Author's Notes: Hey all! Sorry for asking for reviews in my last Author's Notes—as my proofreader Tess pointed out, it sounded suspiciously like I was begging for reviews…which, ya know, I kinda was…^.^;;; But anyway, thank you to the people who did give me feedback! Thanks to Kim, who emailed me, and Pizza Pizza who reviewed, and of course, thank you to Aniviel and Blue the Echidna, as well, because they just rock all the time! ^.^

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Moren scanned the wall of the mine that he, Akinen, and Lilliah stood before. Certainly, it was the same mine he had found before while trying to find Arelle. It looked exactly the same, except that it lacked the huge entranceway blocked up by boulders. In fact, Moren didn't see any entrance or way to enter the mine at all on this side of the hill.

Moren looked at Akinen, who was looking up the side of the mine. "Well?" Moren asked quietly.

"Well' what, lad?" said Akinen.

"Well where's the 'hidden entrance' you talked about?" Moren asked. "I don't see it…"

"That because it's hidden, lad," Akinen said plainly, grinning slightly.

"Well, then point it out to me!" Moren said, pretending to be agitated.

"It's right there," Akinen said, pointing to a small crevice between the rocks.

"That up there?" Moren asked, looking up the wall.

"How do we get up to it, Akinen?" Lilliah asked, joining the conversation.

"You climb up to it, lass," Akinen said. "It's a bit of a tight squeeze once you get up to it, but it's a way through. Here, I'll go up first."

Akinen walked up to the edge of the mine and began to climb, but before he had even taken a step onto the cliff, he heard a twig break nearby. Akinen, Moren, and Lilliah glanced about quickly.

Suddenly a dark form came out of the bushes and charged towards Akinen. Akinen drew his sword, and within seconds the sound of steel hitting steel was heard as Akinen blocked the dark form's attack. Suddenly, the form backed away, and his face became visible.

"Drahkin!" Akinen exclaimed in surprise.

"Akinen?" Drahkin's expression matched Akinen's. "My apologies! I mistook you for…someone else…" Drahkin said, sheathing his sword.

Akinen eyed him, still a bit suspicious, but mostly just surprised. "What are you doing here?" Akinen asked.

"I could ask the same of you!" Drahkin exclaimed. "I see you have your whole party here…wait, where's Arelle?" Drahkin asked, looking around and seeing only Moren and Lilliah.

Moren frowned.

"What? What's wrong?" Drahkin asked. "Nothing has happened to Arelle, has it?" Drahkin asked, nervousness showing through his voice.

"Arelle has been kidnapped," Moren said bitterly.

Drahkin's eyes went wide. "Kidnapped? When? By whom?"

"A Cutthroat wanting revenge. His name's Respitas," Moren said.

"Respitas? Are you serious?" Drahkin asked. "That's my bounty!"

"What?" Lilliah asked. "Respitas is your bounty?"

"Yes! That's why I'm here…I'm after Respitas the Cutthroat," Drahkin said. "I tracked him to this mine, but I couldn't seem to find a way in. So I started circling the mine to see if I could find a way inside, and I saw your party. Forgive me, for I did not see who you were and suspected you were Respitas and his party, so I attacked you."

"I see," said Lilliah.

"And now I must inquire what you might be doing here?" Drahkin asked.

"Trying to rescue Arelle, of course," Moren said.

"I mean, why are you all staring at this side of the mine? I don't see an entrance anywhere here…" Drahkin said.

"It's just a crevice we can slip through, but it's a way inside, lad," Akinen said.

"Oh? A crevice?" Drahkin asked, scanning the wall.

Moren pointed it out to him.

"Ah, I think I see it…And it goes all the way through? To the other side?" Drahkin asked.

Akinen nodded.

"I see," Drahkin said. "Well then…I…I wonder if I might help you rescue Arelle."

Moren looked up at him.

"I mean…I'm after Respitas's bounty anyway, so, since we're after the same thing, wouldn't it be a good idea to team up?" Drahkin asked.

Moren, Akinen, and Lilliah exchanged glances.

"The lad has a point," Akinen said.

"It sounds fine to me…I think we can trust him, don't you?" Lilliah asked.

"He did take an oath never to harm any of us, swearing in the name of his sister," Moren said.

Akinen turned to Drahkin. "Well, lad, since we have a common goal, I don't see any reason why we should not team up," Akinen said. "And we don't really know how many Cutthroats are in there. So…Welcome to the party," Akinen said, outstretching his hand to Drahkin.

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Akinen, Drahkin, Moren, and Lilliah had little trouble getting through the crevice in the side of the mine. Lilliah was the last to enter the murky dark mine. As she edged into the darkness she felt shivers run up her spine as she touched something warm with her hand. Suddenly a bat flew above her head, screeching off through the mine, and Lilliah bit her lip. This is not where she wanted to be. She was a Barbarian, used to the chilly wind and freezing plains of ice. Damp, enclosed spaces weren't to her liking. Still, Arelle was in danger, and there was no way Lilliah would let the rest of the party go on without her. This was no time for thinking about Halas. She jumped down onto the stone with the others

"Lass? Are you ok?" Akinen asked.

Lilliah looked up and saw Akinen watching her, concerned. She nodded and smiled a half smile.

Lilliah heard Drahkin rummaging in his small pack. Suddenly, he pulled out a torch.

"Here we go!" he exclaimed. "Now, just to find something to light it with…" he trailed off, digging through his bag again.

Lilliah muttered a few words, closing her eyes, and suddenly the torch was set aflame.

Drahkin glanced at her and smiled. "Thank you, Lady Shaman," Drahkin said. "I guess I don't need matches while you're around," he smiled.

She smiled back.

"All right then, let's go now," Akinen said suddenly, beginning to walk down the narrow passageway by light of the dim torch.

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"We're coming up on it now," Akinen said, looking back at the rest of the party who were following him down the maze-like passages.

"Coming up on what?" Moren asked.

"The main room," Akinen said. "I have a feeling that's where Respitas will be keeping Arelle. It was the Cutthroats' most commonly-used room."

"Shouldn't we have some sort of plan?" Lilliah asked. "How are we going to free Arelle once we get to her?"

"It depends on the situation, lass," Akinen said. "We don't know if she has lots of Cutthroats guarding her, if she's just tied up, if she's locked in some sort of dungeon or jail…it really just depends. We'll think of something when we get there."

"Well, it looked like all Respitas had with him was that Barbarian, right?" Lilliah said.

"Yes, but he could have called for more Cutthroats," Akinen said. "Other Cutthroats will follow him anywhere if he promises them a share of the treasure. Hopefully, though, he didn't have time to call for more Cutthroats. But if he did call for more…I just hope not many came," Akinen said.

"Oh, here, we're coming up on it," Akinen stopped and looked back at them and whispered. "Now, be quiet…We want to avoid fighting them, if we can. We just want to rescue Arelle. Sneak in, and sneak out."

Everyone nodded and followed quietly as Akinen led them down the passage, after Akinen had dimmed the torch so that all that it let out was a dim glow. Suddenly, the passage stopped before them, and they stared into a large, dark room.

Moren glanced about the dark room—it was large, that was for sure, but he couldn't tell how large it was because of the pitch black. Moren strained his eyes, looking over the vast room. It looked as if dark forms were moving restlessly on the ground inside, but it was too dark to make out much of anything…

Suddenly, the room lit up in a blaze of flame. The party gasped and looked on in horror as they saw at least a hundred Cutthroats filling the room, all with torches and weapons drawn, scowling and grinning evilly.

Suddenly, a voice rung through the room.

"Ah, so you've arrived—Aka the Scarlet Cutthroat."

Akinen looked at the figure and gasped.

"Respitas!" Akinen exclaimed, horrified.

"You seem surprised, old friend!" Respitas said grinning widely. "I didn't expect you so early…but no matter. At least I had a proper greeting awaiting you," Respitas smiled.

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Aniviel Freespirit: Uh oh Arelles in trouble now...i hope Akinen, moren and lillah rescue her soon, or at least before Respitas finds out about the treasure
Amai's Reply: Hehe, now Akinen, Moren, and Lilliah have a whole LOT more trouble to deal with ^.^ Ah, how the plot thickens…^^

Blue the Echidna: Ah she had almost made it! Wonder what Respitas needs the Cutthroat squad for... hmm. I hope the others can still rescue her.
Amai's Reply: Yes, she almost made it out…but not quite ^.^ And now you see why he needs the squad of Cutthroats…to make more trouble for Akinen, Moren, Lilliah and Arelle, of course! ^.~ Thanks for the review!

Pizza Pizza: It's good and well written. I like it just for the writing. But it's G rated so there's not much action. Just kinda like a Disney movie you know :P

Keep writing :)
Amai's Reply: Yay! Thanks for your review ^.^ Hmm, yes, I agree with you on the "not much action" thing. Because it's G-rated, I can't really put anything more in. Not that I'm complaining—that's the way I like to keep it. That's how my writing style is. But I respect you for giving your true opinions ;) Thank you so much for saying you liked the writing, though! It means a lot to whenever someone tells me they like Arelle ^.^ Thank you for your review!