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They entered the headquarters slowly, finding the main lobby completely deserted. Keeping a close eye on their surroundings, they crept forward, doing their best to be silent on the flagstone floors. The interior was harsh and functional with hard corners, no decoration, and old wooden beams across the ceiling. The hallways turned out to be a maze without any sense of order. More than once they had to turn around, searching for a way into the dungeons below. Dusk figured it was a clever design for a fortress to withstand being taken over, but for their purposes it was obnoxious.
It took them a full ten minutes to finally locate the door that would lead them down and more than once they had to dodge a rogue guard. Thankfully those that had stayed behind were preoccupied by the happenings outside and stuck to the windows, watching the skies for signs of incoming fire. All of them seemed nervous, muttering to themselves about monsters and the end of the world. They had no idea something much worse than Lyra was out there waiting to strike.
As quietly as he could, Dusk pushed open the wooden door and began to descend the stairs, aware of the flickering light that was coming up from below. He hoped the guards had left the dungeon unsupervised, but as he reached the landing he heard the sound of footsteps. Motioning to Lex to stay quiet he peeked his head around the corner. There was a long bank of cells, most of them empty. At the end of the hallway was a single guard peering up through barred windows into the night sky. He had no idea anyone was watching him. The prisoners, on the other hand, saw Dusk immediately and perked up in their cells.
He pulled back around the corner and whispered to Lex. “He’s not paying attention. The other prisoners know we’re here though.”
“Do you think they’ll give us away?”
“Not if they want to go free.”
“You’re going to free them all?” Lex asked, a look of surprise on his face. “What if some of them are murderers or something?”
“We’ve killed people.”
“To survive.”
Dusk took a hard look at Lex.
“Most of the time,” Lex added quietly.
“They aren’t going to stay silent if we only let Duillearga out, so it’s all or nothing.”
Lex sighed. “You’re right.”
He slipped the rapier back into its sheath quietly and pulled off his boots. Brandishing a small dagger he nodded to Dusk and slipped out into the hallway. Dusk watched as he slunk down the stone passage, his feet padding silently against the flagstone floor. He looked to the prisoners in turn, holding a finger to his lips as he passed to keep them quiet. None of them stirred. When he finally reached the guard he paused for a moment, standing to his full height. Dusk was already a few careful steps down the hall in case anything went wrong.
With a flurry of motion, Lex grabbed the guard's hair and yanked his head back, slapping the blade against his throat. The guard choked out a small sound, but remained mostly quiet.
“If you utter so much as one syllable I will gut you like a fish,” Lex muttered. “I don’t want to hurt you, but you’re going to have to cooperate. Is that clear?”
The guard tried to nod, dropping his sword to the ground, the metal ringing as it came to a stop.
“And you know that dragon out there attacking the city? She’s with us. So no funny business.”
“Please don’t hurt me,” he whispered. “I got a wife and kid at home.”
“Good, think of them. Now open these cells.”
“All of ‘em?”
“All of them.”
Lex kicked the man’s sword away and removed the spare dagger he had tucked in his belt. Slowly he let go of his hair and pulled the blade away from his throat, taking a few steps back. The guard’s eyes widened as he turned around and saw Dusk standing there as well, sword in hand. He gulped and began to fumble with the key ring clipped to his belt, clanging them noisily.
“I said quiet!” Lex hissed.
“Sorry sir,” the guard replied, still shaking.
The guard began to open the cells one by one. Dusk stepped up beside Lex and shoulder checked him lightly.
“Did you have to scare him so badly?”
“He’s cooperating isn’t he?”
Dusk shrugged. “You’re not wrong.”
As the cells were opened the prisoners slowly rose to their feet and came to the edge of the bars. They didn’t seem to believe what was going on. One of them took a tentative step out into the hallway, the guard only a few feet away. He seemed to be ready to make a run for it, but something stopped him.
“Is... is there really a dragon out there?” he asked, his Rhykan ears flat on his head. He looked dirty and thin, like he’d been there for a while.
“There is,” Dusk replied. “But she’s not going to harm anyone.” He turned to glance at the guard who’d just finished opening the last cell. “She’s only a distraction. We, however, will hunt down any man who causes strife on this night and you can bet that dragon has a great sense of smell to find you with.”
All of them looked more confused and frightened than before.
“Now get out of here and don’t get put in jail again,” Dusk said to the room with a dismissive wave.
Crowding together the half-dozen criminals all pushed towards the stairway, sneaking up and out one at a time. Lex walked over the guard and gently ushered him into one of the cells.
“Someone will be along to get you shortly,” Lex said, forcing the man to take a seat on the bench. He pulled out a single platinum coin and pushed it into the man’s hand. “Take care of your family.”
The guard, who until this point had been frightened and confused beyond his wildest dreams, began to cry. Lex took the keys from him and locked the cell, tossing the keys to the other side of the room. He walked back over to Dusk, glancing over his shoulder at the guard.
“I... I don’t know what to do with that.”
“Well it’s about time someone came to fetch me!” Dusk heard a familiar voice say as the last of the criminals dispersed. “I was thinkin’ I’d have to make peace with my own demise. Thankfully ya got here jus’ in the knick o’ time.”
“Don’t thank us yet,” Lex said, looking up and down at the dirty man in front of him without his hat. “You still have to answer to Cyrilo.”
“I’d love to ask how ya got here, but I think I’ll be leavin’ that for another time.” He jutted his thumb back over his shoulder. “Should we be gettin’ out o’ here?”
Dusk nodded. The distraction wasn’t going to last long. He closed his eyes and reached out with his mind to Lyra, feeling the thread between them once more.
“Lyra, we’ve got him. We’re heading towards the northwest side of town. We’ll meet you there on the beach.”
“Finally,” Lyra breathed in relief. “Tormenting these poor people is exhausting.”
“See you soon.” Dusk dropped the connection and opened his eyes. “She’s gonna meet us out by the docks. We should hurry. Cyrilo should be out of the port by now.”
“Did ya manage to save the ship as well then?” Ciaran asked, cocking his head to the side, a playful smile on his face. “And what’s this I hear about a dragon?”
“I guess you’re gonna find out,” Lex chuckled, tucking his dagger away.
Ten minutes later, out of breath from running, the three turned the last corner around the edge of a building and the western docks came into view. With no time to enjoy the beautiful evening punctured by shouts and screams from the western side of town, they continued on towards the beach that lay just beyond the end of the docks. Ciaran, well-rested from his time in the jail, was holding up better than the other two. When they reached the end of the dock he jumped up, put a foot on the railing, and threw himself over, tucking into a roll as he landed in the sand and coming back to his feet. Dusk and Lex both stopped, trying to catch their breaths, and clambered over the edge. Stealing a glance south, Dusk could see the flames Lyra had set still burning and there wasn’t a soul to be seen. She’d done her part beautifully in keeping them all distracted. Without her, they never would have even gotten in, much less back out again.
Lex jumped down in the sand next to Dusk. He was still panting hard, but with a stiff nod they all kept moving away from the city, their legs burning from exertion. Dusk looked up to the sky, searching for Lyra as he led the way. It was a clear night and Gartha hung far in the east, leaving the western sky a sea of stars. His eye caught a dark shape moving quickly, blotting out the starlight above them. Before he could call out a warning to Ciaran, she fell out of the sky and landed hard on the beach, putting herself between them and Ciaran, her wings flared wide and her eyes glowing violet.
Ciaran immediately backpedaled and fell into the sand, scrambling to get away from her. Dusk heard her voice boom into all of their minds.
“That’s right little mouse, run away,” she chuckled menacingly, opening her mouth to show the glow of flame from deep within her.
“Lyra,” Dusk called, still wheezing and placing his hands on his knees. “He... he’s with us.”
“Oh,” she replied, cocking her head and folding her wings down to her sides. “Is this the captain?”
“Yep.”
She looked down at Ciaran who was still terrified, the glow from within her chest fading away. “Sorry about that.” Reaching forward with a clawed hand she pulled him to his feet, shaking him a little to get the sand off. “Thought you were a guard or something.”
“I... uh...”
“I’m called Lyra. What is your name?”
“C-Captain Ciaran Joseph D-Duillearga,” he fumbled.
Dusk could hear the smile in Lyra’s voice as she replied, “So many names for such a tiny creature. It’s nice to meet you.”
“I don’t know what it is with you and names,” Lex, marching up to her. “But we’re on a schedule. We need to get going.”
“You could learn a thing or two from your mother.”
“Yeah, sure. Arm please,” Lex said, holding out his hands.
Lyra moved her arm begrudgingly so that he could climb up and onto her back. Dusk pushed Ciaran forward to follow. Once they were situated, Lyra galloped down the beach flapping her wings until she was finally airborne. Turning back towards the north Dusk called on his magic once more and pointed their way toward Cyrilo.
It didn’t take them long to find the ship that had sailed nearly five miles beyond the port in a little over an hour. True to their word they had every light on board doused. As Lyra came in to land Dusk heard the shouts from the deck to take up arms, quickly silenced by Cyrilo’s voice ringing out above them all. Lyra splashed down in the water, soaking most of them in the process and swam her way over to the ship. The men aboard moved to the opposite side of the deck as the three jumped over the railing from her back. Only Cyrilo came to greet them.
“Well, it looks like the mission was a success,” he said, his white fangs glinting as he smiled. He turned his attention to Ciaran immediately. “And you. I’ll deal with you later.”
“What did I do to deserve such animosity? You can’t speak to your captain that way,” he said, puffing out his chest.
Cyrilo walked forward and punched him in the left shoulder with some force. Ciaran cried out as his arm went limp, stunned and useless from the hit. Dusk glanced at the crew. All of their eyes were fixed on Lyra and not a single one of them made a move to retaliate against Cyrilo.
“I’m the captain now,” he said, looking Ciaran directly in the eye. “And maybe if you shape up and stop being such an insufferable fuck-up, you can earn your title back. Until then The Zephyr is my ship and this is my crew!” Without turning back to the others he shouted, “What say you?”
“Aye captain!” the crew called back in unison, still fixed on Lyra.
“There you have it.”
Ciran looked up at Cyrilo, the anger showing on his face, but then it slipped away. Dusk followed his gaze, seeing a single tear rolling down Cyrilo’s cheek.
“Don’t you fucking scare me like that again,” he hissed, reaching forward and pulling Ciaran into a hug.
Ciaran softened, but said nothing as he wrapped his functioning arm around Cyrilo’s waist. Dusk smiled, glad to see them reunited. After everything that had happened with Eiran, he was glad they’d been able to save him. Even if it cost them an extra day, keeping them together was worth it.
“I hate to break up a tender moment,” Lex muttered. “But we really should be going. We've still got a lot of distance to cover.”
“You’re right,” Cyrilo replied, pulling away from Ciaran. “The crew has their orders and knows what to do. They’ll meet the guild in Emerald Deep and await us there. If all goes well we’ll see them in a few weeks.”
“Uh... where are we goin’?” Ciaran asked, looking at the three of them, then back to the dragon.
“Oh, I forgot to mention,” Cyrilo chuckled. “I made a deal to get you free. Now we have to go help them save the world from an evil witch who’s trying to bring down the moon and we’re probably all going to die in the process.”
Ciaran faltered for a moment, but then a mischievous smile spread across his face. “Well what are ya waitin’ for? That sounds like a rather delightful adventure!”
“I knew you’d be too excited about this.”