Chains and Broken Magic
Copyright© 2026 by Rachael Jane
Chapter 20: Aelwyn: Return to Bofur’s Hall
The mountains rise before us like jagged teeth. Cold wind sweeps down the slopes, carrying the scent of stone and iron. Bofur’s fortress lies somewhere within that maze of rock ... hidden, fortified, dangerous. The place where Lyralyn is imprisoned. The place Mara and I escaped from. The place we must return to.
Elenora walks beside me, her cloak pulled tight, her hair glowing faintly with the magic she still struggles to contain. Mara follows a few steps behind, scanning the ridges with wary eyes.
We stop at the edge of a ravine overlooking the fortress’s lower entrance. Smoke from the forges deep below ground curls from vents in the rock. Sentries stand like statues near the gates.
Mara exhales slowly. “They’ve doubled the guard.”
“Because of us,” I say.
Elenora steps forward, her eyes narrowing as she studies the entrance. “We can’t go through the main gate.”
I nod. “Then we need another way. What about the fissure we escaped through?”
Mara hesitates. “There is a better one that leads directly to the deeper caverns.”
I turn to her. “Tell us.”
She points toward the southern slope. “There’s a ventilation shaft along an old crack in the mountain. It’s narrow, steep, and half‑collapsed. But it leads into the lower tunnels.”
“Where the dungeons are?” I ask.
“Not directly,” she says. “But not far from there. But Bofur will have stationed more guards. He’s not a fool and he knows how to defend his fortress.”
Elenora bites her lip. “I can help. I think.”
I study her. “How?”
She lifts her hand. A faint shimmer of gold flickers around her fingers ... unsteady, but real.
“I can make us ... less visible,” she says. “Not invisible. Not fully. But blurred. Harder to see. Or I can create distractions ... light, sound, illusions.”
Her voice trembles. “But I can’t attack them. Not directly.”
I place a hand on her shoulder. “You don’t need to attack anyone.”
She exhales shakily. “Good. My magic isn’t capable of assaulting a person.”
Mara steps closer. “We’ll need to move quickly. Quietly. And we’ll need to find Lyralyn before they find us.”
A knot tightens in my chest. “She’ll be in the dungeons.”
“Most likely,” Mara agrees. “But the dwarves don’t always follow logic. If they think she’s valuable, they might keep her somewhere else.”
“Or if they think she’s dangerous,” Elenora whispers, “they might hold her under close guard.”
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