Chapter 21 - Break The Cage
1172 Words
Footsteps echoed through the corridor behind them, fast enough to cut through the silence hanging over the prison.
Elara turned just as one of the guards she had seen outside came into view at the far end of the corridor. Light flickered across the stone walls around him, shadows shifting over his face as his eyes landed on her standing near the cells.
Shock crossed his expression first.
Then alarm.
The scent of iron and damp stone seemed to thicken around them.
She moved before he could speak.
The guard barely had time to react before she drove him backward into the wall. The impact thundered through the corridor hard enough to shake dust loose from the ceiling. His breath left him in a rough choke while his hands grabbed at her wrist, trying to force her grip away from his throat.
“Where are the keys?”
Her voice came low, roughened by the fury tearing through her chest.
The guard struggled harder, panic rising fast now. His attention kept flicking toward the corridor entrance, like he still believed somebody would appear and stop this before it spiraled beyond control.
Nobody came.
Elara shifted her weight and drove her knee into his side hard enough to fold him forward. The second his balance gave out, she slammed him onto the stone floor.
The sound echoed through the prison.
Somewhere behind her, one of the prisoners flinched.
The guard stopped fighting after that.
Elara released him and pushed herself upright, her breathing uneven now while adrenaline burned hot beneath her skin. The lantern flames trembled in the weak draft moving through the underground halls, throwing restless shadows across the iron bars.
Movement near the entrance caught her attention immediately.
The second guard had gone still, his stare distant in a way she recognized instantly.
Mind-link.
Calling for help.
Calling Thorne.
Cold panic twisted beneath the rage already clawing through her chest.
Elara crossed the corridor before he could finish.
The guard reacted too late, his hand barely brushing the weapon at his side before she caught his arm and twisted it away from him. A curse left him as she shoved him into the wall hard enough to send another tremor through the stone.
He came back at her immediately, relying on strength alone.
Elara moved with him instead of resisting head-on.
Her elbow drove into his ribs, knocking the air from his lungs before she struck beneath his jaw. His footing slipped for half a second, and she used it immediately.
He crashed onto the floor beside the clatter of keys striking stone.
The moment he tried to rise again, Elara forced him back down, her hand pressing against his throat long enough to make the warning clear.
“Stay down.”
The guard froze beneath her grip.
Her pulse pounded so hard she could feel it in her throat.
Thorne knew.
The thought tore through her fast enough to make panic creep beneath her already fraying control. She ripped the keys free from the unconscious guard’s belt, the cold metal trembling faintly in her grasp before she forced herself to steady her breathing.
Then she turned toward the cells.
The first lock resisted before finally giving way with a heavy click that echoed down the corridor.
The door creaked open slowly.
Garrick stared at her for a second before stepping forward carefully, like he still couldn’t trust what was happening in front of him. Lantern light caught the hollow lines in his face, the silver burns circling his wrists, the exhaustion buried deep beneath his expression.
Elara was already moving toward the next cell.
Then another.
One lock after the next released beneath trembling hands while movement slowly filled the corridor behind her. Wolves stepped cautiously into the open, stiff from years underground. Some blinked against the lantern light like they had forgotten what freedom looked like. Others kept glancing toward the entrance, waiting for this moment to disappear before it fully settled in.
The scent of silver still clung heavily to the prison, mixing with old blood, damp earth, and rust.
It made her stomach twist.
“We need to go,” Elara said, forcing steadiness into a voice that barely sounded like her own anymore.
Nobody argued.
The final lock opened with a metallic snap.
Elara stepped back and finally looked at all of them together.
Faces she recognized stared back at her through exhaustion and disbelief.
Too many were missing.
Grief hollowed out her chest so suddenly it hurt to breathe.
Some looked older than they should have. Others carried scars she didn’t remember. A woman near the back held one arm tightly against her chest while another wolf leaned heavily against the wall, too weak to stand properly on his own.
Years.
They had lost years down here.
Elara shoved the thought aside before it swallowed her whole.
Right now, she just needed to get them out.
“We’re leaving.”
The wolves gathered behind her while she headed toward the exit, slowing her pace enough for them to keep up. Footsteps echoed through the corridor alongside uneven breathing and the faint drag of chains brushing against stone.
The closer they got to the entrance, the tighter her chest became.
Cool air drifted faintly through the doorway ahead, carrying the scent of pine and morning rain from outside.
By the time Elara reached the exit, every muscle in her body had drawn tight with anticipation.
Cold air struck her skin the moment she stepped outside.
Then everything stopped.
Morning light spilled across the prison grounds after the darkness underground. Pine trees surrounded the clearing while mist still lingered low across the territory, the scent of wet earth hanging in the air.
Thorne stood several feet ahead beneath the pale light of dawn, completely still in a way that made the entire territory feel frozen around him.
The bond hit her violently the second she saw him.
He knew.
Rowan stood beside him, calm and unreadable while his attention moved across the wolves gathered behind her. Kaia looked openly furious, anger woven through every line of her posture like she had been holding herself back from storming into the prison herself.
Rafe stood slightly behind them, though unlike the others, his focus never left Elara.
Something unreadable crossed his expression before disappearing again.
The Valemere wolves slowed behind her as they stepped into open air for the first time in years. Some drew deeper breaths like they were trying to remember what freedom felt like. Others stayed tense, their eyes moving between the Draegon wolves standing ahead of them.
Elara could feel the fear spreading quietly through the group behind her.
The exhaustion.
The uncertainty.
Without thinking, she stepped forward slightly, placing herself between them and the Draegon wolves.
Her shoulders straightened instinctively.
Thorne’s gaze never left her.
Wind moved through the clearing, carrying the scent of pine, cold stone, and tension hanging so heavily between both sides it almost felt alive.
Still, Elara held her ground.
- Writer
