Valtun, the sorcerer-warden of Dolorous Castle, floated down to the floor, the tips of his fingers flickering with candle-flame. The escaped prisoners, wary of the sorcerer's power, began to back off, and the guards began to push them back.

Sir Estil stepped forward, his eyes flashing. "I have you now, sorcerer," he called out, and he threw himself at the man, heedlessly, before Arai could even think to stop him.

Valtun didn't say anything in response to Sir Estil's challenge; he merely snarled, raised his hands, and unleashed a torrent of flame at the knight. Sir Estil rolled out of the way, snatched a fallen pike off the floor, and threw it at him, but Valtun levitated up and out of the way, and the pike clattered harmlessly against the wall behind him. The sorcerer then began gesturing furiously, and dark clouds suddenly began to develop above their heads -- the sorcerer was summoning up a miniature storm in the middle of the castle. The clouds swirled, the wind rose, and it began to rain.

The escaped prisoners cried out in terror, and even the Skirrish soldiers began to look worried at this potent magical display. Sir Estil was unmoved, however. He stole another pike from one of the guards and threw it at the sorcerer, who was hanging in the air, above them all. It was a perfect throw, but Valtun saw it coming and deflected it with a wave of his hand.

"The Sheltering Wind," Arai murmured, recognizing the spell. He had seen Vex use that spell several times. He had never seen him call up a storm like this, though; this was some impressive sorcery.

"He's using the storm to generate an electrical imbalance," Lillandra called out to him, over the rush of the wind.

"What does that mean?"

"Lightning," she said.

And sure enough, the artificial clouds, roiling above them, soon began to flicker and flash, as though lightning were brewing within them. Most of the activity was directly above Sir Estil.

Arai suddenly realized what the sorcerer was planning to do. Raising Silus over his head, he ran forward, leaping in front of Sir Estil and pushing him out of the way just as the lightning came flashing down. The bolt would have burned the knight to a crisp, but Silus caught it, and absorbed it, the sword's power neutralizing the magic.

Sir Estil looked up at him in astonishment. "You saved my life. But how did...?"

"Leave the sorcerer to me," he said, turning his attention to Valtun, who was scowling down at him.

How to go about this? Valtun was obviously a skilled sorcerer -- not on the level of Lillandra or the Aeromancer, but probably a match for Vex. He had fought battlefield mages before, but it was always a hassle -- they could protect themselves with the Sheltering Wind, and it was difficult to get close to them, for they could levitate, and throw fire from their hands. Some could cast ice spells; others could give themselves superhuman strength. And a few very owned enchanted objects, zemi, that enabled them to do all kinds of things.

There were limitations to their powers, however -- only the best sorcerers could perform more than two or three spells at once, and they were limited by the amount of magia in their surroundings. They couldn't cast powerful spells unless they had a great deal of magia to work with.

There must have been quite a lot of magia in this old castle for Valtun to have called up this storm, however. Arai frowned, considering.

Lillandra appeared at his side. "Get ready," she said.

"For what?"

"I'm going to dissolve the spell he's using to keep himself aloft."

"You can do that?"

"It won't take him long to figure out what I'm doing. He'll probably cancel the spell before I can undo it, but either way, it'll force him to the ground. Get ready!"

And she began gesticulating, moving her fingers in the air as though she were playing with invisible strings -- turning them, tugging at them, and sometimes clipping them between her fingers.

Arai raised his sword, watching and waiting for Valtun to fall. But the sorcerer not only remained in the air for several more seconds, he managed to throw another lightning bolt at Arai as well. This one was even more potent than the last; the force of it nearly rattled Silus out of his hands. But once again, the sword protected him, neutralizing the magic.

Valtun stared. Arai could tell what he was thinking: once might have been fluke, but twice?

And then, evidently catching on to what Lillandra was doing, he made a face and immediately lowered himself to the ground. This was his opportunity; Arai charged.

The sorcerer raised both hands and tried to set him on fire, but Arai stood firm, and the flames washed him over him -- just as they had back at the Nightfall, when Lillandra had tried that same spell on him. He raced forward...

...But once again, Sir Estil beat him to it. Somehow, the knight had managed to work his way around the sorcerer, while he was preoccupied with Arai, and now he leapt into action. Valtun turned, his flames flying all over the place now, but he was too late: Sir Estil had already stabbed him through the heart. He quickly withdrew the blade, and the sorcerer's flames died out; the wind and the rain, as well, gradually began to dissipate.

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Valtun was dead, but more and more guards were appearing all the time, and the escaped prisoners were hard-pressed to hold them back. "Twine!" Arai shouted. "Have you figured out that drawbridge yet?" But he need not have bothered, because before he had even finished speaking, the gears began to grind, the chains began to slacken, and the great drawbridge began to drop. The crew of the Cockatrice helped with this, rotating the two levers as fast as they could, and a moment later, in spite of all the chaos, they had managed to drop the bridge.

And then they ran -- all of them, including Arai, and Lillandra, and Sir Estil. It was a confused free-for-all; the escaped prisoners burst out of the castle, tackling the few guards who stood in their way, and ran off in all directions -- some of them headed for the darkened city, others for the darkened countryside. The crew of the Cockatrice, including Twine, stuck together, however, and with Arai, Lillandra, and Sir Estil, proceeded to the harbor. "We just might make it," Twine said, "if we can get to the ship."

"What about Captain Burt?" someone asked.

But none of them knew where Captain Burt was being held, and there was no time to look for him -- Twine was right; they had to get to the harbor, board the Cockatrice, and leave Helltrix as quickly as possible. They only had a few hours to work with; it would be dawn soon, and their chances of escaping the bay in broad daylight were slim.

Was the Cockatrice still in the harbor, though, where they had last seen it? Had the pirates sold the ship, or turned it over to the Skirrish authorities? They had no way of knowing. Arai supposed they might be able to win control of another ship, but the crew -- less than thirty men -- were already tired from the fighting and the running, and the last few days had left them weak and weary. Even Arai felt fatigued.

Sir Estil, however, despite his age, seemed to have boundless energy. He actually began to outpace Arai and the others, and was forced to slow down for them. "Where are we going?" the knight asked.

"To our ship," Arai said, huffing and puffing. "The Cockatrice."

And then, all of a sudden, Shell was there, running alongside them. Where had she come from? She caught up with Arai and Lillandra, and said, "What happened?"

"Arai wouldn't leave without Twine and the others," Lillandra said. "Hurry! We're going to try to escape on the Cockatrice."

They ran on, but it soon became obvious that they were being pursued, through the moonlit streets of Helltrix -- the soldiers had apparently organized themselves enough to give chase, and some of them must have been on horseback, for he could them galloping over the cobblestones. A few minutes later he began to hear the baying of dogs as well.

They were nearing the harbor now, but the soldiers were right behind them. Arai swore.

"What are we going to do?" Twine asked, panicking.

But there was only one thing to do. He skidded to a halt, with Lillandra, Shell, and Sir Estil, and said, "We'll split up. Get to the Cockatrice and get out of Helltrix if you can. The rest of us will lead them back into the city."

"But--"

"There's no time to argue. Go!" He gave the redheaded sailor a push, and wondered if he'd ever see him again.

The rest of the crew thanked them and proceeded to the harbor, leaving only Lillandra, Shell, and the Gallean knight. "You could try your luck with them," Arai suggested to Sir Estil. "Their original destination was Tax Trium."

But the old man shook his head. "I don't believe in luck. But I do believe in fate, and my fate is your fate now. I owe you my life, and I would remain in your company for as long as you'll have me." He suddenly knelt before Arai. "I am Sir Estil Endgrief, and I am yours to command."

Shell stared. "Who is this guy?"

"You heard him," Arai said. "He's Estil Endsgrief. But we don't have time for this. Quickly, now, on your feet. They'll be on us in a minute."

The soldiers spotted them and shouted; they were close enough that Arai could hear the jangling of their armor. "Run!" Arai shouted, and they ran.

"Where are we going?" Lillandra asked. "Do you have a plan?"

"As a matter of fact I do," he said. Part of the city, he had noticed earlier, had been built up along a cliffside overlooking the sea; he headed in that direction. "Do you still have the Mermaid's Glass?"

"I have it," Shell said, digging into her cloak and holding it up. "But what are we going to do with..." And then her face fell, as she realized what Arai intended. "Oh, no," she moaned. "Not again."

"They won't look for us if they think we're dead," he told her. "It's our only way out of this."

"There has to be a better way," Lillandra said.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions. If you can think of one before we make it to those cliffs, let me know."

They ran on, through narrow alleys and long boulevards, one step ahead of the soldiers. At last, they arrived at the top of one of the cliffs, which rose about a hundred feet above the sea, and upon which a little tower had been constructed. Arai peered over the edge of the cliff. The waves had carved the land beneath the cliff into concavity; it actually curled somewhat over the sea. He couldn't see any rocks below them. This was the perfect spot.

"Lill," Arai said, turning to her.

The sorceress made a face, but she nodded reluctantly. She took the Mermaid's Glass from Shell and touched it to each of their chests. Arai felt a peculiar tingle in his lungs when it touched him, but it only lasted for a second.

Sir Estil was confused. "What's going on?"

Arai explained it to him: "Lillandra just cast a spell on us that will allow us to breathe underwater. We're going to make a jump for it."

"Into the sea?"

"Into the sea."

The knight chuckled. "You're a bold one. But there's no turning back now, is there? I've already given you my word." And with that, he kicked off his ragged boots and headed for the edge of the cliff. "Shall we?"

Arai grinned. It seemed to him that Sir Estil was the bold one.

"They're coming," Shell said urgently, and indeed, the soldiers were almost upon them now, riding up the pathway to the tower at the top of the cliff. One of them saw them standing near the edge, and shouted at them.

"It's going to hurt when we hit the water," Arai told them. "Try to go in feet first. Stay under as long as possible, until they've given up searching." He squinted at a headland in the distance, well outside the city. "We'll make for that point. Everyone ready?"

"I don't like this," Lillandra muttered, frowning down at the dark seas.

Arai, on impulse, reached out and took her hand, intertwining her fingers with his own. She looked up at him sharply, but did not pull away. "I've got you," he told her quietly.

She studied him for a long moment, as if trying to discern his intentions...but finally nodded again, and set her mouth into a line. "On the count of three."

And three seconds later, the four of them jumped into the black abyss.