The Gamer's POV

A thin fog rolled in and instantly cleared, placing Cedric into a moment slightly later in time.

For some reason, the entire prison block had grown incredibly noisy, and the atmosphere was thick with a tense, chaotic air as if something massive was about to happen.

In this particular cell, however, Thalia was cradling Maya, gently smoothing her sister’s tangled hair. By now, Maya was awake, but she still looked completely dazed and hollowed out from the horrific extraction.

In front of them, their mother was pacing back and forth impatiently, her eyes darting toward the corridor as if counting down the seconds.

Thalia slowly looked up from her sister. After a bit of hesitation, she asked in a slightly trembling tone, "Where is Father? He... h-he promised he would come back for us."

At first, her mother didn’t respond. She just kept pacing, until the distant scream of a man echoed from somewhere down the cell block.

At that sound, she snapped out of her trance. Then, she hurried over and took Thalia’s face into her hands, staring deeply into her daughter’s gray eyes. "Listen to me, my dear. The blue moon is out, which means it is the night of the Carnal Feast to the goddess. Many of the wardens must have already left this place, and I’m sure the few who still remain are drunk. The Chiliarch must be away as well. Your father is trying to create a way for many of us to escape."

She paused, and her expression suddenly grew dark. "Once we manage to leave the cells, we adults will try to hold back the Chiliarch’s fiends as best as we can so that you kids can escape. You must take your sister and flee to a different district."

Thalia’s eyes widened in panic as the realization of her mother’s words hit her. "What? W-what are you... Are you not coming with us?"

Rather than answer, her mother pressed on, her voice cracking with urgency. "Remember the magic I taught you? I’m sure that you must have recovered enough to use it. The moment you step out of this place, use it to change your hair and eyes. You know the rest of the empire blames us for the plague. No one must know that you are a noble. Do you understand me?"

Thalia hesitated, but her mother immediately pulled her into a fierce, breathless hug, squeezing her tight. "Do you understand me?!"

"Yes..." Thalia finally managed to choke out.

She had barely gotten the word out when a massive explosion rocked the prison, causing the stone floor to shudder violently underneath them.

In that exact instant, the glowing containment runes carved into the ground and walls flickered and died.

Everyone in the cell looked down at the heavy black shackles clamped around their ankles.

Their mom then immediately stared at her hands, gasping as a sudden flood of power rushed back into her veins.

To Cedric’s amazement, she bent down, balled her hand into a fist, and slammed it directly into her own ankle cuff, shattering the metal to a few pieces.

An expression of fierce determination mixed with raw relief washed over her face.

In the next instant, she reached down and grabbed the black shackle on Thalia’s leg, ripping it apart with her bare hands before doing the exact same for Maya.

"Can you feel your magic?" she demanded, breathing heavily.

Thalia nodded quickly.

"Good."

Their mother turned toward the iron bars and thrust her open palm forward. A violent wave of telekinetic energy rippled out of her hand, smashing the heavy cell gate clean off its hinges and sending it crashing over the stone walkway onto the ground below.

She then hurried out onto the stone walkway, and as she moved, Cedric followed close behind.

Looking over the edge, they saw that many of the prisoners in the neighboring cells had already broken free. The walkway was a scene of pure pandemonium as desperate families hurried out of their cells, clutching their children tightly.

Down below on the lower levels, groups of adults were already locked in a brutal battle with the black-robed wardens, who kept pouring out from the gaping mouth of the massive carved face in the wall.

Thalia’s mother shifted her gaze away from the fighting, targeting the opposite side of the chamber, which was nothing but a solid stone wall.

A few adults were already standing there, and they kept weaving their hands through the air in perfect unison as if they were performing a dance of some kind.

After a tense moment, they simultaneously extended their hands toward the wall. A blinding flash of energy erupted, and the entire structural wall collapsed outward, shattering into a cloud of dust and debris to reveal the open sky beyond.

But the problem now was that there was no solid ground out there. The prison was perched atop a jagged cliff, and far below, a churning, dark sea crashed violently against the rocks.

Regardless, Thalias mother turned back and called out.

"Come on!"

Thalia quickly pulled Maya onto her back, securing her sister in a tight piggyback ride. Their mother then grabbed Thalia’s hand, and the three of them began to run down the walkway, weaving through the frantic crowd.

A moment later, they had managed to make their way through the chaos and had finally reached some distance to the broken wall.

A few children had already jumped down, while some parents could be seen desperately trying to talk their sobbing kids into taking the leap.

Behind them, the sounds of battle grew deafening. The other adults continued to fight frantically to hold the wardens at the far end of the block.

But there was another problem now.

The tide began to turn and the ground shook violently as monstrous creatures, whom Thalia’s mom had just warned them about as fiends, were also pouring out of the gaping mouth of the stone face, tearing into the defensive line.

These fiends, who stood over fifteen meters tall, were twisted nightmares of calcified bone and decayed flesh. Their frames looked somewhat humanoid, but their unnatural proportions made them look entirely alien. Their heads were nothing more than smooth, white bone, without eyes and nose. Yet the lower half where a mouth should have been split open into cavernous, terrifying maws. Those jaws were lined with needle-sharp, interlocking teeth, dripping with a foul, dark fluid.

Long bones like jagged thorns grew out from the back of their heads and across their spines, and they were all hunched over in a menacing, predatory crouch as they tore into the magic barriers set up by the crowd.

"I’m going to need you to jump, okay?"

Thalia’s mom urged, gripping Thalia’s shoulders tightly as they finally reached the broken wall.

"But..." Thalia started as she looked down at the churning sea below. However, her mother quickly cut her off.

"It’s alright, I promise you’ll be fine. You just need to look after your sister until she’s fully recovered. Promise me, Thalia."

Thalia’s lips parted to protest, but a sudden explosion followed by agonized screams cut her off.

Her mom cast a panicked glance back at the collapsing defensive line before turning back with absolute urgency. "I need to go help your father, but I promise we’ll come find you, okay?"

Thalia stared at her, frozen.

Of course, she knew that was a lie. No one who stayed behind in this hell would survive.

"Come with us, please," Thalia begged, tears finally spilling over as she clutched at her mother’s robes. "Don’t stay, Mom, please."

"I love you both." Her mom, with tears in her gray eyes, reached out and kissed her forehead. "Go."

When Thalia still hesitated, she repeated the command.

"Go!"

But this time, a wave of force erupted from her body, casting them backward. The shapes of the two girls being pushed past the ruined wall and over the cliff were reflected in their mother’s eyes.

Before long, a reaching Thalia and an unconscious Maya crashed into the water, and at that moment, a thick fog rolled over the entire memory.