There were guards by Yasenka and Siaril's room, but Canidralth neutralized them quicker than the ones in the underground. We pulled the unfortunate kanh into the adjacent, empty room, leaving the door slightly ajar. Because, as they say, it's always the darkest right under the lantern. Sivath sat by the door, listening.

"What went wrong?" whispered Yasenka when the footsteps of the first patrol went in and out of the former prison and disappeared in the distance.

"Pretty much everything... We tried to talk Sharish out of it all, but he saw through us... and is now even more stubborn than before." I took a coil of rope from Canidralth to tie up one of the guards, the second the mage threw to Siaril. If it weren't for the mess we found ourselves in, my friend would probably have thrown it right back in his face.

"So I guess all that's left is to flee?" Siaril swung a loop of the rope over the head of one of the unfortunate kanh. Luckily, the men were still too dizzy from the spell to resist, but their stares told us what they would do to us if they were able to in great detail.

"Preferably without any arrows sticking out of our backs, yes."

"You do that," Canidralth said, before suddenly vanishing.

"Of course..." muttered Siaril.

"He already did us a favor," I decided to defend the crazy mage a little for once. "That's enough."

Peeking out of the room, I listened for a moment. Though... even if there was nothing to hear, with elves, that proved nothing. It was so stupid to make Light hide the shards of the Ilmerast in the cave before coming here. Maybe not entirely stupid because there would have been the risk of Sharish taking them away after we got busted, but still... Well, no risk no gain I guess.

I wasn't sure if the stronghold suddenly appeared like a maze because Sharish did something to prevent us from escaping, or if it was just my agitated mind that couldn't find the right way when it should have been easy... Nevertheless, we somehow made it to the former throne room after a few minutes and only one encounter with a kanh that we emerged victorious from. The golden rays of late sunrise intruding from outside were revealing dust particles lazily dancing in the air.

Siaril hopped on the nearest windowsill first, helped Light up, took him piggyback and jumped out without hesitation.

While Yasenka was scooping up Sivath to leap up after them, I turned around to look at the gallery that ran along the left wall.

"I know you're still there," I said loudly, causing the illathan to pause.

Canidralth materialized next to one of the colonettes and leaned against it. Despite everything, he kept watching over us... "What is it?"

"Sharish told me what you did to Light upon his request... and I need to know: if we were to reverse the spell and restore Light's memories, what would happen to him?"

"How could I know that? I merely blocked the memory, I had no influence on his development from that point on."

"Right..." I should have known he'd be no help... Follower of orders with no second thought about the consequences.

"Hasn't he been getting along well with quite a few humans after that though?"

He was right. Me, Siaril... Light had no reason to fear us and certainly no bad memory would suddenly change our relationship. Plus, there was someone he dearly loved and who would surely help thanks to her own experience...

Said someone shuffled uneasily, already on the windowsill. "What are you guys..."

I suddenly heard my name being called and the echo of many footsteps recoiling from the thick walls. My eyes shifted to the other end of the chamber, registering Canidralth's vanishing only with the corner of my vision.

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Through some miracle, my attention didn't immediately get drawn to the main threat in the person of Sharish, nor to the two copper beasts accompanying him. The first thing I registered was one of the kanh drawing his bow, aiming directly at Yasenka's back. My hand acted on its own.

The dagger that was hanging idly on my side through this entire escapade suddenly slid out of its sheath almost on its own and flew towards the unfortunate elf, cutting through the string of his bow first, then through his smooth throat. Those creatures seemed almost unreal to me until now, but the blood that quickly covered the dusty floor was unmistakably red...

The entire room, including me, froze for a second.

Something inside of me twisted, making me feel nauseous. I've seen death before, but never have I caused it with my own hands... Even if this creature was standing at the side of evil, it was a living being, not so far from a human...

Luckily for my own sanity, two other kanh, enraged by the death of their kin, didn't let me wander this trail of thought any further. They drew their own arrows and were just about to let them sing a song of death for me, but Sharish's hand abruptly stopped them, despite the pure fury in his features.

"How dare to bare your fangs at me..." he almost growled.

It might have been the shock, or something starting to crack inside of me, but whatever it was, it caused me to take his words and the threat in front of me completely calmly.

"Go, Yasenka," I said, not raising my voice.

"But..."

"I said go!"

I didn't turn to look at her, my eyes fixed on Sharish, but the subtle movement of air soon told me she took off. It was then that I gave the mage a mocking smile. The craziest thing to do in my situation.

"I'm surprised it's you of all people asking me this..." I said, my tone impassive. "You caused me to be separated from my family for two years, tried to kill me, attempted the same with my friends, were the reason of their suffering... And yet you expected me to just trust you out of the blue and switch sides? If naivety had wings, you could come with us right now."

"You're making a mistake, you know that! Don't be a fool!"

My smile faded to a small, bitter one.

"I know..." the echo carrying the sound of my words became gentler, sadder. "I am a fool. Maybe there is some reason behind your views, maybe humans really aren't worth of protecting and sacrificing ourselves for their sake. They might be heading for the demise of other races, maybe even their own... and maybe I'm really the one who's wrong here..."

"Then why..."

"Because... much harder than bearing this thought is bearing all this suffering you bring with you wherever you go. Humans feel too... even if they sometimes seem oblivious, if you break their heart, they remember that they have it... Think about it... maybe that's enough to make them come to their senses. I mean... your views and behavior are equally as alien to them as theirs are to you. And yet, when tragedy hits us, we all feel the same, be it human, mage or elf..."

Most of the eyes involuntarily wandered to the corpse of the unfortunate kanh before returning to me. I bowed my head, regretful. And even though I didn't see them for that brief moment, I could feel the tension in the chamber ease ever so slightly...

It only proved my point, really...

"Let me offer you a compromise..."

I looked up again, blinking. That word on Sharish's lips sounded as bizarre as they come... but his eyes told me that whatever he was about to propose, it would be serious.

"Make them leave Earlindon," one of the kanh immediately started to voice his protest, but Sharish silenced him with a gesture of a hand. "Make them return to Laixya and never come back. That's the only way they can live..."

There... eradicating the human race really was secondary. What counted was Light's safety, even the justice for the kanh being debatable... On the other hand, that generous offer might have come easy to him because he knew...

"You know that 'return' is not the right word to use here... We're not living in the age of Acamres, almost all of them were born here, in Earlindon. Earlindon is all they know, it's where their homes stand, it's where their families have lived and gathered memories for centuries now. They have a bond with this land just as you do..."

"That's their problem. I offer them a choice, what they do with it is up to them."

"I'll... try. I doubt it will change anything though."

"I leave it to you. Same goes for Light's safety... for now."

I felt my face relax slightly with a tiny smile. "That one you don't need to worry about. I'd give my life for him..." my smile widened into a smirk. "And just so you know... just because I don't side with you, doesn't mean I'm giving you up. I will try to understand you still... And even if all of my decisions should turn out to be mistakes in the end, you won't touch a single innocent being as long as they are in the reach of my wings."

I jumped up to the windowsill and turned around one last time to see if I'd have to dodge any more arrows. It somehow didn't surprise me that I didn't. My shadow, falling at Sharish's feet, moved gracefully when I balanced with my wings to give him a small wave before jumping out into the clean mountain air.