The shackles felt too familiar. They were similar to the machine’s magic. The one that pushed her to her limits during the Headmistress’s tests.

Lady Naomi led her men and Sophia into a tall room with a domed ceiling that let daylight stream in from overhead. And it struck her as a way out of the mountain. That would make sense. The castle would need a few exits out of the mountain, and it was extremely plausible that the entire fortress was an elaborate gate barring the exit from the mountain.

She considered Torra had lied to them from the start. Though some of her actions didn’t seem as so in hindsight.

The thugs tossed her into an elaborate machine made of crystal and metal, and she clenched her teeth as she was strapped in.

Lady Naomi walked casually through the room, eyeing her. She seemed rather at ease with the progress of the events that landed Sophia in this predicament.

Sophia wanted to wipe that proud smirk off her face and said, “Interesting to bring me to a room with my exit. I think I’ll be going now.”

The woman laughed. “Oh, I doubt that.”

“Why? Because I’m strapped to this machine? Please. Simple. And when I do get out, you’ll have nowhere to escape except for going up.”

“If you are working to pry out of me that this,” she pointed up, “is the only exit out of the mountain, then you would be correct. Which makes this all the more pleasing. Watching you stripped of your power when so close to your goal. That was your goal wasn’t it?” She faced Sophia with her hands behind her back. “To leave the mountain?”

Sophia didn’t answer. Instead she jutted her chin forward and braced herself for what would be another painful experiment.

“This is my gem and testament to the power I’ve accumulated for myself.” She pulled a key dangling on a chain from between her breasts. “This is the key to the only way out.” She tucked the key back into place. “You, however, won’t be leaving this place. In fact, you’ll never see the surface again.”

Sophia watched as the woman approached the switch on the outside of the door into the machine. She flipped it on, instantly searing Sophia’s nerves with the electrifying pain that threatened to burn her from the inside out.

Through the pain, Sophia gritted her teeth and watched as crystals filled with her magical power, glow when full.

Lady Naomi smiled and said, “Do you like my contraptions? The idea of these crystals is to store your power for later use. I’m going to slowly bleed you dry, Sophia. You and your men.”

She snapped her fingers and curtains opened to reveal her men, each in similar machines and also being drained.

Anger blossomed in Sophia’s gut. She needed to save her men but breaking from the machine was going to take time and effort. Straining against the machine, she asked, “Is this what happened to the heirs of Nighthelm?”

Lady Naomi’s expression twisted into genuine confusion. “Who?”

Dammit. So, the heirs weren’t in the castle after all. Another dead end. Not that she didn’t have high hopes that the girl in the coffin was an heir. She just needed to know if they were here, in case she wasn’t one.

But the question worked to gain a bit of a distraction. She looked at her tattoo. She felt Haris deep within her soul, itching to come out. She had never tried to call on him without touching his image before, but this time, she desperately needed him. Biting against the pain, she focused herself and uttered, “Vocavi.”

Haris’s form disappeared from Sophia’s arm, and green smoke appeared behind Naomi. He solidified right behind her. He must have known about the danger and wanted to appear right where he knew she would need him. He speared Naomi with an antler, knocking her off balance and taking the key.

That’s my yakshi.

But the woman regained her composure and stood, turned, and started to blast Haris with fire magic. Being an earth creature, he didn’t stand much of a chance. Sophia needed a way out of the machine and fast.

Funneling all her magic into the machine, much like she did before, the contraption made grinding and metallic screeching noises as crystal started to shatter.

Lady Naomi looked over her shoulder at Sophia and glared. She increased the fire toward Haris, and he luckily was able to hold her off. But for how much longer, Sophia wasn’t sure.

She focused on her magic, summoning it, calling it to the machine. Sparks covered her body and pulse with intense pressure. A kick in her gut made her question if anything would be left once everything was said and done, but she couldn’t stop it now. She could only try to control it by focusing her energy on the machine and not everything in the room.

Her bones felt like they were being crushed under a great weight, and fire burned through her veins. All at once, the energy blew, knocking out the machine and freeing her from the seat.

She didn’t incinerate everything within a fifty-foot radius around her. She didn’t pass out, and she wasn’t naked, for once. She stood tall, feeling more powerful than ever. The change in her suited her. Power fit her like a glove. And now that she had access to the key, she could free her men and leave this place for good. But she was a woman of her word.

Despite Torra’s betrayal, she would still live up to her end of the bargain and end Naomi once and for all.