The als was thick with tension as we crouched among the trees hear the castle. Every breath I took felt heavy, burdened with the weight of what we were about to do. Above us, the sky stretched wide and dark, the moon casting an eerie glow over the stone fortress ahead. The towering walls, worn by time but still imposing, loomed like silent sentinels, daring us to challenge their protection.

My heart pounded, a steady drumbeat against my ribs, echoing the storm of uncertainty in my mind.

We were really doing this.

Even now, even

even with the cold certainty of our plan solidifying around me, doing this.

nd me, I still couldn't believe it. I still didn't know why I was

1. us. His f

face was unreadable, his sharp gaze

Isaiah, our leader-our guide through the treacherous world of shades-glanced

back at us. sweeping over each of us before settling on me.

"Stay close," he murmured, his voice barely a breath against the night air

I exhaled sharply and nodded.

Around me, the others tensed, their postures coiled with readiness. We pressed t

together, our bodies forming a tight cluster as if that would somehow protect us from what was coming.

Without another word, Isalah took the first step, and we followed, slipping into the darkness.

As soon as we crossed the threshold, a strange, weightless sensation washed over me. The darkness around us thickened, wrapping itself around my body like a second skin. My skin prickled as my senses sharpened, the world around me shifting in ways that defied reason. Time and space stretched, warping, pulling at the edges of my awareness, but Isaiah moved forward with practiced ease.

1 gritted my teeth, fighting the disorientation, forcing myself to focus

My mind kept circling back to him. The reason we were risking everything

I still didn't know what I would say to him when we saw him.

He had betrayed us-at least, that's what I had believed. We all had. But then he hadn't. He had given them a fake map. He had played his role so well that even we had fallen for the deception. And now, because of his choice, because of his sacrifice, he was being tortured.

My entations tangled together-anger, confusion, guilt, and something else I refused to name.

"How are we going to get him out?" I whispered.

unshaken. "The shadows will help us. We'll be able to move

dungeon is heavily guarded."

snorted softly, barely concealing his skepticism. "Great. So we're sneaking into the enemy's stronghold to save a traitor. What could

him, clenching my

the mood for

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Chapter 187

suddenly tied prising

The scent

we went,

forefingered here

need into a

torches mounted along the walls, their

dancing shades across the

we

echoing

my fireath catching

into the deepest part of the shadows.) against the rough, unyielding wall as we perred into the

that's when

Mother

me, a

an enigma wrapped in power and cruelty. Her presence filled heavy and suffocating, her very being an unspoken command that

their postures stiff with fear. The air around them vibrated with tension, as if they that one wrong word, one wrong breath, could be their

Mother was angry.

slicing through

the silence.

do you fail to find four worthless dogs?" she snarled, her voice like a

glare, her hands trembling at her sides. "M-Mother,

snapped, her tone cold, cutting. "Sarah found

have been able to eliminate

swallowed hard, my stomach

was talking about

presence had always unsettled me, but now,

the weight of her words settled like a

do everything myself?" she continued, her voice laced

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Chapter 187

fell over the

Then, suddenly, she stopped.

head tilted ever so slightly,

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