Alex

The cell door creaked softly open to reveal grandmothe's haggard but composed face awaiting us solemnly. My heart cracked seeing proud spirit reduced so unjustly. But no time lingered for tender reunion. With lives at stake, only swift action mattered now.

I gripped the cell's iron bars fiercely. "Keegan, we come under veils of darkness to plot Mara's just ruin." My voice rasped low but urgent. "Her twisted web entangles all, but together perhaps we wield means still to shred apart her schemes before the killing stroke falls."

Keegan regarded us gravely through the gloom. "My weary mind embraces any path back into light, however treacherous it seems." His...