The Light in the Dark ✓

Chapter 25 Last Preparations

Iris was pacing the small room like a caged animal. Every time she passed the window, she looked outside. It was dark already, and you couldn't see any stars because of a heavy cloudlike cloak of dark mass. What she could see was an imposing silhouette of the church, towering over the whole city—daring her to come out and do something rash. Iris growled and came back to her pacing.

'Can you please stop doing that?' Jayden asked. He sat on the bed, his eyes following her movements. 'Because if you continue, I'm quite sure you will wear out the floor completely and fall downstairs.'

'How am I supposed to sit still?' Iris hissed. Her hands were shaking with hardly contained anger. She's never felt so helpless and angry before. 'They've got Cody! He's just a kid! And I'm stuck here doing nothing!'

'And what would you do? Charge there alone? Right into Grand Inquisitor's open arms? That would be a whole lot of helpful.'

'Shut up! I know that!'

'Then get a grip! You're helping no one in this state. And your pacing annoys me. I can't think with you stomping like a giant.'

'Fine!' Iris groaned and sat on the only chair in the room. She crossed her arms and looked out of the window. 'What's taking them so long?'

'It's not easy to sneak into the city.'

'Why can't they just, you know, walk in?'

Jayden looked at her as if she were crazy.

'All right! I know Myr might not be welcomed as she is one of the forest people, and Sam, with his eyes, is not exactly easy to blend in. But Kara could come with us.'

Jayden rolled his eyes. 'You know Kara was in the City Guard? She served here. She is a deserter. Do you think no one would recognise her?'

'Fine, you're right. But still, why so long? It's been dark for ages now.'

'Patience. They'll be here soon.'

Iris hid her face in her hands and let out another groan. But she could not sit still. She lifted her head and looked at Jayden, who was insufferably calm. 'It's just so frustrating! After you rescued me from Inquisition, I promised myself I would never be so helpless. I would learn to use Light Magic even if I suck at it. And then I discovered that I have this amazing power to cross the realms that no one had even heard of for centuries. But that's still not enough! Now they have my brother, and even with all this power, I can't do a thing!' Her voice broke, and her eyes filled with tears, so she stopped talking and turned her head to the window again.

'Iris,' Jayden said, and his voice was unexpectantly gentle. 'I know you don't want to hear it right now, but you have to keep calm. You can't lose your head like that because you can't help anyone in this state.'

'I know.' Iris closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart.

'This is not a game,' Jayden continued. 'If we fail now, there won't be another chance. It will be the end for us and this whole kingdom. That's why we can't rush into it blinded by pain and frustration. We are at a grave disadvantage here, so if we want to have any chance to succeed, we need to use our strengths right. That's why we need everyone here before we decide how to proceed.'

'Fine!' Iris opened her eyes and raised her brows. 'When did you become so wise?'

Jayden scoffed, a small smile playing on his lips. 'Always was. You were just too busy hating me to realise that.'

'Well, you're not wrong about that....'

There was a knock at the door, and they both jumped, surprised. Jayden rushed to the door and opened it just a fraction to see who was outside. Then he quickly swung the door wide, and four people hasted inside.

'Finally!' Iris exclaimed.

They dispersed around the small room. With six people, the bedroom suddenly felt tiny and crowded. When everyone found a spot to sit on, Iris and Jayden reported what they discovered today.

'I'm sorry about your brother, Iris,' Kara said, patting her arm gently. 'But I'm glad you didn't do anything stupid.'

'Well, she would if I didn't drag her away by force.' Jayden scoffed.

'Good that you did, then,' Myrica said before Iris could protest. 'That is certainly grave news, but it does not change our plans much at this point. Arlo, did you learn anything helpful from your old contacts?'

'Not as much as I'd like to, just some bits and pieces,' the big man said and sighed. 'I can confirm what our Mages just said. The place we are looking for is in the East Wing. None of the mercenaries is allowed past the administration offices, and the Inquisition doesn't like it if anyone asks questions about what they are doing with captured Mages. There is also something off about the knights themselves.'

'What do you mean, off?' Myr asked.

'Well, you know, they are all just people. They used to go out for drinks with their comrades and sometimes mercenaries on their days off. They work together a lot, so that's what usually happens. But for the last couple of months, they have become less and less approachable. They seem never to leave their headquarters.'

'It's the same thing with regular people,' Iris said. 'They all look like they just gave up on living, and they just... existing. We had serious troubles finding anyone who would talk to us.'

'It's all because of Shadow Magic,' Sam said. 'The sheer concentration of power here is enormous. My head is pounding from the moment we've entered the city. I can't even imagine what it does to people who live here. That makes me curious. How did you two find someone to give you all this information?'

'It was just a lucky coincidence. The young woman lost something important to her, and I happened to pick it up. It was like the spell on her was broken just by seeing her handkerchief.'

'That is interesting indeed.' Sam rubbed his chin. 'That means the hold on the minds that Grand Inquisitor has is not impenetrable, and it can be broken. What was special about this handkerchief?'

'It was a gift from woman's betrothed,' Jayden said. 'It seemed to have a lot of sentimental value for her.'

'I thought so. It would be good to know how to break the spell if we need to.' Sam nodded.

'Can't you just... undo it?' Iris asked. 'You know, with the Shadow Magic and all?'

Sam gave her a sad smile. 'Unfortunately, I don't have enough power to do that. You might have already realised that Brath is a mighty Shadow. Hence the power he provides the Grand Inquisitor with is equally potent. With what I have, I can barely make a dent in what he's already done to these people.'

'Well, we will have to fight our way in an old fashioned way then,' Arlo said, putting his hand on one of his axes.

'But we can't possibly storm the Inquisition Headquarters with six people,' Kara protested.

'No, we cannot. We will have to sneak in,' Myrica said with a mischievous glint in her golden eyes. 'Let us focus on the details so we can move out swiftly.'

'Are we going tonight then?' asked Kara raising her brow.

'Look at Iris. Do you think she could rest now?' Myrica sighed. 'Delaying it will bring us no further advantage. And each passing day will only result in more Light Mages sacrificed for their Light. We do not have the luxury of time. We are making our move tonight.'

Picture by 12019 from Pixabay