Chapter 138: Freedom’s Blade

Elira

One single day. That was all the time I had left.

Florida’s words burned constantly behind my eyes, replaying again and again in my mind like a cruel, inescapable curse: Tomorrow Felix begins the ceremony. If I missed this narrow window of opportunity, the cage would lock around me forever.

I paced the narrow length of the room, my bare feet dragging heavily across the cold, damp stone floor. The unforgiving walls pressed closer with every frantic step, ...