Mirthal spent his day waiting. He had done a lot of waiting since he had arrived in Winlea and he was sick of it. This time, though, he waited for Tracou. For freedom.
In the other cell, Sakshi paced. She loved pacing and the sound of her feet shuffling three steps forward, turning around, and shuffling those same steps back drove Mirthal insane, but today it occurred to him that she may have the right idea. They had to move. Mirthal in particular hadn't done a lot of moving since getting thrown into the dungeon and his body creaked when he stood. Still, if they had to run, he had to be ready. He couldn't be the reason they failed.
If only Mirthal could tell what time it was. The only indication that time passed at all was Karthik's visits and that happened once a day. He had missed Karthik today, due to having trouble getting to sleep after Tracou left and thus sleeping later than normal. But that meant that lunch had definitely passed.
Each passing moment made Mirthal more eager. Restless, he tried to distract himself by eating, by stretching, by anything—but nothing worked. Maybe if he spoke with Sakshi he could distract himself long enough for Tracou to appear.
"Do you think we'll be out tonight?" he asked.
"I certainly hope so! I can't stand being here a moment longer. Especially considering what Yash is up to!"
Yash again. But speaking about Yash meant speaking about something.
"The food he gave Tracou was good."
"I can't believe he's willingly housing a dezmek! And giving him gifts!"
"Giving Tracou gifts is fun. I can understand why he might want to."
He paused, absorbing what he had said, and frowned. Something about the idea of this Yash giving Tracou a present, especially one as big as a pile of food, didn't seem quite right. It made Mirthal uncomfortable.
"He didn't give him gifts for the fun of it, Mirthal. Think about what he stands to gain! Imagine a human ruler with a dezmek at his command. One dezmek isn't an army, but having one around could deter threats on his life at least... especially if that dezmek is a powerful one. He managed to bend the bars a little, didn't he?"
"Tracou isn't an animal to be leashed."
"Perhaps, but Yash may not agree."
Mirthal didn't like this idea at all. He clicked his tongue and turned away from Sakshi, unwilling to look at someone who spoke of such things.
"If he kept Tracou around as a little weapon, he could easily find himself on the other end of Tracou's wand."
"He could always keep him in the dungeon until he needed him."
"Oh, good idea—that would only make Tracou angry and then, when he's freed..."
"Mm, you're right." Sakshi stopped pacing and placed her hand on her chin. "But there has to be something Yash wants... If only I knew more about him. He appeared one day and took my title, leaving me nothing."
"And then you left to go to the mountains and met me."
"That's right! But... Returning to Dorssur perhaps wasn't the best course of action, in hindsight."
Mirthal snorted.
"I had to tell someone! The mountains are moving, Mirthal, you saw—!"
"Yes, yes. Can't we talk about something else?"
"Like what?"
"I... don't know."
"Hmph. Well, then."
And silence took up residence in the dungeon once again, slowing time to a crawl. This time, Mirthal amused himself by trying to pick out different sets of footsteps in the castle. One of them had to be Tracou's and, considering how small he was, it should be easy to pick out. For a long time, Mirthal couldn't decide which one might be Tracou's. Humans varied in size, but even the lightest set Mirthal could hear didn't sound quite like Tracou. Back in Shalen, Tracou had always moved just a bit too fast for his legs, making him zip around like lost dragonfly.
Hours later, the dungeon door opened, making Mirthal jolt. He hadn't heard any footsteps approach.
Tracou trotted down the stairs. His movements produced no sound and finally Mirthal understood that he had wasted his time.
Smiling, Tracou stopped in front of Mirthal's cell and produced a key from his sleeve.
"We leave tonight," he said.
Mirthal leaned against the bars, watching Tracou with rapt attention. His thin fingers wrapped around the key, Tracou slid it into the lock and twisted his wrist. The shackle leapt away from the lock's body and Tracou carefully removed it from the door.
Without the least bit of hesitation, Mirthal rushed out of his cell, towards Tracou, and pulled him into an embrace. Not only had Tracou come for him, but he had managed to get him out of that cell. He was amazing. And, rather importantly right now, he was warm. He got even warmer as Mirthal held him. That counted as another point against him being snake-like.
Tracou didn't return the hug. This alarmed Mirthal until he realized that Tracou's arms had been pinned between their bodies. Seemingly to make up for this, Tracou leaned into him.
They couldn't stay like this all day, though Mirthal would have liked to do so. He pulled back just enough to smile down at Tracou.
"You saved me again, little dezmek."
Before, Tracou hadn't liked that name. Mirthal was certain it wouldn't be enough to make Tracou hate him, though. He just wanted to tease him a little.
It worked well. Tracou pouted, making him look quite charming.
"I told you not to call me that."
"I know," Mirthal chirped.
"You have some gall."
"I do."
"Hmph. You're helpless without me!"
"I am."
"Are you two done yet?" Sakshi said, leaning against the bars of her cell. Her presence startled Mirthal, who had forgotten that she existed. Mirthal glanced down at Tracou, who nodded. He let him go.
Tracou approached the lock to Sakshi's cell and undid it, setting it on the ground. He left the now useless key on the ground as well.
"Good," Sakshi said as she left the cell. "How are we getting out?"
"If we can make it out of the castle, we'll be fine. There shouldn't be many guards out by the gate, so I can handle whoever's out there." Tracou turned to Mirthal. "But after that we'll have to hurry. Ina is waiting at the bottom of the hill with some horses. We only have four, so I'll share one with you."
"Who is Ina?" Mirthal had never heard that name before.
"A friend. And Pendaer should be by the front door, waiting for us."
"If we're noticed, archers will take their positions at the towers," Sakshi said. "What will we do then? Try to outrun the arrows?"
"Do you know a better way?"
Seconds oozed by as Sakshi stared at them, the corners of her mouth pulling further and further downward.
"No. I had hoped I would have come up with something by now."
"Didn't you work here?" Mirthal asked.
Sakshi tensed. "I worked in one of the towers!"
"Don't shout," Tracou said. "There are a lot of people sleeping near here. You don't want them waking up, do you?"
"You said there were archers outside, right? I can harden our coats, making them more difficult to pierce," Mirthal suggested. His and Sakshi's coats would be better for this, considering how they had hoods. He would have to keep close to Tracou, who was small and could probably be shielded by him anyway.
Tracou nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."
"Great." Smiling, Mirthal placed a hand on the back of Tracou's coat. It was important that he didn't make it so hard that it fell to pieces on impact, but it was difficult to restrain himself from putting all that he could into it. Then he did his own and Sakshi's.
"Let's go. But be quiet, okay?"
"Ah, wait." Mirthal turned around, peering over at his cell. "There's a rat I'd like to take along, if I can find it."
For a moment, Tracou didn't say anything. Mirthal took a step toward his cell so he could check it, but Tracou grabbed his wrist.
"He's not there."
Eyebrows raised, Mirthal turned to Tracou. "Are you sure?" Even if Tracou could see in the dark, rats were small at a distance.
"That rat, ah... I used him as my familiar. So I know exactly where he is. He's in the kitchen," Tracou explained, shifting from one foot to another nervously.
"Oh..." Mirthal wasn't quite sure what to make of this information. This meant that he hadn't been comforted by a random creature.
A thought struck him so hard that it nearly made him physically reel—if Tracou had been the rat, then Tracou had seen him cry. Maybe Tracou didn't care, he hadn't mentioned it so far, but that wasn't something he had wanted to show him.
"Are you okay?" Tracou asked him, releasing his wrist.
Mirthal's previously harsh expression faded into surprise. He had more important things to worry about.
"I'm fine. Let's go."
The three of them slowly made their way up the stairs and out of the dungeon. The rest of the castle wasn't much brighter than the dungeon now that night had fallen. Mirthal stuck close to Tracou. Sakshi trailed behind them, stumbling once.
A man stood near the entrance, waiting. Mirthal froze. His oddly shaped face covered in scars sent a chill down Mirthal's spine, but the man looked at him like a dog awaiting praise. When he didn't receive praise or even acknowledgment, he briefly seemed hurt. Then realization hit and he gave Tracou a withering look. A moment later, the disguise melted away, revealing Pendaer. The tension that had been building in Mirthal's body left him.
Mirthal withheld a sigh and approached Pendaer, placing a hand on his coat to strengthen it.
"For possible arrows," he muttered in Elvish.
Pendaer nodded several times, more than necessary.
"Wait," Sakshi whispered. "Where is Karthik?"
Tracou winced. "Shh. He isn't coming."
Sakshi frowned deeply, gazing into the castle. Her eyes drifted over the sleeping forms of the men and women sleeping there and moved forward slightly before catching herself.
"...I want to leave him a note," she said at length.
Pendaer shook his head. "Don't be stupid. That would implicate him."
Folding her arms with her hands on her elbows, Sakshi again hesitated. With heavy movements, she turned toward the door.
While waiting, Pendaer had already unlocked the huge front door. They only had to push it. Pendaer glanced at Tracou who, with his wand in his hand, nodded. Then he eased the door open, which thankfully produced no sound.
The courtyard, bathed in the white light of the full moon, stretched out in front of them. A shock of cold assaulted them and Mirthal tightened his jaw to keep his teeth from chattering. They had to be quiet.
But something stirred behind them.
A serving girl had gotten up to use the garderobe. The group stilled as the girl bumbled about, but it didn't help them. In order to get the garderobe the girl had to cross the room. Along the way she spotted something strange out of the corner of her eye and froze.
Even putting aside the dezmek and the human, two elves stood in the castle, their ears highlighted by the moon behind them.
She screeched, the sound echoing around the castle and waking everyone within it.
Sakshi bolted first. The others followed with Pendaer bringing up the rear. Behind them a bell rang out loud enough to make even the mountains recede. It reverberated in Mirthal's ears, blocking out the sounds of the men gathering their arms to defend their castle and prevent their prisoners from escaping. Above, men stomped up the stairs with their bows.
Arrows rained down on them, but because the archers had only just woken up their aim and their ability to shoot a bow faltered. Several arrows fell near the castle doors as though they had been dropped. The arrows that were shot either sailed over their heads or flew too far to one side. This might have made sense had there been a strong wind, but there was barely even a breeze to contend with. Mirthal, who knew at least the basics of how to use a bow, could not understand how a group of people supposedly paid to hit intruders with arrows could do so poorly.
But the arrows soon began to find their marks. Mirthal felt one graze the back of his hood. The impact made his blood feel like ice.
Running was much more difficult than Mirthal had thought it would be. Tracou and Pendaer ran faster than Sakshi and Mirthal, unhindered by days of limited movement. Sakshi in particular struggled and arrows bounced off of her cloak more than a few times. She let out a roar of frustration as she ran. Pendaer ran in a zigzag in an attempt to avoid the arrows. He had, at some point, grabbed a spear.
The courtyard was a lot bigger when running across it for his life.
Icy air scraped his throat with each breath. It hurt, his lungs hurt, his teeth hurt, his legs hurt—he felt awful. But he couldn't stop. A moment's hesitation could get him, or someone else, killed.
Mirthal tried his best to keep up with Tracou, but even Tracou's shorter legs were less of a problem than Mirthal's lack of movement. His white hair shone in the moonlight. Unlike Pendaer and Sakshi, with their darker hair, Tracou made for an easy target. The archers should have focused on him—it would have been easy—but no arrows got near Tracou. If anything, sticking close to Tracou helped Mirthal avoid arrows rather than the other way around.
They could make it. They had just ran halfway across the courtyard and they could make it to the other side. They could, they could, they could.
Then Tracou tripped. A gap in the cobblestone had caught his leg and bent it. He slammed into the ground with a cry, a sound that shook Mirthal.
Panic gripped him as he watched Tracou struggle to get up. Mirthal reached him before he had managed to get back on his feet, so he helped tug him upward.
"Are you okay?"
Tears in his eyes, Tracou quickly tried to stand up, but he whimpered and fell back into Mirthal.
"My ankle..."
He kept his weight off of his right foot, still leaning against Mirthal. If it hurt just to stand on it, then running was out of the question.
In a split second decision, he picked Tracou up in his arms and started running again. The only way he could carry Tracou without him being at too much risk of being hit by an arrow was to cradle him in his arms, so that's what he had done. Tracou had yelped and clung to him when he picked him up, which was cute and everything, but he needed to run. Carrying another person made movement that much more difficult.
Run. Run, run, run. He couldn't stop to think about anything else—he could only go forward. If he didn't run, he would end up back in that dungeon or worse. He couldn't let that happen, especially because Tracou would share his fate.
Only one knight stood at the front gate—an old man with a beard so long it rested on his chest. He had a sword in one hand. Mirthal didn't recognize him, but Pendaer, who had arrived before them, regarded the man with both caution and irritation.
The two men looked at each other.
Pendaer launched himself at the man, trying to jab at his side only for the man to bat the spear away. But a sword could not stand on equal ground with a spear. The old man stood his ground, defending himself from Pendaer's attacks. He occasionally lurched forward to attempt a swing at Pendaer, but the long reach of the spear kept the old man from being a threat.
Behind them, soldiers poured out of the castle, rushing toward the gate. They couldn't continue forward with the gate blocked. Maybe they could destroy it? Mirthal looked down at Tracou, who kept his gaze on the men coming toward them.
"Hurry up, Pendaer," Tracou said.
Pendaer snarled in reply.
Ignoring him, Tracou soon went rigid in Mirthal's arms, his grip on his wand so strong that his knuckles turned white.
A stag, its luminous fur the color of fresh blood, burst into existence. Magic rippled across the ground, making it tremble. The stag stood as tall as the castle did, looming over the entire courtyard, bits of necrotic skin sloughing off of its body to reveal blindingly white bones. Its presence stopped everything—the men charging skidded to a halt. Mirthal forgot to breathe. The old man, captivated by the sight in front of him, gave Pendaer enough of an opening to smack him in the head with his spear. Out like a light, the man toppled onto the ground.
Lowering its head, the stag aimed its oozing antlers towards the castle entrance, threatening any who dared to step forward. If someone moved, the deer snorted like a bull and jerked its head toward the offender. Confused screams and shouts echoed out from the castle. A few of the braver archers launched arrows toward the creature. The arrows passed through its body, falling uselessly onto the ground.
"Let's go!" Pendaer spat. He chanced a glance at the stag, shuddered, and darted over to the gate to open it. Sakshi and Mirthal followed him out of the gate. The hill, now bathed in red, stretched in front of them.
"Be careful not to jostle me," Tracou said, his eyes empty and unfocused. "If I'm startled, the stag will vanish."
"Okay."
"But hurry... it's just an illusion. If they try to attack it, they'll know it's hollow."
Mirthal grunted, adjusting his grip on Tracou. While small, Tracou still had weight to him and Mirthal could only handle so much in his current state.
"Pick one: fast or careful."
Tracou said nothing. Then he shuddered and the red light disappeared.
"Fast," he said, tightening his arms around him.
Mirthal obliged.
Both Pendaer and Sakshi had made it to the horses before Mirthal and Tracou did. But Mirthal did make it, gulping in painful air like he never had before.
A human woman, likely this Ina Tracou had mentioned before, rushed over to him and Tracou.
"What happened?!"
"I fell!" Tracou snapped. "Let's get on the stupid horses! Mirthal rides with me."
Mirthal and Ina hoisted Tracou onto the biggest horse. Once there, he reached out to help Mirthal. Ina had to help him up too because he had never had to do this before and his limbs felt like they were made of jam.
This horse was quite large. Mirthal took one look at the ground so far below him and resolved never to look down again.
Tracou's horse dashed forward first and the rest of them went after him.
They rode through Dorssur without seeing a single soul. The bell should have been loud enough to wake much of the city, but no one ventured outside to see the commotion. The horses alone, their hooves crashing down against cobblestone, should have created a stir.
Some homes stood shuddered, closed up tight, while others had their doors left open. No candles had been lit anywhere in the city—the moon and stars were all they had for light. But Tracou led them and he had no trouble with the dark.
As they approached the exit to Dorssur, the previous silence fled. A great many had gathered there, all men, and they spoke harshly with each other. Pendaer noticed it too, sitting up straighter as he listened.
"There's a crowd of men at the gate," he shouted to the others, only barely audible over their horses.
Ina and Tracou said nothing, but Sakshi cursed.
Soon they approached the gate and the mass of men became visible. A mixture of guards and ordinary citizens had amassed at the exit. Swords, torches, wood cutting axes—anything these men could find and use as a weapon, they had brought. They watched the group with a kind of grim acknowledgment. Some of them shouted, likely hurling insults at them, and Mirthal brought a hand to his hair.
Tracou and the others had no choice but to stop. Steam rose off of their horses into the frigid night air, their sides heaving.
The swarm of men closed in. Tracou went rigid again, holding his wand close to his chest.
But Sakshi moved to the front of their group, scanning the crowd with an expression full of disgust. This gave them pause.
She spoke to them. Or, rather, she bellowed at them. Mirthal could only guess at what she said, but he hoped to the Celestial Dyad and back that she didn't bring up mountains. Her words, harsh and repulsed, sounded like the ones an offended mother might use when confronted with her child doing something heinous. Some men tried to argue with her, but she shut them down. Others appeared to be bargaining. That she allowed and they discussed terms.
"I hope she isn't about to sell us out," Pendaer grumbled in Elvish.
Mirthal ignored him. If she was, it didn't change much. They would have, at best, been recaptured, regardless. Besides, if things went that poorly, they still had Tracou.
At the end of Sakshi's discussion, the men eyed each other. Nothing happened for minutes on end that each felt like hours. A few men stepped back, away from the group. Slowly, they all parted for them and even opened the entrance. Sakshi sniffed and led their group out of Dorssur at a walk. Mirthal kept his eyes on the crowd, watching the men of Dorssur watch him, their weapons still held at the ready. Only the crackling of torches and the movement of the horses could be heard.
If the men of Dorssur so chose, they could attack them as they left. Such an act would be cowardly, of course, but that didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Mirthal moved against Tracou, his chest against his back, as though that would save him if someone decided to attack.
The gate closed behind them. Their horses hooves crunched through frosted grass.
"What did you say to them?" Ina asked, voice hushed.
"I asked them if they wanted to struggle against two elves and a dezmek, who would be fighting for their lives and can use magic... or if they wanted to let us go. They aren't stupid."
Ina made a soft sound of acknowledgment before moving her horse closer to Tracou's and Mirthal's.
"Are you okay, Tracou?"
"Better now that we're out of Dorssur. Where's the wagon?"
"Not much farther."
Tracou nodded and yawned.
Silence took over. With Dorssur and all of its frustration behind him, all of the stress keeping him alert fled and Mirthal found himself nodding off.
~~~
Back in the Frosted Castle, Yash gazed out at the courtyard from his tower, watching his men gather up their wasted arrows. A smirk pulled at his lips.
Dezmek Tracou had acted so meek and agreeable, but he had been scheming the entire time. To save an elf, no less. It was a shame—they could have worked well together.
A missed opportunity. And yet...
While their escape hadn't been in his plans, Dezmek Tracou and the others had given him exactly what he needed.