Such a Daring Endeavor by Cortney Pearson

pushes through into his open cell and ducks beneath his arm, hugging his torso and propping him up. She lifts quite a lot of his weight, and together the three of us drag him from the cell and into the open area. “I knew you were hurt, but…”
    “I was supporting myself on the bars,” he says with effort. “It took all the strength I had left.”
    Shasa mutters something about his stupid pride. Another resounding
boom
comes from the door. A larger section of metal bends from its center, and something clinks off and tinkles to the floor.
    “It won’t be long now, Miss Csille,” Tyrus taunts with another heavy slam. They’re coming faster now. The door’s metal hinges creak and whine, protesting against the gradual loosening. “Don’t get too comfortable out of those bars.”
    “We can’t get him through that narrow tunnel,” Shasa says with effort.
    “Then we heal him here,” I say, taking in our surroundings. Cells line either side of the open between-area. The ceiling angles upward to reveal two window-like spaces in the stone where small shafts of sunlight wither down.
    “Set him down there,” Ren says, his voice heavy with strain.
    We lumber to where the dead guard lies near his chair and a set of shackles dangling from chains mounted in the stone. Despite our assistance, Talon stumbles, knocking my feet out from beneath me.
    “Ren, please tell me you can do this.” In all of our planning I never once thought Talon would be this badly injured. I regain my footing and guide the others a few more feet before Shasa slumps Talon against the wall. Talon’s face creases under the pressure, but he braces himself with two hands, sliding his way back to sit against the stone.
    Ren pants over him. “I’ll do everything I can.”
    The prisoner in the cell next to Talon’s snatches my hand, his yellowed eyes pleading with mine. Months’ worth of growth scratches out along his jaw and over his mouth so completely, I don’t see his lips moving when his rough voice escapes them.
    “I can help you.” Dirt cakes his cheeks, and the smell…
    Still, the desperation in his eyes sinks into me. Knowing Tyrus, these men were imprisoned wrongfully. His grip tightens.
    “Shasa, help me release the other prisoners,” I say over my shoulder.
    “Are you serious?”
    I wrench out of the prisoner’s ha nds and gesture around to the others hanging from within bars. “It’s not like the Arcaians who imprisoned them are upholding just and helpful laws.”
    She grabs the keys from the doorway of Talon’s cell. “I’m on it.”
    Talon’s head lolls from side to side, and he grimaces in obvious pain. I kneel opposite from Ren, inadvertently putting pressure on his leg and winning a cramped inhale from Talon.
    “Sorry,” I tell him, lifting my hand away. Something else tacks onto my fingers this time. I thought it was grime and silt from the utter filthiness down here, but now I see the stains on his pants for what they really are.
    Anger spikes my blood. Gingerly, I hold my hands over Talon’s legs. I’ll try it—I’ve got to help him. To do something.
    Ren shoves my hands away.
    “I can help—”
    “Just keep watch,” Ren orders, pointing away.
    Unable to help it, I run a hand through Talon’s sullied hair, pulling it away from his forehead and revealing several bruises disguised as dirt. Ren’s hands alight with magic, and I know I can’t watch this.
    Talon grabs my wrist, securing me before I get the chance to go far. My gaze captures his.
    “You—you—” he stammers.
    “Shh,” I tell him, stroking his hair once more. “I’m not going anywhere.”
    Shasa yanks on the metal door where the prisoner who grabbed my hand waits. She tries keys, muttering curses in between phrases, like, “I never should have come here.” And, “Solomus was right, and now Craven has probably already taken her.”
    Sweat beads along Talon’s temples. His brow pinches at the pain I know he’s in, and his hand