I snuck back into the stronghold through one of the hollow windows shortly after and immediately ducked into the shadows, listening. Once again, there was only silence to be found between the cracked walls, silence that made any rustle seem like screaming. It didn't ease my mind. This time I was painfully aware that I could bump into some ansirth, a random kanh or, gods forbid, Sharish himself at any moment. But none of my foes was expecting me to be outside of the stronghold master's chambers right now and I intended to exploit that mercilessly.

The only problem was that I had no idea how to find Siaril and Yasenka in something as ridiculously big as this castle. My best bet was the underground we went through earlier. It seemed like the appropriate direction for transporting prisoners...

I returned to the chamber which held the stairs leading down, into darkness. I could see the debris covering the floor and the remnants of beams that once supported the roof more clearly now. There was some kind of shattered, stone altar, a tattered drapery trembling behind it. It was probably the fault of the wind that whistled quietly in the cracks of walls... Was it really necessary for the beauty of this architectural artwork to become like this for the sake of one man's greed...?

My speculations about the past magnificence of this building were interrupted by voices. Silent ones, distorted, coming from the underground...

I soundlessly jumped behind the remnants of some statue, once probably being some kind of gryphon, and enveloped myself with my wings, hoping they would let me melt in with the gloom surroundings. I carefully peeked out through a crack between the two pieces of the animal's mighty torso.

Two silhouettes soon emerged from the darkness of the underground, talking to each other in some strange, unpleasant sounding language. Their faces weren't covered this time and I could clearly see the oval features, dark skin and almost white hair. So this was what dark elves looked like... I retreated a little and patiently waited until the sound of their light footsteps disappeared somewhere deeper in the stronghold. When silence enveloped me from all sides again, I took a calming breath and left the company of the gryphon.

I descended slowly, holding onto the cold, moist wall, every touch marking my fingers with dust. When I reached the mysterious door after what seemed like an eternity, it turned out to be slightly ajar this time... I widened the slit just enough to slip through and stopped on the other side. No footsteps behind my back, no ansirth growling at me ahead. Just silence.

The arch of the corridor hung unpleasantly low above my head, I could almost feel the tips of my wings touching it. I couldn't say for sure though, because the passage was drowned in darkness so thick that I hesitated shortly. I considered the option of penetrating the dungeon by using my touch and hearing only, it hit me though that every, even tiny stumble or kicking a small rock with my boot could cause half of the creatures lurking here to come after me. I lit the smallest flame possible and started my advance.

The whole place seemed empty and suspiciously quiet. Only sometimes I thought I heard some strange noises coming from afar, but every time I stopped to listen, they weren't actually there. I wondered if it was just my fear and imagination that were playing mean games with me, or if someone already noticed my presence in the dungeon and was just waiting for me to fall into some trap like unaware prey into the snares of a hunter...

What yanked me out of those unpleasant speculations was the whisper of footsteps somewhere in the shadows that suddenly interrupted the insufferable silence trapped in the underground. I stopped, terrified, my eyes darting around. Of course, there was no place where I could hide, and a hasty withdrawal would cause way too much noise...

I took a cautious step back, deciding to risk retreat after all, when I heard a sound behind me, slightly to my right, like the crumbling of earth and stone...

There was a hand over my lips before I was able to turn around, another grabbing me in half and pulling back not very tenderly. I wanted to resist, try to wrench free, but the hands holding me in place were much stronger, I could as well have been wrestling with a bear.

And then there was a whisper right at my ear...

"Could you reduce your recklessness to an essential minimum?"

I froze.

After a very long moment, I closed my eyes, and if it weren't for that hand covering my mouth, I would have let out the deepest sigh of relief ever. I knew that voice...

When I finally calmed down and my 'captor' felt my muscles relax, the arms retreated, giving me the freedom to turn around.

Canidralth shot me a displeased glare.

"It's quite obvious that you lack entertainment, but I don't think Sharish's stronghold is the best place for these kind of games," he said quietly, but mockingly as always. "One against three are good chances, but only if you are among those three."

We were standing in what looked like a dead end of some different corridor, soft footsteps passing by behind the wall... There must have been some kind of secret passage, or the mage just pulled me straight through the soil using his tricks...

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "And how did you find me?"

"Oh you're always easy to find because you're usually somewhere you're not supposed to be. By the way, I save your behind, put myself in danger in Light's place so he doesn't have to risk getting exposed, and the only thing you can say is 'what are you doing here?'..."

"I thought you're making up for messing up my life the entire time," I shot back completely seriously. After a moment though, I smiled. "Fine, you're right. Thanks."

The mage's lips curved slightly, though in a different way than before. "You're a fascinating creature. Every time I think you have nothing more in store to surprise me with, you just do it again. That was one hell of a show... that disdain, that indifference... Your acting talent is a more dangerous weapon than a bow could be in your hands. Still, it surprises me that Sharish bought that."

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"Apparently he doesn't yet know that if something lacks logic, he should look for a ruse."

"Or he so desperately wants to have you three at his side that he set logic aside."

"Maybe. So, Light decided to be cautious?"

"No. I had to stop him because he's the type of guy who rushes the horse at a spot where you should pull at the reins."

I made a mental note to tell Light that one later. "I see... you probably have your own interest in it though, don't you."

"Maybe I do, you'll see."

That kind of 'maybe' probably meant trouble.

I suddenly realized that knowing Canidralth, we could carry on with this word swordplay till sunrise, and I couldn't afford that right now.

"You being here probably means you know where Siaril and Yasenka are."

"Of course I know," the mage smiled provocatively, like he wanted to say that he knows, but won't tell me. I reflexively fell for it.

"Could you..." I started, but almost immediately felt Canidralth's finger on my lips.

"You're so adorable," he wasn't even trying to hide his amusement. "I'll lead you to them, don't look at me like that. But be so kind and try to be a little more careful. It's easy to lose something useful when you're facing a hostile kanh. Like an arm for example."

I felt my cheeks heat up a little and turned my gaze away. I heard him chuckle, though I knew that if it weren't for the situation we were in, he would have laughed out loud. I stifled the knee-jerk need to tell him to shut up for Siaril and Yasenka's sake.

I followed Canidralth through the maze of passageways, this time lit weakly by the glow of sparsely placed torches, obediently waiting before every corner when the mage checked the path ahead. Finally, when I was about to completely lose my sense of direction, he came to a stop, but didn't look around the corner this time. Answering my questioning look, he made an inviting gesture for me to look myself. I carefully did.

Two armed kanh. A heavy-looking, iron door.

I quickly retreated and gave Canidralth an unsure look. Now I knew where my friends were kept, but I had no idea how to get them out of there. I couldn't just storm in and try to neutralize the elves, they would have enough time to raise an alarm for sure. And a horde of kanh chasing me around Sharish's stronghold was the last thing I wanted to achieve here.

Canidralth raised an eyebrow and smiled challengingly. I endured a lot that day, and that was where the strength of my mind ran out.

"Help me..." the desperation in my own voice almost disgusted me. "Please..."

The mage looked like he was about to burst out laughing, but nodded nevertheless. I swore to myself that I would kick his boney behind after all of this was over with.

Canidralth in the meantime closed his eyes and started to mouth some words, which I probably wouldn't understand even if I heard them. And as I waited for the result of those soundless incantations, suddenly a weird sound reached our ears. I took a moment to listen. I really hoped the mage didn't do what I just thought of. I risked a look around the corner again just to get myself proven wrong.

The two kanh who were just guarding the solid door were now lying motionless in the dirt next to it.

"Don't tell me you just..." I didn't even bother to keep my voice low anymore.

Canidralth leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. "You wanted me to help, you didn't say how."

"Yeah... but..."

The mage gave me a side glance and this time laughed out loud. "The entertainment is endless with you," he ruffled my hair. "They're just asleep, and you better hurry because it won't last long."

I shoved his hand away, seriously annoyed by now, and ran up to the guards. I had it up to the claws on my wings and wanted to get this over with as fast as possible. I didn't have trouble finding the keys attached to the belt of one of the elves and soon opened the heavy door, having to put quite some effort into it.

The interior of the small prison was lit by only a single torch on the wall opposite the door, in the hazy glow of which I spotted Siaril and Yasenka. They were sitting on a bed, one of two quite decent looking ones, the interior of the prison rather austere but still far more than a common criminal could count on.

Siaril immediately sprang up. "Finally..." he smiled. "I was starting to worry Sharish did something to you..."

The sigh I let out came from my very soul. He saw through it from the start...

"I swear, you're crazy..." Yasenka stood up as well, tears in her eyes. "I was so worried..."

"I'm sorry..."

"There can be no genius without a sprinkle of insanity," Siaril said conciliatorily. "Who would have thought you're capable of such deceit though?"

"Not me..." I smiled a little. "I'm sorry that all of it sounded so..."

"Come on, you could as well apologize for rescuing us right now so stop it," my friend's eyes softened. "I didn't believe for a second..."

I smiled a little, but quickly switched back to serious. "About the rescue part... You'll call me crazy for this, but please listen to me to the end before we make a decision."

"I'm confused."

"I know this is no small request, and that it will be difficult, especially for you, Yasenka... but would you be willing to endure this for a few days?"

"... excuse me?"

"I know, it sounds ridiculous, but... remember what we were told once? That it's far more effective to disagree with him while on his side than while on the opposite?"

"Glad you remembered that," came an amused remark from behind my back.

"Shut it back there," I didn't even turn around, and ignored the confused blink from Siaril as he leaned to the side to glance over my shoulder. "I was just thinking... since I managed to create this kind of opportunity, through whatever miracle that was, shouldn't we use it? I could ask him for his reasons, try to understand, and who knows, maybe I could actually find some crack in his armor that would allow us to stop him without bloodshed?"

Siaril kept his eyes locked with mine for a few seconds before dropping them to the floor, deep in thought. Eventually, he looked at Yasenka. "I think it's worth a try, but only as long as you're fine with it. We won't do anything that puts a mental strain on you."

There was but a tiny shadow of anxiety in the illathan's eyes. "You don't need to worry about me that much... It's different now, I'm not alone and I know there will be someone ready to get me out nearby at all times if need be..."

"Are you absolutely sure?"

She hesitated for just one more moment. "I am. I just have one request."

"Anything."

"Please make sure Sharish doesn't separate me and Siaril?"

I gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll force him if I have to, and if he doesn't agree, we'll be getting out first chance we get."

Yasenka stepped forward and hugged me, which I swiftly returned, softly rubbing her back.

"Please be careful..." she muttered. "You're playing a dangerous game..."

"I know, but I'll manage... He's no rock, he has feelings, just like we do. And that means he can be read and pulled along with a bit of finesse."

Yasenka shifted away to give me an encouraging smile. "I believe in you."

"Endearment is a nice thing and all, but our time is running out," spoke up the voice behind my back again.

We glanced towards the door. Canidralth was leaning against the doorframe, eyeing us meaningly. Siaril crossed his arms on his chest. "Since when do you care so much?" he shot at him.

The mage sighed. "Maybe since if it weren't for me, your dear Sigrian wouldn't even be here and there would be no one to save your behind. I just really don't like it when my efforts go to waste."

Yasenka took a step forward, likely to stop this exchange of pleasantries before it turned into another show of sarcasm and scoffs, but one of the kanh spared her the trouble. He started to lift himself up slowly, rubbing his nape.

I hastily slipped out of the cell and closed the door before dropping the keys on the sandy ground. Before the guards could fully regain consciousness, I was already behind the nearest junction of the tunnel, Canidralth close behind me.

It was time for a performance.