KotLC Unlocked

Chapter 16- Sophie's POV

"W-what?" Linh asked, her voice shaking.

"No... no you're lying. He came back! He wouldn't go back I thought he hated it there," Linh said, trying to reassure herself. Sophie felt terrible, and she knew Tam was really the only family she had. Her parents were still alive, but they treated her and Tam badly, so they really just had each other. But now with him gone? It was a whole different story.

"I'm sorry Linh, I really am. I didn't even know how it happened," Biana said. The two explained everything that had happened in their trip, and then the others explained theirs. Apparently, Ruy, Gethen and someone who they didn't know had shown up. They negotiated for a bit, before Mr. Forkle handed over the cache.

Linh was still standing in shock, tears running down her cheeks. Sophie walked over, and pulled her into a hug, trying to help her feel a little bit better. The situation felt very familiar to the time when Keefe had left for the Neverseen. Tears had been shed, screams had been shouted and misery had been set. When Tam was gone the first time, Linh at least had some hope to hold onto. He was captured that first time after all, they could always rescue him. But not now. This was his decision.

Sophie let go, trying to seem strong for her friend. She was not going to let Tam get away with this. Not this time.

The others began leaving, as it was still only about 2 AM. Their mission had been a fail. If anything, it made matters worse. Biana stayed with Sophie, to help her comfort Linh. Everyone else said they would be back in the morning, to get at least a few hours of rest. Once Linh was as calmed down as she could get, the three light leaped to Tiergan's, where she had been staying. Before they got to the door, though Linh came to a halt.

"I'm sorry," she shakily said.

Sophie and Biana reassured her that she didn't do anything. Linh leaned on the two and they walked the rest of the stairs. Tiergan opened the door, seeing the three weary, tearful faces.

"Is Keefe okay? Did you get him?" he curiously asked as Sophie and Biana lowered her onto the couch. Wylie walked out, and sat down next to them. Sophie forgot he still lived with Tiergan since his own dad was okay now, but Prentice moved in with them. He still needed a bit more care than the average elf, so he stayed with Tiergan. (I totally forgot if Wylie moved out or not so we'll just pretend this is canon)

"No," Sophie said. She explained the whole story to the two, Biana coming in to explain side details. Linh stayed silent through all of this.

"So Tam is really with them then?" Wylie said. Linh nodded.

Tiergan sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. Wylie got up, walked over, and hugged Linh. And just like everyone else had, tried to reassure her.

They stayed for a while, thanking Tiergan for letting them come in, and then leaped to Everglen. It was well past 3 in the morning, but neither girl was tired.

"I'll see you later," Sophie said as Biana began walking across the huge lawn of her home. Finally, Sophie went back to her own home. Edaline and Grady were still up, but they had already heard the whole story. They wished her goodnight as sadly walked up the stairs.

Sophie couldn't help but think that not only had this mission failed- but it had pretty much made the situation worse. Now two of her friends were with the Neverseen. Both serving for Gisela. One working against her, the other helplessly captured. Thinking like this could shatter her mind, but Sophie was so miserable that she couldn't help it.

Eventually, she fell asleep for what felt like two minutes, but when Sophie woke, the sun was starting to rise, painting the sky in blues, oranges and pinks. The sight was quite pretty, but she was in too much emotional pain to care.

She crept down the stairs, hearing Sandor following her. Her two body guards that actually stayed with her were Sandor and Flori, as Tarina was still caught up in some troll baby nest scandal, Nubuti was with the dwarves and Bo stationed himself at Tiergan's. (I haven't read the books in a while so I have no idea where the body guards are lol)

Edaline was already down there, eating some weird looking blue soup. Edaline grabbed Sophie a bowl of it, and placed it down in front of her. She hoped it tasted much better than it looked. She told Sophie that Grady had to leave for work.

"Soph you are so strong and I am so sorry that you have to go through this. I want you to know that Grady and I will support you no matter what," Edaline said.

"Thank you for that," Sophie spoke quietly. She sighed, ate her breakfast (which tasted like chocolate chip pancakes), thanked Edaline, and went back up to her room. When she got up there, she opened a never used Foxfire notebook for school that was now useless because school was still cancelled. She wondered what her sister, Amy would think of not having school. (Kinda like right now!)

She grabbed a pencil and began writing and drawing out theories. None of them made quite sense, and she was no artist. By the end of the hour, she gave up, walking over to her bed and sprawling out on it. Sophie was worried, felt awful and was just not in the mood for anything.

That was before she got an imparter call from her biological mother, Oralie.

I'm back again with the evil cliffhangers! And thank you all so so so much for 2k reads! It means a lot to me and I'm really happy about it. Stay safe!