Chapter Six

The boy looked petrified as if he just found

out the world was coming to an end within the

next hour.

"What is it, Faebrin?"

"They are breaking tradition and claim it's

been accepted by the gods."

"What more are they breaking?"

Faebrin shifted feet, shoulders tensed and his

blue eyes reflecting the orange embers of the

Pit. "They've decided to give two children per

god."

His words struck her hard as she did the

math. "Twelve children!"

"The mission is cancelled," Dean firmly said.

"I agree. The risk is higher with twelve

children," Jaice said wiping away tears.

"No. We can't give up," Mageia said.

They all stared at her with eyes screaming

how crazy and foolish she sounded.

"Are yuh some god we don't know about?"

Dean taunted. "Because I'd love to hear yer

ideal plan on stealing twelve children from a

building built to keep people in."

"We have a few hours left," she said. "And Trek

already had done his part."

"The plans has changed."

"No. Faebrin did you sketch out the new Taefo

yet?"

"I did. Plus, I scaled the forest side a few

times," he said glancing at Dean guiltily.

"Good. Let's look over it and readjust the

rescue plan."

"You've gone mad," Dean said eyes blinking at

her as if trying to see if she was herself.

She glared at the boy hating his constant

need to belittle her authority and mentality in

front of the others.

"Dean. We need to talk. In private. Now!" She

said and stormed to her hut without looking

back.

She paced the grass wishing to punch

something or someone. When Dean stepped

into the clearing she lashed at the boy.

"What happened to you, Dean?"

"What're you talking about?"

"You used to be on fire for these rescues and

defying the impossible, but now... now... you

just make me look stupid in front of everyone."

Dean flexed his jaw and gave a long sigh. "I've

grown wiser, I assume."

"And I haven't?" she said.

"It's not like that."

"What? Did you lose your heart along the

way?"

"That's not fair, Geia," he said. "I do not want to

risk the family we have now."

"So, you're just going to allow those twelve

children to die?"

"What if they're so sick that they aren't

transportable? What then? We don't have

twelve backs to carry them out." He said

and when she had no decent response,

he continued. "I doubt the gods would be pleased to leave them behind while we take

the others."

"We will have to chance it," she said. "I believe

in my heart that everything will be fine if

we plan well. Dean, we must encourage the

others to be brave and yes be smart about it,

but also willing to risk their own life to save

another. To at least try and save another's.

I know we cannot save every Strange in the

damn kingdom, but there is this feeling deep

in my soul, telling me we shouldn't turn our

backs on these children."

Dean's harden expression softened and an

unusual look grew in his eyes. He closed the

distance between them and placed a gentle

hand on her cheek. She froze waiting to see

what he was doing.

"I love this about you," he said thumb brushing

her skin as if she was a fragile piece of glass.

"What?"

"Yer passion. Yer big heart. Yer stubbornness

and those beautiful eyes.

||

Mageia beamed, heat rising in her cheeks.

She swayed on her heels. "You're too kind,"

averting her eyes to her feet.

"Yuh know I love you, right?"

"I do," she said. "And I love you too."

"Yuh know, I'd do anything for you?"

"Same here," she said.

"And yuh know, whenever you start

mentioning yer heart and yer soul rather than

yer gut, I just know somehow that it's the right

thing to do."

His gaze dropped to her lips, and she gave an

innocent smile.

"Alright," he said almost faint on his lips. He

sharply inhaled and stepped away to rub the

back of his neck. His cheeks were red as

cherries, but he kept his strong stance.

"We're going to do this rescue," he said. "And

when we've succeeded, we're leaving this

forsaken kingdom once and for all."

Mageia grinned and nodded. "That sounds

good to me."

"May the gods bless us and be on our side for

once," he beamed, and they returned to the Pit

to readjust the plan.

~*~*~

Their rescue group of seven, scurried

through the underway listening to the rise

of celebration above in Midlaan and Strana.

Nightfall had arrived an hour ago and they

knew time would speed up in their dire need

to be ahead of it.

"Okay. Let us pray that Junet did what Trek

had instructed. We will work swift and silent,"

Mageia said. "Dean, Gavin, and Gibby you're

with me."

They ascended to the ground on the westside

of Strana within a dark alley perched behind

a line of stores and the high scale of Mideri

Wall. To their relief, no one was around

and by the sound of voices and music, the

celebration lied further down the street,

promising to extend within the hour. With

stealth, they passed three stores to Junet's

carpentry shop. The smell of wood hung

strong in the air and no lights were on

upstairs. Piled neatly around the back of the

store's cutter stations were scraps of wood

and barrels of wood shavings.

They scanned the area for the two planks

supposedly placed for Trekon to pick up, but

they were nowhere to be found.

"Crap," she heard Dean say on the other side.

"Can we still do it without the planks?"

Gibby asked, one of their seventeen-year-old

collector.

"No. We have to go with plan B," Mageia said

already hating the thought of it.

The back door popped open with the sound

of scrapping wood on wood. Interior light

flooded parts of the alley. Immediately, they

all scattered for the shade of darkness, feet

light on the ground and hearts racing wild.

Mageia and Gibby ran to the side of the shop

and slammed against its side while Dean and Gavin dropped behind a cutter machine,

slowly easing backwards to the other side of

the shop.

Junet, the carpenter, mumbled annoyingly

to himself as he carried two long planks

from his shop. Mageia glanced around the

corner and quickly snapped back seeing him

approach. She felt the hilt of her dagger and

prayed to the gods she didn't need to use it.

The man continued muttering his disapproval

of his present task and propped the planks

against the wall. A part of the planks edged

outward into the intersection threatening

to expose their hideout, but Junet gave up

on making things look tidy. He grunted and

stomped back inside.

"That was close," Gibby whispered.

Mageia couldn't respond thanks to the knot

in her throat. She gestured for him to follow.

With swiftness, in case Junet returned,

they hauled the planks back to the grate

down-alley and lowered them to those waiting

below.

They followed a specific route underway,

leading to wet walls and streams of water.

They rose from an abandoned well in a small

section of the Napan Forest. Mageia knew

that during the day this specific forest on the

westside of Ardania was always busy with

berry-pickers, guards, and soldiers. Despite

the well's untended presence, people did

know about it and she thanked the gods

no young people had decided to use it as a hangout spot for the nightly festivities.

"I can smell the Lower River," Jaice said with a

pleasant smile.

Indeed, they all could smell the fresh water of

the lower region of the Ardanian River a yard

away. If only they could go to it and enjoy its

beauty for a while, but they had an important

mission to complete.

"Focus, you guys," Dean said and pointed

ahead. "There it is. The Taefo."

Also, a yard away was the five-level castle,

built with brickstones black as coal, a

flattened roof with seven pointed chimneys.

Smoke puffed from three of the chimneys

adding to the building's dark and gloomy

appearance. It sat at the end of Mideri Wall,

however on the Midlaan side. It's west wing

partly disappeared into the woods, with trees

that grew to the height of its roof.

"Okay," Mageia said. "Faebrin said they're

keeping them in the children's quarters. Thank

the gods they did not decide to relocate or

change the room after the amended law."

"It's the same room we were put in," Esa said

glancing at her brother.

"Same here," Mageia said swallowing a sharp

pain in her chest from the memory.

"I can only assume they had closed up that

way of entering and exit after your rescues,"

Dean said. "So, we will strive Plan A. If anything

goes wrong, yuh know what to do."

They all nodded.

"Let's go," Dean said.

They approached the returned gate of the Taefo

and followed it downhill toward the river. No

patrollers have been round to Mageia's surprise.

For a region to be so sacred, one would think

it'd have higher security. They stopped at a

large drain tunnel dividing the gate that led to

its own fence at the contrary end. Over the

years, a thicket and vines had formed around

the drain tunnel and as an alternative of entering it,

they climbed on top of it. Staying low they

walked along the tunnel transitioning into a

hillside and stopped at the lowest section of the

wall protruding from the trees.

Dean gave a quick wave. They iced up and knelt

low to the floor as a patroller walked the

top of the wall. Thankfully, he used to be walking

in the contrary course in the direction of his post

perched at an awkward flip of the wall. By

the time he would attain his post and take a seat down

for a break, they had at least thirty minutes to

an hour before he returned.

"Move quickly," Dean whispered.

They climbed the robust limbs of a tree onto

the wall. Mageia scanned the rooftops of the

Taefo as Jaice did the grounds below. The

boys cautiously slid the planks across the small

clearing, the usage of the tree limbs and positioned the planks on the rooftop. Once they tied and

secured the planks between two nuggets on

the wall, Dean was the first to test out the

treacherous walk across, holding one end of a

rope.

Once on a dipping portion of the roof, he

secured the rope to a chimney and waved

for them to continue. Mageia held onto the

rope and walked across the planks with Gavin

and Gibby while Boras, Jaice, and Esa stayed

behind to receive the children and lower them

into the forest.