“P-p-please don’t h-h-hurt me,” said the trembling guard as Teleri kept her knife pressed firmly against his throat. He could feel his feet being bound together by thick strands of web as a spider danced circles around him.

  “If you are compliant, you will be spared,” said Teleri. “You have my word.”

  The guard shut his eyes tightly and whimpered. It was a pathetic sight, especially for a man who worked in a prison such as this. If he was any more terrified, he may have wet himself, which Teleri did not want to see, nor did she want her boots covered in urine.

  Once the man was tied up from head-to-toe, Friedrich’s transformation wore off and he sprung back into his human self, making the guard gasp involuntarily. He wobbled and fell against the wall, sticking to it in an uncomfortable position.

  “Hello,” said Friedrich. “We’ll cut to the chase so that we never have to see each other again, if that’s alright with you?”

  “Y-y-yes,” said the guard. “Just don’t hurt me!”

  “Comply and we won’t. What’s your name?”

  “Hamlech.”

  “Ah, a fellow Mercian. Isn’t it nice when brothers like us can help each other? There is a prisoner being held here by the name of Siegfried Gaerfyrd. Where can I find him?”

  Hamlech winced. “There are a lot of prisoners here. I don’t know them all by name, I swear.”

  Friedrich and Teleri looked at each other and gave a nod. Friedrich turned into the minotaur, almost filling the entire room with his massive frame and Hamlech let out a terrified yelp before Teleri put a hand over his mouth to silence him.

  “Hush,” she said.

  Friedrich lowered his head and snarled at the man, who had never been so afraid in his life. Teleri removed her hand and gave him the chance to speak.

  “I-I-I can find out for you,” he said.

  Friedrich returned to normal. “Now you’re understanding how this all works, Hamlech, aren’t you?”

  “I understand, yes. I understand.”

  “There’s one more thing we need your assistance with,” said Friedrich with a warm smile. “I need him freed from stasis. Can you do that for me?”

  “It is not an instantaneous process,” said Hamlech desperately. “Should I be discovered freeing him, who knows what would happen to me!”

  “This is the part that I can help you with, Hamlech,” said Friedrich. “Should anyone approach us, be they human, elf, wolven, demon, or whatever other race your warden has working in the Orion Tower, I will kill them so that they cannot serve as a witness to your actions. When Siegfried Gaerfyrd is freed, I will stab you somewhere non-vital and you can be the survivor who we just couldn’t quite kill. How does that sound?”

  Hamlech was not sure how to answer. He was terrified of dying in what was little more than an empty storage room should he refuse this offer. At the same time, he had a great fear of the warden who would surely imprison him in a stasis of his own should his aiding of a jailbreak ever come to light.

  “He is too hesitant for my liking,” said Teleri. “We will kill him and leave his body to rot. I do not think he will be discovered for some time.”

  “Agreed,” said Friedrich, drawing his sword and retracting his arm.

  “Wait!” said Hamlech. “I will do it…I will do it…”

  “Good, because I was going to stab you somewhere vital had you refused. Should there be any hint of a betrayal, Hamlech, neither of us will hesitate to kill you and we are both very capable of it, even if you are not bound by my webs.”

  Hamlech nodded gormlessly.

  “Alaurian, cut him free and I will explain the plan,” said Friedrich.

  “Yes,” she said, keeping her eyes fixed on Hamlech’s face. Should there by any sudden movements, he would pay.

  “The Alaurian here is your honourable guest, here to visit someone who is being temporarily released from stasis,” said Friedrich, surprising the Alaurian who hid her reaction. “You will escort her slowly to wherever you keep your records and I will be following you, unseen, but rest assured I can make myself seen should there be any foolish behaviour on your part. After that, you will guide her to Lord Gaerfyrd and release him. Should there be any intruders, I will deal with them while you continue. Tell me, what is the process for freeing someone?”

  Stolen story; please report.

  Hamlech shuddered. “It is a spell. A most unpleasant spell, but it is one that every guard with access to the prisoners is taught in case of emergencies.”

  “And, just to be sure, you can perform this spell, correct?”

  “Yes, but it is…unpleasant,” said Hamlech, but Friedrich’s expression told him that his captor did not care. “I will perform it for you, of course, but I do have a question for you.”

  “Ask me.”

  “It is a single prisoner you want freed, isn’t it?”

  Friedrich nodded. “One prisoner.”

  “You will be hunted should you manage to escape. Anyone with any connection to the prisoner will be spoken to by our interrogators. Why go to so much risk for one prisoner?”

  “We care not for the man, Hamlech. If he was trapped here for a thousand years, I would not lose a wink of sleep. We’re doing this for a boatload of kupons, my friend. Once we get our payout, we disappear to Asterra and live free lives with the riches we’ve made from this one job. We would be happy to leave a small sum for you, should you adequately perform your task.”

  “No,” said Hamlech, looking alarmed. “Once the job is done, I wash my hands of it.”

  “Suit yourself,” said Friedrich, shrugging. The guard appeared to have bought his lie. That was good; especially for a story he concocted on the spot.

  Once Teleri had freed Hamlech, he stretched his aching legs and wrung out his arms. He gave a heavy sigh and requested that they get moving immediately before it was noticed that he was not where he was supposed to be.

  He opened the door and walked side by side with Teleri while Friedrich assumed fox form and swung himself up and underneath Teleri’s cloak, sinking his claws into her belt while tucking his tail in. As long as she did not arouse any suspicion, he would also remain undetected.

  Teleri gave no reaction, having suspected Friedrich would try something sly, but it was admittedly unexpected that he would cling directly to her. His fox nose continually smacking her behind made her clench her jaw; he must be enjoying this thoroughly, for she caught him staring at her rear far too many times. How perfectly things were working out for the Mercian.

  Friedrich, however, was more concerned with maintaining his grip. As light as he was in this form, his legs were not built for hanging like this for an extended period of time. Every bump against a butt cheek made him wince and he worried he would fall, but he held on; he had to keep holding on.

  *

  “What is that?” asked Pheston, staring out towards the sea. He squinted hard through the darkness, trying to discern the shape moving along. “It couldn’t possibly be a boat, could it?”

  “Is it a patrol?” asked Marina in horror. “Do they circumnavigate the island? What am I saying…of course they do! We’re in so much trouble.”

  “Don’t panic,” said Pheston, grabbing her by the shoulders. “I considered this a possibility, so we have to act swiftly, alright?”

  Marina nodded fervently.

  “You need to run ahead to the north-west,” said Pheston, pointing further along the patrol route, “and blow up a tree. If your lightning can set them on fire, even better. Anything to make them move on past our location. Do you understand?”

  “Yes,” said Marina.

  “Go!”

  “Yes!”

  Marina ran towards the ladder and climbed halfway down before throwing herself onto the sand. She stumbled in the water, soaking her cloak and the bottom of her dress, but she did not let that deter her. She sprinted as fast as she could along the beach while her waterlogged boots squelched with every impact. She followed the beach around until the Brass Stormer was out of sight.

  She knew then and there that the plan to leave her and Pheston by the boat was a good one, for the ship being discovered and subsequently crawling with enemies or somehow being dragged away would be an unmitigated disaster, leaving no way of escaping from the island. The four of them would probably be thrown into stasis themselves along with the lord.

  Once she was confident the Brass Stormer would not be seen from her location, she grabbed a handful of dry leaves and scattered them on a dead tree trunk. She clutched a few more leaves tightly in her hand and used her Shock Touch spell to send lightning coursing through them, causing them to burn almost immediately. She winced at the feeling of fire on her hand and then threw them onto the tree trunk while whimpering. She shut her eyes tightly as the leaves all caught fire. The heat radiated from the trunk as it too started to burn. It was slow at first, but once the small tricks were burning, it spread to the bark, once the bark was burning, there was no stopping the flames.

  Marina opened her eyes and had to hold back a scream, so horrified by the blazing tree before her. Her hands shook vigorously as she stared at it, before snapping out of her state of panic and wrenching herself away. She hurried into the trees so she would not be seen and ran until she could see the Brass Stormer.

  The patrol boat in the sea was still moving, but she was unsure if it was coming closer or following its route around the island. Marina took deep breaths, praying to Jorren that Pheston’s plan would work. As she watched, the speck that was the boat disappeared behind the Brass Stormer and reemerged a minute later and started moving closer to the shore.

  “It’s going past,” said Marina, feeling a wave of relief. She looked to her right and saw smoke rising into the sky. “It worked!”

  Once the boat had moved along, she ran back to the Brass Stormer and ascended the ladder. Pheston was staying low behind the captain’s wheel, which was barely big enough to hide his frame.

  “Good job, lassie,” said the smith, “but get down until the damn thing is out of sight. We don’t want them to have any reason to come back once they tend to the fire.”

  “Won’t they wonder what caused the fire?” asked Marina.

  “No doubt they will, but let’s pray they don’t investigate until the morning. Unfortunately, we have to manage the hand we’re dealt and that may mean killing whoever discovers us. Right now, we’re just buying time until our friendly fox and grumpy elf return with Lord Gaerfyrd.”