Chapter 39: Breaking Out

IRO

Iro quietly slipped away from Skalla and the angelic woman, making his way to Zeltaria. He barely glanced at the gasping Ilia before crouching down to check on his master.

Zeltaria, the red Succubus, was out cold. Iro winced as he took in the sight of her body, covered in bruises and whip marks.

She was damp, as if she’d been soaked in water not too long ago. The small puddle beneath her smelled like water, but Iro couldn’t figure out why.

Zeltaria was still bound by the runic restraints, but they’d been moved around a few times.

There were marks on her thighs and ankles, suggesting the cuffs had been in different positions. Now, she was slumped on her side, hands cuffed behind her, with a chain still looped through the floor mount.

“Skalla—” Iro began, turning to see the shark about to land another punch on the enkeli woman, who was already curled up in pain. “Do you know how to unlock these cuffs?”

Skalla glanced at the enkeli and then back at Iro. “Open the cuffs,” she ordered.

Siuei, the enkeli, glared at Skalla and spat on the floor, her face twisted in contempt.

“Fair enough,” Skalla muttered. She landed another punch on Siuei’s gut before standing and walking over to Iro and Zeltaria, leaving Siuei to gasp and shudder in pain.

Skalla crouched down next to the chains and sucked in a breath. “~Sh—~what did they ~do~ to her?” she whispered, running her hands over Zeltaria’s bruised body and then over the cuffs and chains.

“Any ideas?” Iro asked, his eyes pleading. He felt responsible for Zeltaria’s injuries.

Skalla shrugged. “Magic cuffs. They’re pretty sturdy. Hang on.”

She moved her hands to the iron loop set in the floor and pulled. The metal ring broke under her strength, freeing Zeltaria from that spot. “There. Can you carry her for a bit? I need to—”

Suddenly, Siuei was on the move. She sprinted from the room, running past the still-writhing Ilia, and disappeared.

“Dammit! Iro, stay here!” Skalla ordered, jumping up to give chase.

Iro watched, stunned, as Skalla ran off, leaving him alone with an incapacitated Ilia and an unconscious Zeltaria.

Years of living with Beck had taught Iro how to carry an unconscious body—Beck had a habit of drinking too much. Iro slipped a shoulder under Zeltaria and lifted her, his legs shaking under her weight.

Carefully, he stepped around Ilia and headed for the door. He wasn’t going to stay there if he could help it.

CERYS

Cerys remained silent and composed as she held the bull in place. Alethria’s aspect fluttered around the abandoned warehouse, looking for anything else of interest.

Suddenly, a woman with white wings burst from the back room. She paused briefly at the sight of Cerys in her armor, then flapped her wings and shot up through a hole in the roof.

Skalla appeared a moment later, panting. “The enkeli. Where’d she go!?” she demanded.

Cerys looked up, and the bull seized the opportunity to charge at her. He landed a punch on her chin and sprinted for the door, leaving his shark comrade behind.

Cerys swore in her native language and got up. She looked at the door, then at the escaping bull, and swore again. She regrouped with Skalla. “We lost them. ~Dammit.~ Where’s Iro?”

Skalla huffed in frustration. “Downstairs. We found Zel. She’s...not in good shape.”

A timid voice came from the back room. “A little help?”

Skalla turned and jogged back in to find Iro halfway up the stairs, carrying the still-bound Zeltaria on his back. She rushed to help him up the stairs and easily lifted Zel, cradling the Succubus in her arms.

“I told you to stay there,” she scolded, setting Zeltaria down and leaning her against a wall.

Iro shook his head, panting. “C-couldn’t. That Succubus was still down there…and I didn’t want to leave Zel down there…any longer than necessary.”

Cerys entered the back room and crouched beside Zeltaria. She ran her hands up Zeltaria’s arm and along the runic cuffs.

“They will pay dearly for this,” she murmured, more to herself than anyone else.

“Miss Alethria?” she called. The aspect rushed over in a gust of wind. “Can you unlock these?” Cerys asked, lifting Zeltaria’s arms to show the cuffs and their green runes.

Alethria’s aspect made a noise of surprise before inspecting the cuffs.

“Yes. But not like this. I need to ~be~ there. And perhaps Zeltaria would appreciate some clothes and rest after this ordeal.”

Cerys nodded and looked at Skalla. “Can you carry her? I’ll keep watch.”

Skalla nodded and quietly lifted Zeltaria into her arms again.

As Skalla headed for the exit, Cerys glared down the stairs. She was debating whether it was worth detaining Ilia or if it would be better to focus on getting Zeltaria to safety.

“Miss Alethria, can you ask some of your dryads to call for trustworthy people to finish things here?”

Alethria’s aspect nodded. “I will. I’ll meet you at the Valouri estate.”

With one last look at Iro, Alethria’s aspect vanished into the wind, leaving Iro and Cerys alone.

“Let’s head back, Mister Iro. Our master’s feeling better. We need to make sure it stays that way.”

Cerys moved towards the exit, walking past the unconscious shark man.

Iro followed her, stepping back into the daylight. Skalla was still there, holding Zeltaria close to her chest, waiting for Iro and Cerys.

“We should get going, Miss Skalla. We’ve been here too long. And I’m worried that not catching the kidnapper might come back to bite us.”

Skalla nodded, falling into step beside Cerys as the centaur led the way home, with Iro walking on Cerys’s other side.

IRO

They moved quickly through the city, but Iro couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. The feeling stayed with him even when they got back to the mansion.

Alethria was waiting for them on the lawn, in her true form. She got up when she saw them and followed them into the mansion.

Cerys started explaining what had happened to the others while Iro and Skalla took Zeltaria to her room and stood back.

Alethria slid onto the bed next to her, running her hands over the cuffs and wincing as she felt a pulse of magic.

“I could use some help, Iro,” Alethria said, her voice calm but tense.

Iro quickly moved over and sat on the bed opposite Alethria, with Zeltaria unconscious between them. Alethria took his hands and placed them on the metal cuffs.

“When they break, pull them off. I’d ask Skalla, but I’m afraid our shark friend might pull too hard.”

She gave Skalla an apologetic smile before turning her attention back to the cuffs and the runes on them. “Ready?” she asked, not looking up at Iro.

Iro nodded. This was nothing like what he’d expected when he took this job. “~Ready~.”

Alethria’s hands started to glow, and a grating sound filled the room as the runes began to glow brighter and small wisps of smoke rose from Alethria’s plant-like hands.

The dryad started to hiss and twitch but kept her hands on the cuffs until, with a sound like breaking glass, the cuffs cracked in several places.

“Now, Iro!” she shouted. Iro pulled as hard as he could, and the cuffs shattered into bright shards, flying off Zeltaria’s body.

Alethria fell back on the bed, her hands shaking and black lines burned into her palms.

Iro was panting, his fur singed from the heat of the cuffs. Zeltaria seemed unharmed but was still unconscious.

Skalla moved over to the bed and held Alethria up, stopping her from falling to the floor from exhaustion. “You did it,” the shark said, sounding surprised.

Alethria gave a weak smile and nodded. “And now I need a rest. Undoing that kind of magic takes a lot out of me. It’s been…years since I’ve had to do it.”

The dryad looked as faded as Iro had seen her during the celebration almost a week ago.

Iro had recovered a bit and managed to move Zeltaria into a more comfortable position, rolling her onto her back and straightening out her limbs from the bound position she’d been in.

Iro was panting and crawled off the bed, resting on the floor and leaning against the bed. “I think we did it,” he said. But he still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

Even with Skalla’s quiet agreement and Alethria’s apparent calm, Iro couldn’t shake his growing unease.