The air was heavy, so thick with damp earth and charred smoke that every breath Lyra drew felt like swallowing ash. Rough hands shoved her forward, the iron cuffs on her wrists digging deeper with each stumble. The tunnel around her glowed faintly blue, lit not by torches but by sickly flames that seemed to drip from blackened sconces like liquid. Every step took her deeper into the rogues’ lair, and every step made Aelira snarl within her, pacing, pushing against the barrier of her exhausted body.
Please don’t give them fear, Lyra, her wolf growled, sharp and steady in her mind. Fear is what they want. Hold your head high.
Lyra forced herself upright, shoulders squared despite the way her legs trembled. The rogues hissed and jeered as they marched her into a vast underground chamber, th
