Fritz awoke in total darkness. Blinking his eyes rapidly, he wondered why the room was so dark. It took him a moment to remember the poisoned wine. His heart beat faster, as a panic spread through him.

"Fuck." He cursed. His wrists caught on something, as he tried to pull his arms forward. Moving his legs next, he discovered his ankles had been tied down to a chair.

"Awake are you?" A strange feminine voice said to him.

"Where the hell am I?" Fritz asked. "Who are you? Why the hell can't I see?"

"You've got a hood on. Didn't want you to see where our hideout was."

"Where am I?"

"Your new home. At least for the time being." She said.

"Don't suppose we are in Fehrenn then?" Fritz joked nervously. Feeling the rest of his body, he could find nothing wrong with him. He was clearly in a sitting position. Most likely he was tied down to a chair for interrogation or kidnapping. It took the woman a moment to laugh. Noting, the delay Fritz pegged her for an idiot. "I'll take that as a 'no' then. Still in Trira I suppose."

"Yeah, something like that."

"Don't suppose you can take this hood off?" Fritz asked. "It's getting a bit hard to breathe."

"Hah. Do you think I'm really that stupid? I'm smart. Smarter than all the others. The hood isn't coming off."

"I didn't mean to offend. I was hoping you were the kind and merciful type." Extending his senses out, Fritz reasoned he was somewhere underground. Most likely a basement somewhere. From the relative sounds of the room, the woman was the only other person inside. "My name is Fritz, by the way."

"Don't care."

"What's yours?"

"Call me...." The woman paused as she thought for a moment. "Holly."

"Well, Holly, it's a pleasure to meet you. I wish we could have met under better circumstances, but...."

"Look, stop talking. You're cute even if your ears are all weird and your tail is missing, but you're not going anywhere." Holly said. Fritz snorted.

"Alright, fine, have it your way. What about my companions then? Are they all still alive at least."

"Yeah, we were planning on robbing y'all, but we had a sudden change of plans when we saw y'all weren't together." Fritz frowned underneath the hood. "Now, we're gonna kill them after they fork over the rest of their money to get you back."

"Kill them...." Fritz repeated slowly. A lingering sense of dread filled him. His thoughts went into overdrive. Panic and fear mixed in a nauseating mental storm. Fritz needed to escape. He needed to get out and warn the others. He couldn't waste a single second. He needed a plan.

"Yeah, if they're stupid enough to try and pay for your release at the meeting tonight. Boss says to just take their stuff and kill them."

"Shit." Fritz muttered underneath his hood.

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"Yeah, once we finish them off we'll deal with you."

"I don't want to hear the details." Fritz said. For a while, the room went silent. Fritz let his chin fall down to his chest. He flexed his muscles against his restraints as he tested his allowed movement.

"Holly." Fritz started.

"What." The woman said seriously.

"You weren't joking were you?"

"Why the hell would I?" She scoffed. Fritz let out a long suffering sigh.

"It's just, If it's money you want...." Fritz paused for effect, as he searched the room for Holly's whereabouts.

"What? Think you can pay your way out of this?" Holly scoffed. The sound was coming from in front of Fritz. His hands were neatly obscured from her field of vision.

"Maybe...." Looking inward towards his center. Fritz focused on his magical ability. He created a small object in the palm of his hand. "It's just.... Well you didn't take the diamond ring from my hand." Fritz said. "Surely, I can pay for my own freedom and the lives of my comrades? Surely, a woman of your business acumen can appreciate such a deal? What do you say? A diamond ring to remove my restraints? Surely, a woman of your caliber has little to fear from a man like myself. Everyone tells me I'm weak."

"The ring in your hand? We already searched you, you idiot. There's no way you have a ring on you."

"But I do, I'm touching it right now. Feel free to take a look. Or are you afraid of a bound man?" Holly snorted in response.

"You seriously expect me to believe we missed a piece of jewelry on you? We're not amateurs, we know to look for magical tracking jewelry."

"It's not magical, and it's in my hand right now." Fritz said. "It's really starting to sound like you're afraid."

"Fat chance. But fine." Fritz heard a chair creak as the woman stood up with a long exhale. He heard her boots click on the stone floor of the room. "Let's see...." The woman kneeled down behind Fritz's chair. He gripped his hands tight as he felt the ring run through his hand. Her fingers touched his. He unclenched his hand. The simple diamond ring rested within his open palm. It shone in the torchlight of the warm room. Fritz let her take the ring.

"Now, what? I got your ring. What else are you gonna bargain with? Pretty little thing...."

"Well, certainly that should have gotten me a bit of leeway. Especially since I've handed over ONE of my precious pieces of jewelry."

Fritz felt the other woman roll her eyes through his dark hood.

"Holly?"

"You're not going anywhere. I don't care what you say or what you give me. The boss says you're staying put, till he visits later."

"Have you seen what the ring can do?" Fritz asked.

"Huh? Is it magical."

"Sort of. It displays a small magical show inside of the diamond on the top. You really have to pay attention to see it." Fritz waited.

"What are you talking about? I don't see anything."

"You have to press a button."

"Where the hell is it? Are you messing with me?" Holly asked. A tinge of frustration was in her voice.

"No, you have to keep the ring real close to your face to see it. On the outside band of the ring. The gold part, dearest. There is a tiny button. Hold the ring close to your face and press the button."

Fritz waited in the darkness for the woman. Suddenly, the sound of hissing gas emanated from the ring. A thud came from the stone floor, as Holly's body hit the ground.

"Holly? Are you there? Did something happen?" Fritz asked. He waited another minute. "Idiot. Two months working on novelty super spy gadgets came in handy. Who knew? Now, let's get the fuck out of here."

Focusing on his magical prowess, Fritz conjured a long thin knife in his right hand. Angling, the blade towards his bindings he started sawing.

"Really starting to get annoyed with these beastkin. Ah there we go."

The bindings in his right hand fell away. Fritz started working on his left hand immediately. Within a minute, the left hand's binding was cut loose. He freed his left hand and removed his hood.

The room was small. Holly's body was asleep at his feet. A large pair of round rat ears sat atop her head. They were scarred from fighting. Her left ear had been clipped at a forty five degree angle. A long rat tail ran along the floor touching Fritz's feet. Thankfully, Fritz found himself still clothed. Reaching down he began working on the bindings on his feet.

The room was clearly underground. Natural stone walls enclosed the interior of the room. A torch sconce had been sculpted into the wall next to the heavy wooden door. A large bar of iron and wood barricaded Fritz inside the room. Removing the last of the bindings from his feet, Fritz stood up. A rush of blood hit his head momentarily. Stepping over the sleeping beastkin. Fritz moved towards freedom.

The tunnels were dark. Fritz grabbed a burning torch along a nearby wall and picked a random direction.