Standing in the cell block would not provide us with any answers. I used my healing spell on Iris. She was strong enough that it did not completely heal her, but it helped somewhat. Then we freed Dalroc and Loriel, who were still unconscious. None of us was a healer, so we did not have the tools to wake them.

“I can protect them while you search this place.” Lily offered.

“Ok. Let’s see what we can find. I don’t hear any fighting. I guess Shani failed to locate more enemies.” I replied.

We ventured deeper into the structure. I wondered if it was really part of the temple and who had been worshipped here in the past. Gods did not directly interfere in this world, as far as I could tell. But they granted power to their priests, who would not look kindly at someone stealing their temple.

We found the barracks which held a lot of beds and trunks with personal belongings. They also had some private rooms, likely for officers. Searching all of it would take time, so we continued for now. We still did not see any sign of the duke, or other prisoners.

“Did they really think they could hide their captives here?” I wondered while we continued our exploration. “We have an entire army outside the city. Sure, they did not know about the bond I used to track Iris. They might have assumed they have a few days. Still, they were sort of trapped here.”

“Maybe a few days would have been enough. Maybe they wanted them found, afterwards?” Lucy suggested.

“You think they wanted to enslave them here, then let them be rescued? I suppose that makes sense. But they know that I can free them by now, right?”

“Maybe they think they found a way to stop you? They did try to poison us.” Lucy reminded me.

“True. And they had some special fey poison. If they had managed to take me out, or at least incapacitate me for a while, they could have used their pawns freely. Actually, maybe they still can’t enslave dwarves and elves. They only wanted the duke. He would be under less scrutiny than our own people. We would not notice if he behaved differently.” I theorised.

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“That is possible. Having the duke on their side, after we leave, would allow them to hit us from the rear. Even better, if we send him support they could just keep everything for themselves. They could ambush any soldiers we send here to help.” Lucy suggested.

“Then again, if they only wanted the duke they could have waited until we left. Taking him then would be easier.” I said.

“Maybe they did want Iris too? They used a fey killing poison against us. They might have expected me to survive. I would have stayed with the army and Iris could have provided a lot of information.” Lucy pointed out.

“Let’s try to find the duke. Maybe we can get some answers.” I said.

As we moved further into the building we heard the sound of fighting. We sped up and reached a heavy metal door, which had been destroyed. Inside we found a disturbing sight.

Tables with restraints. Workbenches, alchemy stations, medical instruments…

And Shani, fighting a fey. Her opponent was a man with pointy ears, a perfectly sculpted face and blue skin. A white mist created a trail whenever he moved. He wielded a rapier made of ice and was busy blocking Shani’s strikes.

The man seemed annoyed at first, then concerned as he noticed our arrival.

“What is going on? Who are you?” I asked.

“He is a stupid frost knight!” Shani said. “Made by some inferior elemental lord, of course!”

“Lady Delphinium, would you please leash your elemental?” The man asked.

“Currently I see no reason to stop my court elemental from slaughtering you. But feel free to provide me with one. If you are quick enough you might even survive.” I replied.

I did not have any proof that this man was involved in those experiments. He could have been a captive who escaped. Or a third party. But he was inside a lab and seemed in good health. Him being an enemy was just more likely. And I did not like his tone. Of course, I wanted to capture and interrogate him, rather than kill him. But he seemed to hold his own, for now.

“Hehehehe, I have the best ladies!” Shani giggled, while trying to slice the man.

“I am indeed a winter knight! I demand some respect! I am not your enemy!” He insisted.

“Less arrogance, more explaining.” Lucy demanded.

“Right now, you are not making a great case for yourself. Why are you in this lab?” I asked.

“I caught him at the alchemy station! He was being suspicious!” Shani insisted.

“I was trying to find out what they did! I am not on their side.” He protested.

“Really? How did you find this place? Who are you working for? Who do you serve?” I asked.

“Stop trying to hit me and let me explain!” He complained.

“Ok, give him a minute to talk. You can slice some more if we don't like his answers.” I said.

Shani sighed. “Fine…”