[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/ZPETHbP.png[/img]
Collab between [@The Muse] and [@c3p-0h]
[sub]Location: Outside the Jail[/sub]
[i][h1]Part IV[/h1][/i]
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For the briefest second, shock and concern flickered across Flynn’s face as his eyes fell to Daphne. By all accounts, she’d been one of the more pleasant Lunarian’s he’d dealt with. Hearing such a boorish, impulsive threat from her would’ve ranked low on his list of expectations.  

Gadez, on the other hand… 
Flynn’s expression hardened, eyes shifting back to the blond — his “[i]brother[/i].” 

Every word the man spoke dripped with utter hubris. Baffling, but expected. It was clear that the man believed he held the key to all of life’s mysteries, if only the rest of them were clever enough to understand it. 

Ahead of Flynn and Amaya, the knights subtly shifted. Eyes locked on Gadez, blades poised, waiting for a command. The air grew heavier, pulled taut as the Prince quietly considered the man’s question. 

On some things, he and Flynn could agree. The clergy was a threat. And apprehending him could waste valuable time in pursuing Aliseth, who, at the moment, posed a much greater danger. But, for all Flynn knew, Gadez was stalling — buying Aliseth time to escape through the back of the unfinished jail. Because, of course, Gadez could never be bothered to respond to a simple question with a straight answer.   

[color=337d71]“Enough.”[/color] Flynn finally said, voice low but sharp. [color=337d71]“You threaten regicide and presume I should let you walk free?”[/color] 

Green eyes narrowed, Flynn’s frustration began to bleed through the widening cracks in his restraint. [color=337d71]“For someone who has the answers for everything — can't you see that we aren't chasing prophecy? I am doing quite the opposite by being here at all.”[/color] 

A sharp voice in the back of his mind scolded him for wasting breath — and time. Gadez didn’t deserve the dignity of a reply, and time was a luxury they didn’t have.

Flynn’s gaze shifted to the knights, leaving no room for another lecture. [color=337d71]“Secure the—”[/color]

A blood curdling scream ripped through the air, echoing from within the prison. Flynn stiffened, hand tightening around the pommel of his sword, eyes snapping to the jail door.

Ice bloomed across the earth. 

Frigid and consuming, winter stretched through the courtyard, consuming whatever it could reach in a thick layer of crystalline white. In an instant, it climbed up, up, up the legs of all who stood there, encasing them up to the knee. In the center of it all, Amaya stood frozen. She alone was untouched by the eruption of her wild magic. 

She’d been a still figure as the scene had played out, words filling the air, covering her like a blanket of snow. But her mind had raced, her heart had pounded frantically as each movement of those around her, each new declaration, new action, had trapped her. Amaya’s eyes never left the quiet prison door — until Daphne had ordered her to stay protected, to flee, before casually speaking of her own death as though it was a foregone conclusion. It was too familiar, an echo of a nightmare she was still living through.

[i][color=fa8072]‘Your Highness, [u]run![/u]’[/color][/i]

A spray of crimson painting the snow with death and iron.

Fear so potent, she could [i]taste[/i] it. 

Another corpse laid atop a cold table, cloaked in black.

Another piece of her heart, beautiful and precious and [i]vulnerable,[/i] stepping forward to place himself between Amaya and a whispering threat. 

A scream — an anguished, dying wail that she’d hear in her dreams over and over again, tearing through her flesh and bone like fangs, until it pierced her heart. 

But this wasn’t a dream. Amaya was awake. And death was all around her, coating her world like ice. 

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[sub][b]Interactions:[/b] Dyna, Ranni [@Queen Arya], Daphne [@PrinceAlexus], Gadez [@Dezuel][/sub]