Mischief in the Stars

In Captivity

Rory knew she had no star energy left, so she didn't even bother trying to use that. Instead, she marched right up to him and turned him around. She didn't hesitate to punch him as hard as she could, his head whipping to the side dramatically. The others reacted quickly; Malakai grabbed her before she could cause any further damage. She shrugged him off roughly, not bothering to face him. Eliphas wore a wicked grin, smoothing out his hair as he fixed himself.

"You are the worst kind of scum! You not only betrayed us and handed us over to the coven, but you've also doomed Aurora!" Rory spat angrily, pointing an accusatory finger in the warlock's direction. "Why did you do that? We could've won! We could've helped that village!"

"You really are that unobservant, hm? None of you have any idea why I did that?" Eliphas questioned, holding out his hands.

"Because you're a self-serving, greasy, untrustworthy-" Eira began, trailing off with a tilt of her head, seeming distant as she listed off his apparent traits.

"Actually, snowflake, this did not benefit me. Did no one else take a good look at these people's clothing choices? Did none of you think to even examine the room we're in right now?" Eliphas pointed out, turning around slowly as he looked for something. "Whoever finds it, I won't consider the dumbest one here."

Rory begrudgingly began to look around, curious as to what brilliant excuse Eliphas had for betraying them. Then, a familiar chill trickled down her spine, and she realized where they were. She made her way over to a crate before pushing it aside, revealing the two snakes consuming the other. "We're at the coven- you led us in."

"Wait, how did you figure that out?" Aidan spastically questioned.

"I saw it in my vision-" Rory began before her brother interrupted.

"That's clearly cheating, of course, she'd recognize it! Really, none of us had a chance," Aidan murmured to Maximus, who did not look interested in the slightest.

"-It has the same symbol on the wall," Rory continued while rolling her twinkling eyes, ignoring his comments, "and if I'm right, I assume they use their brand as a trophy, something to show off."

"And oh, how they love their trophies!" Eliphas sang with a clear second meaning. This made Rory frown slightly, not understanding the hidden definition behind his words. "I was a part of this coven for many years. I know every move they plan to make."

"Yet, you somehow managed to escape," Rory brought up skeptically, tilting her head analytically, "and now, you're back after you betrayed them, completely carefree, it seems. You know... you'd think that they'd be a bit harsher with you."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself, twinsie. Acting smarter than you really are will do nothing but get you killed," he patronized, ridiculing her as one would with a child.

"You're right, and I don't know much about how this place works. But I do know how people think and that doesn't change just because I'm in a place with dragons in the sky," she spat at him, taking a dangerous step towards him before pausing. Rory took a moment to compose herself, her eyes turning back to the wall with the coven's symbol. "And I'm beginning to piece together your plan, how you planned this the whole time."

"And how did I do that?"

"With a Trojan horse," Rory began, not taking her eyes off the wall. She heard someone behind her ask what she just referred to, but she ignored them. "You led us in as prisoners, they'll never suspect that we're planning an attack. By letting them think that they tricked you, they'll think they've won. They'll be too proud of their apparent victory to even think of an attack in their own house by the prisoners."