The Halo Of Vakh (BOOK 1)

DECEIT

A toll of bells roused Lysander and he sat up, head pounding.

"We're not getting out this time," Andrew's voice made him look up from the dark floor. Andrew sat with one knee propped up, his head leaning against the grime-coated wall.

"We will, I'll get-"

"There's nothing you can do, Lys," the hopelessness in Andrew's voice sent a shard through Lysander's heart. Andrew was never a pessimist. That was Thomas and his role. Never Andrew's. Andrew was the first glimpse of land for a drowning man, he was the first rays of sunshine in the cold winters. He was hope. "Not this time."

Lysander looked around. Cells surrounded them, metal bars, barricading men whom he could not see. A single lantern swept its dim light over them.

"It can't be worse than The Mead," Lysander said, getting up and observing the bars, trying to find a weakness in them. He could blast them apart.

"It is worse."

"Nothing can be worse than The Mead."

"Where do you think we are?"

Lysander ran a hand over the wall and grimaced as his fingers came away coated in a black residue. "A prison in Medlar," he replied and realisation swept over him as he answered.

"We're in Jackawal's Hold," Andrew said. "These bars are resistant to Draedech. They'll burn you into unconsciousness the moment you try anything."

Lysander pulled at his hair and a few white strands came away. He stared at them in horror. "They know." He felt ashamed at the way his voice shook. He looked at the Undenlegt boy and his fear deepened.

"There has to be a way out."

"There isn't."

"There's always a way out."

"There isn't this time!" Lysander clenched his jaw at Andrew's low growl. "This is our fate, now. The Mead was tamed compared to this. They're going to take us, break us and throw us before Harfen Parr's glistening boots to lick them clean of everyone's blood."

"Don't say his name," Lyander chewed out, his blood boiling, his mind plunging into a dark cavern.

"I'll say whatever I like. I told you this was a bad idea. I warned you. But you just had to take up the job Donovan tossed at you!"

"He threatened to kill you and Thomas!"

Lysander's outburst made Andrew's grey eyes turn to stone.

"Death would have been better than what we're going to face," he said in a low voice.

Lysander's body went cold and his breath hitched, getting stuck in his lungs. "Why are we fighting?" he asked. He wasn't a child. He was an adult. "We'll get out of here."

He knew it would be a miracle if they did manage to escape. Jackawal's Hold was Falargimea's strongest prison, and nearly impossible to breach.

"Do you have any idea how they brought us in?" he finally asked after having scoured each and every inch of the place. The walls had no vents or gaps on which they could work.

"They sedated you three times. I woke up at the second checkpoint. That's when they used the Draedech detection spells. Pulled our disguises right off our faces. They'll be having a field day, I bet. Getting their coin."

"I thought there were three checkpoints?" Lysander said, leaning back against the wall.

"There are. Once they realised who we were, they took a detour from the main course and had us sent to the central cells. They should have been back by now. At least that's what I heard them say. They want to know where Thomas is. Said they can't let him run free."