As Friedrich resumed human form, Teleri embraced him tightly. “I am sorry,” she said. “I should never have taken my eyes off Hamlech.”

  “I’m fine,” said Friedrich, twisting and turning his neck where there was no longer a hint of a wound. “Are you alright?”

  “You took a dagger for me,” muttered Teleri, her face turning red. “You did not need to do that.”

  “You tried to do the same for me,” said Friedrich. “Just as either of us would have done for the others, right?”

  Teleri cleared her throat. “Yes, that is right,” she said bashfully.

  Friedrich turned to his father who was gobsmacked by what he had witnessed. Not only had he been rescued by his son from over two years of imprisonment, he had witnessed his son come back from the brink of death by transforming into a fox. There was so much he wanted to say, but the words escaped him, so overwhelmed was he.

  “Lord Gaerfyrd,” said Friedrich firmly. “We are to return you to the client. It would be appreciated if you came with us willingly. You have been through an ordeal, I know this, but we will endeavour to see you leave this island alive.”

  “Yes,” said Lord Gaerfyrd, still unable to put together an explanation for everything that had occurred in the last half hour. He thought he was finally giving into madness when he saw a figure that reminded him of his son standing before his crystal. Now, he knew it was no hallucination. Here was his beloved son standing before him, now a grown man.

  “We go down as quietly as we can,” said Friedrich to his father and Teleri. “We don’t have a guard accompanying us now, so the odds of us being confronted have shot up drastically.”

  Friedrich turned into a fox and ran ahead, trying to locate the door from which he had entered. From there, he knew where the nearest stairs were and could travel down a handful of floors before needing to get his bearings again. As he ran, he realised just how similar everything was. The endless crystals lining the curved wall did not make things easy.

  Teleri supported Lord Gaerfyrd, who was finding walking difficult after not using his muscles for so long. Even frozen in time, his physicality had been affected by his imprisonment. But the man did not complain. He thanked her for helping him and continued to force his legs forward.

  With his uncertainty growing as he bounded forward, Friedrich chose a door that he prayed was the correct one. He waited by it, listening intently to see if his ears perked up, but he heard nothing. When his father and Teleri caught up, he resumed human form and drew his sword.

  “Alaurian. Listen for any sound of movement and I will remain in fox form while we escape. Should there be a need to intervene, I will do so while the pair of you flee.”

  “You…you cannot—”

  “I will be fine, Lord Gaerfyrd,” said Friedrich. “I have escaped from worse places than this and lived to tell the tale. You are in safe hands with this high elf, but if we need to fight, I will be the one to do it because I can recover from grievous injuries thanks to my powers.”

  “Your powers…” sighed Lord Gaerfyrd. “Yes. Alright, young man. I will accompany the Alaurian.”

  “The way is clear,” said Teleri. “Now would be an appropriate time to go.”

  Friedrich opened the door with his shield arm and then turned into a fox once more. He scurried over to the window and leapt onto the ledge. He could see the island stretching out before him and knew he had used the wrong door, but he could see the far ocean at the far end of the island. This meant he was facing westwards and Marina and Pheston were somewhere in that direction.

  Teleri led the way with Lord Gaerfyrd and Friedrich followed them silently. Every so often, the Alaurian would freeze and hurry into a side room or a corridor, believing someone to be approaching, but for the first two floors, nobody appeared and the guards had moved along in a different direction.

  The atmosphere was tense, not aided by the quietness, and Friedrich was waiting for something to go wrong. While it had not been straightforward so far, there had been only two major problems; the guard captain speaking with Hamlech and Hamlech’s desperate betrayal.

  What was the fool thinking? He had stood a chance. Was he hoping that other guards would show up and their deaths would draw attention away from him? As the lone man before the crystals, his involvement in a prisoner’s escape would have been a dead giveaway. Friedrich felt an ounce of pity for him being dragged into this situation, but not so much that it filled him with regret.

  “Three of them,” whispered Teleri, looking around. There was nowhere to hide. “Another approaching from the rear.”

  Friedrich let out a quiet bark and ran towards the source of the noise. If he could be quick, he may be able to avert the alarm being sounded. From ahead, the three figures came into view. One was clad in armour and two wore simple clothing, but their green skin identified them immediately. It was the orcs from the entrance chamber and their business had evidently concluded.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  “Is that a fox?” asked one as Friedrich sprinted towards them.

  The demon guard looked confused as the fox jumped. He reached for his sword, but Friedrich transformed in midair and thrust his own weapon forward, skewering the guard through the throat. He kicked the guard aside, wrenching his blade free. As he swung it around, he hacked into an orc’s neck. With a swift slice, the orc spewed blood and crumpled to the ground as the second orc walked slowly backwards in terror.

  “Please, do not—”

  His words were cut short as his head fell from his body and hit the floor. There came a yelp from somewhere behind and Friedrich rushed back to Teleri and his father, only to see a bow in the elf’s hand and another guard lying on the floor with an arrow protruding from his eye socket.

  “We cannot cover this up,” said Teleri.

  “I know,” said Friedrich. “And we’re not far enough down to escape through the windows. We have to make a run for it before the bodies are discovered. Father, please don’t be afraid when you see what I’m about to do.”

  “I do not understand,” said Lord Gaerfyrd weakly. He was already tired from hobbling along.

  Friedrich took a deep breath and swelled up into his minotaur form, shocking his father even more greatly than he had with his fox transformation. Lord Gaerfyrd took a few unwitting paces backwards as his eyes bulged from his head.

  “Carry,” grunted Friedrich, forcing the words out.

  He grabbed his father in one arm and threw him over his shoulder. Lord Gaerfyrd did not resist, knowing that he had little choice in the matter.

  “We go,” said Teleri, running down the corridor.

  Friedrich barrelled after her as she furiously sought out the way down. She located a staircase carrying them down three floors before it led to another curved corridor that followed the tower around. Here, a pair of demonic guards stood by a grand door bearing large runic symbols. As they drew their sharp blades, Teleri plunged her knife into the side of one’s skull while Friedrich picked up the other and crushed him against the wall. He then cast the guard to the ground and pulverised the demon’s head beneath his foot.

  As the flight from Orion Tower continued, guards became more difficult to avoid. Friedrich and Teleri killed ruthlessly as they descended through the floors. By the time they reached the fifteenth floor, the tower was on high alert and they were being actively hunted by their foes. Knowing what they had to do, they cast aside any concern for who they were killing, and struck remorselessly.

  “Grugh,” grunted Friedrich as a robed demon stood before him on the twelfth floor.

  The demon raised his hands and hurled a flurry of wild fire at him. As Friedrich took the brunt of the attack while shielding his father, Teleri rolled out of the way. She nocked an arrow and it flew true from her dragon bone bow, speeding towards the mage. The cunning demon was quick off the mark and erected a magical shield that deflected the arrow before shooting an endless stream of fire at Teleri.

  A smoking Friedrich set his father down and charged towards the mage who turned on him. He grabbed the demon and leapt towards the window, throwing the demon outside, leaving the mage to fall to his death. He scooped up his father once more and continued his flight. Teleri batted the creeping flames from her burning cloak as she ran, but she was otherwise fine.

  The floors came and went, but on the seventh floor, the demons piled up greater and greater, forcing Friedrich to take worse injuries to defend his father and Teleri. He tactically changed forms, becoming human to deliver slashes and shield bashes to his enemies, before taking the minotaur’s form once again to weather the worst of the damage. It was exhausting him and his transformations did little for his fatigue. If anything, they were tiring him more. He had never changed forms so much in quick succession and it was wearing him down both physically and spiritually. Had he not an uneasy pact with the minotaur, he would have struggled to maintain control of his own body.

  On the fifth floor, the army of guards—comprised of both wizards and warriors—had assembled and were raining hell upon Friedrich and Teleri as they protected Lord Gaerfyrd from a return to stasis. Friedrich entered a side chamber and blocked the door with his hefty frame, passing his father over to Teleri.

  Friedrich grunted and pointed at the window.

  “We won’t survive a fall from this height,” said Teleri. “We must go through them.”

  Friedrich shook his head, knowing that the odds of all three surviving was slim at best. He could not allow that. The door was being battered behind him and he clung to the frame and dug his heels into the floor to keep himself stable; even the minotaur’s strength had a limit.

  “Mask,” grunted Friedrich, pointing to his chest.

  “It is too risky,” said Teleri, shaking her head despondently. She sighed. “Yes…we have no choice. Lord Gaerfyrd, your fellow Mercian is going to pass you a mask and it is imperative that you put it on once our legs break. Your survival is dependent on it.”

  “Mask? My Legs?” The lord looked around in utter disbelief. He was still in stasis; he had to be. This entire dream of escape had been the conjuration of his own mind.

  Teleri helped him sit on the window ledge and then sat beside him, ready to throw herself onto the ground. She should be fine as long as she did not hit her head or shatter her spine—which seemed all the more likely as she looked at the large drop to the grass below.

  “Ready?” asked Friedrich.

  “Ready,” said Teleri, reaching out a hand.

  Friedrich ran from the door, transforming back into a human as he went. He ripped the goblin and spider masks from around his neck and shoved them into his father and Teleri’s hands. The two allowed themselves to plummet and Friedrich turned back to the now-open door as his enemies poured in. He took Tierfyr in his hand and raised his shield.

  “Come at me!” he cried, and the guards did just that.

  The young man slammed his shield into them, knocking them into each other as he cut steel across their arms and necks. He let out a ferocious roar as a sword cut through his cheek, tearing through it and extending his mouth. He was in utter agony, but he had to keep his enemies distracted. The guards leapt on him, restraining his arms and legs as blood poured onto him. A wizard crackling with lightning approached him, ready to zap him into unconsciousness. This was his last chance to escape; he had to take it.

  Friedrich screamed as he grew larger, his bulging muscles breaking through the guards’ grip as lightning coursed through him. He felt the strain as he transformed, but held firm and weathered the storm assaulting his very being. As the guards were cast aside, he lunged forward and headbutted the wizard, breaking his nose and forcing him backwards. The Mercian then shrunk rapidly, turning into the golden fox form that had aided him so much since he first laid hands upon its mask.

  As the guards dived to reach him, he leapt onto the window ledge and jumped outside. Moonlight hit him as he flew free before his arc curved downwards and he fell towards the grass. If these were his last moments, he would die under the sky.