Erend ran through the woods like an arrow in flight. The leaves cracked underfoot, and the wind caressed his face, it made his eyes sting. He tried to find any sort of tracks but came up empty-handed. The rage boiling inside had made his vision go red.

The urge for killing grew more powerful with each passing second. It felt like when he'd killed the orcs in the fort when he'd balanced the scales. Something primal had hijacked his senses and driven him too long for blood-spilling.

He ran and ran but found no clues as to where the four had gone. All he knew was that they had run into problems somewhere along the way. Otherwise, Thomas's apron wouldn't be bloodied and left discarded. Maybe they'd gotten hurt?

With a shake of his head, Erend dispelled the thoughts of worry and focused on his anger. It was easier this way. Pouring your all into one singular emotion may normally have its drawbacks, clouding your senses and thoughts, but it felt like the right thing to do. Especially if it meant he would get closer to that state of mind where killing felt so easy.

The landscape of intertwined trees rushed past him in a blur. Suddenly, something sounded out beside him; a hushed moan. He skidded to a stop with his blade drawn. His chest heaved up and down, sucking in greedy breath after breath.

With a wheeze, he challenged the sound-maker, "Come out you bastard."

"... Erend?" the voice shot back.

The anger in him instantly subsided, "Johann? Is that you?"

"Boy, am I glad it's you," the voice sounded out again. The speaker was still not visible.

"Why aren't you coming out?"

"I'm in a bit of a predicament... it's easier if you see for yourself."

Erend clicked his tongue and pushed through the foliage, he was in no mood for games.

Leaning against a tree sat Johann with a frantic Jack to his side. A nasty wound with stray pieces of sinew and muscle was all that remained where Johann's arm should have been. His hand was nowhere to be seen.

Jack constantly healed Johann to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

"You need to get to safety," Erend commented.

"Yeah... well. That's easier said than done."

"Where's Albert and Dad?"

Johann lowered his gaze and bit his lip, "Sorry, boy. They took them."

"Where?"

In annoyance, Jack spat, "Where do you think?! The damn prison of course. Now shut up and help me stop the bleeding."

"Sorry about him. He's a little on edge as you can see..."

"Yeah. We all are..."

"Do you have any idea where the others are?" Johann asked, his voice faint.

"They're safe. Most of them. Carl didn't make it, sorry. He covered the escape of the civilians."

Johann sighed and shook his head, "He was a good man, that one. Foolishly brave though."

"Yeah..." Erend agreed. "I camped with the others for the night. Charles said they would head for the ship to take refuge as soon as everyone woke up."

Relief washed over Johann's pain-ridden face.

Erend turned toward Jack, "Is there anything I can do?"

The man wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, leaving a small trail of blood on it, "You wouldn't happen to have an extra belt?"

"No, sorry. But I have this," Erend started rummaging through Pocket until he found the bola.

"That'll work," Jack mused and snatched the thing from Erend's hands. With deft hands, he tied it around Johann's bicep. The bleeding instantly slowed to a trickle. Erend couldn't tell if it was due to the tight knot or the fact that the man was starting to run out of blood. He was deathly pale now that Erend thought about it.

"What happened to you?"

"Some sort of beast I've never seen. Had a nasty wound covering it's eyes."

"The wolf-bear-thing?"

"Sounds about right. You met it?"

"Thought I killed it..."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

"That's alright. Can you make it back on your own or do you need me to come with you?"

"What will you do?" Johann asked.

"I just want to make sure that they're alright."

Johann stood up with the help of Jack and groaned, "Don't get caught. We don't have manpower enough to help you this time. Not that we did well even when we did."

Jack rolled his eyes at his superior, "There's no way you can let him go again."

Johan leveled a serious gaze at Jack and sighed, "I don't think we have much choice. It's not like we can stop him. Besides, it might do us good to be a bit more bold."

Erend scoffed, at them and added, "Yeah no. There's no way I'm not going," his eyes grew dark, "Don't worry. I'll be sure not to bring anyone this time. If I'm followed I'll kill them all."

Johann and Jack shared a look of worry but didn't voice their disapproval.

"See you back at the boat," they finally conceded as he turned to walk away.

Erend left the two behind and headed into the woods again. He traveled slower this time. Making sure not to step on any traps, if there were any.

The path to the prison was a long one. He considered moving to the overlook once again, but decided against it, which meant that he had to walk the long way around the hills. He didn't want to be seen this time. If he was, it would surely backfire and hurt the people he loved. He'd done enough damage as it was.

He knew the rough location of the prison and took an alternate path. Once he got close enough to see the large compound, he realized the vantage point wasn't as elevated as he'd imagined. It left him with a view that was far from perfect, but it would have to do.

From his hiding place, he could see the once towering figure of the beast lying outside the gate. The wolf-bear-thing had probably succumbed to the wounds he'd inflicted, or the scarred orc had taken out some frustrations on it. He was certain that it was dead this time.

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Not being able to spot either Albert or his father left him with a sour taste. He had to get closer. Maybe even could even ask one of the prisoners if they knew anything. Hopefully, they would understand each other.

Erend crept silently along the edges of the compound. The large wall made it impossible for him to peek inside without getting to a higher vantage point. Climbing it wasn't an option either, as the spikes at the top would slow him to the point of near-guaranteed discovery.

With his hand pressed against the wall, he kept on walking until he felt a crack in its surface. He couldn't see all the way through, nor could he hear if there was anyone on the other side. With a lack of better options, he activated his Source and decided to try something new. He activated the first part of Stone Shot.

With the spell, he managed to push a fist-sized stone out of the wall. It left behind a peeking-hole of a nice size and was mysteriously silent.

Erend pressed his face up against the hole to get a good look at the insides. What met him on the other side was two astonished eyes on a pale, gray face.

"Shh!" Erend hurriedly hushed the prisoner. The elf nodded obediently at him.

He didn't know why, but Erend felt some sort of bond with the elf. Maybe it was his heritage, maybe it was something else.

The elf was male, with ivory hair and a red pair of eyes. His nose was small, like a button. His ears were long and pointed.

"Can you understand me?" Erend whispered.

The elf leaned his head to the side and looked at him with a confused expression.

"I guess that's enough answer," Erend mumbled to himself.

How the hell do I do this then...

He tried again, trying to make himself easier to understand.

"You," he said and pointed at the elf, "See," then at his eyes. "Two," he held up his fingers. "Humans?" and pointed at himself.

The elf looked lost in thought for a bit, then eagerly nodded back at him. He held up two slender gray fingers, pointed at Erend, then at the large building in the center of the compound.

"They're inside?" Erend asked with a hushed voice.

The elf nodded.

"Name?" Erend asked and pointed at the elf.

"Lari," he responded. The name had a sharp pronunciation to it.

With a nod, Erend made it known that he understood. Then he waved at the elf to move out of the view, which Lari did without a complaint.

The insides of the compound looked much like he'd seen from the overlook. There was one large courtyard that led up to the main entrance. On one side of the building, there was a small garden. Inside stood tables and cushioned benches with a nice view of fruit trees and bushes with berries.

On the opposite side of the building, the ground was barren. Not even a straw of grass pushed through the dirt flooring. Cages stood placed without much thought, some held prisoners, but most were empty. Then there was the large path leading down to the mines. It was clear with but a glance that the two sides of the building had different uses. One was likely used by the guards, while the other was used to transport the prisoners.

"Hey, thank you. This place," he gestured at the hole, then put a finger to his lips, "secret."

After conveying his last message, Erend plugged up the hole with the rock again. He threw a few glances over his shoulders before he moved away, just to make sure no one other than Lari had seen him skulking about.

He felt annoyed at his anger having been left unappeased but wasn't foolish enough to start a fight without good reason. Besides, the time for bloodshed would come, in time. Erend wouldn't give up on rescuing his father and friend.

As he walked back he thought about the various ways he could infiltrate the prison or disrupt their day-to-day business.

It was obvious that the mines meant a lot to them. They wouldn't stuff it full of prisoners if it wasn't. But the ore would have little meaning if it was only used in the prison. It was used to create fine weapons and armor, meaning that it held more value to armies and adventurers. To use it best they had to ship it away from this place for processing and then selling it. Erend surmised that someone had to be coming to pick up shipments of the ore regularly.

The journey back to the beach was uneventful. His feet hit the soft wet sands before long. With a wave, he managed to alert his friends of his arrival. Charles immediately lowered a rowboat and went to pick him up.

"How'd it go?" Charles asked as he helped Erend climb aboard the small boat.

"Not great. Did Johann and Jack make it here?"

"Yep, they're aboard the ship."

"Okay. Good. I'm pretty sure the orcs have taken Dad and Albert inside the prison. I couldn't even catch a glimpse of them but I'm sure they wouldn't just kill them."

"That's good and all, but why?"

"They're mining for ore. They wouldn't just waste manpower like that."

Charles chewed on that for a second before he nodded, "Makes sense... what now?"

"Not sure. I was thinking we should have a talk about what's to come."

"Probably for the best. Bernard wants us all to go back to Exodus right this second. Says staying here is worse than there."

"Maybe he's right... but I won't be leaving Dad and Albert with the orcs. There's no way."

"Obviously not. But you know how he is. Antsy old man."

Erend chuckled, "He really is a coward. Probably the reason he survived the life of a sailor."

The large ship towered up before them. Erend helped Charles fasten some rope to the edges of the rowboat before they were hoisted up far enough that they could climb aboard the stern.

Jack was the first to greet them, "Glad to see you're alright. Sorry about before, here," he said and gave the bola back to Erend.

"It's alright. I would have probably done the same."

Jack gave him a pat on the shoulder and a smile, "Thanks. Johann wants to see you. He's below deck."

The three climbed below deck to the rest of the group. They were gathered around Johann. His children and wife were busy scouring him for other injuries apart from the obviously missing arm.

Cordelia shot Erend a venomous look, "You're back."

"I am," he smiled at her.

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving again? Elle and I were worried."

Johann chuckled and raised his hand, "Sorry, Cordelia. That will have to wait." Cordelia clicked her tongue in disapproval before he continued, "Did you find them?"

"No. But I met an elf, Lari. He 'told' me that they were inside. I saw nothing that would make me think otherwise," Erend explained and made rabbit ears with his fingers.

"Good... that's good. Anything else?"

"Nothing really. The mines were full of laborers as usual. There's no reason for a prison to stock up on metal. They're probably supplying someone else with it. I also saw nothing that made me think they get their own food."

"Oh? Sounds like you have a plan?"

"I was thinking about laying low in the area and keeping an eye out for transports," Erend shrugged.

"Not bad for a rookie. If we hit a few transports they'll probably grow anxious enough to start sending out small squads. The forest would be more dangerous, but it would also mean that the prison would be less guarded."

"And what about the rest of us?! Are we just supposed to sit here and wait for you to get us all killed?" Bernard hissed at them.

"No. But there's no saying what would happen to you in Exodus," Johann flatly responded. "You're free to set out on your mission to get more manpower. But the food we'd collected was taken, so you'll have to survive on fish alone or wait for us to hit a food transport."

Bernard groaned, "I want to leave as soon as we have enough food!"

"I can't let you bring anyone other than Mary. The children wouldn't be of help and the others are needed here to keep things stable."

The old man ground his teeth but didn't keep pushing it. Johann's retorts made sense.

Erend didn't think Bernard would be this quick to give up, sure the man was a coward and all, but even for him this felt a bit much.

"That's it? We hit a few transports and stock up the ship before we launch a rescue mission," Erend asked.

"Do you have anything you'd like to add to the plan?"

"Nothing for now."

"Good. You're on point for this, since I'm in no condition to join," Johann said and glanced down at his stump with sad eyes. "This is probably the last chance we got. Don't hold back."

"I won't. Don't worry," Erend smiled at him, then turned to the others. "Jack, are you good with a bow?"

"Not great, not terrible."

"Good enough. I'll leave you here to guard the others then. Cordelia and Charles will come with me in the morning if they accept."

"I do," Charles immediately agreed.

Erend could see conflict in Cordelia. He didn't know her well enough yet, but it sure seemed like she wanted to argue just for the sake of arguing.

"... So do I," she finally relented.

"Good. Then we head out at first light."