Worth The Shot

They are the Hunters, We are the Foxes

Today's fanart is by @gal132 ! I LOVE the way they drew their hair, y/n looks so pretty and Camilo is just ahhh His ruana is so cute! This was one of my favorite scenes to write and they PERFECTLY drew all the emotions of it!

BACK TO THE STORY

The flickering walls of the yawning cavern were lined with heavy coils of chains, filled by the missing Madrigals.

The orange firelight flickered on their motionless bodies like candles on a funeral pyre.

Are they alive? Are they breathing?

Camilo's stifled scream was a squeaky gasp that ricocheted off the cavern walls. Panicked, he gripped your forearm, constricting its blood flow.

"Don't let go," he weakly mouthed, trying to joke. His words tumbled out breathily and scared like the crumbling pebbles that flooded underneath his feet.

"I won't. I won't," you promised in a hushed whisper, grasping his arm with both hands. Gravity lurched against you in a tug-of-war, and you strained against the vicious force of your enemy. An uncomfortable, sharp tension seized your muscles. "Camilo. I can't hold on much longer."

"Hello? Is someone there?" Your fathers challenging voice pierced the echoey chamber. An entourage of men spilled into the pit around him. Camilo hung heavily from your hand, as obvious as a flare. If one person even glanced up, they'd catch you.

Like an elastic rubber band, Camilo's arms and legs retracted into his constricting torso. His features twisted into a button-nosed, wide-eyed toddler version of himself. Gravity begrudgingly loosened its pull, and you hauled baby Camilo onto the ledge.

Petrified, your lungs failed, unable to draw in breath. Cradled underneath your arm, Camilo stiffly crouched down. He froze in his baby form, as if afraid to even disturb the airwaves around him by shifting.

"Nobody's in here," Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the ground, as if disgusted by the Madrigals in chains. "Where's (y/n)? Did you already get her to fall asleep?"

"What?" Your father urgently demanded, intensely staring at Sebastian. "She's here?" Camilo sucked in a breath and nervously gazed up at you.

"You took her, you were going to-" Sebastian faltered mid-sentence. "Oh. Oh, no. That wasn't you. He tricked me. That was the shapeshifter boy."

"Guard the trapdoor!" Your father furiously roared. "Search the tunnels! They're not getting out of here." Your father's men charged out of the pit, disappearing into the tunnels.

"We have to move," You breathed to Camilo, anxiously scooting away from the edge. "They'll be up here any second." Camilo warped back to normal and violently jolted to his feet. Like hunted deer rushing through the forest, you fled.

Your feet pounded heavily on the ground. Your chest heaved with wild breaths. You blindly careened around corners. Icy adrenaline streaked through the pitch-black air like a blurry bad dream.

You didn't even know where you were going. You felt like a desperate fox outsmarted and trapped by a clever hunter, futilely fleeing in circles. There was nowhere to escape in the knotty, closed system of tunnels.

Suddenly, you rammed into a muscled body. Strong, massive hands twisted your arms behind your back. You ripped your shoulders forward, squirming in the man's firm grasp. No. They caught me. Cold terror fueled your struggle.

"(Y/n)!" Camilo panted, stumbling to a dead stop behind you as if balancing on a glossy sheet of ice.

"No! Run!" You shouted. It was too late for you. But Camilo could still get away. He hesitated, his body leaning forward as if preparing to launch towards you.

"I'm not leaving you! I promised to protect you!"

"Not the time for heroics! Get out of here!" You pleadingly called. Three men materialized from the shadows like midnight monsters, lumbering toward Camilo.

"Now, Camilo!" You sharply urged. A haunted terror burning in his eyes, Camilo sprinted away, vanishing down the passageway.

"Let go!" You furiously ordered. Your captor wordlessly roughhoused you back to the lit cave.

"(Y/n)," your father greeted, a displeased frown clouding his face.

"Why are the Madrigals in chains? I thought you had nothing to do with that! You liar!" You spat, channeling your paralyzing terror into aggression.

"I didn't know," Your father defensively protested. "Sebastian met a man who claims to know how to create miracles." His eyes glinted with the passion of a preacher. "We will save our home. No matter the cost." You incredulously gawked at Sebastian.

"Remember the red list of letters you found?" Sebastian prompted, reluctantly explaining. "That was his list. He claims he'll tell us the secret if we help him capture the gifted Madrigals."

So they're alive. A current of relief splashed over you.

"But why? What does he want with the Madrigals?" You demanded, confused. "Where is this guy? Do you trust him?"

"No, (y/n), I don't trust him," Sebastian said, annoyed. "But it's our last shot. He'll be here tomorrow."

Tomorrow. But Camilo told Dolores to wait two days to rescue us. She won't be here in time.

"He was supposed to collect Antonio," your father worried, a frown creasing his forehead. You bristled at the word "collect," as if Antonio were a fashionable purse or a shopping cart.

"I'm sorry I took them away," Your father sweetly apologized like sugary syrup as he deliberately lifted a candle from his pocket. "But It's time for you to rejoin our family. As yourself, with your true memories."

Sebastian flinched, as if bracing for an onslaught of arrows. "I hate when you light the candle," He fiercely whispered. Why is he so scared?

"Anything for my daughter," Your father declared, ignoring Sebastian. He struck a tiny, blazing match and touched it to the candle wick.

"I want nothing to do with you! Or your stupid Candella family! You're a monster!"  You hissed, panic choking your throat.

"Sebastian, keep her quiet, will you? That's not her talking, it's the fake persona of memories I created for her," Your father sighed, shooting you a wounded expression. "What a mess."

"I won't be doing that. She has a right to talk," Sebastian stubbornly mumbled, clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes shut.

Your father cast a disappointed glance at Sebastian, but he drew out chloroform-soaked rag and approached you. "Let's help you forget about all this Madrigal nonsense."

Nobody heard your scream.

Because your father lunged forward and roughly pressed the rag against your mouth.