Castle of Flame

Chapter Twelve: Prisoners and Adherents

Elliott and Laric arrived in Munich in the heat of the summer afternoon, and Elliott was sweating under the straps of his pack as they exited the train station. They paused on the sidewalk outside, surveying the field of bus stops in front of them.

"I have no idea," said Laric in response to Elliott's unasked question. "But how hard can it be to find his evil lair?"

Elliott was not amused. "It took me two days to find that pub in Inverness, and that was a much smaller city."

Laric glanced at him with a thoughtful half-smile. "Yes, but this time, you have me." Elliott hid his answering smile by staring down at the sidewalk. Laric strode off, and Elliott followed. Laric turned down random streets with no evident plan, but his head was swiveling as they walked, taking in every detail of the buildings; the street, cars, and people; the sky.

Eleven blocks later, Laric stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, and pointed up at the sky. Five crows were flying in a straight line, grazing the tops of the buildings as they passed.

"You think those crows are...Corvus's crows?" asked Elliott.

"Well, I don't think crows normally fly like that. Come on." They set off, realizing a few moments later that following crows, who had the luxury of flying without buildings, cars, and people in their way, was a challenge. They seemed to have hit a stroke of luck, though, because the crows only traveled three more blocks before landing on the roof of a run-down warehouse. Laric and Elliott paused in the entrance to the alleyway that led to the warehouse, then crept closer. A door came into view, painted black, with a symbol overlaid in white – a flying, screeching crow inscribed in a square. Corvus's symbol.

Elliott's heart began racing. If Graf Corvus was behind that door – well, he didn't know what to think, but he wasn't ready to face the man responsible for so many deaths. Laric drew him away, and they stepped out of the alley.

"Elliott, you don't have to come in there with me."

Elliott felt a spark of anger. "What? Laric, no, you're crazy if you think I'm letting you go face Corvus on your own. But we're going to be outnumbered, and they have guns. We don't stand a chance!"

Laric sighed. "I know, I know. But there's a chance that he'll want to talk to me, and that might give us a little time. If my mother is in there, I have to get her out."

Elliott's mind was whirring. "But I'm human." Laric tilted his head. "So I could pretend that I want to join up. Maybe you could too, if they don't notice your eyes."

"My eyes?"

Elliott narrowed his own eyes, unsure whether Laric was pretending not to understand him. "Your eyes glow in the dark."

A smile tickled Laric's lips, and Elliott found his gaze drawn to them. "I highly doubt that anyone else will notice that. Okay, so we march in and declare that we want to join Corvus. Once we're in, we figure out where they're keeping the queen, and make a plan to break her out. It could take some time. If Corvus is there, though, and he recognizes me, then we're just going to have to see if we can keep him talking. We'll have to be ready to fight our way out." Elliott nodded, and they sank into the alley, adjusting their weaponry for easy access. They reached the door and stopped. Elliott swallowed and looked at Laric, whose blue eyes were burning with a new intensity as he gazed back at Elliott. Laric nodded, and Elliott took a deep breath and slid the door open.

The murmur of voices filtered through the dusty air as Elliott stepped inside. As his eyes adjusted to the dimness, the scene took shape before him. The first thing he noticed were the cages. The corrugated metal walls of the warehouse were obscured by bars, which crisscrossed each other to form dozens of cages, just tall enough for a man to stand in. Three-quarters of the cages were occupied, and Elliott didn't have to see the odd tail or pair of wings sticking through the steel bars to know that the occupants were fairies.