CHAPTER XII RESCUE The third evening of our stay at the tower, Diana and I stepped through the Gateway to the Republic. There was no feeling of teleportation or the usual discomfort that goes with it, it was much like walking from one room to the next, but when we looked, we were surrounded by forest. We turned to look behind us, and saw no trace of the Doorway, only more forest. Even though we'd never been to the area before, I felt as though I had returned home. I said as much to Diana, who nodded understandingly. "I know what you mean." she said, "It feels good to have the trees around me again. Just don't get too at home here. It looks the same, but this is a very different part of the world, one that is much more dangerous. Come on, let's go. The sooner we get out of here the better." I reluctantly nodded my agreement, and we began our journey. Thanks to Jolan, we were well stocked for the trip. We'd traded our somewhat threadbare, ill-fitting cloaks for enchanted ones, which according to Jolan would hide us from curious eyes. The magus had also provided us with backpacks filled with implements that might be useful in freeing Mikhal. Several hours of traveling later, we stopped for a late- night meal, since we would be traveling by night. Opening our packs, we found a sack which was supposed to provide limitless food, tailored to the nutritional needs of the user. My nutritional needs aside, however, it didn't produce what I would consider appetizing fare. When I reached in, I found a well- cooked leg of mutton, and for Diana there was a roasted rabbit. The meal satisfied my hunger for food, but it was... a little too dead. I wondered if Jolan realized that I preferred my food uncooked. After this repast we continued our journey, until day break. When we noticed the sky growing lighter in the East, we started looking for a place to hide, and we finally found a small cave, into which we both barely fit. The quarters were a bit cramped, but I couldn't complain about the company. We huddled together and slept through most of the day, awaiting nightfall to cover our movements. We awoke a short time before sunset, and I wanted to use the remaining light to study the maps Jolan had given us. Trying to give Diana a few extra minutes of sleep, I tried to slowly untangle myself and crawl out of the cave. To my surprise, however, I found that my mane was caught from behind. By contorting myself, I was able to reach my paw up to find what had my hair. Expecting to find it caught on a loose root, I instead discovered that a small, furry hand had tangled itself on my mane as I had tried to leave. A muffled giggle behind me suggested that this was no accident. Diana had other plans for the remaining daylight, which the closeness of the cave did nothing to prevent. I decided that the map could wait until the next day. Things went uneventfully after that for about a week, with us traveling at night and sleeping during the day. However, one evening as we were just leaving our hiding-place among the bushes, we were surprised to hear a set of loud steps approaching us. I signaled to Diana, and we both made ready to run or defend ourselves as the occasion should demand, but we remained where we were, wary of giving ourselves needlessly away. Eventually, a pair of voices came into range, one rough and throaty, the other light and smooth. "By Ils's Tears, Felin, can't you walk quietly? You make more noise than a drunk minotaur in a glass-ware shop!" "My people don't go sneaking around in the dark like some others I might mention! If someone hears, they hear, and I'll deal with them. Besides, I though you were the mighty elven Magus?" "Don't tempt me, dwarf-girl, or I'll make your whiskers fall out." "You wouldn't!" the one identified as Felin yelled. "I would, in an instant, and keep your voice down! Do you know what would happen if they caught us?" the dwarf-maid made no response that I could hear, but the other continued. "You they'll kill right away, but they'll take me to their burned-and- blasted prison, and I'd rather die than suffer that. I... shhh!" The voice stopped, and I could picture them listening for something. During their discourse, they had drawn quite near where we were hiding, though after learning who they were, we felt in no great danger. To our dismay, however, the elf snapped quickly to the dwarf "Quick, hide!" and we heard the bushes rustling. The pair dove into our hiding place, which gave all four of us quite a surprise. Fortunately, they were more frightened of whatever was behind them than they were shocked at seeing us, and they kept their peace. We sat staring at each other in silence, they no doubt wondering about our cloaked figures, until finally we heard several men, some on horseback, passing nearby. When we felt certain that they were gone, our attentions were turned back to each other. Diana and I were rather uncertain of how to begin, and the elf, a young woman by her race's standards, seemed content to remain silent. The dwarf had other ideas, however. Unbothered by the low branches of the bushes sheltering us, she stood and bowed. "Hullo and well met, strangers! I'm Felin, and this is Palas. We're on our way to the... oomph!" The dwarf stumbled forward a bit as the elf, presumably named Palas, kicked her shin. "Now what did you do that for?" she demanded. The elf started chattering away, talking in a language that seemed a little bit like birds singing. After listening for a second, looking like she was having a little difficulty following the speed of her companions speech, Felin started in, looking up at the elf and shaking her finger as she talked. "Does the straw in your head match the straw you have for hair, Palas? These people aren't with the Republican Guard! If they were, they wouldn't be hiding, and they most certainly wouldn't have let us hide here while the patrol missed us! Now, if you don't want to be civil, that's fine. You deal with magic, so people expect it of you. My people like to be a little more polite than that. I swear, Tur should never have made beardless women!" Finished with her tirade, she turned once again to us. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted," she looked pointedly at her companion, "We are heading for the prison. You see, we escaped from a prison wagon way back on the road, and then there was this man, and he told us that we should go this way, and that we could free our families, and that we should be looking to find help on the way." I was amazed that she could say all that in one breath. "But anyway, now that you know who we are, can you tell us about yourselves? Not to speak badly of you, since I don't know you, and maybe you have good reasons for hiding, but it's not polite to talk to people and not let them see your face, except you aren't talking, so maybe it isn't impolite, do you think?" I decided to ignore that particular issue of etiquette for the moment, but I broke the silence anyway. "This man, what did he look like?" The elf smiled. "It speaks!" She mocked, "I was beginning to think you were a pair of scarecrows someone lost!" "Funny that straw-head here should talk about scarecrows, huh?" The dwarf thought to interject, earning a brief scowl from Palas. "Be that as it may (and don't forget, Felin, I can make good on that threat... you'd look much better without the beard!) I would also like to see your faces, before I tell you anything. You will, I hope, forgive a touch of paranoia, but this is the Republic, after all." Diana glanced in my direction and I shrugged in response. What could it hurt? We pulled back the hoods of our cloaks, and the pair before us drew their breath in sharply. "Well?" I asked, "Does my face inspire confidence?" "Actually, it does." The elf replied. "The Cleric told us that we'd know you when we saw you, that you had a certain, how did he put it?... unique... look to you. I can't think of anything more singular than you." "I choose to take that as a compliment." Diana said, smiling. "As it was intended, I assure you. But, to answer your friend's question, he was a human. His hair was short and brown, he had on a white robe, and he had a medallion, shaped like a sunburst. That's all I can tell you. Truth be told, humans look very similer to me. He was very vague and mysterious in the way he spoke, if that helps." Diana and I exchanged glances. "Actually it does. I thought we had a friend in common, but that's not him. But never mind that now. For the moment, it seems that we have a decision to make. I have a friend who is imprisoned nearby. I'm almost certain that this is the same prison your families are in. It has been our goal to liberate my friend, and it would be wise if we were to coordinate with each other. After all, if we got there first, and succeeded in freeing Mikhal--that's my friend's name, by the way--your task would be a thousandfold more difficult. Conversely, the same would be true for us if you were to succeed first. The only way I can see to work this is for us to work together." Felin perked up at this suggestion, but Palas's face hardened. "However, it would seem that you don't like that idea. I'm open to suggestions, if you have them." I could see that Diana was going to mention the map, but I signaled to her to not to. I wanted to save that information for later, just in case. Palas drew Felin aside and began chattering in that bird- song language again, which I assumed to be elven, since the dwarf didn't act like it was her primary language. She only got out a few sentences before Felin stopped her, indignant. "Tur's Beard, there you go again, being impolite. Do you think either of them happen to speak elven? It was only an odd coincidence you found me, a dwarf who could understand it, so what do you think the odds are that they speak it?" Palas was silent, yet hostile. "If you want to keep talking, say what you have to say in Common, so we can all understand." "Very well, and may your tunnels be forever damp you little troll! I was just saying that we know nothing about you, and we have no way of knowing that you're telling the truth. All we have is the word of one human, and two... whatevers. Hardly what I'd stake my life on." "Understandable, I suppose," Diana said, "but as Firemane said, what other suggestion do you have? We won't forsake our task any more than you would forsake yours." "I don't quite understand." I added, "What do you have to fear from us?" Palas took my paw and held it up, pushing slightly on my finger so that a claw extended. Her eyebrows arched, and she just looked at me for a while. I pulled my hand back. "All right, yes, I could just tear into you if I felt like it, but as your friend said, if I wanted to, I'd have done it already." I decided to try a more sympathetic approach. "Look, I understand how you feel. You've been mistreated by people just for who you are and how you look, and that makes it difficult to trust people. We should know. We've both been betrayed, caged, beaten, drugged, and generally treated like animals. We escaped our tormentors, and we value our freedom just as highly as you must. I'm not saying that you should trust us, but I am asking that you give us the benefit of the doubt, so to speak." Palas still looked hesitant. "How do I know you're telling the truth, that you aren't just some witch's pets? Truth, you look like..." "Deamons?" Diana and I both finished for her simultaneously. Palas seemed surprised that we guessed her thoughts. "Well, yes. I've certainly never seen your like in nature, so what else could you be?" "We're not deamons, but don't feel too bad. It's a common misconception. I don't know how I came to be like this, but Diana was the result of an enchanter's revenge. It's a long story." "Still, how do I know you're telling the truth? Can you prove anything you've said?" I looked at Diana, and she reluctantly agreed. She turned around, and showed them the scars across her back. Since our release, the scars had begun to heal somewhat, but they were still quite vivid. "I earned these for trying to escape, before I met Firemane. A man named Shaloc locked us in a cage for his traveling carnival." When Diana showed her the scars, I could see Felin looking harshly at Palas. "Satisfied now, straw-head? I don't know about you, but I'm going with them. If you want to go on without them, you can go on without me, and I'd like to see you work an escape plan by yourself!" Palas's shoulders slumped in defeat. "Fine then. But if I wake up dead, I'll make you wish the Republic had found you." It was comforting to know that we instilled so much faith in our new ally. As soon as Felin heard Palas's assent, she was chattering away at Diana. "Did an enchanter really turn you into a fox? Did it hurt?" "Not really. I was asleep when it happened, so I don't know." "You don't know if he turned you into a fox, or if it hurt?" "If it hurt. I'm pretty sure the enchanter did this." "How come?" "It's a long story." "You have something else you need to do?" Diana sighed and looked at me. "Now where have I heard that before? Okay, I'll tell you the brief version." However, with Felin asking questions every other breath, the brief version became a full-length saga of our mishaps, and soon the light of dawn colored the eastern sky. As it grew lighter, we were able to see our new companions more clearly. Felin was fairly tall for a dwarf, coming to almost four feet. Her beard was braided in the traditional dwarven style, as was her hair, which was a reddish-brown. She had dark eyes, either brown or black, I wasn't sure which. Palas on the other hand was almost my height, with the almost-white hair and pale skin that was characteristic of her race, which was, no doubt, the source of many of Felin's taunts. The texture of her hair resembled cornsilk more than straw, however. Her eyes were purple, a strange feature, especially in an elf, who usually have blue or green eyes. Palas was dressed for stealth, with pants, blouse and vest in various shades of green, while Felin was dressed in a red and yellow dress, with a bright orange cap. About the only place she'd blend in would be a brush-fire. I understood the source of Palas's frustration. Trying to move quietly and not be seen with someone dressed like that, who apparently had no concern about the noise she makes, was going to be an interesting challenge. As things were at the moment, however, we all decided it would be wise to sleep. It had been an exhausting day, despite the fact that we hadn't moved from hiding. Thinking of that reminded me that we hadn't eaten. Diana and I used the magical sacks, and offered them to Palas and Felin, who eagerly accepted. They ate ravenously, although Palas did her best to act aloof and proper during the meal, though in truth she succeeded poorly. Judging from the way they ate, I'd have wagered that was the first meal they'd eaten in a long while. It was a while before they finished, and returned the sacks to us. We put the sacks back in our packs, and Diana and I curled up together to sleep. Our new friends were somewhat less comfortable. One thing we didn't have with us was a blanket for them, since neither Diana nor myself have a need for one. Instead, we offered our cloaks, which were wide enough and thick enough that we figured they should keep them warm. Felin thanked Diana profusely for her cloak, which wrapped around her several times. I could see that Palas was nearly as happy with my cloak, but she did her best not to show it. I could see already that the rest of our trip was going to be interesting. That evening we set out together, although Diana and I had to set a more moderate pace than what we were used to, particularly in deference to Felin, who's legs simply couldn't match our strides. After an hour of slow progress, I suggested that, in order to make less noise, I could carry Felin on my back, if she were willing. After some hesitance she agreed, and we set off again at a much quicker pace. When we stopped the next morning, I showed the map of the prison to Felin and Palas, and we fell to discussing how to get in. The place seemed nigh-invulnerable, until Felin pointed out something the rest of us missed; a sewage outlet. Palas made a few comments about that being appropriate for a dwarf, which earned her glares from everyone. None the less, we continued making our plans. Felin pointed out another feature; a large, unmarked patch near the center of the second floor. Palas snatched the map away, and began studying it intently. A short while later, she handed the map back to me, and sat there for several minutes in silence before she realized we were all staring at her. "Oh, yeah, sorry." was all she said. I growled, but let it pass. Returning to our study of the map, we decided to enter through the sewage outlet, which emptied into a stream a few miles away. From there we would be in the torture facilities, which would probably offer Felin and Palas the opportunity to acquire weapons of some kind, which would be a great relief to Palas, who was extremely unwilling to use her spells anywhere near the prison. We realized that we had a slightly larger problem to deal with than we had first considered, since after giving the matter a little though, we decided that none of us were willing to leave anyone imprisoned. What had started as a small rescue was turning into a prison revolt! Once this was unanimously accepted (even Palas didn't have any objections, surprisingly), we decided to systematically unlock the cells, giving us a small army of freed prisoners. The flaw in the prison system was that they had the front door heavily guarded, but they hadn't counted on resistance from within, placing faith in their steel cages. It seemed a little strange that they would have so few guards on the basement level, which housed the first set of prisoners we planned to free. Each hallway was only assigned two guards. If we could work quickly enough, we could take care of anyone in the main area, which was used primarily for executions and only had a single guard. If we were fortunate, we could avoid meeting anyone from the kitchen, which was, for disposal purposes, on the opposite side of the sewage drain, and, unless we had a spectacular string of bad luck, there shouldn't be an execution occurring when we arrived. From the execution area, we could take the northmost hallway, which housed male prisoners scheduled for torture. Two guards and four of us made for quick work and good odds. After freeing the prisoners, we would take the southern hall, and storm the first floor. From there, we could simply overpower the guards by force of numbers, freeing the prisoners as we worked our way upwards to the third floor, which housed special prisoners of an unspecified nature. Palas looked like she wanted to say something about our plan, but then thought better of it. I decided that I'd had just about enough of that. "Palas, if you have something to add, say it! I get the feeling your holding back something. Wouldn't have anything to do with the unmarked area on the second floor, would it?" I could see that my guess had struck home. She had a face that was easy to read. "Well... it's just a guess, but I think that room is where they work their sorceries. The prisons don't just take your freedom. They take your soul." So Jolan was right, unfortunately. Sorcerers added a new complication. However, we still couldn't see any way to improve the plan, so we decided to go ahead with it. By this time, the sun was well on it's way through the morning sky, so we dined and lay down to sleep until nightfall. Our journey continued, with Felin riding and Palas being almost constantly abrasive. Whoever called the elves the "gentle race" obviously never traveled with Palas. I suspected there was a reason for Palas's hard attitude, but I kept my suspicions to myself for the moment. One morning, after a furious argument with Felin, Palas stormed off into the woods. Diana looked over at me, and I nodded. She slipped away to follow her, to see that the elf didn't come to any harm. Meanwhile, I was finally left alone with Felin. I had a few questions I wanted to ask. "Felin, do you have any idea why Palas acts the way she does?" Felin nodded. "I didn't want to say anything while Palas was around-- regardless of what is said about my people, I do have some tact-- but yes. I think she's very angry, at the Republic, herself, and pretty much the world in general come to think of it. I think she feels responsible for her family getting arrested. Since she's a mage she thinks that makes her twice as guilty as anyone else. We were the only ones to escape, and I think she's still grieving for the people who died getting her away from the prison wagon, especially her brother. You see, the wagon tipped over, and the latch popped open. We were chained, but they made the mistake of hooking all of us to the same chain. Half of us pulled one way, the other half the other, and the chain just couldn't hold up." A smile touched the edges of her lips, "It was inferior work, anyway. We knew the guard would come in a few moments, and that we couldn't all escape. Of course, we would rather have died fighting than go to one of their prisons. Palas's brother told her to run, and he and the other elves held the guards off while she and I escaped. I was chosen to run because I was the youngest, and she was chosen because she had the gift of magic, and they would have tortured her if they caught her. I think she feels like she should have done something to save them, like casting a spell. You already know she couldn't do that. But she blames herself anyway, so she hides it from herself by being mean." I had surmised that it was something like that, but it was nice to know for sure. I decided that the next chance I had, I'd have a small talk with Palas. Unfortunately, the opportunity didn't come until days later. We had been traveling all night, as usual, and we were actually nearing our goal. Diana called Felin aside, and they announced that they were going to see if they could find a small cave, since we were getting close to the prison and we didn't want to be seen. I had the distinct feeling that this was arranged mainly to leave Palas alone with me. Whatever the reason for the occasion, I made use of it. "Palas?" "What?" She snapped, defensive as ever. This wasn't going to be easy. "Why are you so snappy at everyone? We have done nothing but try to help you." She turned away from me and tried to storm off. "Just leave me alone, Okay?" I put my paw on her shoulder to restrain her from leaving. I wanted this over with, one way or the other. "Look, I know you don't want to listen, but you have to. I can't have you running around with a chip on your shoulder and a grudge against the world, or you're going to get us killed!" She sneered. "How could I get us killed?" "Well, for starters you could keep secrets, like about the sorcerers in the prison. That could easily get us killed. I know that something is bothering you. Trust me, you'll feel better if you talk about it. A secret hurt is like a cut that heals badly; it festers in the dark, and poisons you from the inside." I decided to take another stab in the dark. "You don't have to feel guilty." She swung back around to face me. "What the Hells do you know? Has your brother ever died to save you, when you should be the one saving him?" "No. I don't have any brothers, or sisters, or any kind of family. Just Diana." "Lucky you, then." She replied bitterly. "I don't think you mean that. It's obvious you loved your brother, and I'd say he probably loved you too. He died saving you. That was his choice. It's not your fault that he died." I pushed her a little too far, and she swung at me. I blocked her punches with my arms, and she broke into a flailing frenzy. The hits were ineffectual at best, and I stopped blocking them, letting her get all the rage out of herself. Finally she stopped, and stood there sobbing quietly. "Why? Why did I have to be born a mage? For Il's sake why?" I let her lean on me while she cried. "I am a coward!" she cursed herself. "No, you're very brave. You chose to live when there was no hope of winning. And a coward would be heading as far from this prison as possible, but you are going toward it, trying to save others. What is more courageous and noble than that?" She didn't answer, but continued crying. After a while, she stopped leaning on me so much as hanging on me, and I lowered her to the ground, where she curled up in a ball to finish her mourning. I moved a respectful distance away, and I was soon joined by Diana and Felin, who I believe had been watching for some time. "Find any good caves?" I whispered to Diana, who looked confused until she remembered the pretext she'd used to get me and Palas alone. "Caves? No, I don't think so. How is she?" "I think she'll feel better after this. She was trying to pretend to herself that she didn't feel anything." I quietly explained about her brother. Diana nodded. Palas's heaving sobs gradually slowed, and when I went to see if she was all right, I found her to be asleep. Fortunately, while I doubt if they actually looked for caves, Felin and Diana did find some shelter, and we spent the night beneath a massive tree, hidden from view by it's low-hanging canopy of branches. Palas, emotionally exhausted, slept like the dead, and didn't wake when we carried her there, although she was somewhat surprised in the morning. The rest of us were careful to act as if nothing had happened. Her attitude improved markedly after that, although she was still on the defensive side and her tongue was as sharp as ever. After that night, however, we were all a little more forgiving of her. Late the next night we finally found the stream we were looking for. We followed it that night and the next before we found the drainage pipe. It was large enough for Felin to enter without scraping her hat, but everyone else had to stoop, and in some places crawl. Still, it was larger than I had expected. Diana had the same thought. "Why is it so big? Even if it does serve as the kitchen disposal, it needn't be this large. Not that I'd want it to be any smaller, of course!" Palas and Felin looked at each other, and Palas said one word in explanation. "Bodies." Then I recalled that the execution room was also adjacent to the sewage drain, and I almost gagged. Diana looked a little nauseated too, although being in any sort of sewage is apt to do that for you. After crawling through about a mile of sludge in the dark, we came to a shaft of dim light. It was the drainage grate. The grate was a lattice of iron rods, held closed in such a way that we couldn't reach the latch, but fortunately we were prepared. Reaching into my pack, I pulled out a small rod, which had a large bulb on one end and tapered to a point at the other end. Diana had a similar device. Jolan had briefly described how these heat wands worked. The rod burned a liquid which had been magically prepared, which heated the tip, also magically treated, to an amazing temperature. The wands cut through the iron quickly and easily. The only problem was that when we were almost done the last few bars broke, which made some noise. We were already supporting most of the weight of the removed piece, so after a little trouble we lowered it slowly to the ground. We paused for a few minutes, listening for footsteps, and praying that the breaking metal hadn't alerted the guards. We heard nothing, so we climbed up, careful of the cooling iron around the edges of the hole. The room was coated everywhere with a thin layer of slime, and odious things dripped from the ceiling, which was several feet above us. We clustered around the door, and I reviewed the plan one more time. Diana could run faster than I could, so she would cross the hall to where the sentry was waiting, and she would deal with him, while the rest of us hurried to the northern hallway and took out those guards. This had to be done without too much noise, and quickly. Everyone signed that they were ready, and I opened the door. Diana was through the door and across the room like a crimson bolt of lightning. I hated leaving her to fight alone, but I didn't have much choice about it. When she took off, we ran to the side door, and smashed through it. The first guard was right inside the door, and I killed him before he knew what happened, resisting the urge to roar as I did so. The other guard was farther down the corridor, but there was only one way out, and that was where we had just come in. I could see by the look on his face that he was going to call out, so I ran the distance between us and pounced on him, knocking the wind out of him and putting him on the ground. From this position I knew exactly what to do, and soon he was dead too. I thought about what Jolan had said about the "educated" children, and I knew I would feel remorse for having to kill them later. For the moment, the exhilaration of the fight surged through me, and we rummaged through the guards' pockets to find the key. They didn't have any keys. Sighing, I pulled out the heat wand and was about to cut through the bars of the door, when Diana rushed in, carrying the keys from the guard she'd killed. Smiling gratefully, I unlocked the cell doors. The people inside were huddled together in clumps, and it seemed they didn't notice when I opened the door. I was, needless to say, more than slightly puzzled. "Hey!" I called, trying to get their attention as quietly as possible, "We're here to free you. Come on, let's go!" They looked at each other, muttering, and then one of them came limping forward. "We can't leave. You think we haven't tried to escape before? They have our children and our wives, and they'll kill them if we leave!" "But we will rescue them too! We're getting everyone out of here. All you have to do is be able to fight." The old man laughed. "Fight? You expect us to fight? Look at us." He sighed, as if exhausted. "I'm tired of playing these mind-games, Deamon. Go back and tell your masters they've won, all right? We won't try to escape again. We know better now." "I'm not a deamon, and we have to hurry! We need all the help we can get if we are to get out of here alive." "I expected a better illusion from your masters. Next time you could try sending someone who doesn't look like a deamon." "If we get your children for you, bring them here, then would you go?" "Since you are determined to torment us weather we do or not, then yes, if you do that we will go, and you can punish us, and we can start this whole thing over again." "Then where are the children?" "A nice touch. As though you didn't know. Very well, the children are on the third level, guarded by five men. But then, for a deamon, I don't suppose that would be a problem, would it?" I drew back, and shut the cell door. I turned to my companions to whisper. Now I knew why there were so few guards on this floor. "Okay, time for a new plan. They want the children first. They think this is some sort of elaborate game someone is playing with them. Let's see the map." Felin produced the map, and we looked over it. Counting quickly, I found that there were thirty-eight guards on the first floor alone. While I believe in my skill as a fighter, I didn't think the four of us could take that many. Then I noticed something. "Come on!" I said, and we ran back to the sewage drain. Looking up , I noticed that there were several holes in the ceiling, from which water, along with other substances, was dripping. "That's how we get to the first floor unnoticed. We climb up through the sewage holes." "If we get out of this alive, I'm going to take a bath for a week!" Palas thought to comment. However, humor aside, we still needed a way to get to the second floor unnoticed. "You two," I pointed to Felin and Palas, "find yourselves something to fight with. Take the guards' swords, if you have to. I think you might need them." They rushed off to arm themselves. Waiting for them to return, I began pacing. Suddenly I stopped, struck with an inspiration. "Where's the map?" I asked Diana. "Felin has it." I was almost in a nervous frenzy by the time they came back. "Quick, let me see that map again!" They unrolled the map, and I saw that my memory had been correct. "I see a way we can do this! Look," I said, pointing to a place on the map, "The lavatories on the first floor have a wall adjacent to the stairs." "Yeah, so?" Felin asked. "I'm wondering if we can cut through the stones with these fire-rods." Felin looked thoughtful. "It's possible, depending on how thick the stone is. It would take a little time to make a big enough hole, though." She examined the map again, "It doesn't look like the wall is a load- bearing member, so it should be reasonably thin." It sounded good to me. No one had any better suggestions, so we went with it. I hoisted Felin over my head, allowing her to climb up through the sewage-encrusted hole in the ceiling. Once she was through, I sent Diana and then Palas up. Finally, they lowered a rope for me, and I soon found the first hitch in our plan, as I got wedged in the hole. It seemed the more I struggled to work my way up, the more tightly I became stuck. After watching me try to wriggle my way up, the others finally managed to help pull me through, though I found myself agreeing with Palas about needing a bath when we got done. Once there, we set about burning our way through the wall. Felin proved to be correct about the thickness of the wall, it was designed to obstruct view rather than to support weight. We burned away the stone in layers, until only a thin plate of stone stood between us and the adjacent hallway. I was about to begin again at the top, when I found my fire-rod to be fused and useless. "Um... I think that one's used up, Firemane." Felin observed. "How much stone do you think is between us and the hallway?" I asked. Felin shrugged. "I'd say probably say a fraction of an inch. We're almost done." I checked the other fire-rod, and found it, too, to be fused. "Great." "Hey, Firemane, try giving it a good kick right in the center. You look like you might be strong enough to knock it through." I shrugged. It was worth a shot. I backed away from the wall and lept, trying to simulate the flying kick I'd seen Diana use before. I thought I saw a flicker of blue as I impacted, and the wall shattered. I continued sailing through, and grunted as I hit the far side of the hall. "I said give it a good kick, not jump through it!" Felin exclaimed, "They probably heard that all the way in Ver!" "Yeah, well, I guess I don't know my own strength," I said, picking myself off the floor. "Diana?" I looked over to her and she nodded, showing me that she had the flash-powder ready for our trip upstairs. We rushed up to the second floor, but found it completely deserted. We were puzzled by this, but didn't feel like pushing our luck, especially since this was where, if Palas was correct, the sorcerers conducted their experiments. When we felt ready, we climbed almost to the third floor, staying just out of sight of the guards above. I looked one last time to be certain that we were ready. Palas and Felin had their new weapons drawn, a light, thin sword for Palas and a fair-sized hatchet for Felin. Diana just nodded, and I knew we were ready. Diana flung her pouch of flash-powder upward, and we shielded our eyes. When we heard the pained cries of the blinded gaurds, we attacked. Diana and I launched ourselves upward, so that we both cleared the landing with momentum to spare. Palas and Felin followed after us, but by the time they arrived we were already in the midst of combat. Through pure viciousness I got through the first one's guard, while Diana took another by surprise with her favorite attack, a quick bite to the throat. A third managed to give me a light slash across my chest before I twisted his head to let him look at his heels. Palas took the fourth, who was too busy fighting Diana to notice the new arrivals. After that, the fifth was hardly worth mentioning. Searching through the bodies, I found the keys for these cages, and I unlocked the children. However, like their parents below, they didn't move. "You are free, children. Come with us, and we will take you to see your parents." The largest of the children, who couldn't have been more than nine or ten years old, spoke in a quavering voice. "You mean you aren't going to eat us?" I actually laughed. "No, I won't eat you, and neither will anyone else. We're here to free you, and take you to your parents." Unfortunately, I still had no idea as yet how to go about doing that. We only had about an hour before the guards' shift ended, which would mean the bodies would be discovered. The children, less afraid of us than of staying where they were, rushed out of the cages. One of them, a small elf child, cried out. "Palas!" Palas saw him and pushed her was over to him. "Gimthil? What have they done to you?" "What do you mean?" I asked, "He looks well enough to me." Palas looked over to me, with shock radiating from her eyes. "Firemane, when I last saw Gimthil, he was older than I am. If I hadn't recognized his voice, I wouldn't have known it was him." Gimthil nodded. "They are playing with dangerous magics here. On the second floor you will find a central room, which is where they do most of their experiments. Inside there is a glass sphere, on a tripod. This sphere is one of the ten Scrys, and it is what they use to project their spells across the area. If you move that, it will nullify the spells detecting magic, so Palas and the others can use their powers freely again." "How many guard this thing?" "No guards, but several sorcerers. They are the ones who did this to me. They wanted to see if they could make a rejuvenation spell work on an immortal creature. They have some crazy idea about catching unicorns." I turned to Palas. "Palas, what kind of magic do you know? Anything that would help us?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! I studied many types of magic. My spells are mostly illusions, but they are potent. I could cloak all of us in shadow, or fog, or simply make us practically invisible." "Invisible would do nicely. All right, the children hide in the Officer's chambers, which are right next to the Warden's offices, so you must be very quiet. Meanwhile, we'll try to deal with the sorcerers. Okay?" Everyone nodded. "Good, let's go." We managed to get the children quietly into the guest chambers, which were fortuitously empty and unlocked. Next, we tried to find an entrance to the central area, but there was no door in sight. Felin found the entrance a few minutes later, when she stopped to examine an odd deformation in the wall. As she pushed on it, a door slid open. We dashed in. Inside we found, just as Gimthil had indicated, a glowing ball situated on a tripod. We also found several black-robed men, whom I presumed to be sorcerers, surrounding the globe, their attentions focused on a poor wretch chained to the wall. They hadn't noticed our arrival, so intent were they on their evil business. I motioned for Diana to swing around one side and Palas the other, so as to flank them. "Let's see what happens when we remove that part." The lead one said, and a beam of purple light lanced out of the globe and into the forehead of the chained man. The man gave a blood- chilling shriek, and collapsed, his limbs jerking and his face twitching. "Interesting." He leaned slightly towards the sorcerer standing next to him. "Make a note of that. I don't imagine that this one will be of any more use to us. Have someone bring us another." I crept up behind him, and wrapped my arms around his neck. With a quick jerk and a sick snapping noise, he fell to the ground. The others turned towards me, no doubt readying their spells, when two more died suddenly, attacked from behind. Then Felin, whom they had failed to notice, ran back out the door, carrying the glass ball in her arms. The four remaining sorcerers pulled back into a corner, three of them defending the fourth while he prepared his spells. We fought viciously, but they were quick to throw minor magic at us, which held us off briefly. However, since we didn't allow them time to cast anything major, we were slowly gaining ground. Felin returned, and drew her ax. Taking stock of the situation, she threw the ax straight at the sorcerer in the corner, just as he was finishing his spell. Suddenly I lost the urge to fight. Who was I kidding, anyway? These were sorcerers, masters of dark magic! I was no match for them, none of us were. We were all going to die, and it would be my fault for leading us there. The three remaining figures began taking on larger and larger proportions in my mind. I saw them now as twelve-foot tall patches of midnight, their eyes burning red, their faces nightmarish landscapes. I fell to my knees before them. "Firemane? Firemane, are you all right?" I looked over at Diana, who was speaking. Suddenly I saw that it wasn't Diana. It was a giant crimson ghoul, with large, dagger-like teeth, who was waiting to destroy me. I looked to Palas for help, to find her also changed. She was still an elf, but she burned from within with a terrible light. She turned to me, and I could feel the hatred pounding upon me from her eyes. Felin had degenerated into a troll, and was laughing sadistically at my misery. I began to see that I was going to die, that I had been betrayed, and that there was no hope. Deep within me, the chill of terror became a flame of rage. I vowed that if I was to die, at least one would die with me. I chose my target, and I attacked, my jaws split in a vast and mighty roar! The sorcerer I landed on died seconds later, bleeding from a hundred cuts. Realizing that I was still alive, for the moment, I turned to the next one, my fear momentarily eclipsed by the fury. After he fell moments later, I began to laugh. They were dying too easily. I wanted more. I turned my attention to the third, and I leapt full force at him, caving his chest in against the wall, killing him before I could even begin to hurt him. Finally, having no more sorcerers to kill, I turned to my other opponents. To my surprise, Diana was her normal beautiful self, Felin was a dwarf again, and Palas no longer glowed. Utterly exhausted and confused, I collapsed, darkness washing away my sight and consciousness. When Diana revived me I found myself lying in a bed, the fighting over and victory achieved. I asked her what had happened. "After you killed the sorcerers, which I'll talk to you about later, Palas was able to use her magic. We hid you under the bed in the guest chambers, which was fortunately long enough to cover all of you. We took the children downstairs, under the cover of an invisibility spell, which quite nearly exhausted Palas. However, her magic held until we reached the torture chambers, where we had to kill the other two guards, who had discovered the bodies of the others. We didn't make too much noise doing that, so without any more trouble we freed the prisoners, first male and then female. They were a touch more grateful this time, although they still suspected it was a trick. Palas asked them if they'd rather die fighting, or from torture and sorcerery, and they were more enthusiastic after that. We stormed up to the first floor, this time without the benefit of invisibility, and the prisoners, who had armed themselves with anything they could get their hands on, began tearing into the guards, who immediately called for help. "With them keeping the guards busy, Palas was able to use her magic to unlock the doors to some of the holding cells, which gave us some reinforcements. The prisoners in the holding cells were much healthier than those from below, and the fight soon turned in our favor. Several of the stronger men piled the dead in front of the entrance gate, and held it shut against those outside. After the dozen or so guards inside had been taken care of, we unlocked the rest of the cells, freeing elves, dwarves, and even an ogre. The ogre was surprisingly nice, considering. After that, we divided into two groups. One group went upstairs to secure the second floor, and the other, larger group worked on getting us out, since we would have a hard time leaving through the sewers. You should have seen Palas, Firemane! She was at the head of the attack, shouting war-cries and rallying people around her, when she wasn't throwing spells, that is. She used what little power she had left to create an illusion doubling our numbers, which terrified the guards. Most of them just turned and ran, or tried to surrender. I'm afraid the prisoners refused to hear any talk of surrender, and those who tried were killed on their knees. "Meanwhile, Felin led the other group upstairs, where they took the guard's quarters, catching many of the guards literally with their pants down. After that, they raided the armory, and took the Warden prisoner. The battle went well, for both groups, but we still lost many of the prisoners. However, we control the prison now, so I count us lucky." "Did Palas and Felin find their families?" Just talking seemed an effort. "Yes. It was quite a reunion. You should have been there." "Yes, I should have. Why.." She silenced me by putting her paw over my mouth. "Not yet, I haven't finished. We figure that the guards who fled will report this, and that there will be an army on it's way in a few weeks. The prisoners have a choice. They can come with us, and head for Cosan, or they can stay here and try to defend the prison. Now that they're free, some of them are reluctant to leave. Palas is among those who want to stay." "What? Why?" "Probably the chance to strike back at the Republic. But there is something else I need to tell you Firemane. Mikhal isn't here." "Jolan lied again?" "No, Mikhal was here, several of the prisoners knew him. They executed him a few weeks ago, just after we set out." I closed my eyes and let my head fall back. "There is more bad news, I'm afraid." I opened my eyes again. "What?" "Well, what happened with the sorcerers was this. Right as Felin killed him, one of the sorcerers hit you with a Terror spell. You started moaning that we were going to die, and then you fell to your knees. I asked if you were all right, and you jerked back from me. You looked at Palas and winced, like the sight of her was hurting you, and you just sort of slumped, like you were giving up. I wanted to come to you, but the sorcerers were keeping me a bit busy, and you didn't seem to want me near you. After you sat there for a little while, you stood up, and started growling. You got that wild look in your eyes, and you started roaring, louder than I've ever heard you roar before. You jumped onto one of the sorcerers, who tried throwing magic at you. All his spells stopped just short of you, and you were surrounded with blue energy, like you were before you blasted Jolan. Both of the other sorcerers were concentrating their magic on you, but it just rolled off of you like water. You killed them both, smashing the last one to death against the wall. The blue glow around you faded, and you looked at me and fainted. That was when we brought you in here. After we had the prison secured, I came up here, and put you on the bed instead of under it." "And the bad news is?" "Firemane, move your arms." I tried, but they felt too heavy. "Now try your legs." With effort, I could move my toes, barely, but that was it. "I've been talking to Palas, who thinks she knows what happened. You first overcame the Terror spell, then you generated a magical shield around yourself, using energy you hadn't built up fully yet from the last time you used it. You're in a state of magical exhaustion. Your body is forcing you to rest while it recovers." "So I can't move anything? For how long?" "Not for a week, perhaps two. It depends on how fast your body collects energy. If it makes you feel better, Palas is going through something similar. She cast a few too many spells." "Is she all right?" "She'll be fine, but she's asleep, and I don't expect her to wake up until sometime late tomorrow." "But... what will I do? I can't move, and we need to leave." Diana smiled sweetly. "Firemane, remember right after we escaped?" "Yes, of course." "Remember how you took care of me while I was sick?" "Yes.." I said, not liking much where this was headed. "Well, now it's my turn to repay the favor." "But that was different!" "How?" I couldn't think of an answer, so I just lay back, resigned to my fate. "That doesn't answer my question, though. How do we get out of here, if I can't move?" "That's easy. Like the prisoners, we have a choice. We can stay here, or I can carry you out of here." "I'm afraid I weigh a bit too much for you to carry me anywhere, dear." "I thought of that. That's why I've enlisted some help. There are several people who have already decided to leave. We can go with them. Wait, there's someone who wanted to speak with you." She left, and invited someone in. The person she invited in was an elf. His face was somewhat angular and drawn, but he seemed familiar. "Hello, Firemane. I am Palas's father, Silphas. I wish to thank you, for saving my daughter. She has told me many good things about you. Secondly, I wish to thank you for saving the rest of us. You have brought us hope, where there was none before." He bowed. "My daughter has expressed a desire to stay. I was hoping that you could convince her to go with you. I have suggested already that you will have need of an experienced mage, to help you through the trials ahead of you. Those who stay here are going to die. They know that. That is one of the reasons they choose to stay, because the lives they had were stolen from them by the Republic. Their need for revenge surpasses their will to survive. That is their choice. I do not want that to be the fate of my daughter, though. Please, I beg of you, do this for me. You have her respect in a way that I do not." I nodded, as well as I was able, and said I would do what I could. Bowing once again, he left. Smiling, Diana told me that she had asked that we be given these quarters for the rest of our stay, and she lay down beside me, which was quite frustrating. "Blastit, I want to touch you!" I complained to Diana, who nodded sympathetically. She pulled my head into her lap, as I was accustomed to do for her early in the morning, just after waking. "I'm so sorry, Firemane. I wish I could help you, but I can't. Besides, you look like you need to sleep." She was right, of course, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, but that didn't change things. I started to mention this, but she shushed me and began slowly stroking my mane. Under this tender treatment, I was soon asleep, despite my best intentions otherwise. I woke up late the next day, and was surprised to find that I couldn't get out of bed. Then I recalled why, and looked around for Diana. She was sitting beside me, waiting for me to wake up. Diana took my paw in hers, and we sat there like that for some time. Finally, I broke the silence. "Well, what now? I can't move, but I still need something to do, or I'm going to go out of my mind with boredom." "Well, you could always talk to me." "All right, and after that, then what? What can you do when you can't move?" "You could always read something, or I could tell you more about history, or you could tell stories to the children, or... I could tickle you!" She began digging her paws into my ribs. When that didn't elicit a response, she tried my toes. She sat back, pouting. "Sorry, dearest, I don't think I'm ticklish. And, well, I can't read something." "Why not?" "I can't read. Mikhal couldn't, and I didn't exactly have anywhere else to learn from." "Well then, that solves the problem right there." I gave her a puzzled glance. "How so?" "I know how to read, and I'll teach you. It's not that hard, and it'll pass the time." "All right." I paused, "But not right now." "Don't be silly. I have at least a week to teach you." "Thanks for reminding me, I..." I stopped as we heard a knock at the door. Diana got up to answer it, and ushered Palas in. "My father says you want to talk to me?" "Yes. Come here, where I can see you more easily." She moved to stand next to the bed. "Palas, please come with us. You know more about what's wrong with me than anyone, and I need all the help I can get right now." Asking for help like that stuck in my throat a bit, but it was for a good cause. "Besides, why should you stay here?" "I want to stay and help them fight." A bloodthirst lit her face that would have done a vampire proud. "The Republic must be made to pay for what it's done to us." "You mean you want to stay and die. Ask anyone who's staying, they know they're going to die. As your father said, that's why they're staying. I told you once before that you're brave. We all know you have the courage to die. Do you also have the courage to live?" I could see that my question struck home. "You're right, Firemane. I don't want to keep living. I'm an elf. Unless something kills me, I will live forever, and I'll always have the pain of his death with me. And my friends like you, the non-elves, I get to watch them grow old and die, too. Why not die now, and spare myself that agony?" "So you are sorry you have friends? Sorry that you knew your brother, and that he loved you?" She looked shocked. "No, of course not!" "Then why mourn now? Missing people when they're gone is the price you pay for having friends, the price you pay for loving. You must ask yourself if it is worth the price. Grieve for his death, but not to the point that it makes you afraid to live! Think of all the other things there are in life. Yes, there is pain. There will always be pain. Great Gaia, look at me! I can't even get out of this bed! But I know that life is worth living, because the joys of life outnumber the sorrows, and if they don't, you can do something about it. You think that by sacrificing yourself, you're going to make a difference to the Republic? You won't. If you want to strike back at the Republic, there are better ways, more effective ways. You don't have to be a martyr! You can live. Come with us, please!" She sighed, but finally agreed. "All right, but only because you need me, and I promise I'm going to make a nuisance of myself every step of the way." This inspired me to laugh. "So what else is new? Thank you, Palas." She broke into a smile for a few moments, before her melancholy caught up with her, and Diana showed her out again. "Now where were we?" she asked. "I believe you were going to teach me to read." Her face brightened. "Okay, look." She snatched up a nearby sheet of parchment, and rummaged around looking for a pen. She located a writing desk, and pulled it over near the bed. She hastily began writing, and when she was done she brought the parchment over, and showed it to me. She pointed to the first mark. "This is Aye. It's the first letter..." A few days later, I had grasped the basics of the alphabet. It's surprisingly easy to learn when you have absolutely nothing else to do. However, preparations for our departure where finished by then, and we left the prison, with me being carried on a stretcher. Both Palas and Felin volunteered to help carry me, and the three of us kept up a fair conversation the entire time. We had with us a few elves related to Palas, including her father, and some of Felin's relatives as well. Before setting out, it was decided that those leaving would do so in small groups, in different directions, at different times, to confuse any pursuit that might be mounted later. All the groups had the same goal; the Cosan border. Once our group reached it, Diana and I could simply teleport away, but we had decided instead to stay with Palas and Felin as far as possible. We didn't have many good friends in the world, and we wanted to keep near these as long as possible. Meanwhile, during our stops, Diana showed me more about how to read, how the letters of the alphabet were combined to form words, and then simple sentences. On our third night out, I managed to sit up on the stretcher. By the end of the day I was able to weakly move all of my limbs, but Palas made me stop and rest. "You'll wear yourself out doing that now. Trust me, you don't want to prolong this, do you?" I shook my head. "You're lucky, though. Your reaction to exhaustion is better than most." "How do you mean?" "I was almost afraid to come up to see you at first. Different people react differently to the recovery process. For you, your body forces you to rest. At least you keep you sanity. I wasn't so lucky." "You? This happened to you?" "Once, yes. I was fighting a trio of sorcerers who wanted to take me into custody. I beat them, which is one of the reasons my family was arrested. But I cast a few spells too many, and some of them were beyond the level I could safely cast at the time. And then, too, one of them got me with a draining spell. I managed to kill the last two with a spell called Polaris Strike, which moves the heat of one person to the body of another person, leaving one of the sorcerers frozen and the other in flames. However, doing so took up too much energy, and I collapsed just as you did. My reaction to the depletion was a bit more humiliating." "How so?" "Well, I woke up a month later, with my brother holding me. He told me that I'd been acting like a child of ten for the past four weeks." "Well, I could see where that would be embarrassing, but surely it wasn't that bad?" She just looked at me for a few moments, then shook her head in exasperation. "You don't understand, and I don't feel like telling you. Ask Diana, if you like." "All right. Thank you, Palas. I know it sounds strange, but I feel better now." "No, it's not that strange. I was a bit shocked after I woke up, too, but fortunately the mage who taught me lived not far from the village, although nobody would tell you that if you asked, not in the Republic," A bitter note crept into her voice as she mentioned the Republic, "And he told me a story about a friend who had a similar reaction. Except his friend thought he was a dog for three weeks. After that, I felt better too. I guess you just feel better hearing that someone else is more miserable than you are." She bent closer, to whisper in my ear. "And if you ever tell that story to anyone else--not counting Diana--especially an elf, I'll never forgive you. Just because I accepted the fact that it happened and I couldn't help it doesn't mean I have to like it, understand?" I nodded, and she turned to walk away. She stopped after a couple of steps, and looked back at me. "Thank you, Firemane." "Thank me? For what?" "For being nice to me, even when I was acting like a fool. For not letting me kill myself. For saving my family. You don't know how much that means to me. Goodnight." And she walked away. A short while later, Diana came to see me again. I told her about the conversation I had with Palas. She listened, and stifled back her laughter towards the end. "What's so funny? Is there something I've missed?" "Firemane, elves are immortal. They age differently." "Yeah, so?" "So a child of ten for an elf is a lot less mature than a child of ten for a human. Elven infancy lasts for about seven years, so ten is fairly young." Now I could see why Palas didn't want me to tell anyone. "It could be worse. You should hear about fairy life-cycles!" Then she kissed me and lay down next to me to sleep through the day. The next morning, I rose for the first time in a week. I promptly managed to fall, but fortunately Palas had warned Diana to expect this, so I was caught before I hit the ground. I returned to the stretcher, pleased with my recovery. Palas was predicting that I would be more or less recovered in a couple of days, although I should refrain from any sort of activity requiring large amounts of energy. She looked pointedly at Diana, and cleared her throat. I got the idea. The next day I was well enough to walk around camp, although I was tired afterward. Everyone commented how pleased they were that I was getting better. Felin agreed. "You're too blasted heavy!" she laughed. It was good to know that everyone cared so much. Things were going well in other quarters as well. There was no sign of pursuit, and even burdened with carrying me, we were making good time. Even though I was no longer immobile, the reading lessons continued, and not just for me. Several of our group wanted to learn to read Eol Common, since they only know how to read their own languages. I had soon more or less mastered the basics of reading, and since I could move again, Diana decided that I should also learn to write. She soon had me tracing letters in the ground with a stick. Diana and Palas both commented on how quickly I learned to read, and how fast I was learning to write. I thought that was strange myself. It was like I already knew, but needed help remembering. After that, I walked with everyone else, although we would occasionally have to halt while I rested. It was frustrating to be that weak, especially for me. However, day by day my strength was returning to me, and within another week I was back to my old self again, which was quite a relief to me. I had begun to fear that my strength would never return fully. After that, things went a bit faster, since I was no longer slowing things down. In fact, I started making it a point to carry someone on my back every day, which the dwarves, particularly Felin, found to be wondrous fun. Silphas spoke for most of the elves in declining, saying that they had a certain dignity to maintain. Palas shot me a warning look at that, but I said nothing. A few days later we arrived in Cosan, and there was much rejoicing. Even I was glad to be out of the Republic, and I had only been visiting. After another day of traveling, we came to a small village. Palas's father led the group to ask for some sort of shelter for the rest of the night. We had decided to switch to traveling during the day, now that we were no longer in hostile territory. Silphas knocked on the door of the local constable, and asked for shelter, explaining who he was and where he had come from, as briefly as possible. The constable was more than happy to offer them shelter. He gave them the use of a barn a short distance outside of town. Palas thanked him, and turned to talk to me. He was rather surprised to find that I wasn't with him. Diana and I were watching from a distance, just outside of town, where the constable couldn't see us. Silphas looked around worriedly to find us. When he looked in our direction, I waved to him, and he walked over to us, seeing that we would not come to him. "Firemane, what is wrong?" "Nothing, Silphas, but we thought it would be wise if we weren't present when you spoke to the constable. People in Cosan don't have much trouble liking elves and dwarves, but Diana and I are usually accused of being deamons. Even Palas made that mistake. We didn't want to make things harder for you." "Nonsense, my friend! Come, they are letting us stay in a barn. Just think, we get to sleep on warm straw tonight! After sleeping on a prison cot, this is quite a welcome improvement." He led the others through town to the barn, but Diana and I went around and met him on the other side. He didn't seem to understand why we were so secretive, but he didn't argue about it. The barn was rather nice, and sleeping with Diana on the warm straw was very pleasant. The next day we decided to part company. Diana and I were returning to the tower, and the rest wanted to head north, to one of the larger cities. Palas and Felin surprised us by asking to come with us. "You want to come with us? Why?" "Well, I'm a mage, and adventure is in my nature. Staying around you won't get boring any time soon, and it's not like I have something better to do. Besides," she said, getting more serious, "You've been the best friends I've ever had. I don't want to leave you just yet." "Felin?" "Hey, someone has to remind straw-head here to lace her shoes. And, well, you're my friends too." Neither of us could think of any objections, nor did we wish to, so we agreed. Silphas kept his farewells short, telling Palas to keep her shoulders straight and her head up. "My dear, I leave you in good company." He smiled. "Just see that you stay there, all right?" She nodded, and he left to organize the others. The four of us gathered that afternoon to set off together. "Well, Firemane, looks like it's back to the tower again." "Looks like it. I just hope Jolan doesn't mind us bringing friends with us." As it happened, however, Jolan didn't mind. In fact, he was counting on it.