Serena's POV:
I sat on a bench beside Lucas. On the bench. Because Darien, Alex, Fiona, and two of the Dranek were closely questioning each Councillor to see how much they knew. I also knew that neither Darien nor the Dranek would let those behind the kidnapping escape alive. Saphira stood beside the bench, her skin finally back to its usual ice blue color.
I muttered, "I never thought I would be responsible for a political coup..."
Lucas glanced over at me, "Technically, you aren't responsible for it. You were just the catalyst. Besides, we aren't trying to actually take over, we are just removing the rot. They will leave any innocent Councillors on the Council."
The bond shifted and I stood up as Darien approached. The other three Dranek were also close by and their heads turned when they heard me stand up. My recent kidnapping really had them on high alert. The door down the hallway opened and Darien came out. I went to give him a hug.
Fiona looked downcast and Alex appeared dejected. Lucas inquired, "And the verdict?"
Alex sighed heavily, "Those nine were all guilty."
Lucas scratched his head, "There were twelve Councillors, so where are the other two?"
"That is a very good question and the Councillors refused to speak. We are about to go in search of some servants to ask that very question."
Darien shifted me so his arm was around my shoulders as we started walking. The others followed while the Dranek ranged around us, alert for any trouble.
* * *
"Since when is there a dungeon in the basement of this place?" Fiona's voice came from somewhere behind me as we descended the stairs. The floor and wall were made of blocks of stone, which gave it a medieval setting.
Alex answered her, "I'm guessing they were made when the Dranek were advancing. I know the tunnels were dug around then to help fighters with hit and runs or for an escape route if the council building was stormed."
There weren't many servants left in this place, and the few that were still here spoke freely of what they knew. We had to ask several people before we found one or two who had overheard things they shouldn't have.
The presence of a human and half a dozen Dranek rattled the servants, although the fact that our group had pulled the corrupt leaders from their seats was a relief to them. Any servants who had approved of the Council's actions knew they would be on the hit list and had disappeared.
We had already gone down two flights of stairs as a winding hallway sloped slightly while guiding us deeper and deeper. I stuck close to Darien just in case trouble appeared. He had tried to leave me in the nearby forest with the Dranek, but the mate bond had prevented him from leaving me. His reading ability was needed in case the Councillors lied, so I and the Dranek came along.
My nerves caused the bond to shift slightly regardless of how much I tried to prevent my anxiety from affecting the far-too-sensitive mate bond. It still ended up putting Darien somewhat on edge. Nothing like when he had tried to leave me in the forest, but it was still having an obvious effect on him.
Lucas opened the next heavy door ahead of us and we finally saw the end of the dead end hallway. There were several barred doors on one side of the hallway, although I couldn't see anything besides the door due to the angle. We went forward and Lucas exclaimed, "Whoa. We found them..."
It only took Darien and me a few more steps before we could see inside the cells. Two of the cells held grey-haired Tarulk who were tied to chairs and gagged. They struggled against their bonds as they saw us, trying to speak.
Darien spoke, "Untie them quickly." His voice held a note of worry that made me glance up at him.
Lucas tried to get the door open, but was hampered by the lock. One of the Dranek guards sighed before taking a few steps forward and giving the door a hard kick, causing the door to fly open and bang as it swung around to strike the bars it was attached to.
Lucas made a face, "I planned on trying that next..." The Dranek did not reply as she took a few steps back.
Lucas removed the man's gag and the man gasped a lungful of air before warning us, "It's a trap! This entire level is rigged to flood the second someone sets foot in here without disarming it!"
Darien growled and looked back the way we came, but each of the doors had swung closed behind us as we passed through, so we couldn't see anything. One of the Dranek swiftly kicked down the second cell door and cut through the other Councillor's bindings. The Councillor staggered to his feet as he pulled off the gag.
Darien looked at Saphira, "Watch Serena."
She nodded seriously and the other Dranek also moved in closer as Darien turned to head back to the door behind us. We all started to jog after him as Lucas, Alex, and Fiona made sure that the two Councillors didn't fall behind.
Darien yanked the door open and ankle-deep water spilled down the hallway. I could see numerous spots where water was pouring through holes in the ceiling at an alarming rate. Alex spoke urgently, "We have to move fast. We are too far below ground and if they somehow channelled the ocean or the river in here, it will fill quickly."
We all started to run, with Darien at the front ensuring the way was clear. Within seconds, it was clear that I was definitely the slowest in the group, even the old Councillors were faster. Saphira picked me up and carried me in her arms so we could keep up.
The water was racing down the hallways and pouring down in large waterfalls from various holes in the stone roof of the hallway. It was also rapidly getting deeper, it was already up to the knees of the Tarulk and starting to hinder their speed.
A rumble came from behind us and I glanced over Saphira's shoulder to see that part of the roof behind us had caved in, completely blocking the tunnel. Darien opened the next door and I gasped as he was swept back by a chest-high wall of water.
He regained his footing quickly enough and kept going. The bond was twisting with his anger and determination. Saphira braced herself, the wave of water was only waist deep on her now that it had more room to spread, and she managed to remain standing as the water hit her.
The Tarulk were now wading as quickly as they could through the waist-deep water that kept flowing the other way. Darien reached the next door, but the handle wouldn't turn. He shoulder-checked it, and the heavy door shuddered, but it held. He was also being hampered by the water and couldn't get nearly as much momentum behind his blows.
Darien snarled as the bond twisted in his growing rage. He tried to kick it down, but had no more luck than the first time. My heart sped up as even Darien's strength wasn't sufficient. It wasn't often something could hold him, even the lid on the ship's cargo hold hadn't held up for long once he was able to reach it.
I decided to see if I could help him once again. I hummed as I tried to discover why the door wouldn't open. It took me only seconds to find the problem. There was some sort of large heavy-duty metal brace on the back of the door that was attached to the walls and also prevented the odd pull handle from unlatching as well as stopping the door from opening. Someone had intentionally tried to lock us down here.
Darien kept trying to break through the door, but was having no more success than before. The metal was once more that nasty stuff that the ship had been made of, as was the metal brace. The lock wasn't locked, per se, it didn't open because the brace was preventing it.
I intensified my humming as I tried to find any way to get this stupid door open as the water kept rising at a noticeable rate. My magic shifted as it tried to direct me. I looked up at Saphira, "I need to get closer to the door."
She pushed through the water that was already up to her stomach. Darien glanced back at me as my hum strengthened. A faint rumble echoed as another part of the roof further back dropped into the water. The other Tarulk behind us kept nervously glancing between the collapsing roof and us.
Saphira murmured, "We are running out of time."
I moved my hum into a high pitched whistle that climbed in both volume and tone until the others were wincing at the sound. I tried to literally push my magic into the whistle. The doorknob was actually starting to glow...
"What are you doing just standing there? Darien, break down the door before we drown!" Alex was just behind Saphira with his arm around Fiona and sounded quite worried. Neither of them had seen the doorknob yet, since their sight was blocked by Saphira and Darien's bodies. Alex moved to the side to see what we were doing and paused as he finally spotted the glowing doorknob.
My magic built behind the whistle as I tried harder. I could literally feel it sapping my energy, a sensation I had never experienced with a whistle before. A bang resounded as the doorknob blew clear off of the door. Darien's hand managed to deflect the projectile away from Saphira and me. The handle on the far side had also blown at the same time. The joints on the brace had also suffered extreme damage from my whistle.
I dropped the whistle, "Darien, now!"
He attempted to shoulder-check the door again in the chest-deep water. It groaned and one edge gave way, allowing some water to spill into the dry hallway behind it. Darien kicked it as much as he was able to, since he was halfway floating in the high water. The gap grew wider.
Two kicks later, the latches finally gave way and the door swung open under the pressure of the water. The water pulled at us as it swept by into the empty hallway, although no one was resisting the tide of water this time and we went with the flow into the next hallway as we raced for the next set of stairs.
Darien shoved that door open, and I was relieved to see that we were finally on ground level. We had made it out.