WALKING ON GLASS

The time in the prison cell was like a never-ending dream. He was the only prisoner in the entire place. There must have been a decline in crimes.

The guard's undivided attention almost made him feel like a celebrity.

Whenever he wasn't trying to strike up a conversation with the guard, Marshall was hypnotizing the glowing bars with a blank stare.

Just when he was about to doze off, the crinkle of the newspaper jolted him up. The guard stood up and trailed towards the staircase. Must have been going on a bathroom break.

The disciple sighed and rested his head back against the wall, but the footsteps quickly moved down again.

Did the guard forget something?

Marshall lifted his head, and his eyes met a pair of icy ones. His heart celebrated as he scrambled to the front of his cell.

"What are you doing here?" the disciple asked, breaking into a full grin. His hand unconsciously reached out to touch the bars, and a menacing bzzt! zapped his hand.

"Ow!"

"Be careful," Wyn warned. "Step away from the bars."

"Eh?" Marshall chuckled, complying, "Why, are you worried about me?"

Wyn observed the pulsating light of the spiritual bars, then searched the room for any means to deactivate them. Finding no switch to flip nor lever to pull, he extended his hand toward the bars, his fingers nearly touching the glowing surface.

The disciple leaned in curiously. "What are you doing?" he whispered, smirking. "Are you breaking me out?"

Wyn's tone was resolute, "Yes. We are leaving the Chastity Tower."

"We... are?" Marshall's smile was replaced by a confused expression. He tilted his head, unable to tell whether it was a joke or not. "Are you serious?"

"Do not make me repeat myself."

"But why would you do this?"

"To ruin Lord Chioni's plans," Wyn stated.

"So it's true?" Marshall moved closer again. "Lord Chioni is the one who framed me?"

"Hush," Wyn silenced him, waving his hand for the disciple to step back.

The snow deity began manipulating the energy of the spiritual bars. The pale blue tendrils intruded on the golden glow of the cell.

Marshall's eyes focused on Wyn's hands as they moved into one of the bars. With a soft buzz, it faded and disappeared into thin air.

The disciple stared at the process in confusion, then looked down at the hole on the ground.

A small crystal sphere blinked a greeting. Marshall tilted his head up and saw the same thing in the ceiling.

Like a knife cutting sausage in half, Wyn had severed the connection between the two spheres with his spiritual energy. Then he repeated the same motion, turning off two more bars.

"You can step outside now."

Marshall didn't need to be told twice. He hopped over the spheres and followed Wyn to the stairs leading up from the basement.

Wyn briefly glanced back, not a single doubt in his eyes. "Stay close. Do not get lost."

"You know, if I was a girl, I might have fallen for you. So dependable," Marshall joked, earning himself the hundredth unimpressed look from the snow deity.

They took an odd route to evade the guards stationed outside the basement prison. It was filled with lot of twists and turns and narrow paths.

Once they reached the main door, Marshall frowned, recalling the events of the last night. He looked behind his back, reliving the feeling of being cornered.

The door's seal responded to Wyn's spiritual energy, and the door slid open.

"Marshall," the low voice called out for the distracted disciple.

"Yeah, let's go."

They slipped out like two shadows, carefully threading their way away from the Chastity Tower.

The next evening had rolled along already. There were no windows in the basement prison, so Marshall had lost track of time. It had felt like eternity, that's all he knew.

Under the pale orange hues of the sky, the route they took reminded him of carefree trips to dining places in the nearby towns. However, this trip was filled with the serious voice of Wyn, who was providing some details.

"General Gi has set up new barriers around the vicinity of the Chastity Tower and a few other safe zones. There is one within Chara Town..."

Marshall excitedly whipped his head around to look to Wyn. "We're going to Chara Town?"

It meant the town had survived, or at least a part of it had. The disciple's heart lightened at the good news.

Wyn gave a nod. "All we have to do is get inside unnoticed by the soldiers patrolling outside the safe zone, then find a place to stay."

The disciple exhaled in relief, smiling earnestly, "Thank you."

Wyn glanced at Marshall, momentarily bewildered, but his expression quickly turned back to composed unreadability.

"No need to thank me," Wyn said, his voice quieter than usual.

The disciple scratched the back of his neck, then cautiously asked something, "Hey, how come you haven't told General Gi or the Arbiter of Justice about your father? If they knew what he was doing, wouldn't they stop him?"

Few seconds of silence settled between them before the snow deity answered. "You can be surprisingly naive for how sharp you are."

Marshall blinked, the statement knocking a laugh out of him. "What do you mean?"

"The three powerholders have been close since the beginning of times."

"So you think they're all in on it?"

"Correct."

Marshall pressed his lips together, humming in thought. Perhaps it was true. But he needed to know more.

"Wyn, you said you broke me out to ruin Lord Chioni's plans, but you never told me what they were."

"It is complicated. I will explain when we are off the road," the snow deity promised.

The disciple chewed on his cheek, trying to stay patient. Yet, the eerie silence of the abandoned streets intensified his sense of restlessness.

Every creak of a broken sign swinging in the wind, every crackle of the damaged pavement under their feet, echoed slightly. Marshall cleared his throat, pulling up an offer.

"How about you explain half of it now, and the other half when we—"

Something sharp dug into Marshall's foot, forcing him to stop. His eye twitched and he lifted his foot up to check. It was just a minor cut. He must have stepped on broken glass while looking around.

Wyn looked at his feet, bewildered. "Why are you barefoot?"