Chapter Twenty

The metal-barred door creaks open, letting Eden in with Eleanor behind him. The thief, Cyrus Orman, doesn’t say or even twitch as they enter; he just watches them coldly and carefully. From the looks of it, his body is bruised and soiled with dirt and patches of dried blood. The guards have already tried violence to get answers out of him, and no luck, it seems. That means, Eden will have to find a different way to get this Cyrus Orman to talk. But what?

Cyrus has been eyeing Eden with those cold, sharp, dark eyes ever since he popped out of the side of the cell. The thief probably sees him as a challenge, as Eden did catch him while chasing him on top of buildings.

“Cyrus, tell me where Marek is?” asks Eden.

Cyrus’s eyes are directed to the side, and he doesn’t reply.

“I need to know where your guild hides! I can’t let all of you thieves summon Five Star Armaments!”

The thief raises an eyebrow at Eden’s statement as if he’s confused, but still won’t say a word to him. Regardless of how quiet the guy is, his facial expression shouts. Maybe Eden could get a rise out of him somehow. He lowers to Cyrus’ level and in a low voice asks, “Why did Marek betray you?”

The cold gaze Cyrus has burns into a glare. “Marek! I’m going to kill him!”

“He left you behind to keep the Whale Stone for himself. You don’t have to stay loyal to him anymore now that he’s abandoned you.”

Cyrus hangs his head and sighs without a word of reply.

“I need you to tell me where the guild is.”

“You don’t understand. Marek betrayed the guild.”

“What?”

“He’s not in the guild anymore.”

Eden gives Eleanor a glance with concern, who returns one back. “Then where is he?”

“Only the damn goddess knows,” Cyrus scoffs.

A hollow feeling in Eden’s chest dreads him. Another dead end. There’s no way to find the Whale Stone and stop Marek. Eden shakes his head, refusing to stop, and presses Cyrus. “That’s it? You’re just going to rot in here and let this Marek escape?”

Cyrus shoots up and lunges.

“Eden, look out!” Eleanor yells.

The chains clink as they hold the thief from going any further; his face is just inches away from Eden. “If I weren’t in here, I would’ve found him and gutted him already!”

Would’ve found him? Those words spark an idea in Eden. A terrible idea. He turns to the knight who’s standing guard at the door and requests him to leave. The knight averts his gaze from him and perhaps glances at Eleanor, whom he then nods to and leaves.

“What are you planning?” Eleanor whispers.

For a while, Eden doesn’t reply. He wavers, deciding to tell her or hold his tongue. Eleanor’s eyes tell him she’s concerned and maybe knows that his plan is not a good one. He sighs and whispers to her. “What if we use him to find Marek?”

“Eden! That’s a terrible idea.”

“I know. But this may be our only chance at getting the stone back.”

“We can’t! We’ll have to find another way.”

“Eleanor, we can’t waste any more time. Who knows what this Marek would use the Whale Stone for. We have to act. Now.”

“No Eden, not like this.” Eleanor storms out of the cell.

“Eleanor, wait!” Eden turns to the thief, who’s looking at him with an eyebrow raised.

“What are you plotting?” asks Cyrus.

Eden peeks out of the cell to see if there are any guards nearby before returning to the thief and asks in a low voice, “You said you could find Marek, right?”

Cyrus doesn’t reply. Eden becomes restless with a desire to hit him, clenching his fist and sighing.

“I’m trying to make a deal with you.”

“With what?”

“I’ll ask the duke and the guards to see if they’ll let you out to help me if-“

“No. That’s not going to work for me.”

“It must.” Eden clenches his fist, considering his bad idea. Should he risk it and save Antallasso from Marek or see if Marek and the Whale Stone would fall from the sky in front of him? Eden remembers Greenbourge and how he was too late to save the townsfolk from the bandits. Then he sighs. “Then what if I offer you a way out and revenge on Marek?” Now, Eden has the thief’s full attention as the glare from his eyes is replaced with what looks like curiosity. “If I get you out of this cell, you help me get the Whale Stone back, and you can have Marek. Deal?”

The thief hangs his head like he’s contemplating Eden’s offering, then asks, “How are you going to get me out?”

“I was hoping you had an idea.”

“This is your plan? Brilliant.”

“Hey, I just came up with it just now. So are you in or not?”

“I’m in. But judging by your Armaments, I can tell you suck at stealth. So instead, leave the sneaking out to me.”

Cyrus’s words irritate Eden so much that he starts to fidget, like his body instinctively wants to hit him, but he holds it in. “Are you telling me you can sneak out of here if you wanted to all along?”

“Why, of course. All it takes is for me to snap my grubby fingers and poof! I’ll be outside these bars in no time. No, you idiot, that’s where you come in.”

“Can it or I’ll break that jaw off your mouth.”

“Do that and your chances of getting the pretty rock becomes slim.”

“Fine. Just tell me what I need to do.”

“I need you to get me my Armament.”

His Armament? Eden recalls his chase with Cyrus, the thief’s ability to go through solid objects. With Cyrus’ Armament, he can easily slip out of his cell without being noticed, which is better than having to free him from the inside.

Eden nods in affirmation. “But what does your Armament look like?”

“It’s a black and violet curved dagger with three silver stars on the blade.”

“Any ideas where it could be stored?”

“How about you use that brain your mother gave you at birth instead of asking me like I have all the answers to the goddess’ work, yeah?”

Eden growls. He stomps his way towards the exit, but Cyrus calls out to him.

“Bring my Armament to this window,” Cyrus nudges his head toward the barred opening, which is the only light source in the room.

Eden sighs. His heart aching or feeling hollow? A hint of regret? Or maybe it’s just him feeling nervous about all this. He exhales again and nods at Cyrus, then shuts the barred door shut. The lock clicks.