The explosion wasn't supposed to happen.
Keiser's heart lurched as the undercroft rattled, sending dust and sparks through the dim, oil-lit gloom. The plan had been to move quietly, to slip through before anyone noticed, but now parchment traps were igniting one after another, each flare painting the walls in flashes of red and gold.
"Move!" Keiser grabbed a fistful of Tyron's cloak and yanking him forward just as another runes flared to life behind them, erupting in a burst of smoke and fire. The boy stumbled but kept running, his breaths ragged and sharp, eyes wide with fear.
All around them, havoc spilled loose.
Iron bars screeched as cages split open, and from within surged the guttural snarls of young beasts long starved and maddened. The undercroft was now a frenzy of claws and teeth, shadows writhing with things too wild to name. Just one misstep and all the careful planning unraveled.
