Matthias Helvar - Blog Posts

pekka rollins knew how hurt kaz brekker.

(it's kinda sad so be careful!)

wylan died first.

pekka rollins was merciless when it came to wylan. he tore wylan to ribbons and made kaz watch this.

kaz still hears wylan's screams.

next death was jesper's death.

jesper never accepted wylan's death.

so when pekka slit his throat he was smiling.

and of course pekka rollins made kaz watch this.

matthias died next.

pekka shot matthias multiple times until he was just blood stain on pekka's carpet.

kaz prefered to be dead than watch his crows dying.

inej died after matthias.

she was seriously injured and she begged kaz to kill her bc she didn't want to die by pekka's hand.

how he could say no to inej?

he finished her.

nina died next.

kaz remebered her as the always laughing and one of the bravest girls he met.

so seeing fear in her eyes was destructing.

the last piece of kaz retvield died. he was now only kaz brekker and he was ready to destroy again pekka rollins.

Kanej🤝Hozier

Im willing to kill everyone I know and sell my soul to the devil for a hug from Jack Wolfe

kaz telling inej that pekka rollins killed his brother and her saying ,, then we destroy him " oh my god we love a supportive wife

I swear I’m going into hibernation until March 16th I can’t live without season 2

17 by The Greeting Committee belongs to the crows

Nina Zenik is a whole another level of iconic. She read dark romances and said "I'll do enemies to lovers" and actually pulled it off.

this time I get to be Jesper and Nina

the crows as things my friends have said, part 2:

kaz: "I should try that: dress all nicely and spread lies."

inej: "I do love throwing knives."

jesper: "Hey, I stole that fair and square!"

wylan: "I'm gonna cry about it for hours when I get home, but other than that it's ok."

nina: *someone complains about how many people are in the room* "It's ok because I look better than everyone here."

matthias: "You live and you learn. You live, and I learn how not to live like you."

honored to represent our queen Inej

the Crows as things my friends have said:

kaz: "what are we doing? I wasn't paying attention, I was too busy scheming."

inej: "he was terrified of me because he thought I tried to murder him and I wasn't gonna stop him from believing that."

jesper: "my summer aesthetic is otter pop."

wylan: "I was gonna fact check it, and then I forgot, and now it's been two months, so--"

nina: "I just need more food because I'm a gluttonous little beast."

matthias: "You disgust and amaze me at the same time."

that rare (very rare) joy readers feel when the confirmed cast turns up to be better than any fancast and they are like copy&pasted from page to screen...yup, that's the joy the SOC fandom is feeling rn

The Emperor of Magic | Part 5

Summary: Now trapped inside their worst nightmares, the crows need to find a way out in order to stop the emperor. Thankfully, Kaz is always one step ahead and figures out a solution.

Warning: +18 Warning, verbally and mentally abusive parent, deceased relatives, blood, gore, many mentions of death, working in the menagerie, choking, attempted murder and suicide

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader

Type: Series

Word Count: 6.8k

Author’s Note: This is the end of the series! I really hoped you enjoyed reading this because I have had this story concept in my drafts for a long time. Let me know your thoughts and have a great week!!!

Series Masterlist

The emperor of magic stood in the center of six fallen bodies. She could feel a single bead of sweat rolling down the side of her temple, uncertain if it was from the blazing hot heat waves or if it was from mental strain. Her eyes remained shut as she struggled to keep the six crows under the veil of darkness.

Normally, it wasn’t hard to get inside someone’s head and drive them towards the point of insanity. But this time was different. She needed to take all six crows down, which was no easy task at hand. It didn’t help that they were all incredibly clever and intelligent; they weren't just dumb witted folk. This made the mental battle all the more challenging for her. 

Despite this, the emperor was determined to succeed. She needed to keep them unconscious, forcing them captive within their worst memories and nightmares. With great struggle, the emperor managed to break the chains that bound her. She also was able to get loose from the customized straight jacket that had failed to hinder her powerless. She threw those to the side. 

Afterwards, the emperor pulled the bag off her head. She discarded it by tossing into the heap of sand. She removed the final eye covering and ear pieces strapped around her head. She was now finally met with the blinding rays of the sun for the first time in nearly three years. 

Wylan’s Nightmare:

As soon as his eyes changed black, Wylan’s body succumbed to a dream-like or comatose state. When he managed to regain consciousness, his eyes began to flutter open and he could see a completely different atmosphere. He quickly sat up upon realizing where he was. 

The mansion was known to be one of the most beautifully constructed and decorated house in all of Ketterdam. It belonged to the a well-respected member of the Merchant Council which just so happened to be Jan Van Eck himself. 

Naturally, Wylan recognized the house that he had spent his early childhood years in. It all came flooding back into his memory; the marble floors sparkled as they must have been polished to perfection and the high wooden beams that stretched across the ceiling held brilliant chandeliers. The furniture was the most expensive thing on the market at the time. The mansion couldn’t be anything less than perfect.

Now looking down, Wylan saw that he was dressed in one of his old beige suits which now explained why his collar felt so tight around his neck. He went ahead and loosened it immediately. He also realized that his wild hair was tamed and combed down like it always had been when he was a young boy.

In the short distance, Wylan heard a voice talking in the other room. He carefully rose to his feet and made it way over to the door that was slightly cracked open. Peering through the crack, Wylan’s eyes fell on the man he once called ‘father.’ And his breath caught in the back of his throat. 

“You stupid, stupid boy.” Jan Van Eck said with a shake of his head. 

That familiar pang of guilt shot straight to his heart; he had gotten too squinted with those words in his childhood. His father always shaming him, calling him stupid or worthless. He clutched the frame around the door, squeezing his eyes shut to keep the tears at bay.

“You’re a disgrace!” 

All of the sudden, Jan Van Eck slammed his hands down and discarded everything that lay on the desk which included books, pens, and papers of the sort. The burst of fury only caused Wylan to flinch something terrible; something else that he still hadn’t grown accustomed to.

“Can’t read, can’t write.” Jan Van Eck scoffed to himself. He gritted his teeth together. “You’re absolutely worthless!”

Without thinking, Wylan burst through the slightly open door in a rage of fury. For once in his life, he was going to tell it straight to his father and he wasn’t going to let him push him around anymore. His fists were clenched at his sides and his jaw was locked. 

Upon hearing the door slamming against the wall, Jan Van Eck turned to face his disgrace of a so-called son. He narrowed his eyes at his approaching figure, not expecting much from him anyways.

“You...” Wylan began, but he struggled to find his voice as it was laced with red hot anger. He pointed a finger at him accusingly. “You do not know me,” Wylan claimed with tears pricking the corners of his eyes.

“I know you’ll never evolve,” Van Eck spat. “Spent years trying to change you, trying to shape you.”

“I don’t need to be changed!” Wylan yelled back. His face turned beat red in his fit of rage. 

“You weren’t enough,” Van Eck said with a shake of the head. “You could have been so much, but you're worthless.”

“We never were the same person,” Wylan seethed. He jammed a finger directly into the man’s chest. “I am not you and I was never going to live up to your name.”

“It doesn’t matter now,” Van Eck’s lips shifted into a sinister smile. “Because I’ll still always be there to haunt your nightmares.”

Very slowly, Wylan took a step backwards in his place upon coming to the realization that he wouldn’t be able to get rid of the image of his father in his mind. It will always haunt him and he can’t change that. He suddenly became aware of the situation; that he was living his worst nightmare. And his worst nightmare was being stuck with Jan Van Eck.

Backing away, Wylan wanted nothing more than to leave. He hurried out of the room, charging upstairs to escape to the place where his old bedroom was. He closed the door behind him, twisting the lock in its place. He moved away from the door then. But he didn’t know of the dark figure that stood behind him, watching his every move.

Back in reality, the emperor was left standing and staring directly at Wylan’s limp body in the sand. She studied him carefully. She caught a glimpse of a small tear escaping the corner of his eye and rolling down his cheek.

Jesper’s Memory

When Jesper finally awoke from his unconscious state, he too was most surprised with his surroundings. He shifted into a sitting position, rubbing the back of his neck as if he had a kink in it. He came to realize that he wasn’t in Ketterdam and he wasn't in Ravka either. It almost looked like...

Upon further inspection, Jesper found himself in the middle of a field. He rose to his feet slowly. His long trench coat danced in the breeze. His heart sank in his chest. The memories of his childhood came flooding back into his mind.

These fields were all too familiar to him. Amid the wheat, amid the soft golden ears, moved the unseen wind. The wheels of straw rested on their earthen bed, soaking in the brilliant sunshine. Under the sky that is made all the more pretty for the scattered clouds, the white puffs that radiate white light. It was a simple scene. 

His softened gaze fell on the small little house in the short distance. It looked like something from an old photograph; a deep memory that he had almost forgotten. His feet began to carry him to the house. The dark figure followed after him without his knowledge.

Coming to the house, Jesper lifted a hand to pull the colorful blanket away from the doorway. He stepped into the entrance. His hand fell to his side and his heart had never felt more heavy.

It was a small house in the sense that it was all one room. The ground was made of fresh orange dirt and the walls had been lifted by his father at one time. A small stove sat in the corner. And there was a little wooden table for eating. Two beds lay on either side of the room. One of them had an occupant. 

“Mama?” Jesper asked just as horrified as the moment he had found her years ago.

His mother always wore the most magnificent colors that made her complexion glow. Her favorite color was yellow in which she was dressed in. She wore these orange and yellow heavy beads around her neck. And her hands rested on her chest. She must have been asleep.

“Mama,” Jesper called again. He felt the tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He approached her bedside, dropping to his knees to be at her side.“Mama, wake up. I’m here,” Jesper pleaded.

He took her hand in his own, bringing it up to his lips to press a firm kiss to it. He failed to keep his tears at bay, feeling them now cascading down the sides of his face. He shook her hand gently as if half expecting her to wake up and rid him of this horrid nightmare. 

“Mama. Wake up. I need you,” Jesper cried. The dark figure stood looming over him as he was forced to once again grieve the loss of his mother.

Leaving the memory, the emperor of magic shifted her gaze away in order to face her next victim. The heartrender lay motionless in the sand with a hand near the side of her face. She looked so peaceful in the moment, but she knew she was already experiencing the worst thing she could imagine. 

Nina’s Nightmare:

The Little Palace had been home for so many years. All the Grisha were sent to live at the palace after they had been tested for powers at a young age. Depending on which order one was classified into, they would be dressed in the appropriate color coordination.

Every room was created by the most beautiful and delicate hand. The hallway floors were made from the finest marble, sparkling in the early morning hours. Grand oil paintings hung on the craved marble walls. The quartz pillars upheld the vast ceilings in the grand staircase. 

For some reason, Nina found herself walking through those hallways she used to call home. She felt a little disoriented because, with every turn, the palace just seemed so empty. She’d peek into rooms and poke around a corridor, but still, nobody was in sight.

She called out for others. “Zoya? Alina? Where is everyone?”

When Nina finally approached her old bedroom, she saw that the door was already cracked open and a blood stain painted the once golden knob. She pushed the door open gently, cautiously stepping into the old room. Her breath caught in her throat.

Because what Nina saw was something she hoped she would never have to see. All of the Grisha she had once known and who she had grown up with were laid lifelessly on the floor. Their colored uniforms were burnt, torn, destroyed, and soaked in blood. She couldn’t tell if it was their blood or soemone else’s.

Glancing past the bodies, Nina named every single face she saw. Her heart never felt so heavy and burdened. She choked back a sob because even though she had left the little palace long ago, she still called it home. The Grisha were her people; nothing would ever change that. But now, they all lay dead in front of her. 

At one point, Nina’s eyes settled on the still body of her old friend Zoya. She rushed to be at her side, dropping to her knees. Her hands went to hover over her heart with every intention of helping her. But Zoya’s hand came up to clasp her wrist to stop her. Her pained eyes shifted to face the heartrender beside her.

“Y-You,” Zoya grunted through her teeth. She felt blood seeping past her lips. “Y-Y..You left us,” Zoya claimed.

“I-I didn’t want to,” Nina said with a swift shake of the head. “I never wanted to leave you behind.”

“But you did,” Zoya pointed out. “You abandoned us. And for what? A Fjerdan who only murders your people.”

“H-He’s not like that,” Nina insisted. She felt tears streaming down her cheeks. “No, Matthias would never hurt me.”

“It’s because of his people that we are left scarce,” Zoya said. “They came in the night. They slaughtered us.”

This comment made the heartrender glance around once more to see the familiar faces that surrounded her. She saw the red blood that painted so many faces. She felt only one heartbeat in the room besides her own.

“I didn’t know,” Nina claimed.

“No,” Zoya shook her head. “No, you knew. You’ve always known that they hunt people like us. That they kill people like us. You’ve known, but you chose to ignore it.”

“I-I’m so sorry, Zoya.”

“And now, you will have to live with the fact that you got us killed. You let them in and made us vulnerable,” Zoya claimed. “Y-You are the reason the Grisha will be extinct,” Zoya finished.

All of the sudden, Zoya began choking on her own blood. It spilled out of her mouth in waves. Though Nina tried to help her, it was already too late. Her body became relaxed after the coughing came to a halt. Her eyes were glassed over in a haze. And her breathing came to a final halt. 

All at once, Nina felt an overwhelming amount of shame and guilt in her heart. She dropped her head down, feeling the tears streaming out of her eyes at a fast rate. She raised a shaky hand to cover her mouth in hopes of muffling her sobs. She squeezed her eyes shut, struggling to regain composure. 

The dark figure that stood behind her took one final glance around the room. It took a single step backwards before choosing to return back to reality. Her eyes fixed on the person laying beside the heartrender.

Matthias’s Nightmare:

For some reason, Matthias thought he was dreaming again. He only thought this because he always saw her in his dreams. His dreams were quite often unsatisfying since he never really knew what he wanted. There were times that he dreamed of finally killing the heartrender that tormented him and then there were times he dreamed about how her lips felt when he kissed her. She was always a mystery to him, which made him realize that he didn’t know what he wanted. 

Now Matthias didn’t know where he was or where he was going. He had a feeling that he must have been within Fjerdan territory since there was a blizzard waging around him. He could barely see in front of him from all the snow and wind blasting in his face. 

For a moment, Matthias shifted his focus to his footing. He watched himself lift each foot in front of the other, trudging forward through the heaps of snow. That’s when he saw red. 

The dark figure had been following him this whole time. She watched carefully for his reaction. The splotch of red in the snow must have been blood. He followed the trail of blood until his eyes fell on a body laying in the snow a couple feet ahead of him. His heart sank.

“Nina!” Matthias called out. 

He hurried to her side, basically collapsing beside her in the snow. He was able to pull her body to lay on her backside before taking a look at her wounds. His hands hovered over her lifeless body, unsure of what to do in the moment.

Her face was so pale; her lips were already blue from the cold. Her eyes remained shut since they had been closed long ago. Her hair was frozen from the blood that leaked from her head. In fact, Nina’s body was covered with various wounds. She must have bled out from them.

His eyes fell on a particular wound near the junction of her neck. It honestly looked like some creature had taken a large bite out of her neck, which ultimately caused her to bleed to death. But those bite marks looked all too familiar. 

When Matthias lifted his head, there was a grand grey wolf standing in the short distance. It stood calmly as the wind brushed past it’s striking grey and black fur. However, the wolf’s mouth was dripping with the blood of its victim. It was in that moment that Matthias realized wolves might not have been as tame as his people once believed. 

“You did this?” Matthias said in utter disbelief. He stared at the wolf blankly. “W-Why? She didn’t do anything. She didn’t deserve to die like this.”

Slowly, Matthias looked back down to the beautifully calm woman in his arms. He held her tightly in fear of letting her go forever. He lowered his head to press it against her own. He rocked back and forth with his love in his arms, crying quietly to himself. 

“She was all I had left. She was the only one to love me for who I was,” Matthias sobbed. “She loved me even though she wasn’t supposed to,” Matthias whispered.

All Matthias could do was press a soft kiss to the center of her forehead. He stared off into the distance for he was unable to look at the wolf the same again. He cried for what felt like hours on end and he refused to leave her side. 

Inej’s Memory:

The Menagerie was most commonly known as the House of Exotics. This was mainly because the menagerie advertised the exotic beauties of foreign women. They always dressed as specific animals that came from their country or region.

The House of Exotics was almost always filled to the brim with men looking for a good time. They often smoked which filled the house with a thick cloud. There was always heavy liquor seeping from their lips, which made their breath smell awful and their discernment rather thin. The men were able to do whatever they pleased as long as they paid the right price.

During Inej’s time at the Menagerie, she had never felt so low and empty in her life. Now she stood there once again. She wore her old clothes which painted her out to look like a lynx. Her soft brown skin reflexed wonderfully against the brilliant purple silks that hugged her body.

With each step, Inej heard the little bells that wrapped around her ankles. She maneuvered her way through the heavy crowd, passing by drunks and other girls dressed to impress. She didn’t think to question how she got back there or the fact that she was just relieving her worst memory.

When she was there, she felt numb to the rest of the world. And she entirely was  right then and there.

For the moment, Inej was leading this half drunk man upstairs to the private rooms. He had already paid her for her time spent with him. She felt the kruge jingling in her pocket. She brought him to one of the rooms, letting him inside before closing the door behind them.

It didn’t take more than five minutes for the man to emerge from the private room, still in the process of buckling his pants back together. He closed the door with a satisfied smirk on his face before heading back downstairs to the bar for another round. 

Back in the room, Inej lay on the soft bed in a heap of sheets. Her beautiful purple silks had been discarded on the floor. She stare blankly at the ceiling, feeling entirely numb. She felt a single tear seep out of the corner of her eye.

Her core was filled with a sense of shame. Her legs felt weak as if she already knew she’d have trouble walking. Even her shoulder ached slightly since he had bitten down during their time together. She pulled the sheets to cover her bare body, shivering at the memory engraved into her mind.

For a second, Inej closed her eyes as if to wish she could just disappear into the next life. She hated being there. She hated the things she was forced to undergo. She just wanted to be free. Why couldn’t she be free?

The dark figure that stood by the window was looking directly at the saddened woman laying in bed. She even went to turn away from the scene, because it was too much, even for the emperor herself.

Back in reality, the emperor was truly struggling to keep all six of the crows under their own spell. She only needed to hold off for a little longer because they’d eventually discover that they’ll be stuck. They won’t be able to escape those nightmares. That is, not unless...

Kaz’s Nightmare:

When the black clouds came to settle around him, Kaz Brekker was able to get a sense of his surroundings. He had come face to face with his greatest demon.  The familiar eyes of his dear deceased brother were staring right back at him.

Very slowly, Kaz found himself rising to his feet with the help of his cane. He stared at his brother blankly as if he wasn’t at all surprised to see him after all this time. He observed him ever so carefully because one wrong step could be the end for him.

“Hello Kaz,” Jordie said. His lips curved into a mischievous smile. 

When Kaz didn’t say anything or do anything in particular, Jordie furrowed his eyebrows in slight confusion. He took a single step forward. He raised his hands in defeat.

“What? No hello for your long lost brother?” Jordie questioned.

“I know you are not real,” Kaz claimed. He still wore a blank stare on his face.

“Oh, aren't you the clever one?” Jordie almost mocked him. “Even if you think this isn’t real, you're trapped here with me until your brain starts to rot. You’ll never find the way out,” Jordie laughed.

Kaz’s lips twitched into a wicked smile. “Won’t I?”

Just then, Jordie’s face fell blank. He looked at his younger brother with a hint of confusion behind his eyes. He shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Whatever do you mean?” Jordie laughed cautiously.

“You made one vital mistake,” Kaz claimed. 

Though this time, Kaz wasn’t speaking to the image of his brother. More so, to the dark figure that stood behind him. In a slow manner, Kaz had turned around to face the emperor of magic herself who had been watching the conversation all along. Out of all the crows, Kaz had been the only one clever enough to notice her presence. She was slightly impressed.

“What mistake did I make?” The emperor of magic spoke through slightly gritted teeth. She clenched her fists at her sides to contain her anger because she hated being outsmarted by others. 

“You discovered all our names,” Kaz began. He tipped his head to the side. “Through the same memory,” Kaz added.

Now the emperor tried her hardest to keep a straight face, but he could already see the small sense of panic hiding behind her eyes. She shifted from one foot to another in a nervous manner. She held his gaze strictly.

“Which means, all of these nightmares are connected in some way or another.” Kaz noted. He went to look at some of his surroundings, not necessarily recognizing where he was at the moment. “I wonder if they can hear me,” Kaz said mostly to himself.

“Who?” The emperor asked curiously.

“The other crows,” Kaz seethed through his teeth. He lifted his head to look towards the sky once more. “Jesper, Inej, Nina--” Kaz called for his crows loudly.

“You can’t get out,” the emperor said rather hastily. He directed his attention back to her.

Despite this, Jesper heard the message through his own memory. He raised his head and looked into the distance. All of the other crows were able to hear their boss too. Though it sounded more like a distance echo than anything else. They listened carefully to the conversation that followed.

“You're trapped here. You’ll never figure out how to get out,” the emperor claimed. She breathed a nervous laugh to cover up her slight fear.

“You underestimate me,” Kaz spoke. “Another mistake.”

Just then, Kaz took a single stride forward in his place. In a way, it was almost like he was taunting her or challenging her with knowledge of his own. Because if anyone knew something, it was that Kaz Brekker was always one step ahead of the game. He knew this was going to happen all along.

“Let me ask you something: when do you wake up from a dream?” Kaz questioned. He now stood directly in front of her, staring down at her through hooded eyes. “It’s always right before something terrible happens,” Kaz stated plainly.

The emperor couldn’t have predicted his next move. He immediately seized her throat with his glove clothed hand. She breathed a small gasp of shock as his digits began tightening around her neck. She clawed at his hand, desperate for some form of release.

“Sometimes, you get shot at. Sometimes, there is an accident. And sometimes, you fall.” Kaz recalled some of the dreams he once had and the ways he managed to wake up from them. “But you always wake up,” Kaz said while tightening his grip.

“And my guess is that if you die in this dream, you wake up. Is that right?” Kaz wondered. When the emperor said nothing, Kaz went to tighten his grip again. She winced at the contact. “Is that right?” Kaz repeated himself.

“Y-Ye-s-s,” the emperor struggled. “Y-You’ll w-wa-wake u-up.”

In the meantime, the other crows heard the entire conversation between the two of them in the distance. They finally understood what was happening and what they needed to do in order to get out of their nightmares. There was only one solution to waking up.

Without hesitation, Wylan found his old stash of chemicals in the floorboards of his bedroom. He riffled through various glass vials, searching for two in particular. He raised the two glass vials in his hands, seeing the bright colored liquid that they contained. If mixed together, those chemicals would create a deadly explosion. He popped the corks off them.

In the other dream, Jesper had been slow to rise to his feet. He looked down at the body of his deceased mother, still feeling the tears coming out of his eyes. He reluctantly pulled one of his shiny pearly guns out of his holster at his side. He cautiously raised the gun to the side of his head, squeezing his eyes shut in preparation for what was to come. 

Now Nina was still sitting amongst the bodies of her dearest friends. She contemplated things for a moment, basking in the reality of the situation. She raised her hands in a particular manner, focusing all of her attention on the speed of her own heartbeat. 

Meanwhile, Matthias discovered that he was moving towards the wolf that stared directly at him. He forced himself to place one foot in front of the other. He heard the wolf growling in a threatening manner. He knelt into the snow as if ready to accept his fate. He closed his eyes just as the wolf lunged for his throat.

In the menagerie, Inej had climbed to the rooftop of the institution. She peered over the edge, looking to see several stories below her. She climbed onto the ledge, keeping her arms out at her sides for balance. She put one step forward before falling to her death.

Back in his own nightmare, Kaz carried the emperor’s face a little closer to his own. He studied her carefully as if searching for any sense of faulty. He narrowed his eyes at her. He kept his grip firm, despite her desperately grabbing at the lapels of his trench coat. She was begging for release.

“B-Bu--t I’ll be l-long gone by then,” the emperor claimed. Her lips curved upwards into a smile. “Y-You’ll ne-never catch u-up to me.”

“You’re bluffing,” Kaz called it. Her smile fell. “You haven’t left yet. You’re keeping us under as long as you can. And once we are lost, then you’ll make your escape.”

And indeed he did call it.

“Y-You have n-no idea what y-your up a-against,” the emperor struggled to speak. She was quick to send a firm gab into his stomach, which caused him to release his grip on her neck. She ran past him as quickly as she could. 

With the nightmares being connected, the emperor was able to open a portal into one of the first nightmares. She jumped through the portal, taking a brief moment to look at the scene in front of her. It was the old mansion.

But the once pristine bedroom was now covered in a thick layer of blackened ash and dust. The soft brown floorboard had been burnt, laced with an unknown chemical burning through the wood itself. The velvet curtains had caught on fire. And the wallpaper had been destroyed beyond repair. Amongst the destroyed scene was the small lifeless body of the demolitions expert. 

“No,” the emperor whispered to herself. “He’s gone already.”

Which only meant that Wylan was awake in reality. In haste, the emperor went to open another portal into the next nightmare with every intention of stopping the next crow from waking up. All she was able to find was a limp body laying on the ground. The sharpshooter still held one of his guns in his hand, but a bullet had already entered his skull. He lay there as the blood spilled from the headshot.

The panic began to take over. The emperor dream hopped to the next one through the access of another portal. Amongst the bodies of deceased Grisha was the familiar heartrender. She lay peacefully amongst her own people, having chosen to slow and stop her own heart.

Now the emperor was growing agitated and frustrated. She went to open another portal which led her to the ice cold lands. She squinted through the blizzard storm only to find a wolf feasting on the body of a unmoving druskelle. The wolf raised its head and bared its now blood stained teeth.

Finally, the emperor forced herself to run as fast as she could through the final portal. She hurried to the edge of the building, being quick to peer over the edge. She spotted a motionless body nearly six stories below the building. She had jumped. 

The emperor of magic had failed to keep them at bay. They all managed to escape their worst nightmares, which meant that they were all awake and ready to take her on in the real world. She needed to get out of this dream.

“You’ve lost. Admit it,” a familiar voice said from behind her.

When the emperor turned around in her place, Kaz Brekker was looking directly at her. He wore an infamous smirk on his face. He had followed her through every single portal, dream hopping right behind her. This also meant that he had seen each of his crows dead which couldn’t have been easy. 

“They are back in reality by now. Getting ready to put a stop to you,” Kaz stated as a matter of fact.

“What about you? You can’t leave unless you die,” the emperor took notice. 

“That was never part of the plan,” Kaz claimed. Her face fell. “The plan was to keep you under as long as possible because that is the only way you can be stopped from the outside. You can’t fight me in here and them out there at the same time,” Kaz explained.

Back in the desert, the five crows came to surround the emperor who stood in the center of them. The others turned to face the heartrender amongst them, giving her the signal through the form of a single nod. She raised her hands in a particular motion, slowing the heart rate of the emperor of magic.

In the dream sequence, the emperor grunted at the feeling of her heart being squeezed and slowed down. She clutched at her chest in attempts to stop what she felt. She lifted her head to look directly at the man himself. Realizing that she had been bested, the emperor was quick to turn around in her place and charge towards the edge of the building.

Without hesitation, Kaz followed directly behind her with every intention of stopping her from jumping over the side and waking up from this nightmare. Just as the emperor leaped from the ledge, Kaz grasped onto the emperor’s forearm to stop her.

From the mere pull of gravity, the emperor’s body slammed against the brick wall of the institution. He had been pulled down slightly, but he was still able to keep a firm grasp on her while hanging over the side of the ledge. She fought against his tight grip, trying to get loose so she could fall. 

“I won’t let you,” Kaz grunted. He struggled to maintain his hold on her, but he shook his head at her careless behavior. “I can’t let you hurt them.”

“Then you’ll just have to come with me,” the emperor told him. She pushed off the brick wall with both of her feet. She used all of her strength to pull him over the edge of the building. 

Together, both bodies began to plummet to the ground from the force of gravity. The two of them stared at one another, sensing that familiar feeling of falling to the ground with no control whatsoever. Just as the two of them would hit the ground, their bodies jolted awake back in reality. And the real challenge began.

It was rather odd. It was almost like the heartrender was holding the heart with her own two hands, forcing the heart rate to slow down. Just as Nina thought the heartbeat would come to a final halt, it was like she felt two hands envelope her own from within the chest. 

Those invisible hands holding her own began to pry her fingers off of the heart itself. She eventually realized she didn’t have a grasp on the heart anymore; that it was probably back to its normal self in terms of heart rate. The feeling of those hands covering her own began to close in.

In a split second, Nina let out a terrible scream of pain as her hands got crushed by the ones that kept hers captive. The emperor of magic kept her hands clenched into tight fists as she broke every bone in the heartrender’s hands. 

Naturally, Nina ended up dropping to her knees on the ground. She clutched her hands close to her chest for some form of comfort, but she wasn’t able to stop she blood from spewing from the joints in her fingers or the bones from poking out of the back of her hands. She never felt so much pain in her life.

“Nina,” Matthias called out to her. 

Though part of him wanted to rush to her side, a bigger part of him wanted nothing more than to stop the emperor once and for all. With a mighty war yell, Matthias charged towards the emperor of magic who kept her back to him. He raised his two fists above his head and brought them barreling down.

But at the last second, the emperor spun around on the heels of her feet to surprise him. She drew her own fist back and sent it directly into the center of his chest. With the force of her magic, Matthias was forced backwards in his place. His body dragged across the desert sands as he felt the wind truly knocked out of his chest. His chest burned painfully.

Now the emperor went to face the other three crows standing amongst her. With Jesper drawing his two guns out of his holsters and Inej wielding her precious knives, Kaz waited to signal them to attack her with his cane. She went to take a step towards them, but was stopped when something hit the side of her head.

A bright pink powder escaped from the small glass vial that hit the side of her head. The powder sparkled in the bright sunbeams that beat down on them. She didn’t even realize that she managed to breathe the powder in, but it began to greatly affect her senses. She turned towards the small person who had through that at her. 

In the short distance, Wylan went to grab another vial from his pouch. He hoped to hit her with something to make her sense weaken so it might be easier to take her down. Just as Wylan pulled the vial out, he felt an invisible hand wrap around the expanse of his neck. He was dragged forward by an unforeseen force until his neck made contact with the emperor’s cupped hand. 

Without warning, Wylan’s body was slammed to the ground by the emperor. She went to straddle his chest, keeping him pinned to the ground. He grasped at the hands wrapped around his neck, desperately trying to loosen her grip on him. He gasped her air. He felt the life being squeezed out of him.

Before Wylan lost the oxygen in his chest, a gunshot rang through the air. The bullet managed to lodge itself directly into the emperor’s shoulder, which caused her to release her grasp on the boy’s neck. She slumped backwards in her place, reaching up to grasp the wound on her shoulder. 

The emperor scurried to stand to her feet with every intention of finishing off these crows. Her vision began to blur and her head felt dizzy. Despite this, the emperor managed to raise her hands to put up a fight. 

The three crows worked in a synchronous harmony, taking timed turns to throw different strikes. Now Inej was the first one to step forward with her knives drawn at her sides. She took a couple swipes which the emperor managed to dodge barely. Then Jesper fired a couple rounds from his pearly guns. He manipulated the bullets to fly exactly where he wanted, but the emperor waved her hands to direct the bullets elsewhere. Finally, Kaz went to step up. He raised his cane and swung with all his might. He struck her once or twice, but it wasn’t enough to take her down.

Suddenly, the emperor felt a large arm wrap around her backside which put her into a tight headlock. Her knees were knocked out from behind, forcing her to drop to her knees. Behind her, Matthias tried to maintain a tight grip on the smaller body. He grunted upon feeling her fight against him.

Slowly, Kaz went to approach her. He raised his cane in the air, bringing it towards her face. He stared her down carefully.

“Admit it,” Kaz repeated himself. “You’ve lost. We’ve bested you.”

The emperor choked upon feeling the grip tighten around her neck. “B-But I haven’t lost,” the emperor claimed.

“We’ll kill you,” Jesper explained. He came to stand beside his boss. He raised his guns to point directly at her head. “No hesitation,” Jesper stated firmly.

“And it will be slow,” Inej added. She pressed the edge of her knife against the emperor's check, swiping it away to leave a sharp mark. “And painful,” Inej said. 

“You can kill me,” the emperor of magic told them. Her voice grew heavier as if the demon inside her was speaking. “But it will be your mistake because I always come back.”

Before the emperor could say another word, Kaz raised his golden cane above his head and brought it barreling down into her skull. The body ended up collapsing to the ground from the mere force of the swing. He continued to beat in her skull until there was nothing left, but a pool of blood and brain. The blood painted his face in a gruesome manner.

“Kaz!” Inej called out. She had hoped to bring him back to reality. He finally stopped beating the body to death. “It’s done,” Inej claimed.

The crows had gone through so much within the past few days. They had schemed their way back into the court and somehow managed to escape. They ended up having to relive their worst memories and became temporarily trapped in their own nightmares. They needed to escape those nightmares in the form of killing themselves. And they had to defeat the emperor after taking some heavy hits from her. Despite all this, they managed to survive, just like they always did.

But for some reason, Kaz just had a feeling that she’d be back just like she said. 

THAT IS THE END OF THE SERIES! PLEASE TELL ME YOUR THOUGHTS! SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG TO POST.

TAGLIST:

@d34drapunzel @adorawritesalot @vixythepixie @theghostofshadows @lonelywitchv2 @arcadialine @zeeader @cleverzonkwombatsludge @shara-ne @iloveinej @ireallydontcareanymorebrooo @mystic-mara @missymisha @tremendoushearttaco​ @home-of-disaster​ @gh0stgirl333​ @harrydimples @marina468 @phoenix666stuff @grippleback-galaxy​ @mariar31 @theghostofshadows​ 

The Emperor of Magic | Part 4

Summary: The emperor manages to get inside one of the crow’s minds, but he isn't able to hold off against her for very long. It begins to compromise the rest of them.

Warning: +18 Warning, swearing, crows forced to succumb to past traumatic memories/nightmares, eyes of crows turning black as well as fingertips

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader

Type: Series

Word Count: 2.3k (sorry it’s short)

Series Masterlist

Author’s Note: The reader’s dialogue is italicized because she actually doesn’t verbally speak to the crows, only through their thoughts. Also, past memories are written in italicized for better distinction between what is past and what is present.

Upon hearing that name, Kaz Brekker felt a familiar cord being struck in the deep and dark crevice of his heart. As that name was a painful reminder of who he once was and what he was forced to leave behind. He often reminds himself that that person is dead and he is all that remains. 

With his head hanging low, Kay’s gaze shifted upwards to glare at the prisoner with hooded eyes. His jaw was locked and his hands clenched together into tight fists at his sides. He was seething with anger.

“How...” Kaz stopped himself in order to regain his composure. “How do you know that name?”

He said this out loud, which only caused slight confusion amongst the crows. They didn’t seem to understand what he was asking, but they recognized that he was staring directly at the fugitive. They didn’t quite understand what was happening.

His question went completely unanswered. The emperor of magic simply stood there facing his general direction. He seemed to narrow his eyes at her, mentally wondering if there was a smirk plastered on her face underneath the bag over her head. He wouldn’t brush it off.

And so he repeated himself. “I said...how do you know that name?”

More silence.

Without thinking, Kaz went to grab the gun at his side. He raised it up and instantly fired a shot, which caused a short bout of mayhem between his crows at his recklessness. They called out his name in utter shock, having been taken away by his action. 

The gun did exactly what you’d expect a gun to do rightly; it fired a bullet that should have lodged itself between her eyes. However, the bullet stopped directly in front of her face and dropped to the ground. He carelessly threw the gun away.

“Fuck,” Kaz cursed under his breathe. He walked away momentarily as if trying to find a way to vent his anger.

“What the hell is happening?” Jesper demanded an explanation.

“She’s messing with my head,” Kaz said slowly. He tried to shake the feeling he felt of her looming presence, but she wouldn’t leave him alone. She had infiltrated his memories having just discovered his name. “I can feel it,” Kaz explained further.

“But how?” Inej questioned.

“I don't know!” Kaz almost lost his temper with how loud those words came out. “I don’t know how she got into my head, but she knows my name.”

All of the sudden, Kaz saw brief flashes of his memories from the past. He was hunched over his desk, looking over the plans nearly three years ago. He watched his former self take hold of the plans and crumple them up. He discarded them.

Out of instinct, Kaz squeezed his eyes shut tightly in hopes of blocking her out of his mind. He quickly shook the memory out of his line of vision. It didn’t take long for him to realize that she had been the one to activate that memory. 

He began pacing back and forth. He could feel the strong sense of fear taking over his demeanor, feeling at a total loss of control over his thoughts and memories. He was shown another memory of himself in his office. He heard the familiar voice of Jesper and Inej talking to him, but his former self didn’t look up.

Upon being shown that particular memory, Kaz was able to put the pieces together. When he turned his body to face the prisoner, he saw that she was no longer looking towards him, but rather, with her head slightly lowered. He narrowed his eyes at her odd demeanor.

“Boss,” Jesper watched Kaz carefully. “What you doing?”

“She’s looking for something,” Kaz spoke mostly to himself.

“What?” Wylan perked up. “I-In your head?”

“Yes,” Kaz nodded.

“How do you know for that she’s looking for something?” Nina added.

“Because she’s silent,” Kaz examined. He only knew this because he too also grew silent when he was thinking hard about something. “She’s focusing,” Kaz noted.

For a brief moment, Kaz wondered if it was a coincidence that he saw himself in her mannerism. He studied her carefully as if she was a newfound species he had just discovered. He wondered what she could possibly be after.

“What is she looking for?” Matthias asked him.

A beat of silence was all that followed. One particular memory came flooding back to Kaz’s mind; the one where he finally chose to present his grand scheme to the rest of the crows. In the memory, the voices of the crows were quick muffled as if they were struggling to become clear. His former self hadn’t looked up at them just yet as they filed into the room.

Finally, a wave of realization overcame his features. His shoulders dropped in defeat and his face went blank. He could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to make out who belonged to those voices. Now Kaz realized what she was searching for.

“It’s you,” Kaz breathed in realization. “She’s looking for all of you in my memories.”

And that instantly became his biggest mistake. For this job, he recruited his most trusted companions; the ones he had worked with in the past and the ones he knew he could rely on to get any job done that was thrown their way. Now he had put them in harms way.

He tried so hard to block that memory out of his mind for the pure sake of his crew. It felt like he was pushing his shoulder against a solid door in attempts to keep an intruder out. He was using all his mental strength to keep her out, but it wasn't going to be enough. The door cracked open.

The blurry images of the memory came into his line of vision. He saw the heist’s plans laid out in front of him. Those distant voices that had once sounded rather foggy had now grown into something clearer. Much to his surprise, Kaz’s memory of himself was the first to speak in a normal voice that could be understood.

“The person we are breaking out of the court isn’t just an ordinary scientist this time,” Kaz’s former self placed his hands on the table to lean forward in his place. “They aren't Grisha, but they are more powerful than them.”

“More powerful than Grisha?” Wylan wondered out loud. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Is that even possible?” Wylan almost scoffed in the memory.

In that exact moment, Kaz was ripped out of that particular memory. His eyes snapped open. He quickly redirected his attention towards the youngest member of the crew who stood not too far away from. He was compromised at this point.

“Wylan Van Eck,” the emperor of magic’s demonic voice sounded. “The demolitions expert.”

Both Wylan and Kaz heard that demonic voice speaking in the back of their minds. And it frightened them both terribly.

“G-Guys,” Wylan stuttered. He had just glanced down at his hands to see that his fingertips had begun to grow black “W-What’s happening to me?” Wylan’s voice quivered in fear.

“Wylan,” Jesper called out desperately. 

But there wasn’t enough time to save him. His eyes were overcome with a wave of darkness that turned them pitch black. His body succumbed to the darkness taking over which resulted in him collapsing to the ground. His mind began to wander through the abyss of his worst nightmares. And there was no telling when he’d come out.

From there, it all came shattering down around them. It was a chain reaction. For the crows had grown to be somewhat like a spiderweb; each of them were connected to one another in some way or another. Returning to the memory only showed Wylan turning to face Jesper who stood directly beside him. 

“So remind me why we are breaking them out?” Jesper from the past asked almost sarcastically because it didn’t seem like a very appealing heist to him.

“Because she is worth nearly 100 million kruge,” Kaz shut him down in the memory.

By this point, Jesper had abandoned his post to hurry towards Wylan’s body. He dropped down to his knees, gathering the boy into his arms for comfort. He tried to wake him up by desperate tapping his cheek and calling out his name. But nothing changed.

“Wake up, please.” Jesper begged. He felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. “Please Wylan. Wake up.”

“Jesper Fahey,” the demonic voice resounded once again. He perked up upon hearing his own name in the depths of his mind. He was slow to turn towards the prisoner. “The sharpshooter,” the voice added.

“What the hell do you want with us?!” Jesper was seething with anger. He quickly rose to his feet and proceeded to reach for the guns at his sides. He pointed one of his guns directly at her face. 

Though, in reality, Jesper knew that his precious guns would be no match against the emperor of magic. He had seen firsthand his boss fire a single round at her and she completely deflected it without flinching. So his eyes shifted towards the only person they all believed could take her down. 

Without much warning, Jesper’s eyes grew black just like Wylan’s had done not two minutes earlier. His mind became clouded with memories from his past. He flinched at the pain it brought him. His arm eventually fell at his side and his body dropped to the ground.

The familiar voices from the memory came flooding back into Kaz’s head. He had to watch Jesper turn his attention to Nina who stood beside him. She spoke up next.

“Where is she contained?” Nina asked, glancing back down at the map. 

In the background, Nina’s eyes had only widened in horror upon seeing two crows collapse to the ground. She raised her hands to stop whatever madness was ensuring since she was always reminded that she was the only one who might come close to stopping her. All she needed to do was stop her heart.

“Nina Zenik,” the deep voice spoke to her. Nina’s own heart dropped. “The heartrender.”

Out of instinct, Nina looked towards the one person who always kept her grounded. She knew what was going to happen next. She reached out for him only to see the tips of her fingers growing black in color. Her once beautiful green eyes changed to this pitch black shade of horror. 

The strong heartrender stumbled forward for she was unable to keep herself standing up anymore. Before Nina was able to fall to the ground, Matthias was able to catch her in his strong arms. He lowered her to the ground slowly just as she slipped past the darkness.

The memory returned once again. 

“She’d be kept here,” Matthias pointed to the center of the map where the White Island stood. “In the dungeons to be specific,” Matthias added.

In the memory, Nina’s former self had shifted her attention to the great fjerdan who stood beside her. He knew the court better than anyone in the room. The change shifted to compromise the next victim.

“Matthias Helvar,” the demon breathed. “The druskelle.”

Upon hearing his name, Matthias lifted his head to look directly at the emperor standing before him. He felt his own jaw lock into place. His blood began to boil in anger. His hands clenched into tight fists as he held the body of the woman he loved dearly.

“Demon,” Matthias hissed. “Go back to hell.”

Out of pure anger and resentment, Matthias stood to his feet with every intention of putting one final stop to the emperor. But he too fell under fatigue. He began to loose his footing, dropping one knee to the ground. He glanced towards one of the last two crows remaining. He tried to hold himself up and be strong for as long as possible. His eyes became black and his body tumbled to the ground.

In utter shock and horror, Kaz was forced to watch his four closest friends succumb to the darkness. He glanced at each of their unconscious bodies, feeling the panic and fear growing stronger with each passing second. He didn’t know what to do; he wasn’t in control anymore.

His heart stopped for a second as he heard a sweet familiar voice from that same memory resound in the back of his mind.

“But that means...” Inej’s voice trailed off in the memory. She was one of the few who knew exactly who he was talking about. “The Emperor is real?” Inej asked horrified. 

“Yes, Inej Ghafa.” She turned to face the voice who spoke to her in her mind. “I am very much real.”

Instinctively, Inej had to shifted her body to face towards Kaz. She held onto the last sliver of hope that he’d be able to save her and save them all. She had this panicked look on her face that he will never forget as he had never seen her look more terrified in her life. 

This was the final straw for him.

“Wait!” Kaz begged for the first time in his life.

Without hesitation, Kaz broke into a full run towards the emperor. He had every intention of putting a stop to her schemes because she had passed a line by messing with his crows. Unbeknownst to him, Inej had just fallen to the ground behind him. She slipped past the veil. He raised his cane above his head, fully intending to bash her head in.

But right as Kaz brought his cane towering down, his body fell through black clouds. The darkness had taken hold of his senses, which rendered his body completely useless in reality. When Kaz lifted his head to get a feel of his unknown surroundings, he was met with his worst nightmare staring directly at him.

OOOH!!!! Only one more chapter to go! What are everyone’s thoughts? What do you think is gonna happen in the last chapter???

TAGLIST:

@d34drapunzel @adorawritesalot​ @vixythepixie​ @theghostofshadows​ @lonelywitchv2​ @arcadialine​ @zeeader​ @cleverzonkwombatsludge​ @shara-ne​ @iloveinej​ @ireallydontcareanymorebrooo @mystic-mara​ @missymisha​ @tremendoushearttaco @home-of-disaster @gh0stgirl333 @harrydimples @marina468 @phoenix666stuff​ @grippleback-galaxy @mariar31

The Emperor of Magic | Part 3

Summary: The crows make their way out of the court with the prisoner. On their way to Ravka, they are faced with a problem that can’t be solved easily.

Warning: +18 Warning, particularly gruesome chapter which includes death/murder, mentions of blood, swearing, arguing

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader

Type: Series

Word Count: 3.5k

Series Masterlist

The large metal door of the cell swung open to reveal the presence of the emperor herself. The officer stood in the doorway of the cell. With great hesitation, Kaz and Matthias moved to stand on either side of the officer. They both looked into the dark and cold cell.

All of the sudden, the officer breathed a sharp gasp. He went to grab his chest as it sounded like he was struggling to breathe or he was having some sort of heart attack. Before Kaz or Matthias could question anything, the officer collapsed to the ground. The two of them slowly turned their heads to look at the unfazed emperor. 

In utter fear, Kaz went to reach into the cell to grab the handle of the door. He slammed the large metal door shut in hopes that it would protect them against her. 

Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the crows were standing right behind them. The officer had fallen unconscious by the hand of their very own heartrender, not by the emperor in the cell. Slowly, Nina’s hands fell back down to her sides. She shook her head.

“You really think she’d just kill him like that?” Nina asked them sarcastically. “She’s contained remember?”

In response, Matthias and Kaz went to look behind themselves at the rest of the group. They both seemed to breathe a small sigh of relief, having realized that they were actually safe from the emperor and that the officer wasn’t dead. 

Now that the whole crew had arrived, it was time to break the prisoner out of the cell. First off, Wylan passed out some of the weapons he had stolen in the armory. Inej inspected the knives and Jesper inspected the small guns. Finally, the boss went over the plan one final time with the rest of them.

“When we get inside, Jesper will break the chains. Each of us will grab one and lead her out of the cell. Then Nina and Wylan will clear the way for our escape,” Kaz reminded them.

“Right,” Matthias nodded. “And how are we getting out of here?”

“Through the tunnels that run underneath the city,” Nina explained. She had seen a number of hidden manhole covers throughout the city. There was bound to be one nearby.

“They’ll lead us straight out of the court,” Inej explained. Kaz nodded his head once in acceptance.

Once everyone got into position, Kaz went to open the large metal door of the cell. They filed in one by one. Now Jesper quickly got to work with the chains. He grabbed hold of them tightly, using his ability to manipulate metal in order to break the chain from the wall. He handed the chain to the respective crow. He did this for each of the four chains.

As an extra form of security, Wylan slipped a brown burlap bag over her head. He was especially careful not to touch her in fear that he’d be exposed to her magical abilities. He quickly stepped away from her.

For a split moment, there was a stunned silence that fell over them. The boss took the time to glance at each of his crows, hoping this wasn’t going to be the end. Now they just needed to get out of the court alive.

It felt like he was tasked with gently waking up a vicious and dangerous sleeping dragon which could destroy him at any given second. With great hesitancy, Kaz shook the chain he was holding once or twice. The emperor was slow to lift her head, but she did so.

He went ahead to pull on the chain, urging her to follow him out of the cell. Though Kaz could practically feel the uncertainty leaking from her. He knew he was taking a risk because this was something that she hadn’t done since her time her. He figured that it was only a matter of time before she would come to the realization that she was being broken out of prison. She might have already realized it.

After a beat, the emperor of magic rose to her feet and began to follow them out of the cell. They guided her with the four massive metal chains, leading her through different hallways and doorways. Upon rounding a corner, Nina found one of the grates that lead to the tunnels. She had found it earlier on their way to the cell. She went to open it up.

Suddenly, the sound of a commotion was heard through the cold hallways. The guards must have stumbled across the empty cell because they began arguing amongst each other. The footsteps began drawing closer as the guards spread out in search of the fugitive.

“They’ll be coming soon,” Matthias explained.

“Working on it,” Nina said as she pulled the grate off the wall. 

They didn’t waste any time in entering through the tunnel that would lead them below the city. The guards were getting closer with each passing second. However, Nina made sure to close the grate behind them. Just as she slipped into the shadows of the tunnel, she faintly heard a group of soldiers marching past the spot they had just been standing at.

Though the tunnel was quite narrow, the crows made sure to keep their distance from the emperor. They didn’t want to accidentally bump into her. They continued on by leading her through the tunnels.

Navigating the tunnels was no easy task, but they knew that they needed to head north in order to get out of there. They made sure to head in one direction to the best of their ability. A few right or left turns were made, but they were able to keep on track easily enough. It was a couple hours before...

“It should be straight up ahead,” Matthias stated. He glanced at some of his surroundings. “This looks familiar.”

“Be on the lookout,” Kaz ordered. “There is no telling if we run into guards once we are out.”

Carefully, Nina went to remove the grate that separated the tunnels from the outside of the court. She placed the grate to the side and slipped out. She moved her hands to be at the ready just in case they ran into anyone. The others followed behind her.

As if on cue, the Black Protocol alarm began to resound from inside the walls of the court. That meant the whole court was going into lockdown until they found their missing fugitive. The soldiers had been ordered to make their way to the walls so that the prisoner wouldn’t be able to escape.

Though they were already outside the walls, the crows were quick to make their escape into the forest so that they wouldn’t be seen by anybody. Their intention was to lead the emperor of magic as far away from the court as humanly possible. 

At some point, word was bound to reach the other kingdoms in the land. The other king and queen will hear that their grand prisoner had escaped the impossible confines of the prison. A bounty was going to be placed on her head for her recapture. And the crows were going to cash that in relatively soon. 

Now heading south, the crows stumbled across the small hidden place where they had buried some of their valuable belongings. Now Wylan reunited with his explosives, Jesper found his precious pearly guns, and Inej clung to her favorite knives. Even Kaz was more than happy to be reunited with his trusty walking cane as his leg had been bothering him for some time.

Moving on, the group of seven made their way further south with the intent of heading into Ravkan territory. It took a few hours, but they eventually wandered into the sandy dunes. The sun began to rise and the heat only followed.

The heat of the sun finally peeked since it had reached midday. The blinding rays of sunlight had no coverage from clouds, brutally beating down and reflecting off the dunes of sand. With this heat, everyone grew tired and weary rather quickly.

Having passed into Ravkan territory, the cool comfort of snow had long since disappeared. The vast dessert dunes of Ravka would eventually come to an end, especially once they came to the palace. But for now, they were forced to endure with the heat.

At one point, Matthias went to look over the stretch of his shoulder. He looked back on the place he used to call home as he was still able to see it from many miles away. He silently wondered if he’d ever go back or ever be accepted back.

The crows kept trudging along with their feet lazily dragging in the sand. It would be dangerous to stop now since they were transporting a very dangerous fugitive. Naturally, Kaz was leading the group while holding onto the chain attached to the emperor’s frontside. He occasionally would look over his shoulder to make sure everything was still running smoothly. 

On the right side, Jesper held one of the massive chains in his hand. He’d often wipe the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand or fix the way his hat fell on his head. On the left side, Wylan and Inej took turns holding the chain as it was quite heavy. They were also the two smallest members of the group. 

In the back, Matthias held the final chain. Though it was rather heavy, it wasn’t to him. Nina walked along beside him with her hands constantly at the ready. Though she had been instructed to not use her powers unless absolutely necessary. If she ended up using her powers. she’d be exposed by the emperor by letting it slip that there was a heartrender amongst them.

Out of nowhere, the emperor of magic came to a slow halt in her steps which caused the others to slightly tug at the chains because they expected her to keep walking with them. Without hesitation, Kaz whipped his head around to stare directly at the emperor’s covered head. He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously before cautiously pulling the chain once or twice to encourage her to move along. But she stayed put.

“What’s happened? Why’d she stop?” Jesper asked for some kind of explanation. The five crows casted uncertain glances to their boss.

“I don't know,” Kaz shook his head. He was looking the most annoyed right now.

“D-Do you reckon she’s tired?” Wylan tried to reason. They turned to look at him with blank expressions on their faces. Wylan further explained himself. “Maybe this is her way of saying she’s tired and needs a break.”

“We can’t stop,” Kaz almost cut him off. “It’s too dangerous. We can’t let our guard down.”

As if on cue, a heavy rumble sounded in the long distance. If one could describe the sound, it almost sounded like a mountain caving in on itself or the sound of thousands of boulders crashing into one another. Before anyone could remotely question it, the earth began to shake violently. The crows did well to maintain their balance.

The rumbling sound continued as the earth groaned in pain. Unbeknownst to them, the tremors of the reverberating earthquake could be felt over the stretch of hundreds of miles. After some time, the earth began to settle down once again. The crows felt slightly dizzy, but they were fine otherwise.

“What was that?” Inej asked slightly worried.

“That was no earthquake,” Kaz said slowly. The others looked directly at him in utter confusion. They went to follow his line of sight which settled on the emperor herself. 

“Y-You don’t think,” Jesper tried to get out. He almost laughed at the nonsense idea. “There is no way that could have been her.”

“Don’t underestimate her,” Kaz ordered blankly.

“She’s bound though,” Wylan added. “She can’t use her magic because her jacket was made by a fabrikator--” Wylan’s voice was cut off.

Because it was almost like the emperor heard him talking. What shocked him the most and what made his sentence fall short was the fact that she had turned her head to look directly at him despite wearing the covering over her head. His breathe caught in the back of his throat, holding it in anticipation.

Kaz watched carefully.

Very slowly, the emperor shifted her body in order to look behind her. While it almost looked like she was now facing Matthias, the truth was that she was looking behind him and slightly upwards. Her ‘gaze’ fell on the vast structure of the Ice Court in which they had just left.

“She feeling sentimental?” Jesper wondered.

“Don’t joke. Not now,” Inej demanded of him. She watched for something.

“Why is she looking at the court though? What’s it to her?” Matthias asked. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. He directed his attention back towards the court which stood in the far distance from them. 

All of the sudden, Matthias could feel his heart sinking in the deep confines of his chest. The once grand walls of the court that had been known to be impenetrable had begun to crumble and collapse. If they had been closer, they were bound to hear the screams and cries of people coming from the city as the walls came crashing down around them, killing hundreds without spare.

“Oh my god,” Inej gasped, stumbling backwards slightly.

“Holy shit,” Jesper replied with wide, bulging eyes.

Wylan went to cover his mouth in utter shock and Matthias began clenching the chain tightly in anger. Because it wasn’t just the walls around the fortress that collapsed. Within seconds, the rest of the structure started to give away and cave into itself. The military stronghold was no longer there, having been reduced to ash, cloud, and debris.

Before the court was even done falling to pieces, the emperor of magic redirected her attention back to her frontside. Unlike the others, Kaz was not as fazed by her show of power. It had first been the earthquake and now the decimation of an entire city. He had known her powers to be great, but never imagined she would go to these lengths. 

It wasn’t just the heat that was getting to him. Matthias began to feel a new type of rage ignite within him. This felt like a personal attack on him. That was his home for a time and despite what others may say, those were his people. Now they were gone.

His heart was filled with the thirst for revenge. He only saw red, blinding by his anger and hatred. His jaw locked in place and he bit his tongue until he could taste blood in his mouth. He tore his gaze away from the sad scene of the city, refocusing his sight on the backside of the emperor. He was seething now.

“We...cannot go on,” Matthias breathed angrily. He clarified. “She cannot.”

“Matthias,” Nina tried to reason with him sympathetically. She placed her hand on his arm which was instantly yanked out of her reach.

“This needs to end now. She needs to be silenced,” Matthias claimed.

"You’re not suggesting we just kill her here,” Jesper argued. “The whole reason we broke her out of the court was to get the bounty that would be on her head. Think of the money we will make!”

“I don’t care!” Matthias barked. “She is a murderer. She’s killed thousands.”

“We’ve all killed people,” Jesper threw out. “Not nearly as much as her, but we aren’t saints either.”

“Jesper,” Wylan warned him.

“What’s to stop her?” Matthias dropped the large metal chain into the sand. He strode directly towards Jesper, almost as if he was looking for a fight. “What’s to stop her from destroying the next city we enter and killing everyone in it?” Matthias wondered. 

“She will be contained,” Jesper said through gritted teeth. He pushed back by pressing his chest against the bigger guy. “She doesn’t know what city we are going to next. She only destroyed the court because she knew she was leaving it. Plain and simple,” Jesper stated.

“Arguing won’t solve anything,” Inej interjected. 

But Matthias and Jesper chose to ignore her comment.

“Are you so blinded by your own greed that you care not for the wellbeing of others?” Matthias quipped.

“Matthias,” Nina said rather loudly. “That’s enough.”

Throughout the argument, Kaz didn’t feel the need to interrupt them. He kept his eyes on the prisoner just to be safe. He halfheartedly listened to the pointless argument, dealing with the back-and-forth bickering nonsense. He didn’t care at all, at least not until...

The emperor went to turn her head to look directly at Wylan for the second time. The leader of the crows made the connection almost instantly in that moment. He glanced between the two of them.

“That’s it,” Kaz said mostly to himself. He called for the attention of the other crows which took a second because they were all still bickering amongst themselves. 

The five crows looked at him expectantly, choosing to listen to what he had to say. 

“Kaz,” Inej said softly on the left side. She readjusted the large chain in between her hands. She saw the slight hint of panic in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” Inej wondered.

“She showed her hand,” Kaz concluded. “She’s messing with us.”

“H-How do you know that?” Nina stuttered fearfully. 

“She’s not in our heads, is she?” Wylan wondered. He shifted from one foot to the other nervously. She was still looking directly at him which made him afraid. He cowered in his place.

“No,” Kaz shook his head. “Not yet at least.”

“Then what is it?” Jesper wondered. 

“Look at the chains,” Kaz ordered. “Who holds them.”

Though Matthias had let go of his behind them, Jesper and Inej were still holding onto theirs on either side. And Kaz still held onto the chain at the front of the pack. The crows were slightly confused. 

“Now who did she look to?” Kaz quizzed them. Each of the crows ended up turning their heads and looking directly at Wylan who hadn’t held the chain in a while since it had been Inej’s turn.

“Does this mean--” Jesper began.

“She can see him,” Kaz concluded. “Or she knows exactly where he is.”

Now Wylan felt a sudden urge of a newfound fear and anxiety wash over him. He felt vulnerable knowing that she knew where he was despite not holding onto a chain. It shook him to his core. 

“So she knows where we all are,” Jesper stated. 

“Not necessarily,” Kaz pointed out. “She knows there has to be at least four of us because we each hold one of the four chains. She must have felt Inej and Wylan switching every now and again.”

“But she doesn’t know about Nina, then?” Matthias interrupted.

“Correct,” Kaz nodded. “And I’d like to keep it that way. Nina is the only one who’d come close to taking her down.”

“I’m still confused. How does she know exactly where I am? I could be standing over there and she shouldn’t know that,” Wylan said while pointing a couple feet to his left.

“I don’t know yet. We haven’t touched her. She can't hear us or see us,” Kaz listed off. He remembered some theories suggesting that she was already all-knowing, but if that was the case, they’d be dead by now.

As if the emperor was apart of the conversation, she went to adjust her gaze to face the heartrender of the group. The others shifted uneasily in their place. 

“No, she definitely knows Nina is here,” Jesper pointed out. 

“How is that possible?” Nina asked fearfully. “I haven’t held a chain. She shouldn’t know I’m here.”

So Kaz was forced to think it over. It was like he was trying to solve a puzzle in his brain. He racked his mind of the endless possibilities. He tried to remember everything he had read for the past three years, trying to come up with some kind of explanation.

“Heartrender,” Kaz mumbled to himself. He looked up at Nina for a second. “Looks to the heartrender. No,” Kaz dismissed his initial thought. 

The other crows glanced between one another in slight confusion. They didn’t seem to understand what he was getting at. But the fear was starting to set into all of them.

“Looks...to...the...heart,” Kaz pieced it together. He spoke ever so slowly. “She feels our heartbeats. That’s how she knows exactly where we are.”

Just then, a demonic voice sounded in the back of Kaz’s mind. It was something only he could hear and it chilled him to his bone just hearing it. To anyone with sense, it would have sounded like your conscience speaking to you. Only this time, it was a very distinct voice that wouldn’t belong to any human. It could only belong to someone who possessed the magical ability to manipulate someone’s mind. And all it said was...

“Very good, Rietveld.”

TAGLIST:

@d34drapunzel @adorawritesalot​ @vixythepixie​ @theghostofshadows​ @lonelywitchv2​ @arcadialine​ @zeeader​ @cleverzonkwombatsludge​ @shara-ne​ @iloveinej​ @ireallydontcareanymorebrooo @mystic-mara​ @missymisha​ @tremendoushearttaco @home-of-disaster @gh0stgirl333 @harrydimples @marina468 @phoenix666stuff

The Emperor of Magic | Part 2

Summary: The crew begin their journey across the sea. Upon reaching land, they make their way on foot before the grand plan is finally set in motion and they come face-to-face with the emperor herself.

Warning: +18 Warning

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader

Type: Series

Word Count: 4.1k

Series Masterlist

The Fifth Harbor was awfully quiet during the early hours of the morning. It was so early that the sun hadn’t even begun to peek over the edge of the horizon. The sky was still covered by the black veil of darkness and the occasional speckles of stars were scattered across it.

The selected ship was a much older vessel that actually hadn’t sailed in nearly eight years. It would have been too much money to repair it. The bastard of the barrel had put a little money into the ship’s maintenance over the years in preparation for the journey. Since the ship was retired, nobody would even know it left port.

The old thing creaked and groaned in agony as each wave brushed against its side. A couple missing floorboards on the top deck were no cause for concern for the selected crew. The sails had been hand sewn by a lady down the street since it would have been much more expensive than to just buy a new main sail.

The bastard of the barrel stood at the bow of the ship, overlooking the vast sea that they were about to embark upon. He could hear the hushed voices of his crew members below as they came to approach the harbor.

“I’m not sure I like this idea,” Wylan spoke quietly as he walked alongside Jesper. “I mean, we don’t even know what we are up against.”

“I know, but I trust Kaz. He’s spent the last three years preparing for this heist. I’m sure he’s thought of every possible scenario,” Jesper defended with a shrug of the shoulders. 

“I’ve got a really bad feeling about this,” Wylan sighed to himself. 

On the far side of the deck, Nina and Matthias were leaning against the railing. Both of them had their heads turned in the direction of the boss. They watched him carefully.

“I don’t like this plan; it’s too risky.” Matthias finally spoke up in his thick accent. 

“We get this job done and we will never have to pull off another heist again,” Nina persuaded him. She clung to his arm. “We’d be set for life,” she smiled at him.

“At what cost?” Matthias shook his head. “Our sanity?”

“Nothing is going to happen to us,” Nina waved him off. She didn’t even want to begin to think what would happen if she got into their heads. “We are going to be fine. And when this is all done, we will be a whole lot richer,” Nina added.

Matthias hummed at her comment, but looked away unconvinced. He most certainly wasn’t the only one questioning if they should really go through with the heist. All the crows had their doubts and concern. 

“Raise the sails!” One of the crewmates shouted. 

The ship was slow to depart from the harbor. The journey would take three days, depending on the weather. Once they make it across The True Sea, the ship was ordered to make its final stop at Arkesk where the crows would then travel north on foot. 

Very slowly, Inej went to look behind them at the poor excuse she had grown to call home. She silently wondered if she’d ever see it again; not knowing what her future had in store for her. She found herself clutching one of her precious knifes, laying it flat against her chest. She closed her eyes to pray for their safety.

As the hour went on, Kaz didn’t move away from his spot at the bow of the ship. He overlooked the vast sea of waves, listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the sides of the ship. He felt a small hint of sea water brush against his face lightly.

Eventually, Jesper and Inej came to join him on either side of him. They followed his line of sight to the nothingness peeking over the edge of the horizon. The two of them shared a look between each other as if they were thinking the exact same thing.

“We’ve been thinking,” Jesper began which only caused Kaz to roll his eyes in slight annoyance. “If things do end up going south...what’s the plan?” Jesper asked curiously.

“Eliminate her,” Kaz said plainly.

In response, Jesper and Inej only looked at each other with slight worry in their eyes. They themselves knew that would be no easy task. The boss slowly turned around in his place to face his two closest allies. He placed his hands on top of the crow cane.

“And just how do we do that?” Inej inquired. She shook her head at the notion. 

Even then, Inej’s knives, Jesper’s sharpshooter skills, Wylan’s explosives, Matthias’s muscle, Nina’s powers, and Kaz’s brain would be no match for a person who could control magic. They didn’t know the extent of her powers, but they knew they wouldn’t be able to take her down. 

“Look for weakness,” Kaz reminded them. “Everyone has a weakness. Even her.”

Jesper shifted his weight to his other foot, clearly uncertain about this situation. Inej had that worried look on her face that she wore in situations like these. Kaz wasn’t his normal, cocky and confident self. He was more desperate.

“And when you find that weakness, strike it. And strike it hard. It won't be easy taking her down,” Kaz said strictly.

The hours eventually shifted into days. By the third day, land was visible from the bow of the ship. The ship made its way to the small abandoned port off the coast of Arkesk. The tailor quickly went to work on the three boys, changing their appearance to look more native. 

“I don’t understand why I need to be changed. I am already Fjerdan,” Matthias grumbled in slight annoyance. 

“And you are also a very recognizable fugitive who betrayed your country,” Kaz barked back. “You’d be arrested before you even set foot in the city.”

Once the tailor finished her work, Wylan and Kaz were completely unrecognizable. They both had dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Their complexion was much more pale which was fitting since the weather was always so drowsy and cold. 

Now Matthias’s facial structure was the only thing that was changed. His nose was a little bigger and his cheekbones became more prominent. He didn’t look like his old self much to Nina’s disappointment.

“Not to worry,” the tailor spoke to them. “The effects should wear off in a day or so.”

“Let’s just hope we can get into the court by then,” Kaz said. He went to brush past the others, keeping his head low so that they wouldn’t stare as much. The crew went ahead to gather some of their personal belongings before departing from the ship. 

In a safe and secluded area, a small hole was freshly dug in the ground. It was there were the crew would place their more precious belongings for safekeeping. Once the heist at the court was complete, they could return to their spot for their belongings before making their way down to Ravka. 

They’d have to go into the court unarmed. So Jesper mournfully departed from his pearly guns, Inej buried her knives with care, Wylan left behind some explosives, and Kaz was forced to leave his cane. 

“We go in with nothing,” Kaz told the crew. 

Though Jesper nodded his head, he wondered if his boss had some tricks up his sleeve since last time he managed to sneak picks and explosives into the court. They proceeded to pack the hole back up with dirt to hide their belongings before making the journey onwards.

It wasn’t long before they crossed into Fjerdan territory. Matthias had warned them to be on the lookout for guards or scouts since they often patrolled the woods in this area. Inej only prayed they wouldn’t come across anyone since they carried no weapons. Nina kept her hands at the ready just in case.

Upon reaching the top of an incline, the group directed their line of attention to the great sight of the court ahead of them. The walls surrounding the court looked more like cliffs from a distance, having known to be unscalable. The crew continued their journey on foot, heading to the northern road since that was the only way in or out. They did not reach the road until it was much too dark outside.

They hid in the depths of the shadows. They waited patiently and watched for one of the prison wagons to travel down the road. The heartrender peered around the side of a large boulder, spotting a prison wagon coming right up the road. She focused on the heartbeat of one of the two guards driving the wagon.

All of the sudden, the guard fell unconscious which resulted in him slumping over in his seat. His partner sitting beside him went to catch him. He was slightly confused at first, but before he could even question it, he too fell unconscious in his place. The wagon came to a halt.

The two unconscious bodies were dragged out of their seats by Jesper and Kaz. In the back, Nina and Matthias went to approach the doors of the prison wagon. He grabbed the handles of the doors and yanked them open. The only problem was...

“Oh shit,” Nina sighed to herself.

“Kaz,” Matthias called out. 

In response, Kaz made his way to the back of the wagon. He looked inside to be treated by their problem. It was an empty transport with no prisoners inside. Instinctively, Inej grabbed some papers off the seat of the wagon and brought them back to Kaz.

“Says right there. Zero prisoners,” Inej pointed out. Kaz felt like crumping up the piece of paper in his hands, but he was very glad he didn’t because one of his crows had an idea.

Nina grabbed a single feather out of her hat. She stuck out her tongue to lick the tip of the feather, wetting it slightly. She took hold of the paper before writing a three over the zero. 

“Nobody will even notice,” Nina smiled to herself proudly. The other crow members were most impressed. They never knew that her extravagant hats held little secrets such as ink feathers and such.

The plan was back in motion. Now with Kaz and Matthias pretending to be Fjerdan prison guards, they had to dress the part too. They quickly stripped the two unconscious drivers of their attire before throwing on the outfits themselves. 

Meanwhile, Jesper, Nina, and Inej climbed into the back of the prison wagon to pose as prisoners. Wylan took hold of the rifle that the one driver had, taking his place in the back of the transport with the others, especially since he didn’t have a uniform to disguise himself yet. Finally, Matthias and Kaz took the seats of the drivers. The two of them shared a look before clicking the reigns of the horses to continue down the road. 

They finally came to the entrance of the court. A massive gate stood in their way with a checkpoint at the side. The prison wagon came to a slow halt and some druskelle approached them.

“Papers?” The guard asked in his native language. 

Though Kaz didn’t know what the guard said, he had good insight when Matthias handed the guard the piece of forged paper. The guard looked at the piece of paper carefully, squinting his eyes slightly.

“Only three tonight?” The guard wondered.

“Yes. Slow day,” Matthias chuckled nervously. The guard nodded his head, handing the papers back to him. 

“Head directly to the prison sector,” the guard instructed. He gave the signal to the other guards to raise the gate for them. He stepped away so they could move along. 

With some hesitation, Matthias urged the horses to continue forward and headed into the entrance of the court. He knew the route well since he had taken it many times over. It was a silent ride for the most part. He enjoyed taking in the familiar sights of the place he once called home.

“Once we make it to the prison sector, you and I will head straight to the white island.” Kaz spoke in a hushed voice. “Jesper and Wylan are going to head straight for the armory to gather weapons to make our escape. Nina and Inej will locate our getaway.”

“And we all rendezvous at the cell. We’ll have the weapons as protection,” Matthias finished since he had heard the plan a million times over.

“We might have the weapons, but we do not open the cell without Nina,” Kaz corrected him. “She’s the only one of us who might stand a chance against the emperor. Stop her heart if it comes down to it.”

Matthias glanced at him through the corner of his eye. He couldn’t help but feel worried about her safety and wellbeing. He had seen Nina do inexplicable and impossible things, but going against someone who could control magic was something else. He feared for her. 

Upon reaching the prison sector, Kaz and Matthias climbed down from their seats on the wagon. They approached the backside, checking their surroundings to make sure the coast was clear before opening the doors. The rest of the members of the crew clambered out of the prison wagon one by one. Each of them knew where they needed to go, what they needed to do, and where to meet at the end. 

“No mourners,” Kaz told them.

“No funerals,” the rest of them said out loud. 

They broke up in pairs with Kaz and Matthias making their way to the center, Jesper and Wylan heading towards armory, and Nina and Inej lingering near the outskirts of the city to find their getaway.

Before heading to the armory, Wylan was able to snag a druskelle uniform that fit him from a spare storage closet in the prison sector. Once dressed for the role, Wylan and Jesper began moving towards the armory. They needed to be unseen since if they were caught, it would be suspicious as to why they were located in the armory. It was especially dangerous since Jesper hadn’t been tailored to look like a Fjerdan.

The armory was the most heavily guarded sector besides the prison sector. The two boys peeked around a corner to see nearly ten guards standing in front of the doors to the armory.

“There’s no chance we are getting through there,” Wylan shook his head in defeat. They both moved to press their backs against the wall. 

“Haven’t got any of those brilliant explosives on you, have you?” Jesper sounded optimistic. 

“Kaz said we go in with nothing,” Wylan claimed with a shake of his head. “We’ll just have to improvise.”

Carefully, Jesper and Wylan checked some of their surroundings. While Jesper ended up looking for a little hidden door or secret passage, Wylan say something directly above them. He pointed to it.

“Look,” Wylan said hopefully. “Up there!”

It was a vent, but a rather small one at that. There was no chance knowing where it led to, but Wylan was willing to place all his bets on it. He tapped his partners shoulder.

“Hoist me up there,” Wylan spoke softly.

“Are you crazy?! You have no idea where that leads to. It could lead directly into a prison cell,” Jesper shouted in a whisper.

“Why would a vent go into a prison cell?” Wylan quirked his eyebrows in confusion.

“Why would a vent go directly into the armory?” Jesper argued back.

“I don't know! It needs airflow?” Wylan’s excuse was rather poor. He let out a loud sigh of defeat. “Just hoist me up there. If it leads somewhere else, I’ll come straight back to you. I promise,” Wylan begged.

It took a minute, but Jesper eventually caved into his request. He bent down slightly, cupping his hands together to act as a place for Wylan to put his foot. When Wylan put his foot into Jesper’s hands, Jesper very carefully hoisted him upwards. He made sure he didn’t fall over as he managed to get a grip on the edge of the vent. He maneuvered himself into the small space before continuing on.

In the meantime, Nina and Inej tried to stay in the first sector. They surveyed some possible options to make their escape. The walls were still impenetrable; there was no getting through or over them. They needed to find something inconspicuous in terms of nobody drawing notice to the fact that they will be escorting a prisoner out.

“Why didn’t Kaz think of an escape plan before we got ourselves into this situation?” Nina rolled her eyes. She sounded most frustrated.

“Because the Ice Court is unpredictable. One minute, things look like they might be going your way. And then the next minute, you set off the protocols.” Inej recalled their first heist. 

“Walking out of here is going to be no easy task,” Nina shook her head at the notion. 

“No, but I think I might have an idea.” Inej said with a small smile on her face. Nina followed her line of sight before her eyes settled on the same thing she saw. 

In another part of the city, Kaz and Matthias spotted the various guard towers that surrounded the white island. They passed by other druskelle who simply tipped their heads in acknowledgement. They now walked the druskelle path which was one of two ways to enter the island. The bridge was made of perfectly clear glass that made it seem like they were walking in midair.

Upon finally reaching the center of the white island, Kaz and Matthias began heading towards the lower section since that was most likely where the unknown prisoner would be kept. 

“How is Nina going to make it to the cell? This bridge is heavily guarded and only accessible if you are druskelle,” Matthias whispered to his partner beside him. Kaz only rolled his eyes.

“Is she all you think about?” Kaz scoffed. “You do realize there are two different points of entry. They know what to do. You worry about such little things.”

“I always worry about her,” Matthias grumbled under his breath.

“Stop right there!” They froze.

In the tunnel, Wylan squinted his eyes to try to see through the darkness. He shimmied his body through the tight space, heading towards the armory. He peeked through a small hole which lead to the center of the armory. He could see shelves of weapons ranging from knives to guns. 

Very carefully, Wylan moved the vent out of his way. He slipped through the hole and lowered himself to the floor. He made sure his footsteps went unheard since there were bound to be guards nearby. He watched the guards through the corner of his eye, but realized that they had their backs turned away from him and they stood rather far away.

Upon finding one self in particular, Wylan began pocketing the smaller things such as knives (for Inej) and small guns (mainly for Jesper). No matter how hard he looked, Wylan couldn’t seem to find any explosives much to his disappointment. He grabbed a couple more guns before turning to leave. He stopped in the middle of his steps when he came face to face with an official officer.

“What are you doing here, boy?” 

Much to Wylan’s relief, the officer spoke his language so he was able to understand him. But he had a thick and heavy accent which almost made it hard to hear clearly. Wylan stumbled over his words and tried to come up with some kind of excuse.

“I-I just came from training,” Wylan tried his best to sound like Matthias. “Ended up jamming my gun. Came for a new one,” Wylan lied.

Just by peeking over the officer’s shoulder, Wylan could see Jesper looking directly at him with wide eyes. He shook his head desperately, waving his hands wilding to urge him to get out of there. 

“Well, there is no need to be all sneaky and such.” The officer offered him a lopsided smile, which Wylan returned nervously. He even went to far as to hand Wylan a gun off the shelf. He quickly pocketed it into his holster. “Best get back to training,” the officer encouraged.

“Right,” Wylan nodded. “Thank you, sir.”

With some hesitation, Wylan slipped past the officer and headed directly to the doors of the armory. The guards paid no mind to him. They had seen a million young recruits misuse their weapons in training. The only reason he had come up with that excuse was because Matthias had once told him he did that when he was younger. 

By the time Wylan returned to Jesper, he was practically shaking from nerves alone. The two of them made a hasty escape, attempting to make their way to the rendezvous point.

At this point, Nina and Inej were hurrying across the glass bridge to the white island. They didn’t know that Wylan and Jesper were not far along behind them, heading in the same direction. They needed to make it to the cell because the guards were already on their way.

In the heat of the moment, Kaz and Matthias hadn’t moved from their spot. They could both hear the footsteps coming from behind them that belonged to the officer who ordered them to stop. The officer came around to stand in front of them. He narrowed his eyes at them suspiciously.

“What are you two doing in this sector?”

Despite not knowing Fjerdan, Kaz had a pretty good idea what he was saying by the way he emphasized one particular word. He wanted to smirk to himself, knowing that the officer was wondering how they managed to make their way into the darkest section of the court. They weren’t supposed to be there.

“We’re the new recruits who are to be trained on how to take care of the prisoner,” Matthias responded. His voice didn’t waver this time. The officer narrowed his eyes at him. “We volunteered,” Matthias added.

“Then you are twisted men,” the officer shook his head. “This prisoner is no joke.”

“We know. We were sent by the king himself,” Matthias said proudly. The officer straightened his back in posture. He gave a single nod before opting to escort them deeper into the caves. 

“First thing to know is that once the door is open, you do not speak until it closes again. We cannot risk sound in case she hears us,” the officer ordered. He grabbed a nearby torch to guide them in the darkness.

“Yes sir,” Matthias responded. He quickly nudged Kaz who repeated those exact words in Fjerdan.

“Second thing to know is that we do not touch the prisoner at all. You touch her...then you might as well say your prayers because you aren’t walking out of that cell alive,” the officer added as they rounded a corner.

“Yes sir.” Matthias said once again.

All of the sudden, the three of them came to a sudden halt in front of a solid metal door. The officer turned around in his place to face the two druskelle who had been following him in the tunnels. He went to place the torch on the wall beside them.

“The third and final thing to know is that this is the most dangerous person to have ever walked the earth. There are very few people who even know of her existence. I fully trust that you will not relay the events of what happens to anybody for their safety,” the officer said one final time.

“...yes sir...” Matthias swallowed heavily.

Though Kaz did not understand either of them, Kaz ended up turning his head to look at the solid door beside them. Before he even knew what was happening and before he could put a stop to it, the officer pulled out a pair of keys to unlock the door. 

It was too early. The others weren’t there yet. They had no weapons to protect themselves. They needed Nina, but it was far too late for that. 

The large metal door of the cell swung open. With great hesitation, Kaz and Matthias peered around the edge of the doorway to look into the dark cell. Their eyes landed on a figure who sat on the cold stone floor. 

Like Kaz had said, the emperor’s eyes were covered along with her mouth and ears. Her arms were wrapped around her body in a tight straight jacket that kept her from using her powers. And four monstrous chains were attached to each wall which kept her from moving around in her cell. 

There was an unsettling eeriness to the coldness and darkness coming from the cell. The emperor didn’t seem to move. She didn’t react to light or sound, which most likely meant that she was unable to see or hear. There she was in the flesh and bone.

And Kaz had never felt more terrified in his entire life.

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Reading King of Scars has hit me deep. I am half way through and shipping Zoyalai and Genya x David so hard. I love David so much. He is my goat. I have been hit in the face with Nikolai backstory, getting teased boy Zoya's, and crying over Matthias and Nina. I am having fun anotating.

The crows and rugby

I love six of crows and rugby so this is just an excuse to mix them. (Note I am a forward and don't really know a lot about positions for backs)

Inej would be a back and probably play wing. She would be the won that once the ball is passed to them finds a whole and runs to the try zone. Her team nickname is the wrath for how fast she runs and strong tackles.

Nina is a forward, mains prop but can do second row. I think she would back lift. She probably flirts with the girls on the other team at the start of the ruck to try to throw them off.

Mattias is also a forward and would prop and maybe eight man. Bro would be a tank and people are probably scared when they see this guy running to tackle him.

Wylan would be a not sure what position he would play but maybe scum half. He can keep the nickname Wylan Van Sunshine in the ironic way. People who think he is just a little guy but would be a menace during a game.

Jesper can both be a back and a forward depending on what the team needs. As a forward he would be a flank and be lifted. Again I am not sure about his position as a back.

Kaz I am not sure would play but would definitely come up with the best plays. The players would come up with the stupidest calls for them and he would not be assumed. (My team has a play that is just any national disaster except 9/11 cause that is it's own call) Nina would probably try to call one bad hair cause Kaz was the one that made the play.

the world needs more Muppets

Random thought but I was reading some fan fiction, as one does and there was the word Muppet in it. So know I am thinking out of all the shadow and bone characters who would be the one human. Nikolai would be a solid vibe, but Zoya, the Darkling or Mal would be way too funny.

With six of crows Kaz has to be the one human there is no other option. The only one you can argue for is Matthias but what Muppet could play Kaz. You know what I mean.

But also after you decide the only human who would be played by what Muppet? I should definitely watch more Muppets content