We waited until the funeral procession returned and began to scatter before we abandoned our hiding spots and made our way into the fourth level. Aymon had left to find out where they were planning to launch the attack on our moon-based crew, and we’d agreed to meet behind Marlowe’s Tavern to join him in thwarting that endeavor.

We found him waiting just around the corner, wearing his daytime uniform. He wore a red lens and was able to see us as soon as we emerged from the shadows.

“This way,” he muttered, then guided us through the back alleys of the fourth level.

“I thought they would be launching from the Palisade,” I said, looking over my shoulder. Patrik, Sienna, Tobiah, Pheng-Pheng, and Cadmus were close behind me as we snuck past unsuspecting Imen. Aymon’s presence worked in our favor, as the townspeople were fearful of him and kept their distance.

“I thought the same thing, but my source said they moved. Apparently, they’ve got a better angle from down here,” Aymon said, pointing at a stone tower rising far back, close to the mountain wall. “That’s the spot.”

Patrik scoffed. “This is going to be easy, then.”

“Thank the stars,” I replied, knowing exactly what he meant.

“What do you mean?” Aymon asked, looking straight ahead and pretending there wasn’t a string of invisible rebels behind him as we turned right and got closer to the tower.

“We’ll just rig the base with explosives and tear it down in one go,” Patrik replied. “As soon as the Adlet flare goes up, we’ll—”

A loud pop erupted from the top level. We all froze and looked up. The Adlet flare had just been launched, shooting into the sky and exploding into a bright, hovering red orb. The signal was up. War had begun.

“I think we need to hurry,” Aymon breathed.

He sped up, while we spread out behind him. Fifty yards ahead, where the tower was, we could see that six COs had been assigned to protect it. We needed to take them all down fast. Aymon went up and greeted them with a military salute. They all looked nervous, glancing at the flare in the sky.

“What’s going on up there?” Aymon asked, pointing at it.

The Correction Officers shrugged.

“I don’t know, it just—” One of them tried to reply but found himself stung by Pheng-Pheng’s scorpion tail.

Before the others could react, Tobiah, Sienna, and Cadmus moved in and delivered the fatal blows. Patrik set the fifth guy on fire. I swooped in and cut his head off. Aymon drove his sword through the sixth Mara’s chest, then withdrew it and decapitated him in a flash. Two seconds later, they were all on the ground, lifeless.

The city rumbled as the townspeople became agitated at the sight of the flare. A war siren rang loudly, blaring through all the city levels, announcing an impending attack. We didn’t have a view of the Valley of Screams from our position, but it was safe to assume that the allied forces had come out and were advancing toward the mountain.

“I’ll keep a lookout in case there are more COs in the tower,” Aymon said, settling by the ground floor entrance. “You do your thing.”

Patrik handed each of us a handful of explosive sticks, which he’d crafted from a combination of manure, crystals, and highly flammable powders. We spread around the tower and attached every bundle to the wall, connecting the wires and rolling them out, back to Patrik.

I looked up and spotted a cannon coming out from the top window, pointed at the sky. That was the weapon they were going to use against our people. It was powered by swamp witch magic.

“Hurry, Patrik, they’re getting ready to fire,” I murmured as we all stepped back.

Patrik rolled the wires farther, leaving a distance of twenty yards between us and the tower. He gripped them tightly between his hands, then muttered a spell under his breath.

My heart skipped a beat as I watched a flurry of glowing yellow veins spread across the length of the cannon. Whatever that spell was, it was revving up and preparing to launch a potentially devastating attack on our people. I glanced up, following its aim, and saw one of Neraka’s moons—one narrow side of it, anyway—barely visible in the clear blue sky.

“Everybody, find cover!” Patrik said, then finished his incantation.

His hands lit up in a bright blue glow, which extended into the wires, all the way to the explosive charges. Light burst through it, then split into multiple sparks and darted into the charges. They were all instantly detonated, an eardrum-shattering bang ripping through the entire neighborhood. The blast radius was contained to about thirty yards, knocking us off our feet as we ran back.

Dust and smoke billowed out in suffocating rolls. We all got back on our feet and kept running away from the hot point. The ground shook. The tower structure groaned and rumbled. Once we got far enough away, we turned around, just in time to watch it all go down like a house of cards. With its base destroyed, the tower didn’t stand a chance. It went down fast, the screams of the Maras caught inside reaching our ears.

With one tragedy averted, Patrik and I gave each other a brief nod, then headed back to the main road leading to the second level.

“Come on!” I said, motioning for the rest of our team, along with Aymon, to follow us. “We’ve got a prison to sabotage!”

Pheng-Pheng chuckled as she ran right behind me. “Not my first one!”

We left the devastation behind as concerned Imen and stunned Correction Officers on that level rushed toward it. This was only the beginning. By the time we were done with them, the Exiled Maras wouldn’t even know where they were or what they were anymore.

Correction Officers were pouring out of the prison and from the darkest nooks of each city level, rushing to the mountain base to take their defensive positions. They were so anxious and preoccupied with the incoming allied forces that they didn’t even notice us as we slipped through one of the second-level doors into the prison.

The alarms inside were ringing as well, a bell repeatedly tormented at high speed by a small hammer. It scratched my brain, but I had to push the annoyance back, as we followed Aymon through the main corridor into the prison block.

“Get your skeleton keys and explosive pods ready,” Patrik said to us.

Laughlan had made skeleton keys to open every single cell in here, while Ryker had prepared a special batch of explosives—extremely potent and concentrated quantities inside palm-sized wax pods with long fuses. The best part about these pods was that we could time their explosions, from one minute to ten seconds, depending on how short the fuse would be cut.

“So, what’s the timing on the pod fuses?” I asked as Aymon opened the large iron door leading into the cylindrical hall of the prison.

“It’s a second per centimeter,” Patrik replied.

Aymon took his first step inside, then stilled. A puff of yellow dust was blown in his face. He passed out and fell backward, flat on his back.

“Crap,” I said under my breath, then pulled my mask on. “They’ve gotten extra vicious this time around.”

Tobiah darted forward, growling as he rammed into the two Correction Officers who were waiting by the door and who were responsible for Aymon’s current state. He ripped the head off one in a single, decisive move, then slashed the other’s throat with his bare claws.

Sienna came from behind and removed the head from the Mara’s shoulders altogether.

We made it inside the prison, still baffled by the ambush, as more Correction Officers came at us. We fought tooth and nail, struggling to keep our distance, since they’d all brought the swamp witch knockout powders.

“How did they see us coming?” I croaked, then slashed at a CO’s chest. Blood sprayed out. I stepped back, making sure I didn’t get any of it on me. I didn’t want to lose my invisibility advantage, since not all of the COs were wearing red lenses.

Pheng-Pheng drove her tail spike into another Mara’s throat. Cadmus cut off his head to finish her job. But it wasn’t enough. It was only a matter of time before they knocked one of us out, weakening our defenses.

A bloodcurdling roar cut through the prison.

We all froze for a split second. Velnias emerged from an open cell with two swords and started cutting down Correction Officers left and right, ruthless and chillingly efficient. His intervention gave us the boost we needed to take the others out.

A minute later, headless bodies littered the ground floor of the prison, blood pooling beneath them. It made my stomach churn, but this was war, and the Exiled Maras were determined to do whatever they could to keep their reign of terror going.

“Good to see you’re still here,” Patrik said to Velnias, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Velnias grinned. “I figured I’d stay back, watch what these suckers were up to, and prep the scene for you,” he replied.

“We thought you were dead,” I retorted, my tone reprimanding.

“I was worried about you, too,” Velnias shot back with amusement, making me smile.

“They saw us coming,” Pheng-Pheng said.

Tobiah and Sienna rushed back to get Aymon. They used smelling salts to force him to wake up, then helped him stand as he shook his head and regained full consciousness. I passed the water around, so we could all reveal ourselves to the prisoners. There was no longer a need for us to hide.

“They had mirrors installed in every corridor after you kids left yesterday,” Velnias replied. “They’re small and angled to reflect into that big one over there,” he added, pointing at a large round mirror mounted on the wall perpendicular to the door.

“And the knockout powders,” Tobiah muttered. “I’ve never seen Maras use them before.”

Velnias shrugged. “They’re the stuff of swamp witches, but these pompous bastards thought they were above them.” He scoffed. “Until they realized they were actually useful and were desperate to catch you all at any cost.”

“Okay, let’s move. War’s about to break out, and we need to free all the prisoners,” Patrik said, looking up and around at the cells.

Creatures watched us from behind bars, a mixture of fear and curiosity imprinted on their faces. We spread out and worked our way through the ground-floor cages first, then moved on to the upper floors.

One by one, Imen and rebel Maras were set free. Sienna guided them to a clear space near one of the daemon tunnels, motioning for them to split up. “Those of you who think you can put up a fight, move to the left. Those in need of rest, medical attention, and assistance, stay where you are,” she said.

More creatures came down from the upper cells as Patrik, Tobiah, Pheng-Pheng, Velnias, and I unlocked more cages and solitary units. I stilled at the sight of a creature that wasn’t quite like the others. She didn’t look like an Iman, and she certainly didn’t bear any Mara characteristics. I slid the cell door open, then offered her a hand.

She seemed weak as she stood up and leaned against the wall.

“I’m Scarlett,” I said softly. “We’re here to help you. It’s time you all go free.”

She looked at me, a sparkle of curiosity lighting up her turquoise eyes.

“You’re not from around here,” she murmured. “You’re not a Mara.”

“No, I’m a vampire. I come from another world,” I replied, smiling. “You’re not from around here, either, are you?”

There was an eerie glow about her that seemed somewhat familiar, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it, until she told me.

“I’m Tisha,” she said. “I’m a fae.”

“Whoa, how’d you get here?” I asked, while the prison murmured in the background. “Were you on the Druid delegation?”

She shook her head. “No, I was on a travel mission from Youna. It’s a star system not far from here. I was meant to deliver some rare crystals to the fae king in the Mandris system,” she explained. “The Maras here used a beacon to draw my pod. Once I entered their atmosphere, I couldn’t pull back. I crashed, and they captured me.”

“You’ve got space travel pods?” I replied, raising my eyebrows.

“On Youna we do, yes. The crystals I was delivering to Mandris make travel through this universe possible,” she said. “It’s why I was out here, to share our technology with other fae planets. It’s easier than relying on any form of magic, and our solar system is rich in stysis crystals.”

“I take it those are the crystals that power your pods?” I asked. She nodded. “When did you get here, Tisha?”

She sighed, then pointed at the wall behind her, which was covered in scratches. She’d been counting the days, etching a small line for each. At first glance, I counted approximately five Nerakian years.

“You said they used a beacon,” I said, then walked over and put her arm over my shoulders. I helped her walk out of the cell and guided her down the metal staircase.

“Yes. It was a thin beam of light, flashing out from the mountain. I could see it from space. It had a deliberate sequence of short and long flashes. I thought it was a distress signal or something, so I steered my pod toward it. As soon as I entered the atmosphere, however, I was shot down by a bright ball of fire.”

Around us, the last top-level prisoners were coming out and making their way to the ground floor. We all gathered at the bottom, where Patrik smiled at the sight of us.

“Ah, I see you found another non-Nerakian up there,” he said lightly, then respectfully bowed before Tisha. “I’m Patrik, Druid of Eritopia.”

The fae lit up like the morning sun. “Eritopia! I’m from Youna!”

Patrik nodded, clearly thrilled to meet her, while I watched the exchange with great interest. “Youna is a system known for its technological advancements,” he briefly explained to me. “They’ve got incredible resources out there, minerals you won’t find anywhere else. Merchants used to come in from there before Azazel’s reign, trading their goods for ours. I haven’t seen a Younan for a very long time.”

“She crash-landed here,” I replied, frowning and unable to hide my concern. “The Maras used a beacon to draw her pod into the Nerakian atmosphere, then shot her down and captured her.”

Patrik nodded, then sighed and pointed at five other creatures—two males and three females. They didn’t seem local either. “Fae from Mandris, and two Druids from Persea,” he said lowly. “Also drawn in by a beacon and shot down. They were all on different travel missions when they were lured onto Neraka. The Druids used interplanetary spells, but they didn’t have swamp witches on board with them. Thank the stars.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, last thing we need right now is to try to get more of them out.”

“The Mandrisians used their proprietary transport methods, combinations of local magic and technology,” Patrik added. “They were headed to the Youna system, looking to purchase stysis crystals.”

“And Tish here was on her way to Mandris to deliver stysis crystals,” I grumbled.

“The Exiled Maras have been using the beacon over the past century or so,” Aymon interjected, nodding at Tish and the other outsiders. “They were hoping they would capture and feed on random travelers, when the Imen population first started dropping.”

“Then they reached out to us, looking to bring in more of our kind so they could force us into camps, right?” Patrik asked.

“Pretty much, yes,” Aymon replied. “The idea, like you probably already know, was to get the outsiders to reproduce and repopulate Neraka as the Maras’ and daemons’ main soul food source.”

“This is disgusting and wrong on so many levels,” I muttered, crossing my arms and shaking my head.

“I know. It’s one of the reasons why I could no longer—Ouch!” Sienna tried to say something, but her blood oath spell took over, burning her face. My heart broke to see her like this. Even though the red blotches were already healing, it must’ve been torture to not be able to speak openly.

“It’s okay,” I replied gently. “I know. It’s why they branded you with that blood oath.”

“As bad as it sounds, I’m glad we found them here,” Patrik said, nodding at the Druids, Tish, and the Mandrisians. “We need all the help we can get right now.”

“What’s the plan?” one of the Druids asked.

“Our crew is rescuing the swamp witch from the Palisade as we speak. Once she’s in a safe place, she’ll take down the shield that blocks Neraka from the outside world,” I explained. “We’ve got a fleet of Eritopians and our own warriors waiting on one of the moons. As soon as that damn thing comes down, it’ll be over for both the Maras and the daemons.”

They all nodded slowly. Velnias pointed at the two groups of prisoners. Tobiah stood by the wounded and weak ones. I counted over eighty of them. Pheng-Pheng was with the able-bodied ones, the majority of whom were Imen. There were two hundred of them, plus another sixty Maras. Those were good numbers to work with—good enough to make my heart skip a beat, animated by an extra dose of hope.

“We need as many fighters on our side as possible. There’s a war coming to the surface,” Patrik said. “Cadmus will get the others out of here through one of the daemon tunnels. That way, they won’t need to use any invisibility paste and risk an exit through the city.”

“I’ll go raise one of the gates,” Velnias chimed in, then rushed across the hall, where all the mechanical controls were.

Less than a minute later, the alarms went off, and the southern gate went up with a loud, metallic screech. Velnias then came back out, while Tobiah pointed to the tunnel.

“Go through, straight ahead,” Tobiah said to Cadmus. “At the four-mile marker, you’ll see a set of circular stairs leading up to the surface. Go up. It will take you to the field south of here, approximately fifty yards from the gorges. You’ll be safe there.”

Cadmus nodded, then went in first, followed by the prisoners. The weaker ones went through, leaving the rest of us to prepare for the battle upstairs. Velnias scratched the back of his head, looking down at the dead Correction Officers.

“Okay, so who’s up for killing some more of these bloodsuckers?” he asked, then looked at the rebel Maras. “No offense, fellas.”

One of the freed Maras shrugged. “None taken. It’s literally what we are.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Thank you all in advance for everything that you’re about to do,” I said. “Now, everybody, grab a weapon. It’s about to get crazy up there, and once it does, it’s up to us to wreak a little extra havoc. Whatever it takes to keep the Maras and potential daemon hostiles busy while our friends get the swamp witch to take the shield down.”

They all nodded, then picked swords and knives off the ground, relieving the fallen COs of all their weapons.

“Grab those powder pouches, too,” Aymon said, pointing at the COs’ belts. “Just don’t sniff them; they’ll knock you out in a second.”

“How do we know when it’s the right time for us to go up?” Tish asked, getting herself acquainted to a longsword’s ivory grip.

“There’s another set of mirrors mounted in a small vertical duct that connects the office ceiling to the second level,” Velnias said. “I’ll give you the green light once I see allies breaching the first-level defenses. The COs angled the mirrors at the top to give them a full view of the mountain base.”

I sighed, bracing myself for that moment. “The Adlet flare was launched. I’m guessing it’ll be another ten or twenty minutes before we go up.”

“Good. In the meantime, our friends here can drink some water and feed on some blood,” Velnias replied, then went back across the hall and opened a refrigerated storage room.

It looked dark and spacious, filled with tin pots and glass jars. The COs had used swamp witch magic to preserve the food supplies in there—both blood and actual food for the Imen. They needed them fed and hydrated if they wanted to consume their souls long-term. The idea sent shivers down my spine, but that storage came in handy now.

We needed our fighters in good condition—or as decent as possible, given the short notice they had prior to going to actual war.

One by one, the able-bodied prisoners had their previous mind-bending marks removed by Sienna. We needed their heads clear for this. They then retrieved nourishing portions from the storage room. Velnias brought the south gate down. If there were daemons coming through, we certainly weren’t going to make it easy for them. My only hope was that the other prisoners would get out before the daemons made their way toward the city. Their chances of survival were high at this point, since most daemon hunters were out after dark. Even with a war coming, hunters didn’t stop doing their jobs. Their people needed to be fed.

“Alrighty then,” I muttered, taking a deep breath.

Patrik gave me a soft, loving smile, then closed the distance between us and kissed me. The feel of his soft lips against mine instantly reinvigorated me. There was something about him that just pumped me full of energy, and I needed plenty of that for what lay ahead.

“We’ll get through this,” he murmured in my ear.

I dropped a kiss on his cheek, then grinned, brimming with confidence.

“We’d better! You need to take me out on a date or two. Or ten,” I replied.

“Would a thousand work?”

“An eternity?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

He chuckled. “Even better.”

Provided we survived this, we were looking at an eternity together—also provided, of course, that Patrik would choose to turn vampire. The thought of watching him die of old age made my heart bleed. Sure, Druids had a ridiculously long lifespan, but he was my forever guy.

First things first, Scarlett.

With that in mind, I looked at the rest of our crew as they got ready for the fight. We were lucky to see so many of them still able to fight. At least half had been down here for decades, confined to their cells and cages.

Soon enough, they would see the outside world again. They would join us in our fight for freedom.