial. Her skin shimmered as the potion worked its way through her body.
They’d all teleported quickly, across a vast distance, multiple times in an extremely short period. It had taken its toll on their bodies, but they’d pulled through. Looking around, I couldn’t stop myself from experiencing the purest form of relief.
Whisper and his friends were awake and calm, along with the few dozen others who’d willingly come with us. The rest of the Hermessi children, Gennen included, were out cold. Chances were they wouldn’t wake until we got back into The Shade—there, we’d need to secure them with Devil’s Weed and charmed cuffs and everything else we could think of. They’d been indoctrinated into supporting Brendel, but I was certain we could find a way to talk them out of that nonsense.
“How are you all feeling?” I asked Whisper and his group.
They exchanged weary glances, trying their best to just smile and retain a sense of positivity. “We’re tired,” Whisper replied. “But thankful to be out of that wretched place. How did you find us?”
“A lot of hard work went into this operation,” Derek said. “We have allies among the rebel Hermessi. One of them made it close enough to learn of your location.”
“Oh, I think he means Ramin. Remember him?” Basti, one of the female Hermessi children, replied as she looked at Whisper. “Ledar screwed him over. Pretty sure you were awake for that one.”
Whisper nodded, holding back a smile. “Yeah, I remember. Glad to hear the poor fella made it out to tell you where we were.”
“How is Sherus?” Mona asked Corrine and Ibrahim, who’d already flanked the fae king, carefully holding him up and checking his vitals.
Corrine gave us a sad look. “He’s alive, but barely.”
The amber glow was still present, covering his entire body. Poor Sherus was still under the Hermessi’s influence, but at least he was out of Brendel’s reach for now. “Someone should reach out to Taeral and let him know,” Derek said, staring at Sherus with genuine concern.
“As soon as they can, they will,” Kiev replied. “Chances are they’re still waist-deep in Thieron trouble back on the Fire Star, but I’ll send word to Nuriya. She can tell Taeral once she can reach him again.”
