Page 43 of Bear Protector
“Are you listening to yourself right now, Reena?” Kiera yelled, cutting off her friend. “You have something that works, right there in your hand! Why can’tthatbe the solution that puts an end to this year’s transformation ceremony? You have a way to save your brother, Ryan…and me too, I’ll add. Plus Coco. So why not push the issue with the Chancellor? Demand the change.”
“Relax, kiddo. To go that route, it means complete defiance of Minassus, and that requires something more than a botanist witch flying off the handle to get her way.”
“Like?”
“Well, now that you asked, we needed to get the Nauru on side…and to work with Commander Oslo’s soldiers…oh, and enough backing from, I don’t know, the Chosen!”
“Well newsflash, Reena. I’m on board now.”
Reena flashed her a grin. “Then we’re golden.”
“Excellent. So, here’s another question. Is there another way to enter the dungeons? I imagine the guards did not just walk these destroyers in through the front or back door on full display.”
“That is correct. There’s an old prisoners’ entrance at the back. It’s a tunnel that opens out on that spot behind the fortress where the land slopes down to the waterway.”
“Oh. It makes sense to use the channel leading to the old shipping canals…” Kiera turned to look at the sleeping monsters again. “Don’t destroyers need to be in a body of water to survive?”
“They do.”
“How have the guards kept them alive for all these years without a place to…there must be a water source or something similar down here.”
Reena nodded. “Behind that wall they’re chained to. There’s a ramp-like corridor that descends to an underground grotto. Minassus had the blacksmiths build an enclosure in the water. The guards let out our test subjects, but only long enough to keep them alive. I believe it’s once every ten to fifteen days during winter.”
“Right. Reverse hibernation.”
“Exactly. They are more lethargic in the warmer months.”
“Hmmm,” Kiera scoffed, shaking her head. “This fortress contains so many secrets. An underground cave? Captured ravages used for testing? Dead witches in the Chamber of the Sacred? No wonder I cannot trust anything the Chancellor ever taught me. So much of it turned out to be lies.”
“I know what you mean, dear.”
“I’m tempted to search every single inch of the place to see what I will find.”
“Good luck with that.”
“I think I’ll start with his private study.”
Reena placed her hand on Kiera’s forearm. “Be careful, all right? Do not do anything to make Minassus suspect what we’re up to. Remember what I said about staying off his radar?”
“I will only need a few minutes, I believe.”
“If he finds out, he will—”
“Kill me? I would like to see him try, now that I’m getting stronger. Speaking of which, how did you immediately guess that the reason I could read the Chancellor’s mind had to do with losing my virginity?”
“I don’t know. I deduced it, I guess.”
“That’s strange. I mean, all the texts I’ve ever read suggest the opposite, that our powers can fade.”
“You should ask Coco. She has seen a lot more than any of us.”
“Okay I will.”
“Actually, do you mind if I get Coco down here with me?”
Her friend looked back at her with eyebrows furrowed. “Sure. Why?”
“I want to try something.”
