Thorne led Cinder down the narrow pathways of the prison's underground and the two kept quiet. Though there was only a slim chance that others could be hiding or loitering down in the tunnels with them, Thorne refused to take that chance. It was better to be extremely cautious and succeed, than to be careless and get caught.

The tunnels themselves were clearly man made. The walls were formed by pickaxes and manual labor. Cinder could see it in the angles and widths of the flat surfaces of each section of wall. Thorne held a small torch to light their way. Other than that, the tunnels were in complete darkness.

Some of the walls were cracked. From even fewer, the cracks seeped with water, letting it dribble onto the floor. If anyone slipped down here by themselves, they were in for trouble and long, distasteful pain. If only there was some kind of system that let people contact someone to help them if they were injured and were all alone. What a revolutionary idea.

The further down they got, the smaller the tunnels became. Soon, Thorne and Cinder were hunched down, their heads brushing the ceiling of the tunnel. Cinder despised the idea, but they had been walking around for what seemed like hours. She had a sneaking suspicion that they were lost.

Tentatively, Cinder asked Thorne for the truth. "Thorne, are we lost."

"No," he immediately retorted. "We're getting closer. I know it."

Cinder sighed. She had her answer. Thorne was lost and was too ashamed to say it. Stars, if they kept walking around like this, they'd never find Crescent.

Thorne kept going like nothing was the matter, and that he was perfectly aware of where they were. They came to a fork in the tunnels and that's when his confidence visibly wavered.

He looked back and forth between the different tunnels. To the left, then the right, then the left, and the right again. His shoulders caved. "I don't know where we are," he mumbled.

Cinder nudged her friend lightly with her elbow. "Can I try?"

He shook his head to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It won't matter. We'll be stuck in here forever either way."

"No we won't," Cinder assured. "Trust me. I can get us out of here."

"How?"

Cinder rolled her eyes and explained to him something she - in retrospect - should have told him a long time ago. "I can remember almost everything I see. I know exactly where we are on the map. And I know how to get to the tunnels you said Crescent is probably in."

Thorne got so excited he dropped the torch and tackled Cinder with a bear hug. "Cinder, I could kiss you!"

"Please don't," she winced. Thankfully, the torch was still lit and burning brightly. She squeezed Thorne back and got him to let go of her eventually. Picking up the torch. She led the way to Crescent.

Yeah, she should have told Thorne about her memory ability days ago.

........................

Kai watched in horror as two canine-like people rounded the corner and attacked two of Levana's guards. They ripped into the men like they were little more than paper mache. Rather than stay frozen in fear, Kaito did the most logical thing and ran.

Levana was not as quick on her feet, and one of the soldiers leaped after her. Sadly, one of her Thaumaturge goons. Acted as a human shield and chanted some kind of voodoo to tame the monster.

Kai ran for his life, down corridors and past Lunar beggars and guards. The further he ran, the more he saw from the prison that he knew would give him nightmares for the rest of his life.

He got to a cell that was completely empty, and considered locking himself inside to protect himself from the escaped Lunar Soldier. His decision was made when he saw another Lunar Soldier come round the corner with a chain over his shoulder.

Quickly, before the soldier could see him, Kai got into the cell and pulled the door shut behind him. He gave it a quick shove, and it was indeed locked. A problem he would have to solve later.

The soldier came closer and Kai saw a man dressed as a Lunar guards close behind him.

"Was that all of the soldiers?" the guard asked. Kai vaguely recognized the guard. Something about him reminded him of the day the pirate Captian kidnapped him. The last day he saw Cinder.

The soldier flexed his jaw. "I think so. Even so, the ones we freed should keep Levana and her minions busy for the time being. We should head back to the Rampion."

The Rampion? Kai wondered. He knew that name. It was the title of the ship Captain Carswell Thorne ventured on. If those goons were heading back there, then they ... were a part of Thorne's crew.

Which meant Cinder was definitely here. On Dead Man's island.

Where Levan could find her again and have her killed.

Before Kai could get the attention of the guard and the Lunar Soldier, both of them ran down the hall and out of earshot. No matter how loudly Kai called after them, his cries were muffled by those of the beggars and other prisoners in the area.

He was trapped. With no means of escape.

Hopeless and defeated, Kai backed away from the cell door and against the wall to sulk. He wanted to at least rest after days of horror and anger flowing through him none stop.

Instead of a wall, Kai's back fell against a door. A large door that melted into the shadows, and could not be see unless you were staring at it from an inch or two away.

He flinched away from the mysterious door. For a moment, he searched for the handle and found one. It was cold and metallic, in the shape of a crescent moon. Curious and seeing nothing better to do, Kai opened the door to investigate what could be behind it.

He was less than whelmed when he found a dark staircase and no visible end on the other side of the door. A single torch stood on the wall near the top of the staircase, and Kai grabbed it for multiple reasons. One, because this prison gave Kai a newfound fear of the dark and what lies in it.

Two, if anything leaped out a him from the darkness, he would light it on fire without hesitation.

Both terrified and oddly excited, Kai decided to go on an adventure of his own. If there was any upside to going down a creepy staircase to an unknown destination, it was that Levana was not going with him.

That was enough to motivate him to go all the way down on his own. If he died down there, he'd put something sarcastic on his gravestone. Like "I died because I had great friends who told me to take risks. I took a risk, then I died. Thanks friends!".

........................

Kai realized something on his way down the stairs. He hated them. They were steep, slippery, not flat, and cracked everywhere. Stars, if Levana was going to make an infamous prison to inspire fear in the hearts of her enemies, she could at least keep it up to code.

The longer Kai walked, the more the fear from before faded from his mind. He'd been walking down a stupid staircase that seemed to have no end forever. When was the contraption going to end?

Missing a step certainly rushed Kai to the end much faster than walking on his own. He slipped and fell down dozens of stairs. He hit his head on the wall on the way down. Nothing bled or hurt too badly, which was probably a good sign.

At the end of the stairs, there were three tunnels. One to his left, another to his right, and the last was directly in front of him. The openings to his sides were dark and ominous. The one before him was faintly lit by what must have been another torch.

Call him a wus, but Kai chose the tunnel with light.

He held his torch in front of him as a way to see and a weapon. No monsters were going to snatch and eat him today.

He only had to take one turn in the tunnel before he found a small pool of water, with a person chained to the fall wall, half of their body wading in the water. They appeared to be unconscious, though Kai wondered if the person was dead.

He took careful steps closer to the prisoner and saw it was a girl. One that could not have been older than himself. She wore a tattered, white poet's shirt and her hair was cut of below her jawline. The poor girl was thin as a toothpick.

Kai stood at the end of the pool, and dared to look down at the water. There was no end in sight to the pool, as if it led to the bottom of the ocean. What unnerved Kai more were the girl's legs.

Actually, the girl didn't have any legs, which is what really caught Kai's attention. Instead, she had a tail. The tail of a mermaid.

He held his torch close and refused to let it go. He'd read about mermaids in the book about Lunars. All of them were immune to Glamours and were originally created to serve the Lunar Monarch. Unlike the Lunar Soldiers, all of the mermaids successfully escaped from Luna's tyranny.

Well, in exception to this one.

Kai had little to no idea of what to make of the little mermaid. He'd read that they were extremely dangerous and murderous creatures. But this girl didn't look like she could hurt a fly, much less kill someone.

Even so, he did not get close enough for the girl to potentially harm him.

He backed away from the girl when he noticed her wince. Maybe she wasn't unconscious after all. Maybe she'd been asleep the whole time. If so, she was the quietest sleeper Kai had ever encountered.

Her eyes blinked weakly a few times before they stayed half open. At first, she was listless and unfocused. Her eyes were lifeless as they traveled around the room, casually moving right over him three times.

She licked her cracked lips with her dry tongue and breathed weakly. It occured to Kai that she was deliriously dehydrated.

"Who are you?" Kai asked. The volume of his voice made the mermaid grimace. "Sorry," he said, quieter.

"Crescent Moon Darnel," she answered, barely focused. "I am a mermaid. I am sixteen years of age. I do not known the location of Captain Thorne or his ship. I do not have the Codex..."

After that, her words were less than coherent. She answered questions he hadn't asked her in such a mindless manner that reminded kai of something he'd seen before.

A tortured prisoner who'd been interrogated for so long, that the same answers repeated in their mind to the point that those answers were all then knew.

Kai placed his torch on the ground, away from the pool, and crouched down at the edge. "Crescent," he urged, trying to grab her attention. "How long have you been here?"

It took a moment, but she registered the question and gained more focus. "I don't know." She stared into the pool of water longingly. Kai's first guess was that she longed for freedom. Upon seeing her lips again, it hit him. She wanted to drink/

He cupped water in his hands and brought it to her mouth. She drank with speed and greed. "More please," she begged when she finished the first. Four handfuls of water later, Crescent looked more awake and exceedingly grateful. "Thank you."

"No problem," he told her. "Why are you here?"

She took deep breaths and leaned away from the torches. "Levana wants to find the location of something that could destroy her. I was the last one to see it, so she believes I know where it is. She won't let me go until I give her the location."

"She intends to let you go?" Kai knew the woman's common MO. Once she got what she wanted, she killed the middleman. Right now, Crescent seemed like Levana's middleman.

She shook her head. "No. She knows I've seen the book. She wants me dead as soon as I give it to her."

"Wait," Kai held up his hands. "Did you say book?"

She nodded. "It's called the Lunar Codex, or just the Codex. It contains every secret about Lunars that the world has ever discovered. It was created to be their undoing should they abuse their gifts. Why do you ask?"

Now that Kai knew what the book was called, and just how powerful it was, he became more motivated and sure that he had to get it to Cinder. Also, it painted the target Levana had on his back two rings larger. If she found out he had the Codex, she would inflict him with the worst kinds of torture. Like, force him to marry her, spend time with her, live with her. Stars ...

"No reason," he lied. "Who has the key for your chains?"

"I don't know," she told him for the second time. "But they're enchanted. They release when I say where the Codex is."

"Then say it."

She eyed him wearily. "How do I know you're not one of Levana's spies."

She was smart, Kai had to give her that. In light of a good idea, Kai rolled up his sleeves and showed her his wrists. "I'm not Lunar. And I'm the son of the Governor of Port Royal. I'd never work with Levana if she paid me to."

Rather than be suspicious, Crescent was surprised. Her eyes were wide, though they were not directed at him. She watched over Kai's shoulder with disbelief and aw.

Kai turned around and saw the face of a man he'd despised since Cinder was taken from him. The man who kidnapped him after pulling his unconscious body from a lake glared at Kai, pointing a pistol at his head.

"Get away from her," he snarled, murder prominent in his eyes.