Kaz Brekker imagines

The Phoenix and the Crow

part nine

The air was cool as the group of seven walked down the old traditional house. Lanterns were hung outside and looked like fireflies from a distance. Everyone huddled around Toyla as he knelt on the ground and drew a rough layout of what the house would look like inside. "We enter through the front courtyard, antechamber, middle courtyard, main chamber." He said, pointing to each section.

"We sweep the entirety." Kaz walked to the front door to pick the lock, Wylan stepped forward and stood beside him. "How long will it take you to set up?"

Wylan bounced on the balls of his feet, "I can have the door open in about five minutes. And if Ohval trips it, we have two minutes before the firecrackers go off to get out."

"Even if she returned prematurely, we cannot leave without the blade." Inej's voice was stern as she stared at Kaz. He turned around to face her, "Yes, the future of Ravka and my payment depend on it. I'm aware." Jesper and Y/N shared an amused look.

"It's more than the future of Ravka at stake." Toyla spoke up, "If we fail, Shu Han, Fjerda, Ketterdam, and beyond, they will all feel the weight of the Darkling bare down on them."

Jesper shivered, "Way to up the stakes."

The click of the door opening drew everyone's attention to Kaz as he pushed the two heavy doors open. It flowed into a beautiful garden with more lanterns hanging above them. Y/N smiled to herself as she looked around, following the others to the next door. Wylan took off his backpack and got to setting up the trap at the front door, Jesper quickly went after him.

The metal click of the door lock was heard again as Kaz got the doors open, "Jesper, we're going in. Close the doors behind you."

Screen doors slid open into a small waiting room. "Spread out." Everyone walked in, taking up as much space as possible. Toyla's head tilted, "I sense a heartbeat."

"I thought the compound was empty," Jesper stated.

"It's faint. Further in the house." As he spoke he stepped on a tile and it shifted under his foot. Automatically both screen doors closed. Inej, Jesper, and Toyla all tried to pull them open again to no avail. Inej pulled out her knife and stabbed the screen but it made no cut, not even a dent. "It's impenetrable." Kaz knocked his cane on the frames of the room, "The frames are made of metal."

Jesper seethed, "They're durast-made."

A series of mechanical clicking from the left side of the room caught Y/N's attention. She noticed a sand timer hung on the wall. Louder machinery sounds followed the flipping on the timer. "That does not sound good." She muttered to herself. Pinkish-red smoke seeped through the roof of the room. "There's something in the air." Instantly everyone started coughing, the smoke taking their ability to breathe properly away from them.

"This is how we die." Jesper coughed before he fell to the floor.

Toyla sat in the opposite corner and tried to get his breathing under control.

Inej gasped and leaned against the screen walls, losing her balance and falling to the floor.

Kaz glanced over everyone in the room before letting his eyes make contact with Y/N's for a moment longer. He too fell back losing consciousness.

"Kaz." Her voice was hoarse and quiet as she fell to her side, still able to keep her eyes on him but only for a moment before she rolled into darkness.

~

Ravka. She'd recognize the air anywhere, it's what she missed most from her childhood. The scent of freshly plowed grass and apple blossoms. She opened her eyes expecting to be standing in front of her childhood home but frowned when she didn't notice the house she stood in front of. A large two-story house painted light blue with brown roofing and a well-used wooden porch. Large fields surrounded the residence, not another house within eyesight. An uneven stone path lead to the porch steps Y/N stood on. Unease settled in her mind at the unfamiliarity of it all but her body stayed relaxed, as if familiar with the place. Joyous screams and laughter echoed from the back of the house. She walked down the steps and followed the sound of children around the side of the building.