After the separation Reiner went to slash the corrupted meat. And Rivaan went to complete the promise of a girl.
The manor lower halls felt like a twisted maze.
Rivaan moved carefully his boot's echoing softly against the stone floor. Every corridor looked the Game the same cracked walls, the same silence.
He muttered to himself "This can't be right. I've been here before.
For a moment, doubt crept in. Was he lost?
Then, his glove plushed - a subtle hum, followed by a faint glow from the relic embedded within.
The compass ... & it moved.
It hasn't worked in the works. But now, the needle shifted.
Pointed with sudden certainty down the left passage.
Rivaan narrowed his eyes. "Guess that's the way then.
After several turns and downward steps, he found it - the large door rusted with time and soot.
He opened it slowly
Inside, the room was dim and heavy with silence. Steel cages lined the walls, filled with people - bruised, pale, and broken.
As Rivaan approaches near the steel bars. The prisoners backed away the moment they saw him.
"He's one of them!saman hissed.
'Please don't kill us" said another.
Rivaan said." I'm here to save you all and get you all out.
But they didn't believe him.
Then a voice — soft, hoarse - came
from the back.
Mira's mother stepped forward, squinting at him through gloom.
"You... You were with the sword boy. In the morning, at my bar.
The air shifted. Whisper spread..
Rivaan," I am here to take you all out"
Rivaan stepped closer to bars. He checked the locks and looked for Keys. Nothing.
He gripped the thick iron bars. They were cold solid. A man behind him chuckled dryly, "You won't. We've tried. That thing is made to hold monsters"
But Rivaan didn't stop.
He pulled. And then - SNAP
The bars cracked and bent open with a metallic groan.
Everyone stared.....
One prisoner stepped forward, speechless.
How did you....?
Rivaan looked at his own hands, Just as surprised.
"...I don't know", he said at last, "It just happened
One by one, the prisoners emerge and come out.
Rivaan was about to lead them out when something caught his eye.
At the end corner of the room, a girl sat alone separated from the others, shackled to the wall. Her head rested against the stone. Messy hair, bruised face. She looks around the same age.
She wasn't moving
Rivaan rushed near her "Hey", said gently, kneeling beside her.
Prisoners from behind.
"Don't touch her!" one cried."she's cursed!" said another
she got... strange eyes. One gold like the sun, the other... purple like a bruise.
Rivaan looked closely. She was breathing. Her face was peaceful, even in the dark.
One prisoner from behind, " Just leave her.. she is cursed":
Then Rivaan " If we start leaving people behind just because they're different," he said softly, "then we've lost everything that makes us human."
This silenced all of them...
He lifted her on his back.
No one stopped him this time. They climbed back through the manor hall. The was clear, the relic compass still guiding their way
Outside, Mad Meera and other villagers stood waiting. Their eyes wide open with hope.
And then -"Mama ...."