Eletheria’s back was pressed against a tree. The jacket she was wearing stopped the hard bark from biting into her skin or tearing her dress. Ele’s arms were positioned on a man’s shoulders, and he was trying to feel her feminine figure through the jacket and her dress. His almost reddish hair was a tangled mess, and his breath stank of cheap ale and something rotten every time he opened his mouth.

“Slow down, my master wanted you to enjoy this,” Ele said while gently pushing him away from her.

“Don’ ye worry, I am enjoying thiz,” Blaze replied and he started to move towards her again but this time he lowered his hands as if he was going to grab the bottom of her dress.

Eletheria was quickly losing her patience. She lifted up her hands and started to gather quan to electrocute Blaze. Her idea of Lex and her entering the Inn and luring Blaze out to the park had worked, with Lex presenting Ele as a gift to Blaze from their mutual master. Lex was supposed to follow and subdue Blaze, but so far, Lex had not shown up. When Blaze was within arm’s reach, Ele brought her hands to Blaze’s shoulders and channeled quan through them. She didn’t want to kill him so she used an amount that she hoped wouldn’t kill him.

The sudden jolt of electricity literally shocked Blaze. He stopped moving and collapsed to the ground. For a brief moment, Ele was scared she had just killed their only lead. She placed a hand over her mouth as if to stifle a scream. Lex appeared carrying a bundle of rope. He quickly started tying up Blaze, Lex secured Blaze’s hands first. Blaze started to come back around in the middle of being tied up. Ele noticed a small knife in Blaze’s left boot; she quickly grabbed it and stored it in her belt.

Then, with Blaze tied up in a sitting position, Lex started asking questions.

“Why were you at the Queen Astoria last night?”

“Wasn’t me,” Blaze curtly replied. Ele thought about Thio sitting in a cell or some hole that this man put him there. Fury rising within her, she slapped Blaze as hard as she could.

“We know you were there,” Ele replied.

“Death by electrocution is supposed to be painful,” Lex said as he held out his hands and made a lightning bolt jump from one to the other. Seeing he had Blaze’s attention, Lex continued talking. “Tell us where the lad you kidnapped is and we will let you live.” Then Lex put a hand on each of Blaze’s shoulders. Blaze jerked a little as if he was shocked a little.

“She will kill me and everyone I know if I tell ye,” Blaze spat the words out along with a little bit of blood.

“Who will kill you?” Ele asked Blaze, wanting to know who was behind this.

“Ha, she will probably kill me just for saying ‘she’.”

“So, you are a dead man. Might as well choose which death you would prefer or get a head-start out of the city,” Lex said, still holding Blaze’s shoulders. Blaze jerked again, this time a little more severely.

“Look, I don’t know if he waz alive,” Blaze started to say, but the look of horror on Ele’s face must have caused him concern. So, he hurriedly added, “He might be.”

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“What did you do with him?” Lex sternly asked, still holding Blaze’s shoulders, but this time, there was no shock.

“We roughed him up and tossed him,” Blaze said, adding, “like we were told to do.” Suddenly, Blaze jerked strongly, and Ele guessed Lex was shocking him.

“You and who else?” Lex asked and again Blaze jerked like he was being electrocuted.

“I lead my crew, they follow me. I will not…” Blaze started to reply but was shocked into silence. His eyes closed as the jolt appeared to be enough to knock him out. Ele felt like she was going to throw up and quickly put her hand to her mouth. A small movement from Blaze’s figure lying on the ground relieved her. Ele wondered if Lex didn’t try to kill Blaze then why did he shock him so much? As soon as Blaze regained consciousness, he tried to look at Lex. “Do all ye want but I won’t turn into a rat.” Lex started to move his hands towards Blaze again but Ele intervened.

“Let’s just get the information he has and let him go,” Ele suggested while holding a hand on Lex’s shoulder, hoping it would help soothe him. She watched as Lex opened and closed his hands a few times.

“Was he alive before you dumped him?” Lex asked Blaze while still opening and closing his hands.

“Aye, he was still squirming,” Blaze shakily replied.

“Where did you dump him?” Lex asked again.

“The docks by the bluff,” Blaze said with a sigh. Ele knew of them. They were docks set up for airships that did not plan on staying for more than an hour or so. The airships would park and still hover while unloading and then leaving. Those docks were the cheapest and below them was a long drop that could be lethal if one fell from it. “He may still be alive, I know a guy who survived…” Blaze froze and fell to the ground as Lex touched his shoulders.

“Come, Ele, let’s go check and find your friend.” Lex placed a hand on Ele’s shoulder as he started to lead her away from Blaze’s unconscious form. Ele allowed herself to be led away from Blaze. Lex led her away from the street and through the park towards the docks.

Eletheria and Lex moved quickly through the streets. Neither were harassed by drunks or people who wandered around this time at night. Ele wasn’t sure if their pace or visage was discouraging anyone or if Lex was creating little lightning bolts to scare people away. Since she was in the lead she couldn’t see what Lex was doing, nor did she hear anything odd over the sound of their footsteps as they hurried along. This side of the town was noticeably darker than the other side. It was poorer and the street lights were not on all night long. Ele remembered something in the papers a few months ago, the elders of the Ascalon thought that not lighting the streets in bad parts of the town would reduce crime. Ele wasn’t sure about that but it made the area seem even more threatening.

Soon, they were standing in a clearing near the docks. By day, the clearing would be a bustling trading center for people in this part of the town. In the middle of the night, however, it was mostly empty, with a few permanent wooden stalls and some homeless people sleeping along the walls. Ele held up a hand and indicated to Lex that she needed a moment to rest before they continued. She put her hands on her thighs and worked on catching her breath.

When she had recovered enough, she stood up straight and looked upwards into the night sky. As soon as she did, she regretted it. A loud gasp came from her, and her legs went weak. She then collapsed into a little pile of tears and cried where she sat. Lex came over to her and knelt down while looking around for possible danger.

“Ele, what is wrong?” Lex asked.

“It’s gone, he’s gone,” Ele said between sobs.

“What is gone?”

“Thio’s morning star is gone, he is dead,” Ele was able to get out.

“What is a morning star?” Lex asked, but his only response was more crying from Ele.

Ele wasn’t able to explain the morning star to Lex right then. The overwhelming emotion had overtaken her. When Blaze said they had tossed Thio over the bluff, she knew Thio’s odds were slim. She had held out hope that Thio was alive and would have been willing to search every inch of the bluff to find him. The sudden disappearance of his star in the sky destroyed any self-delusion that she had maintained. It took a few minutes before she was able to stand again. Lex had patiently waited nearby, keeping watch on the various people wandering the street at this hour.

“Even if we got there and could get down without injury, we could not find him in the dark,” Ele said, trying to control her emotions.

“We can still try,” Lex responded.

“No, let’s get Blaze and take him to my father. He will know what to do. Once dawn arrives we will find Thio them,” Ele said as she started walking towards the park.

“Um, Blaze won’t be getting back up,” Lex hesitantly replied.

“You didn’t…” Ele started to say, but Lex’s serious look told her everything she needed to know. Ele opened her mouth to ask a question but closed it because she the answer. She swallowed a couple of times and reminded herself what they did to Thio.

A short time later they were riding through the night towards the Zephyr estate. Dawn was a few hours away when they finally arrived, and everyone except the guards was asleep. Ele pointed Lex to the guest room and requested a wakeup from the guard on duty. She went to her room and, without taking any of her clothing off, just collapsed upon the bed. The tears did not help anything but she could not stop them from coming.