Caleb opened his eyes.
His head was pounding, like the beating of some strange drum, and he put his hand to it in an attempt to make it stop. It began to lessen, lulling slowly and surely.
He knew magic had been used to put him to sleep-Emily had done it to help him once-
but this was different. He knew he hadn't been changed in any way, but fairies and beings that disliked humans in general could be sadistic, if given the chance.
He stood up, unsteadily moving his legs, then abruptly fell back down again.
Chains had bound his ankles together, along with his hands.
He groaned in annoyance and fell back against the stone wall, trying not to scream.
Kara was out there somewhere, possibly lost or being hurt, and it was all his fault. I never should've let her go, he thought.
Oh, Emily...your daughter's just as headstrong as you.
Something moved in his dark cell, and Caleb stiffened, backing up at once.
It was a sigh of some kind.
It didn't sound like any noise a beast could make, but how could he know that for sure?
It was so dark he could hardly see his hands out in front of him. Then again, he reminded himself, demise beasts never need light, just a host. If only I had some water on me...
Then whoever was with him moved further. Caleb tensed up, but saw a flash of dark hair and an intense eye with a jagged scar running over it. "Oren," he said, relieved.
"Oren, it's me, Caleb!"
The bitter Gifted fairy was just the same as he had always been, with a pale complexion and a tall, bony form. He turned to look at him with slitted eyes. "Great," he muttered. "Just great. They could have at least put someone with adequate intelligence in my cell."
"You're funny," Caleb shot back.
"Save the comedy for later.
We've got to get out of here."
"You think I don't know that?" Oren spat.
"I would like nothing more, but these lovely chains are silver. If I move, my skin will dissolve from my hands. Try to come up with something, if you're capable of that much." Caleb gritted his teeth.
He had to be stuck with a fairy that tended to hate everybody except his sister. "Shut up.
I could just leave you here, you know."
With that, he dug through his pockets with both hands. They were empty.
In that moment, he figured it out.
The beasts had robbed him, taking his phone and just about anything else he had on him.
He cried out in despair. Those thieving, conniving, little- Suddenly something stood out on the floor. A rusty nail from a cell door lay on the ground, inches away from him.
It was closest to Oren. Caleb sighed.
He hated to ask for help from him, but he had to. "Hey, could you...do me a favor?"
"If killing you is a favor, then certainly."
Caleb shook his head. "You can't.
This place saps your magic."
Oren practically snarled.
"I know. Take your filthy nail."
The fairy flicked the object with one sideways movement, sending it skittering across the floor. Caleb seized it and began sawing away at his chains using the sharp end of the nail.
This would take a while, but it might just work.

Shade looked around him. They'd left the tattered remains of their home ages ago.
Reena had cried for a large majority of their trip, but he didn't blame her-they'd both been through a lot lately. Now his younger sister was practically sleep walking.
They had reached a place they both recognized-Sylvan's garden. They both had played here when they were little, messing up the flowers and such. The happy memories from those days did nothing to cheer them both up now, though. Their mother and April were in each and every one of their recollections, so it only saddened them further.
Shade snuck through the place, stepping over Sylvan's pansies and guiding his tired and grief stricken sister along. The door to the place was partially open. Shade ignored the strangeness of that and pushed past it. The normally clean home of the nature Gifted fairy was extremely messy. Things were strewn all over the floors, and the plants that were magically connected to Sylvan were dead or dying.
Even the furniture looked withered.
Shade dropped Reena's limp form onto a couch and sat down beside her to catch his breath. They'd been running through the woods instead of flying, but now they were both due for a rest. Shade rushed to the kitchen to look for something to eat before he rested.
Before he could, he spotted a note on one of the countertops. It wasn't Sylvan's writing.
Peony's decorative cursive writing was easy to recognize. He read it quietly to himself, upset by what it said.
нєℓℓσ, ѕнα∂є. ιf уσυ'яє яєα∂ιиg тнιѕ, ι нανє вєєи ςαρтυяє∂, σя нανє яυи σff тσ fιи∂ α ѕαfєя ρℓαςє тσ ѕтαу. кαяα αи∂ нєя fяιєи∂ѕ нανє gσиє αѕ ωєℓℓ, ѕσ ∂σи'т вσтнєя ℓσσкιиg fσя тнєм.  уσυ αи∂ уσυя ѕιѕтєя ѕнσυℓ∂ ∂σ тнє ѕαмє, αи∂ ℓєανє тнιѕ ρℓαςє вєfσяє тнє ∂ємιѕє вєαѕтѕ яєтυяи. ι'м ѕσяяу αвσυт уσυя мσтнєя, вυт нєя ѕριяιт ωσυℓ∂ вє нαρριєя тσ ѕєє уσυ αℓινє αи∂ ωєℓℓ αт тнє єи∂ σf тнιѕ тнαи αиутнιиg єℓѕє.  gσ ∂σ ωнαт уσυ мυѕт." ~ ρєσиу