A sharp crack split the air.
The next instant, the wall fractured. The embedded restraints shattered with a brutal snap. The entire metal block tore free from the stone in a spray of white debris. The injection modules exploded apart, tubes ripping from his veins with a wet, tearing sound.
Blood spilled down his arms. Peter didn’t even seem to notice.
He flicked his wrist, yanking the last conduit from beneath his skin. Then he looked at them. Completely relaxed.
"Alright. What are we waiting for? Where we headed? Where’s the exit?"
Lily stood frozen, struggling to process that personality. She understood her father’s warnings a little better now.
For a split second, she considered asking why he’d endured all that if he could’ve escaped whenever he wanted. Then she swallowed the question.
Tim, far more used to the guy, simply turned toward the corridor. And started walking.
Lily followed.
Peter trailed after them lightly, then stopped abruptly after barely two steps.
"Ah. Hold up."
He raised one finger. A thin, shimmering filament formed at its tip. Iridescent liquid pulsed—green bleeding into violet—then vanished in a blur.
A translucent hydra head manifested several meters away, forged from condensed toxins. Its jaws opened soundlessly as it shot out of the prison and into a supposedly empty adjacent building. Tim’s mental sense hadn’t detected a single presence.
A muffled scream echoed from inside.
The hydra surged through the doorway of a room Tim and Lily had skipped. Somehow, something in there had masked itself well enough to fool even their vigilance.
The moment the serpentine construct found its target, it bit straight into the man’s throat.
Venom flooded in.
A figure was dragged from the shadows, lifted into the air, feet kicking uselessly, then hauled back in front of the trio. Darkness spread beneath his skin. His veins blackened instantly.
He tried to scream. His jaw warped. His body contorted violently—
Then went rigid.
Dead.
A heartbeat later, he disintegrated into fine, colored dust.
Lily clutched Tim’s arm without realizing it. This guy was terrifying.
"W-who was that?" she stammered.
Peter barely glanced at where the body had been.
"The prison’s warden." He clicked his tongue. "Nice guy."
Tim rolled his eyes.
"Then why’d you kill him?"
A faintly cruel smile curved Peter’s lips.
"He was a nice guy."
Another beat.
"But he killed Hiri."
No emotion. Just a statement. Then, without missing a beat, Peter turned away.
"Give me two seconds."
He hurried toward the inner garden attached to the lab, movements quick and almost feverish. Without hesitation, he began methodically ripping up toxic herbs, dark-rooted plants, flowers with nearly translucent petals. He moved like a man who knew exactly what he was doing.
This wasn’t his first rodeo.
"That one’s important. So’s that. And definitely this." He talked as he harvested. "You have no idea what these are worth. Some of these, if you macerate them right... pure blessing."
Lily stared at him, stunned.
"We don’t have time—"
"Yes, we do. Two minutes."
He stuffed everything into an improvised sack, hands almost trembling with excitement. Finally, he straightened.
"Alright. Now we can go."
The trio headed for the staircase, glad to leave the empty, unsettling place behind. Well. The two teens were.
As they climbed the first steps, Peter slowed. He cast one last unreadable look over his shoulder.
The cell. The torn wall. The silent laboratory.
A faint, nostalgic smile touched his lips.
"I’m almost gonna miss it."
Then he shrugged and continued upward. The trio disappeared into the stairwell.
Silence settled.
At the center of the sanctuary, the chryselephantine statue stood motionless. For several long seconds.
Then—
Its eyes moved.
Abruptly.
As if awakening from deep stasis, a blinding light flared through its sculpted pupils. An ancient, low voice resonated through the empty chamber.
"So little time since my last awakening... and the world has already deteriorated to this extent."
A subtle tremor rippled through the engraved lines in the stone.
"It seems I will not have long to wait before I must manifest once more."
The sanctuary fell still again. As if nothing had happened.
Except—
The statue of Klayr was gone.