Henry had immediately noticed there was one set of footsteps less than there should be when he had given the signal to move. He turned around, at first to check if something was wrong... but then he saw Dalia standing there, not having moved a muscle... and was suddenly engulfed in a wave of panic when he realized he recognized the situation.
Images flashed in his mind, how tense she had seemed all day, her lack of appetite, her serious, almost pained, expression – that's when he realized he knew it all.
He saw her standing at the back, with the lightstick, and immediately guessed her plan. He saw her, he knew what she was about to do, and everything in him screamed he had to prevent it. Do everything he could to save her from... making the same mistake he had. The one mistake he would have given everything he had to erase from history.
"Don't", he whispered, staring at her, trying to convey his message through his look. She glanced at him for a moment, but he saw in her eyes that her mind was made up. "You don't –"
Henry didn't even know exactly what he had wanted to say. "You don't have to do this", "you don't know what you're doing", "you don't realize what you are getting yourself into". All of them at once, maybe, and yet he did not have the time to finish a single of them.
She turned on the light – as she had planned. The rats streamed in, Longclaw was among them, but Henry did not even listen to what he was saying. He kept staring at Dalia, unable to comprehend she had just... done this.
Two rats grabbed him at last, he did not have the strength to fight back. At this very moment, Henry felt more helpless than he had in a long time. A hundred questions were reeling in his mind – most prominently there was the big "why". Everyone had a "why", he had had one himself. He wanted to know Dalia's. He wanted to... understand... but he couldn't.
He felt he was being carried away now, together with the others... this was his last chance to say something, to express all those screaming thoughts in his head.
"This is not going to go the way you think, you know?", he was staring at Dalia, then his eyes darted over to Longclaw. He wouldn't have been able to tell at which one of the two the words had been directed.
They disappeared out of sight soon, and dazed as he was, he realized he was dragged through the exact tunnel that led to the prisons, that he had wanted to lead the party into. He was not alone either, they were all there – Luxa, Gregor, Howard and the bats. Dalia had remained, of course.
Go, go, go, go. Stand with your friends – Ripred's voice rang in Henry's ears, as loud and clear as if he was speaking at this very moment. Stand with your friends. They hadn't been his friends. Never. And he knew they weren't Dalia's either. If only she knew... if only... she knew... what he knew... If only...
Henry's thoughts were interrupted by the rats that were carrying him, they had put him back on his own feet and Henry realized he could see normally. A single fuel bowl stood in the corner of the prison and illuminated the room fairly well.
"In you go", one of the rats snarled and pushed him into the pit in the middle of the room. The rest of his party members followed, and Henry let out a pained cry when he landed harshly on his shoulder.
Back when he had rescued the crawlers from here, he had used a rope, but now, he had fallen the approximately eight or nine feet, and it had not been pleasant. Now he could make out screams and groans from the others too, his mind wandered to Thanatos and his eyes started scanning the bottom of the pit for him, as he slowly rose to his feet... instead, they found someone else.
Her dress was torn, her hair unwashed and disheveled, and her face and hands, as well as her naked feet, smeared in dirt – but she was alive and well, staring at them all in disbelief – "It is you!", Stellovet's voice was overflowing with joy. She sprinted directly at them. Henry saw her leaping at him first, then she presumably remembered it would look weird if she greeted the outcast before her own brother, so she extended a hand to help Howard up.
He instantly locked her in a tight embrace, as soon as he let go, she approached Henry, awkwardly trying to straighten out her hair and scratch off some of the dirt on her hands and face. "You... came for me!"
He threw her a smile. "Kinda had to. The guy who kidnapped you was... an old friend."
"You fwiends?" The entire party shrieked when they suddenly heard a tiny voice from a corner of the pit. Only Stellovet turned away from Henry and towards the corner. "They are, you can come out!"
"What is –", Howard started, but froze when suddenly something moved in the corner. Stellovet ran back there and apparently supported whoever it was. When she emerged in the light again, leaning on her shoulder was the crème-colored figure of a bat. She had white stripes, that were almost invisible against her light fur, expressive, green eyes – and around her left foot was an iron shackle, tying her down to the floor.
"Who is –" Luxa took a step forward, examining the strange flier. Henry saw now that her lower body was torn by a gash and she bled quite heavily.
"May I introduce", Stellovet smiled, "this is Hera. She is a prisoner like we are. We kept each other company, over the last days." She paused for a second, looking back – "Come out, you three, they don't bite – well, most of them...", she giggled, "and these are...", from behind Hera suddenly emerged a tiny white head, from under her belly came another, light-brown one, and from in between Stellovet's legs emerged a third, dark-brown head.
"They fwiends?", the tiny white bat that sat on, who Henry assumed was her mother, asked again, and Stellovet giggled. "These are Leda", she pointed at the white pup, "Danae", the light-brown one, "and this right here is Io", she picked up the dark-brown one and caressed her head lightly. "They are Hera's pups, and they were captured with her."
Henry shot a look at Stellovet, the way she stood there, among the family of bats. The babies now clustered around her, while the mother lied at her feet, clearly exhausted. Her torn dress, the dirt on her face, and the disheveled hair – he would have almost not recognized her.
The group soon assembled around the flier family and Hera told them she had been on her way from the flier's land to the Fount, together with her partner and her newborn pups.
They had had official permission to stay, as her partner Chronos had been supposed to start working there as a courier. But on their way, they had encountered a storm over the waterway, that had driven them off-course, and she had been separated from Chronos. She had barely been able to save herself and her pups into a tunnel, but halfway through that tunnel, they had encountered rats, who had brought them here, only a day before Stellovet had arrived.
"As I am sure my sister has told you", Howard addressed them, after she had finished her story, "we are the children of the family that administrates the Fount. And should we manage to escape from here, you four are very welcome to come with us and live there – even if your partner should be lost."
Hera nodded at him gratefully. "Your offer is very kind. We will gladly accept." Her eyes were heavy with sorrow from the memory of her partner, who Henry assumed was dead – if not a miracle had happened.
Maybe ten minutes later they had all introduced themselves, and it had fallen to Howard to tell Hera and Stellovet their own story. Gregor and Luxa had looked after their own bats, whom the rats had tied up with heavy chains to prevent them from flying away, and Henry had checked for Thanatos.
"I... am okay, I swear", his bond had assured him while gritting his teeth in pain. The chains were so tight they were almost cutting into his skin and forcing his wings into a very uncomfortable position. As much as Henry had tried, together with the others, to loosen the shackles, they had been unsuccessful.
All three of them were occupied with trying to support their bonds as well as they could. Luxa had her arms wrapped around Aurora, stroking her fur soothingly, Gregor was sitting side by side with Ares, gripping his claw firmly, and Henry was lying, face pressed into Thanatos' fur, with an arm around his neck.
Howard was sitting with Stellovet, an arm around her shoulders, quietly talking to her. Hera and her pups were lying close by as well.
Now that all stories had been exchanged and silence had returned to the prison, Henry felt the lump return to his throat, he saw the look on Dalia's face again and his own inability to prevent it all.
It all made sense now, they had realized. How the rats had known where Stellovet would be... how they had found out about Luxa staying at the Fount... It all made sense... such terrible sense now. The only thing that was still unanswered was the big "why".
Henry felt tears rise in his eye, he pressed his face firmly into Thanatos' fur, to make sure nobody saw him cry. How would he explain the tears to them, after all?
Thanatos asked what was wrong, after a while, and Henry told him, as quietly as he could. "I couldn't do anything, you know?", he tried not to sob, "I could only stand there and watch her do the same thing I had done. I... I could not do anything...!"
The tears eventually started falling and Thanatos couldn't do much, except for staying close and letting him cry into his fur, but it was okay. Henry was immensely glad everyone was so occupied with each other they did not notice. He had no desire to try and come up with an explanation for why he was crying, like when he had listened to that conversation between Luxa and Gregor yesterday.
It was like his enhanced hearing was a blessing and a curse at the same time – he was incredibly grateful for the possibilities of perception it provided, but then again, it had also enabled him to hear the two kids talking last night when he had already been lying down, trying to sleep.
It is hard for me as well, remembering him for more than what he... did, in the end, but then again, there are so many good things to remember as well. Henry still heard Luxa's voice, loud and clear, almost trembling with uncertainty and pain.
I try, you know? To remember the good things. Because who else will, beside me... and maybe Vikus? Nobody, Henry thought, and the thought burned like a seal of hot iron someone was pressing into his heart – traitor.
He had spent hours quietly talking to Thanatos, after listening to that conversation, and yet he had still cried himself to sleep that night. Everything they had said had been so painfully bittersweet it had been almost unbearable.
That was why he had attempted to forbid himself any thought about his past, why he had assumed – almost wanted – to never go on a quest again, with these people. Because as much as he thought they accepted him – they only really accepted the Death Rider. Not Henry.
And Henry – they would never accept again.
Nearly two hours passed before everyone had collected themselves enough so that they could hold a small crisis meeting in the middle of the pit, to discuss their possibilities.
Henry had his hood pulled over his head to cover as much of his face as he could, but the rest of the questers didn't look any better themselves. Everyone was still dazed and in denial about what had happened.
Stellovet sat next to her brother, knees pulled to her chest, her expression grave, Henry assumed from the revelation her own governess had turned out a traitor.
When the exiled prince realized they were all looking at him for options, he sighed. "I... I don't know, really. This is not a situation I was prepared for, as bad as that sounds. I..."
Howard interrupted him. "I don't think anyone was prepared for that, honestly." He was clearly referring to Dalia's betrayal, and the silence, that followed his words, undermined their truth.
"But we have to do something!", Luxa exclaimed, "We can't just sit here and twiddle our thumbs!"
"I'm afraid that's exactly what we'll have to do. Until... something happens." Henry sighed, "Maybe they will fetch some of us to fight in the arena. In that case, we should be prepared to attempt a breakout. But right now? What do you want to do? FLY up there?"
Everyone was silent for they all knew he was right. It didn't make it any better though.
It took an entire day for the rats to fetch them out of the prison pit. They came while the group had just agreed to go to sleep for the second time, all exhausted and weakened from the imprisonment. They had had enough food and water left to last them another day maybe, but after that things were looking dire.
When the rats finally came, they only fetched the humans, including Stellovet. The bats they left as they were, Luxa's face was pure hatred for letting them suffer from the chains this whole time, Gregor was almost crying and Henry wore a stone-cold face, like a mask.
They were lifted from the pit and the exiled prince exchanged glances with Luxa, Howard, and then Stellovet and Gregor. He hoped they remembered the plan they had made for this scenario. Luxa nodded at him, so did Gregor and Stellovet. Howard hesitated, but then did the same thing.
Henry assumed they would be taken to the arena, and as soon as he had gotten his hands on a weapon, he thought he would be able to take out the guards. He needed to get to Longclaw, who he assumed would be there to watch, and maybe with a sword to the throat of their leader, the rats would finally let their fliers go.
As Henry anticipated, they were taken straight to the arena. He counted seven rats in close proximity, the humans were five – it should be enough, even if none of them except Henry had fought a rat on foot before.
The only fault in his plan, Henry realized when a different, light-brown, rat approached, informing them they would all fight for their entertainment soon, was that Longclaw was nowhere to be seen. The brown rat whose name was Hardskull, soon revealed where they had hidden their weapons – presumably to show off and express the rats' confidence in their grasp on the prisoners –which had been his mistake.
So suddenly, that not the rats, not his fellow questers, saw it coming, Henry, not restrained by anyone anymore, leaped in the air and onto the back of one of the rats. That was a trick he had learned from Kismet, it usually did a fine job at disorienting the rat in question, and it worked this time as well.
The one he had caught, a dark-grey rat with a torn ear, screeched and tried to shake him, but Henry didn't let her. He grabbed hold of her ears and dragged her head into the direction of their weapons. Blindly, she stumbled in that direction, and Henry grabbed hold of his sword. The next moment, her throat was slit, and she fell.
The exiled prince jumped away from her, positioning himself with his back against the wall and checking on his fellow questers. They had all started dodging the attacks of the rats, that had fallen into a small panic, not knowing how this could be happening. Henry now grabbed random swords from the stash and tossed them in their direction.
Somehow, everyone held a sword when the pile was empty, and Henry took up Charos for himself. He used the rock, their weapons had been lying on, to propel himself up, and did the "land on the back"-trick a couple more times, killing two more rats that way, before he reached the others.
They formed a circle, defending themselves from all sides. Henry realized that their plan had worked, thanks to them having the moment of surprise on their side, the rats were disorganized and unprepared.
Henry slew one after the other, Charos whizzed through the air, slitting throat after throat. He was entirely immersed in the battle, like back in the arena, but not so much that he didn't keep an eye out for Longclaw. He must come soon, Henry thought, with this commotion and all.
When he finally thought he saw the brown fur of the rat that had started it all, he raised Charos above his head and charged at the silhouette, every inch in his body out to kill.
Then, his ears suddenly rang with the sound of metal against metal. Henry was so surprised he slipped out of focus for a second – that wasn't a sound he had expected to hear here. Like in a trance, he realized the rat wasn't Longclaw. The brown fur was merely a decoy, and when she had turned around, she had blocked his attack – with a dagger.
She held it still raised now and the blade shimmered golden in the light of the fuel bowls, the rats used to light the arena.
It was like someone had dunked his head into cold water. Henry stood still, frozen in place, staring at the dagger... and the rat, that lost the brown coat now, stepping into the light.
Her fur shimmered silvern against the gold of the blade and her eyes... Henry stared at her in disbelief. This was impossible... utterly impossible. Only once he had seen those eyes before, and he had assumed – hoped – he would have to never see them again, after...
"Well, well... look who we have here", her voice was soothing and calm, and her face was relaxed. She lowered the blade.
It was like hearing her voice had flipped a switch within Henry. He instantly raised Charos again, ready to pierce her lying throat for good, when –
"Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you", a different familiar voice sounded from behind her, and Henry saw brown fur – and black.
"Any of you!" Longclaw shouted, in his grasp the twisting figure of Thanatos, Ares and Aurora were held by two of his guards – claws at their throats. Hera was nowhere to be seen. "The next one who raises a blade – loses a bat. Got it?"
Henry wanted nothing more than to wipe that toothy grin from his face, but one look at Thanatos' face was enough and Charos slipped from his grasp at last. From his perception of the room, he noticed everyone else had dropped their weapons as well now.
But his gaze wasn't fixated on Longclaw – no, the other rat held his attention. The one with the golden dagger. Henry knew it. There was only one dagger that had a blade of this color.
"That is mine", he stepped forward, where he had gotten the strength, he didn't know. His voice was so quiet nobody heard him – except for her.
She smiled. "Oh, yes, it is... that is why I demanded on keeping it, after all, when Longclaw brought it back from his trip to the resting place of our dear late king Gorger. It reminded me of..."
She took a step forward, eyeing him thoroughly for the first time. Her eyes – those big, expressive, blue eyes – stared at him like he was still the naive, sixteen-year-old child he had been when they had first met.
"My, my... you... hadn't I smelled it was you, I wouldn't have even recognized you... Silverchild", she chuckled, "how much a year and a half can change someone, aren't I right?"
Henry gritted his teeth. "Don't call me that. You just said it yourself... I have changed."
She chuckled. "That may be true – I am deeply sorry for that eye, by the way, it looks like that was rather painful – but you are still you. Or are you not?"
Henry scoffed. "I will not listen to your lies for a second longer, you hear? Wouldn't you hold my flier, you would be as dead as the king you have so easily abandoned for...", he threw a dismissive glance at Longclaw, "what, your next plaything? Because let's be real, that's what they all are to you, aren't they?"
Longclaw tightened his grip on Thanatos. "What is he talking about – and how do you even know him, Tonguetwist?"
She giggled and shrugged. "Oh, that is a long story. Silverchild and I are old friends. Very... old friends."
Never before in his life had Henry wished for the power to kill through looks more than now. His gaze burned holes through the sleek silver fur of the rat that had ruined his life but he could not risk Thanatos by attacking her. He noticed he was clenching his fist so hard his nails were digging into his skin to the point where it would start bleeding soon.
Tonguetwist did not care. She minced around him and his party members, standing, mouth agape, not daring to move, and mustered them. "I must say, Silverchild, you have improved your abilities from when we last met. That's why I can not risk you performing another stunt like this again, I hope you understand."
She gazed at Longclaw, twirling Henry's former dagger, the exact dagger he had lost during his fall from the cliff, that he and Thanatos had searched for almost twenty minutes – how Longclaw had found it, Henry didn't know, all he knew was that he wanted her dirty paws off Hamnet's gift.
"We will keep your fliers with us from now on", Longclaw grinned. "And should you try to escape again – well... I am sure you can imagine what will happen in that case." He dragged a claw across his throat and chuckled.
None of them resisted as the rats dragged them back to the pit. All Henry could do was throw Thanatos a last, desperate glance, before he disappeared out of sight together with Longclaw and... Tonguetwist.
"I am curious to see how you will attempt to get yourself out of this one, Silverchild!", she called after him and he heard her laugh.
Silverchild, the name rang in his ears, Silverchild – Henry shook his head. This was not the time for –
He was shoved back into the pit before he could finish the thought. He cried in pain when he landed hard on his left side, and only registered the others, who followed him, vaguely.
Silver... child. Henry gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the tears. He couldn't break down now, the others... they needed him, they...
The look in Tonguetwist's blue eyes, condescending yet compassionate, calculating yet sympathetic. She... she had always been so full of contradictions... always...
Gregor felt a great numbness take him over. His eyes instinctively searched for Ares... his hand for his claw, but he wasn't there. He still saw the cold eyes of the rat that had held him and had to suppress tears.
He glanced around the cave, everyone was visibly dazed from what had happened. Luxa was lying on the floor, exactly where she had landed, curled up in a ball. Howard and Stellovet were huddled together, Luxa's cousin had somehow mustered up the strength to tell Hera what had happened. And the Death Rider... Gregor could almost not see him, where he sat in the darkness of a corner, curled into a ball, not looking at any of them.
What had the rat with the silver fur called him... Gregor pondered – Silverchild. He had never heard the name before, yet they obviously knew each other. Gregor wanted to ask how, but he lacked the strength.
He suddenly saw him fighting, back in the arena. Gregor thought he had never seen any human fight like that, it had almost seemed like he had been able to... predict his opponents' next moves. Questions as to how he had done that burned on his mind, but he dared not approach him. The outcast had, throughout Gregor's entire time knowing him, always remained someone he had had a lot of respect for. The kind of respect that makes you not want to mess with someone... ever.
Several hours passed before any of them moved. It was Howard, at last, who called them all to the middle of the pit again. Luxa and Gregor managed to get up and Howard supported Stellovet. She... she looked so different from how she had when Gregor had last seen her. Her hair was disheveled and her dress torn and dirty. She almost looked like a completely different person from the one Gregor remembered, with the intricate hairstyle and beautifully ornated dress, who had dropped the nasty comment about Henry to Luxa.
Maybe, he thought, maybe she was not so bad after all. Maybe, she was just a child, dragged into this mess against her will like... we all.
They were all eventually sitting in the middle, all except the Death Rider. He had not moved a muscle since they had been brought back here, even when Howard called out to him again.
No reaction.
Gregor nervously shifted, Luxa and he exchanged glances. What was the matter with him? Did it have anything to do with what that silver rat had said?
Finally, it was Luxa, who stood up. She carefully took a few steps towards him, unsure of how to begin a conversation. "Who was she?", she finally asked, standing directly before the outcast.
He didn't move at first, and Luxa had already opened her mouth to say something else when he finally looked up. Gregor had never seen an expression like the one in his eye before – the only word he had to describe it was... broken.
"She... she was the reason I became an outcast."
The shocked silence, that followed his words, seemed to last forever. Gregor's head was reeling.
"You... she was... what?" Luxa was stammering now, expressing their combined confusion in words.
Everyone soon clustered around the outcast, instead of assembling in the middle of the room. He sighed, seemingly pulling his arms tighter around himself. "There was... I made a mistake. And she was the one who dragged me into it. In the end, I had no choice but to... stay away. Stay in the Dead Land."
It was not much information, no details or concrete events, but Gregor felt like he was telling them more than he was comfortable with anyway. The rest of them didn't ask further either, even though he saw the curiosity in all their eyes.
"She is as dangerous as Longclaw, if not worse", the outcast finally spoke up again, his eye now shone with fierce determination. "She is cunning and manipulative and she must never be trusted, you hear?"
Quieter, he added – "I am almost certain it was her who turned Dalia against us. It is in her nature."
Luxa, Howard, and Stellovet exchanged glances. Howard's sister suddenly averted her eyes. "How do you know that?", she asked, not looking at any of them, "How do you know it was this rat... and not us... me... who drover her to turn against us?"
Everyone stared at Stellovet in shock and Gregor saw tears glistening in her eyes. "You told me, Howard... you told me to be kinder, to show respect, yet I did nothing but mistreat her, purposely even. It was fun... I thought it was fun. But what if... what if this... this is all my fault?"
She finally broke down crying, wrapping her own arms around herself. Howard scooted over to her, embracing her tightly. "You could have not foreseen this, Stello, I..."
Then, suddenly, Luxa turned around to her. "Blaming yourself will not help us now. It does not matter who is to blame. All that matters is, that we are all here now... in this hole... together. That Longclaw has our fliers, and that we will not leave you behind, should rescue come."
Stellovet looked up at her, eyes red from crying. "You... why are you saying that? You... you hate me, do you not?"
Luxa hesitated for a moment. "I do not... hate you. In fact, I always thought you hated me. I am here now, am I not? Here, on this quest... to... to save you." Her eyes were a little darker than usual, she looked like she was desperately trying to not think about whatever Stellovet had done to her in the past.
The two girls sat across each other, visibly exhausted, tormented and played for fools by life, but they were... talking. Like normal humans.
Gregor looked around and saw the surprise in Howard's eyes... curiously enough even the Death Rider had widened his eye in disbelief.
"I... I do not... hate you", Stellovet mumbled, avoiding Luxa's gaze, "I simply..."
Suddenly, the outcast's head jolted up. It reminded Gregor a little of what the bats did when rats were close by. But he looked not angry or aggressive... instead, he grinned widely.
Swoosh – something swiped down all of a sudden and the party jolted around. Before them landed at first one, and soon a second and a third... bat. Gregor stared at them in disbelief when Luxa darted past him, crying out in joy. He saw her wrap her arms around the neck of... Aurora.
"Death?!" The outcast's voice was clouded in pain, but he too managed to get to his feet and stagger towards Thanatos.
Ares already pressed his nose into Gregor's side when it finally clicked... their bats were back. He wrapped his arms around Ares' neck, hiding his face in his fur. "H... how...?" Gregor felt tears rise in his eyes. They had been with the rats... with Longclaw. Gregor felt Ares' fur tickle his face... he was here. But... how was that possible?
"It is quite simple, how, believe it or not", Thanatos' voice sounded suddenly, and everyone turned his way. "It was Dalia."
The story, Thanatos told, was received in grave silence. The Death Rider had had his arms wrapped around his bat at all times, Aurora had Luxa cradled up between her wings as well. Ares' head was lying in Gregor's lap. All of them were happy the bats were back but...
"It has to be a trap", Luxa raised her voice first. "It must be that rat, Tonguetwist, she is cunning, you said?", she eyed the Death Rider. "It must be her plan to lure us into a trap."
"By freeing our only means to get out of here?", surprisingly enough it was the outcast who answered, stroking Thanatos' fur. "Even if it is a trap, I can not see how it would not work out in our favor. Death, you said she killed the guards?"
"One guard", the black bat with the white face said, "It was one, and he was really drunk. She slit his throat and told us to fly."
Everyone remained silent. "But why would she...", Howard spoke, but his sister interrupted him. Maybe Dalia's betrayal hadn't settled in with her entirely yet, as she hadn't been there. "She could also have had second thoughts."
Luxa averted her eyes. "Traitors are traitors", she mumbled, and Gregor noticed the Death Rider clench his jaw. "It doesn't matter", he spoke, his voice determined. "We have our fliers back – we need to get out of here." He paused for a second. "That is... you all need to get out of here."
He exchanged a glance with Thanatos. "Take Stellovet, Hera and her pups back to the Fount. Death and I... we deal with Longclaw... and Tonguetwist."
