Frigid Shadows: A Winterwatcher Fanfic

Chapter 20: Almost Is Never Enough

  I think you can all tell by the title that something is gonna go wrong in this chapter, hehe. And you're right. Just wait and see... ;)

  "You ready?" 

  Winter jumped as Nightshade practically appeared out of nowhere, the hybrid wearing a smirk on his face.

  "Don't startle me, especially not now of all times!" he hissed.

  "Don't be so jumpy then," Nightshade replied. "You know the plan, right?"

  Winter nodded. "I shut down the cameras, you sneak over to Ricin's cell acting all casual, then when they go down, you let her out. You two start freeing prisoners, those prisoners free more prisoners, and once everyone's out, you go for the exit. Remember, just say 'open' and it should open. Also, free Argo and Moon as soon as you can."

  "I get why I should let him out quickly, but why her? She's pretty much useless in a fight," Nightshade replied.

  Winter had him pinned against the wall before either of them could blink, his talons wrapped firmly around his throat, but not hard enough to choke him.

  "You know exactly why," he snarled. "Now I'm going to pretend you didn't just let those words escape your mouth, but if you do it again, I will not hesitate to throw a punch or two. You're already on thin ice with me, and if you want to make it out of this hellhole alive, I suggest you stay off my nerves."

  He then let go, and stormed off toward the camera room, hoping Nightshade took that as his chance to start making his way to Ricin's cell.

  Winter tried the door handle when he got there, but it was locked. There was no point in trying to pick the lock; if the door was locked, it meant camera operators were inside. He would have to be fast; there was probably some kind of alarm button they could press in case of emergency, and if that got set off, the plan would be ruined.

  Taking a breath, he stepped back, looked side to side to make sure no guards were around, then when he was satisfied, he gave the door a swift kick. It instantly gave way, crashing to the floor to reveal the shocked faces of two camera operators.

  One of the dragons got a bit too brave and tried to rush at him, but Winter knocked him flat with one punch, stepping over his unconscious body. The second operator started reaching for a medium-sized green button, but the IceWing tackled him to the floor before he could push it. He put force on their windpipe for about ten seconds, before they passed out.

  He got to his feet and slammed a fist down on the reboot button, and each monitor in the room instantly went dark. After hurriedly dragging the bodies over to a far corner to buy a few seconds once somebody saw the door had been kicked in, Winter raced out of the room and headed toward the prison cells.

  Okay, there must be hundreds of prisoners here, but once enough are let out, it won't take long for them to release the rest...let's just hope we can get most of them out before someone raises the alarm.

  He rounded a bend and saw Nightshade and Ricin unlocking cell doors, the hybrid with corrosive saliva using her "power" to melt off the locks that required keys. At first, the prisoners seemed a bit confused as to what was going on, they soon got the idea and started releasing others, who then did the same.

  Winter absentmindedly reached up and touched the scar over his left eye, remembering how Shadow had seared it into his scales just a few months ago. Well, at least he thought it was only a few months, but who knew how long they had really been down here? Anyway, that didn't matter; what did matter was that by the end of this, he was going to watch that tyrant take his final breath, one way or another.