Inside the Dragon Chamber

Giref snorted. "Most of them can stop a low-velocity, small-calibre projectile before it hits. They reduce environmental exposure and slow projectiles. You'd have trouble trying to burn this tunic."

Peter

"Would it stop you from being burned beneath the tunic?" I asked.

Giref narrowed her eyes. "No. But I'd be surprised if it's any more dangerous than some of the other things we've faced."

Peter

"Right now, anyone with power over heat could burn you very badly," I told her.

Giref pointed to her eye-patch. "Are you trying to threaten me? If you think the soldiers of the Imperial Norlan Army couldn't stand a bit of burning then you've gravely underestimated us."

Peter

"I'm not threatening you," I said. "I'm just saying what people with these abilities are capable of. But honestly, they're capable of a lot more than we've mentioned. Additionally, full-out attacks aren't how the Sybek operate. They might end up ready to destroy your world without you ever knowing they were there to begin with. Before they pull the switch, they go around acting like saviors and providing 'salvation' from total destruction to anyone who hasn't heard about them yet. The second they feel threatened at this stage, they set their machine to destroy and leave to a different world. If you haven't ended up joining them by this point, you die with everything else on your planet."

Giref nodded. "So how do we track them, then?"

Peter

"You can't unless you have the power," I said.

Giref nodded slowly. "So, in that case, our only real option is to gain favour with them and ally with them. I think they'll be pleased when we show them captured enemy agents." She shrugged. "Sorry it had to be like this."

Peter

"What?!" Sarah demanded. "That's not fair!"

We'll get out of this, I reassured.

"They don't ally with anyone," I told Giref. "You just join them and do everything they say."

Giref shrugged again. "If the entire Norlan Empire joins, who is really doing the annexing?"

Peter

"There are entire worlds controlled by the Sybek," I said.

Giref glared at him. "There are millions of us. We may become something else, but we always survive. The Norlan Empire has never fallen and it will never be destroyed completely."

Peter

"Okay, okay," I said, "I was just making sure you were aware of what you were up against. That's all."

Giref smiled sadly. "Thank you. And I am truly, truly sorry."

Peter

I said nothing. I wasn't about to tell her that we could use our powers to escape with relative ease, especially if they had magic wards or something that could somehow block us.

I take it you're not up for shifting yet, I thought to Sarah.

No, she started, but I can manage it soon...I think.

Don't push yourself, I told her. We can't have you getting into the danger zone.

Right...

Giref sighed. "Well, I'd best be going now, but I think you dropped this when you appeared in the Dragon Chamber." She flicked a silver button through the bars.

Peter

"What?" Sarah asked. "What's this?"

Giref shrugged expansively. "I don't know, but it isn't mine." She turned and began walking. "I'll probably see you again before command has located the Sybek."

The button has the initials ROS carved on it, and is wrapped in a scrap of paper, with "15pm, don't sleep" written on it.

Peter

I guess we just wait now, I thought to Sarah. Worse comes to worst, we melt through our restraints and have you make a hole in the wall. But it's not like they'll be encountering the Sybek any time soon, so we have time to get our strength back up.

Right, yeah... she thought back. I wish we could take these off, though... She rubbed her neck.

It won't be for much longer.

At fifteen o'clock in the evening, the door to the upper dungeon opened, admitting Giref and two privates. She saluted the guard on Peter and Sarah's cell.
"The snow is bright tonight," she said.
"A shroud for our sisters," replied the guard, unlocking the door. Giref entered, taking the key from the guard and unlocking Sarah's neck chain first. She raised a finger to her lips then unlocked Peter's, taking care to lock the collars again once they were unoccupied.

Peter

I nodded thanks, rubbing my neck where the collar had been. Finally... I was glad to be free of that. It was really the notion behind it that bothered me the most, I think.

I wonder why she's locking them again, though, I thought.

Leading them out, Giref locked the door again. "Remember," she said to the guard. "One moment they were there, the next they were gone. Don't embellish the tale."
She turned to the erstwhile prisoners. "Follow us."
She led them through the high, cold corridors of the castle before coming out into the crisp air on an anti-air gun emplacement. She saluted the gunner.
"The snow is bright tonight."
"A shroud for our sisters."
She turned to Sarah and saluted sharply. "This is where we part ways. The Restitutional Order of Skatha will see you to a safehouse. In a few minutes, the guard is going to raise the alarm and I will be needed inside the citadel. May Alfin guide your blades."
She turned and hurried back into the castle.
"Right," said one of her entourage. "We'll be holding this rope as you shin down. The moment you're both on the ground we'll throw it down to you. If anyone asks, you're the children of a visiting noble from the Empire of Erestos and you don't know anything about Norlan customs. Got it?"

Peter

Of course she saluted Sarah. Oh well, it didn't matter anyway.

"Right, thank you," I said.

I did know a bit about Norlan culture, but I certainly didn't know everything.

The guards threw one end of the rope over the wall and held the other end, bracing themselves against the low parapet. as they did so, the gunner spoke.
"It's not much," she said. "But any victory we can claim over the Dragon Chamber is a victory for our dead sisters."