The cold air hits my face as I stumble through the narrow, dimly lit hallway. I don't know where I am, but it's far from the academy. The walls around me echo with silence, and every step I take feels like a countdown. My wrists are raw from the cuffs that had bound me. My mind is spinning, full of adrenaline, fear, and something more confusing. Eleri.
I shake my head, trying to push the thought of her out of my mind. I can't afford to think about that. Not now. Dragonir. I have to find him.
I pause at the edge of a stairwell, my breath catching in my throat. The images of Eleri, her touch, her whispers… it lingers, coiling around my thoughts like a vine I can't pull free from. What she did to me... My body shivers, not just from the cold. Focus. I scold myself. I can't afford to get lost in that twisted moment.
I hear a faint groan, muffled but close, coming from one of the rooms down the hall. My heart pounds harder, and I rush toward the sound. There's no time to be careful, no time to worry about being caught. All that matters is finding him.
The door creaks open, revealing a small, dimly lit room. My stomach twists at the sight in front of me. Dragonir is slumped in a chair, unconscious, tied up, bloodied and bruised from the torture Eleri inflicted on him. His face is swollen, cuts running down his arms, his shirt torn and stained with blood. He looks so broken, so vulnerable.
I rush to him, kneeling at his side. "Dragonir," I whisper, my voice cracking. I shake him gently, my hands trembling. "Please, wake up."
His head lolls slightly, but his eyes remain closed. I fight the rising panic inside me. I need to get him out of here. Now.
I grab a knife from the small table beside him, likely one of Eleri's torture tools, and start sawing through the ropes that bind him. My fingers are shaking, and I can barely breathe, but I have to keep going.
"Come on, come on," I mutter under my breath. The rope finally gives way, and I throw it aside. Dragonir slumps forward, but I catch him, grunting under his weight. I gently lower him to the ground and pat his cheek softly. "Wake up, please. I need you."
He stirs, eyes flickering open briefly. Relief washes over me. "Seraphina?" he mumbles, voice weak and hoarse.
"I'm here," I whisper, tears stinging my eyes. "I'm getting us out of here."
I manage to get him to his feet, draping one of his arms over my shoulder. He's barely conscious, his weight heavy against me, but we start moving, stumbling out of the room. Every second feels like a lifetime, the walls around us closing in, threatening to suffocate me. Where is Eleri? How far has she gone? Is she coming back?
The further we go, the more desperate my thoughts become. I can't stop thinking about her—about the way she had touched me, the way she had looked at me with those dark, hungry eyes. And despite everything, despite the cruelty, the pain... the worst part about it... I pause, swallowing hard. The worst part is that I think... I might have enjoyed what she did to me.
The thought makes me feel sick, yet a strange, twisted part of me aches. Why? Why do I feel this way? After all she's done—hurting me, hurting Dragonir—why can't I just hate her?
I grit my teeth, forcing the thoughts back. I have to focus on getting Dragonir out of here. I can't let these feelings—this confusion—cloud my mind. Not now.
We reach the exit, and I glance around, half-expecting to see Eleri lurking in the shadows, ready to pounce. But the hallways are empty, eerily silent. We step outside into the biting cold, the wind whipping around us as we stumble toward the woods beyond. I don't know where we're going, but it doesn't matter. Anywhere is safer than here.
As we move further into the mountains, Dragonir's weight becomes heavier, and I'm struggling to keep us both moving. He's barely conscious, muttering incoherently, his head lolling against my shoulder.
But we can't stop. Not until we're far, far away from Eleri.
I cast one last look behind us, half-expecting her to appear, her face twisted into that deranged smile she wore when she hurt me. But there's nothing, only the darkness and the sound of our ragged breathing.
Still, even as we move deeper into the vast icy abyss, her presence lingers in my mind, like a ghost that won't leave me.