Aahliya Shenati's first breath hurt. Iron cuffs pinned her wrists above a rune-scarred slab, ankles chained, wings wrapped in null-silk. She groaned, spat Selasi's name like venom—then froze when the cell door whispered open.
A hooded figure stepped inside. Soft boots, straight spine, no visible weapon. The voice that slipped from under the cowl was low, distinctly female.
"Answer my questions and this ends quickly."
Aahliya bared her fangs. "Try me."
The woman drew back the hood. Night-black hair, violet eyes burning at the iris. She approached until their foreheads almost touched. Aahliya hissed, then snapped, "You'll get nothing—" and spat in the woman's face.
The interrogator wiped the spittle with two fingers, sighed. "Hard way, then." She fisted Aahliya's hair, forced the demon's gaze to hers. Violet flared to blinding purple.
Inside Aahliya's skull, doors flew open. Screams—her own—echoed down corridors of fear, rage, shame. Memories cracked like glass. Blood seeped from her nose, her ears; chains rattled with her shuddering. Still she refused. One final, ragged howl—and she slumped into darkness.
The interrogator released her, eyes dimming back to violet. "Let's see how long your mind stays whole," she murmured, turning away. Out in the dungeon hall the symphony of the deep levels rose—mad whispers, bestial snarls, metal grinding stone.
Rain whispered over Zone 7 as someone knocked on the Telani door. Elvira opened it—and froze. A robed man stood beneath the eaves, silver-thread emblem of Skyborn High Council stitched across his chest. Beside him, a silver-plated guard stood silent.Their mother reached the doorway, gasped. "Councilman… Eliadan Muthui?"
Eliadan lowered his hood. Lines of fatigue crossed his brow. He declined tea, stepped into the sitting room. Nia hurried in, Leila clutching her sleeve. The councilman's baritone filled the small house.
"Kayen is alive and in our care. He was injured, but he is healing." He spoke of demons, not of Effilim or council votes. Hope flashed in young eyes, tears filmed older ones.
A moment later he asked Mrs Telani for a private word. In the kitchen he told her what the council debated, what power might be growing in her son. Grief and steel mixed in her gaze; she thanked him anyway. Eliadan bowed and left, promising updates.
Far above Nairobi, twilight poured through crystalline windows into a quiet guest suite. Kayen jerked upright, heart hammering, half-sure the screams he'd heard were real. Only silence met him. Numbing gauze wrapped his torso; faint sigils drifted like fireflies before sinking into skin.
An attendant looked in, startled to see him awake, and sprinted down the hall. Seconds later Selasi strode in, tablet in hand, armour traded for soft fatigues.
"Easy," she said, guiding him back against the cushions. "You're safe here."
Kayen's head spun. "Why did that demon want me?"
Selasi set the tablet aside, crossed to the window. Chrome spires and sky-rails glittered beyond. She hesitated, turning a stylus between her fingers—caught between truth and orders. orders.
"My father will explain soon," she said softly. "For now… rest. No chains, no monsters."
Kayen managed a humourless laugh. "Monsters seem to like me."
Selasi's eyes flickered, remembering the council's vote. "Some of us don't."
Sector 7's junk-strewn neighbourhood smelled of wet metal when Aunt Grace called up the stairs: "Zemo! Visitors!"
He shuffled out, expecting another lecture—then froze at the sight of Elvira and Nia in the parlour. Elvira's eyes were rimmed red.
"I owe you an apology," she began, voice tight. Nia cut in, bright with reliColour returned to the boy's face. Circuits of guilt and worry short-edged into a crackling grin. He exhaled for what felt like the first time in days.
Outside, rain lifted. Somewhere far above the clouds, council doors were closing, and the votes that would shape all their futures were being carved in light and stone.ef. "Kayen's alive, Zemo! They found him."