King's Cage [Completed]

Chapter Fifty-Two

Cal

I pulled Shade to his feet, paying no attention to his weeping. We need to go. We need to get back to the others and make a plan. This changes everything. If we don't have the Colonel or Farley or any of those extra soldiers... we're screwed. Right now, the only thing we have left to hope for is that some of them made it out alive... it just doesn't look probable.

"Shade." I say, my voice rough. "We have to go. We have to tell the others and then see if there are any survivors."

He nods, calming down. I hold him steady, waiting for him to be ready. His sobbing turns to an angry breathing. In just a few short minutes, his entire world turned upside down and he is pissed.

"Let's go, prince." He says quietly. I ignore the comment, excusing his behavior. I like Shade. I don't want to be the one to shake him out of his grief. We all have had this trial, and he's doing a fair job pushing through it.

I just hate to see the stone cold hardness in his eyes.

"Cal." Shade says, his voice a little panicked.

I look up at him, only a few steps behind. "What?" I ask, eyebrows raised.

He points off in the distance and I see the outline of three people. Getting closer, I can see their features but do not recognize any one of them.

"You know them?" I ask Shade.

"Nope, should we go over there?" He asks, not caring. He doesn't care about anything in this particular moment.

"Yeah, lets go. Maybe they know something." I sigh. Grabbing onto Shade's arm, he jumps.

Immediately, the three people, a girl and two guys, are on guard. The two men pull guns and the girl hides behind the younger, blonde one. He reminds me of Kilorn, but in a good way. The older one appears more experienced, more precise in his movements.

Shade pulls his gun on them as well and I just barely light my flames. They dance along my fingertips and lick around my wrists.

"And who are you?" I ask, looking back and forth between them.

"Hey Cal." The younger one says, drawing out my name. "Yeah, you probably don't know me. I'm Soren. Part of the Scarlet Guard." He flicks his gun toward his older companion. "This is Luka. He's been part of the Guard for a while, but he's been on a long mission."

"What kind of mission?" Shade asks, lifting his chin. "On who's orders?"

This time Luka speaks up. "I need to speak with Farley or the Colonel. They gave me the job. We just got back."

At the mention of Farley's name, Shade flinches, a brief moment of gaping pain flickers across his face. He whispers, "Diana," before shutting down, his face grows cold again.

"Obviously you can see that... Maven just scored one on us." I say gesturing to the blown up fort. "We don't know if the Colonel or Farley are alive." I tell them, and Soren's smile drops. Luka looks around suspiciously.

Shade adds, "You can refer to Cal and I as acting leaders now, until we find them."

The girl peers around Soren's side, clutching his shirt for dear life. When she meets my eye she quickly disappears again. Soren laughs. Luka sighs.

"Alright." Luka takes a deep breath, looking around once again. "Jon is working with Maven. He has been for a while now, ever since the queen was killed, maybe before. But he also plays your side a little bit too."

I grit my teeth. "We already know this."

"But he is also playing Maven." Luka continues, which gets me to shut up and clear my flames. "He has a tower, off in the sea. For years he's been keeping a girl there, a Silver girl." My eyes flick to Soren and the girl hiding behind him. "She helped him with his ability, for he lies about the depth of his own. She has been tortured for years to figure out information to his benefit. Jon's addiction to power will overcome him, and he will overthrow Maven. This is what I've been doing. I watched the girl grow up. She's pure, she's good. She wants to help us."

Shade and I look at each other and I shrug. Everything sounds accurate. Jon has been iffy since the beginning. I believe him. I tell Shade just as much.

"And the girl?" Shade asks. "Who is she?"

Luka looks to Soren. He turns around and silently tells the girl something. She nods, stepping next to him and into view.

"I'm Kyra. I can tell you everything Jon knows and what I think he's planning on doing." She bites her lip and looks up at Soren. "My ability is to be able to tell a truth from a lie. And I'd like to help."

I can't help it, I smile. We just gained and advantage. Yes, we just lost all our men, our friends, family, lovers. But we also got a much needed upper hand in this game... and I'm ready to play with fire.

Hey! Okay, I'm pretty sure I'm out of my writers block, but this one chapter is like horrible so bear with me!!! 😭
shattered_quill this is for you! Again, I am sorry this isn't great. Next one will be amazing, I swear. And long. It may take me a couple days though. Thanks!!! 😉