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I speak with confidence as I step through the passage and reach the other side, where another corridor is faintly lit by a light at its distant end Kat and Brogan step through behind me and take the lead as we continue our way forward

Kat has a ju her further and further ahead of us There’s an unmistakable hopefulness in her le to feel anything but the glooroans like it’s tied in knots, the dank air and the tight walls enclosing around us as we venture ever deeper underground

We soon reach the light, a torch hovering over a dark opening with a ladder descending into it Kat goes down first, followed by Brogan and finally roith each step, so frosty that I start to seefar above us If this is where Helena has been kept, she must be frozen solid

The ladder below us ends at the center of a cavern, one too dark to give us any idea of its size What light pours down into it is sed by blackness or reflects off of our silhouettes, leaving us little idea of where to go fro just ahead

“Kaela,” a strained voice calls out, so hollow that it hardly seems human

It cuts straight tome like I have been turned to stone I cannot even summon my own voice in reply Kat looks at , but I can’t even feel the air leaving my body She hesitates briefly and then steps forward to answer for me

“Helena, we’re here to rescue you,” she says, fear in her voice like she senses what I do

There is no answer I stare out into the dark petrified, but nothing co hand up to reactivate my visor To my surprise, there is little response froreen lines that completely obscure my vision

I turn h they are having siain toward the darkness, a faint echo, like , I cautiously move forward until it stops I then turn around to look at Brogan and Kat, who are trailing further back, but a from behind

“You’re a lie!” my attacker screa me from harm

Still, she strikes with ferocity and then grips tightly as I unsuccessfully attempt to rip her free and throw her over lime But what has happened to her?