Sorrel walked across the moor and Little Cloud followed, leading the horse. The place was spooky now it was dark, giant stones of granite seemed to loom up out of nowhere and she couldn't help but worry about what had scared the deer. Little Cloud hurried up to her side, not wanting her to leave him behind.

"Can you see him?" he asked, looking to the sky again for the raven.

Sorrel shook her head. "Nah. Flipping bird's flown off and left us." She looked at her friend as he jumped nervously. "Are you all right?"

Cloud nodded and grinned, his cheeks flushed. "I thought a snake was on me," he said. "It was just the rein brushing against my arm."

She stifled a giggle and glanced sideways at him. He grinned back and they were quiet again. She sighed and looked to the sky. Even if the raven was there, she couldn't spot him in the dark. She wrinkled her nose thoughtfully and then stopped.

"What is it?" Cloud whispered.

She pushed him playfully and grinned. "Nothing to worry about. I think we should stop here and wait for the morning when it's light. We'll only get ourselves lost otherwise."

"Yes," he said, looking about as Sorrel got on her hands and knees and shuffled herself into a comfy position under an overhang of granite. "Wait here. In the dark. On the moor. With strange noises and mad deer and, and... something." He shivered.

Sorrel curled into an even tighter ball closer to the rock. She didn't want to panic him and tried to act as though she was unconcerned but she kept one hand to her sword. Just in case.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

#

Millicent, new aide to the ruler of the Lamya and Helena's watcher, sat at a small wooden table in the kitchen filing her nails. Helena worked on a foul–smelling concoction by the fire, wrinkling her nose as she added more valerian. The plant root smelled like tripe. She took a ladle and a small, glass bottle and carefully filled it.

"Is it done?" Millicent asked.

Helena sighed and turned to look at the woman. "It is done."

Millicent stood up and snatched the small bottle of brown liquid from Helena's grasp. She eyed the contents and screwed up her nose in disgust. "This is it? This goo? This is what will help the master sleep?"

Helena nodded. Her eyes were dry and tired. Millicent forced the bottle back into her hand. "You try some first. I know you Elani with your sneaking ways and your potions. We don't want the master to sleep forever do we? Well..." She shrugged. A sly look crept into her eyes and then was gone.

Helena sighed and took a sip of the liquid before looking at Millicent expectantly. "It isn't poison," she said. "If that's what you think."

Millicent watched her closely, not trusting her word. Satisfied that the healer wasn't going to keel over dead she took up the bottle again. "You stay here," she instructed her. "I'll be back to watch over you once I've taken this to the master."

And with that she was gone. Helena could hear her locking the door from the other side. She groaned in despair. If help is coming, she thought, then let it come soon.

#

Slowly, oh so slowly, Mariko picked her way through the sleeping bodies of the Elani as she made her way out of the cave. If she happened to spot something she liked on one of them, she took it. That would teach them for trying to keep her under guard.

Maemi in particular had a necklace on that she had admired earlier. Mariko bent over and carefully untied the beaded cord from around the girl's neck, freezing for a moment when Maemi murmured and moved.

She pocketed the necklace and moved on. When she neared the mouth of the cave, she looked back in on the sleeping Elani and smirked. No one could outwit Mariko Kint!

Once outside, she thrust her recovered dagger back into her belt and checked the stolen trinkets in the long pockets of her tatty leather coat. She took one final look back at the cave before starting on her way through Silence Gorge. She would not miss the Elani, that was for sure.