Azina Flameheart was known as such because of her fierce advocacy of the lower socioeconomic classes in the Ruby Region’s only major city, Summerkeep. She regularly clashed with the Coalition, wealthy political influencers of the city that would propose and support policies that increased their wealth and self-interests. And because of her vigorous opposition to the Coalition, no citizen suspected her of any wrongdoing. After all, a person who would take on the enormous task of being an obstacle to their corruption wouldn’t have time for anything else.

	But as she stood at the foot of her mansion’s storage vaults, she let out a shiver, hoping to shake the part of her conscience telling her to turn back. But Azina knew it was too late to undo what had been done. She gritted her teeth and opened the door. A draft blew in from the long, dark corridor. The only thing that could be seen was a faint slit of light from under a door. Despite being able to gather different food and supplies from the vault blindfolded, the hallway felt foreign and terrifying, as if it were a completely different world. But she pulled her cloak’s hood over her head and walked toward the small light.

	Her mind raced with what to do, despite preparing for this day for her entire life. All of the rehearsed conversations, all of the justice that she had been planning to enact, all of the relief that her heart would feel. It was overwhelming, so she broke everything down and instead thought of the question that had led her there.

	When she reached the light, a cold mixture of nervousness and excitement traveled throughout her body. She pulled the heavy door open, the screeching of metal against stone filling the hallway. The sound of banging against metal, as well as muffled yelling became audible from the door to her right. She first closed the door behind her and locked the many mechanisms. Then, she walked to the door and steeled herself, thinking of the injustice that had been committed against her. Then, she slid open the tiny window on the door and peered inside. Representative Glowi peered back at her with bewildered eyes.

	“Azina! I’ll have your head when I get out of here! And trust me, I’ll be out of here soon enough. You think my associates and those under my employ won’t take notice of my disappearance? Do you think-”

	“They’ve all been paid off. Scum tends to attract scum,” Azina said. Glowi gritted his teeth so hard that she thought that they might break. He suddenly rushed forward and crammed his fingers through the peering window. But she pulled her face away and watched his fingers writhe and feel for anything. He shouted in frustration and pulled his hand back.

	“What do you want? A vote? A Coalition secret? More money?” He angrily asked.

	“Back away from the peering hole to the back wall,” Azina said coldly. But Glowi stood there, his angry gaze fixed on her and defiant to the words. She reached to the metal sheet and slid it closed.

	“Wait, wait.” His words were muffled as he banged on the door. The sound stopped and she took a moment to remind herself of why she was there. After a deep breath, she slid the peering hole open and looked inside. Representative Gowi was standing at the back wall, his arms crossed and stroking his thick, imperial mustache in frustration. She stared at him for a minute, examining the unpleasant aura he gave off.

	“Do you remember a fire haired woman you had killed?” She asked. His scowl turned into a smile. He laughed and nodded his head.

	“Is that what this is all about? A revenge tale to make yourself feel better? This woman won’t come back, you know,” Gowi said in a condescending tone. His words made her angry, but she knew that trying to justify herself to him wouldn’t do anything. Instead, she took another deep breath and thought of how to phrase her next words so that he might feel fear slowly wash into him.

	“She was a no name potter that you hired to sculpt the planters for your estate’s grand display of marigolds and poppy flowers,” she said very matter-of-factly. Glowi’s smile immediately faded and his eyes widened.

	“A very vague description. I meet a lot of people, being a part of the Coalition, Azina,” he said.

        “I heard you slept with this fire haired, no name potter woman. An act explicitly forbidden by Coalition members to avoid nepotism,” she said. Rowi laughed and slapped his knee.

        “Like any of the Coalition follows that rule. Is that what you think you have on me? Come now, if you want a bribe, then all you need is say the word! None of this dramatic flair! Though, I do appreciate it.” He looked around and nodded his head in approval. Azina watched him intently, like a lion watching its prey. He stepped forward, still looking around the room as if admiring the walls. 

        “Back to the wall.” She raised her voice.

        “Azina, you know that I can give you whatever you need to continue your futile fight against the lawmakers in Summerkeep. It makes things more fun when someone is opposing-”

        “Shut up and go back to the wall.” He approached the door with open arms. But before he could reach the door, she backed away and slid the metal sheet closed.

        “Come back here, Azina! I’ll kill you myself if I have to!” He shouted. Azina stared at the door for a moment and punched it with all of her might. 

        “How dare you!” Rowi said, pounding back at the door. Azina’s breathing became rapid and she breathed through her nose, trying to calm herself down before turning to the door on her left. She reached into her coat pocket and took out a vial filled with black liquid. It used to be an intimidating sight to her, but now, she simply unscrewed the cork and downed it. It immediately brought her to her knees and her body tried fighting against it by forcing her to vomit. She trembled, fighting against herself, and let out a defiant spit. Thickened drool dripped from her lips to the stone floor in a clear, viscous line.

        She gained control of her breathing again and pulled herself up, eager to see her next prisoner. She opened the metal sheet on the door and stared inside of the room. A woman sat in the far corner, her knees to her chest and staring forward into nothingness. The sight of her made Azina feel uneasy, but her confidence was built back up thinking about the extra layers of metal and stone she’d paid for in the room.

        “Tini,” Azina said. The woman slowly turned her head to the door and stared through Azina.

        “I never liked ‘The Black Zephyr’ anyway,” Tini said plainly. Azina watched her mechanically rest her head on the top of her knees without looking away from the door. They silently stared each other for a minute, Tini not blinking once.

        “So, you had Rosco capture me. He’s a tough one. Expensive, too. You must have something against me,” Tini said. It was true, Azina had risked asking Rosco, the Ice Delegate, to capture Tini. And the price was at least three quarters of her entire estate. But this is what she’d be working toward her entire life.

       “Do you recall a contract to kill a fire haired woman in the alley between Representative Glowi’s mansion and Paradise Emporium?” Azina finally asked. Tini, still with her eyes wide open, let out a hum as if contemplating something.

       “If you’re talking about the mansion of the guy with the mustache everyone makes fun of, yes, I do, actually. Her teeth were exceptional, considering she was just a potter,” Tini said, perking up. Azina clenched her fists. She hated the way that Tini had shown interest, as if this was all a game to her.

       “What interest do you have in that woman? Do you have a filial tie to her? Cousin? Sister? Aunt? Mother?” Tini quickly spouted out as if she were a curious child.

       “What would you know of her?” Azina demanded. Her blood settled and she pushed her face against the peering window.

       “She spoke to me,” Tini said. Azina was shocked.

       “What did she tell you?”

       “That she hoped that I would start killing the right people.”

       Azina stared at her, her knees growing weak. She leaned forward against the door and launched into a coughing fit. Her chest tingled and throat burned, as if a fire were trying to escape her. Tini squinted her eyes.

       “You’re not doing well, are you?” She asked.

       “Well enough that I shall see you suffer here,” Azina said through her clenched teeth.

       “What sort of suffering do you have planned for me?” Tini asked in a notably timid voice. Azina again pushed her face against the peering hole, struggling to keep her focus on Tini.

       “The same fate of your victims - I shall extract a tooth from you everyday until they’re all gone.”

       “And when they’re all gone? What shall you do with me then?” Tini asked. Azina hadn’t thought about that before. She assumed that Tini would die in the process of the extractions. But she knew that if she released Tini, then she would have incentive to come back and kill her.

        “Then you’ll die. I shall choose the method closer to the date,” Azina said. Tini closed her eyes and nodded before burying her face into her knees. Azina knew that there was nothing left to say to her. She’d made her aware of her crime and instilled a fear into Tini by telling her what awaited her in this prison. The only thing left to do was to follow through with her plans. She closed the peering window and made her way back to her estate, securing the heavy doors behind her.

        As she stumbled through the darkness back to the upper level of her estate, she heard the crackling of fire. She whipped around to see if her two prisoners had somehow escaped, but saw nothing. She pushed her hands against her ears and quickened her pace to the stairwell, fighting the urge to vomit something foreign inside of her.