They continued on their way, passing tapestries that depicted dragons ruling over the lands. Thomas was about to stuff one in his bag to look at later when he heard the sound of quiet footsteps.

“Hide!” he hissed, ducking into a niche behind a tapestry.

Margaret hid behind another hanging, keeping a hand on her weapon. She could see Thomas’ feet from her hiding spot, and she held her breath, waiting for him to be spotted, but the kobold just walked past them, muttering, “A whole platoon wiped out…”

They waited a minute before coming out of hiding and continuing their journey. Walking for another hour, they eventually came to a wooden door. None of the other walkways had included doors, and looking at the map one last time, Thomas knew they had reached the prison area.

He nodded to Margaret, and she unsheathed her sword, as Thomas placed a hand on the door handle. When he knew Margaret was ready, he flung the door open.

Margaret rushed into the room and gutted the kobold jailer. Looking around wildly, she saw two people chained to opposite walls.

Thomas hurried into the room and knelt beside the dead kobold. He pulled a set of keys off the creature and set about unlocking the chains, as Margaret began ransacking the room of anything that looked valuable.

“Who are you?” the young girl asked.

She looked like she was no older than ten, and the boy on the other wall was maybe seven years older. They were wearing ripped clothes, and bruises covered their bodies. Marie’s hair was a dirty blond colour, and she had distinctly blue eyes. The boy’s hair was long and tangled, and his ear tips poked out of his hair, marking him as an elf.

“I’m a friend of Jakni,” Thomas said. “I’m here to get you out of here.”

Margaret tied a small chest to her bag, and said, ”Ready.”

“You’re here to save us?” the boy said, looking up at Thomas’ face.

“Yes, but we need to be very quiet and very fast. Marie, can you walk fast?”

Marie shook her head.

“We have to be fast. Margaret, can you carry her?” Thomas asked.

“No problem,” Margaret waved.

She hoisted Marie into her arms before they hurried back toward daylight. Thankfully, they saw no kobolds on the way back to the entrance.

Three hours after they had left the group, they were nearing the others. Thomas had gotten the young elf to open up a little. He discovered that the boy’s name was Cata, and he had been travelling through the woods with his parents, when the kobolds had swarmed them, killing his parents, and capturing him to be used in various painful experiments. He was about to ask if Cata had any idea how long he was imprisoned when Garyn came racing towards Thomas. Marie shrieked and buried her head in Margaret’s shoulder, but the boy stood his ground.

Before he knew it, Thomas was on the ground, and Garyn was licking his face.

“Garyn! Stop it!” he laughed.

The wolf leapt aside and danced around him.

“Marie!” Jakni cried, rushing to the girl.

He lifted her up and squeezed her against his chest.

“Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

“Thomas!”

Frank ran towards Thomas and slammed into him.

“I’m okay,” Thomas reassured him, holding the bard. “We have a straggler though.”

He nodded at the elf, and Cata bowed toward Frank.

“We’ll watch over him, right?”

“Of course we will. Cata, this is Frank.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” Cata said in Elvish.

Frank switched languages as he bowed back at Cata.

“And you as well,” he said, also in Elvish.

The rest of the group approached at a slower pace, bringing eight horses with them. Thomas was overjoyed to see that Collin was among them.

“We have five hours of riding to fit in today. Let’s get moving,” Jakni said, helping his niece onto a horse.

Cata grimaced at the saddle on the horse he was given, but he accepted the animal and tolerated the saddle during the ride. Thomas kept an eye on him, noticing that he handled the horse without touching the reins.

Their five-hour trek ended as the sun began sinking behind the trees of the forest. Jakni commented on their lack of food, and Thomas took up his bow to hunt. An hour later, three good sized rabbits were cooking over a fire.

Frank stood beside Thomas as the druid cut a piece of rabbit for Cata.

“Why did you throw yourself into danger like that?” he asked.

Thomas handed the plate back to Cata and looked at Frank.

“I did it so you wouldn’t have to,” he said.

“Did you think about what would happen if you died down there?”

“I tried not to,” Thomas said.

“Thank you for going down there,” Cata said, taking his plate towards the edge of the clearing.

“Look, I’m alive, okay? I didn’t die, so let’s just leave it alone.”

“Don’t ever do it again,” Frank said.

“I’m not planning to rush into a kobold nest ever again,” Thomas assured him.

Jakni walked up to the trio.

“Thomas?” he said hesitantly, glancing between the three.

“That’s me,” Thomas said, placing his food back on his plate.

“Thank you for rescuing my niece,” the man said. “She’s all that is left of my family.”

“I’m glad I was able to help,” Thomas said. “Do you know anything about Cata?”

“The elf boy? I think his parents came through Ayre about seven years ago. I remember it because it was rather unusual. They were the last elves to come to Ayre until you and your friends showed up.”

“Shit! He was down there for seven years!” Thomas breathed.

“What will happen to him when we get back?” Frank asked.

“He’d have to get an apprenticeship to one of the masters in town, or leave.”

“We’ll give him a free room at the inn,” Thomas decided.

“You are a great person,” Jakni said, before returning to his niece.

After dinner was eaten, Cata came up to Thomas.

“I was wondering if I could sleep in your tent. I don’t have one of my own,” he said.

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Thomas shrugged.

“If you don’t, I don’t either,” Frank shrugged.

“Oh! Are you two together?” Cata said. “I can find a different place.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Frank said.

“Okay,” Cata replied.

The three headed into the tent, and Cata curled up beside Garyn. Soon, all four were sleeping peacefully.