Hail! And who goes there?? the voice rang out through the fog of early morning, jolting Dib from his mists of sleep. He groaned, caught himself from falling off the mule, and stared groggily upwards. He was so exhausted he couldn't see straight, what from riding all night and not being allowed to stop

A party after a quest, Aubri was saying. A long silence followed. We're traveling. We need a place to stay, he added afterwards.

'S a bit early to stop down, isn't it?

Come on, Dib heard JC say. We've been riding all night, Mister Sentry person!! Can you please let us in?? We have plichinko machines

What, now she's talking wizard lingo'..? Dib rubbed his temples.

said Aubri.

Be that a weapon of some kind, may God so help you, the sentry called. This city's safe enough when the danger is beyond the walls.

It's not a weapon!! JC yelled. It's a really fun little game with all kinds of blinking colors and lights and—oh I guess we don't have any, do we

said Aubri.

The sudden screech and clank of gates being unbarred and swung open made Dib sit straight up. Here was safety, a place to sleep finally. Dib urged his mule after the others as they rode through the gate, not wasting a moment before sliding off of it only to be nearly thrown from his feet by the stiffness and soreness of his legs from the prolonged ride. Hands took the reins from him, and someone very gentle and comfortable picked the boy up carefully. He managed to identify the gypsy girl by the color of her blouse and the blond hair that spilled over her shoulders before he lost consciousness entirely.

---

It was more like a prison than a city. At least, that's how it seemed to Ivy. They'd been given a couple of rooms in an inn near the east wall, and when the little Irken girl gazed out the window, all she could see was the rough, unyielding stone. She knew bad things were coming she knew they wouldn't be safe here for very long. She knew, as well, that the people here were bad.. maybe not overall, but bad for them her curled antennae twitched slightly, and she turned away from the window towards the door.

The undersized minstrel stalked in through the door, muttering and grumbling to himself as he yanked his purple cloak off and threw it on a bed, climbing up after it and proceeding to dig through the saddlebags he'd left there. That foolish, despicable wizard he snarled under his breath. Just because ZIM is too amazing to need as much filthy food garbage, he is forced to carry group essentials!!

Ivy stared, trying to hold her breath and keep quiet. The brazen little Irken, despite being shorter than her (he was very tall for her age), made her nervous with his constant bold, arrogant statements. His antennae twitched and he looked up suddenly, burning red glare meeting Ivy's frightened, green-eyed gaze. But he didn't say anything, perhaps because of her height, finished yanking a bundle of cord from his saddlebag, and stalked back out into the hall, slamming the door after him. Ivy shivered. Her gaze fell to the bed, where the open saddlebag lay carelessly next to the thrown cloak. The minstrel's fiddle was there, pillowed lovingly and carefully away from the ruckus of the rest of his belongings. She stepped over to the bed, her gaze on it. She could almost feel the echoes of power that vibrated in the now-still strings. How such a simple construction could have the power to fog her friends' minds like it did Ivy did not understand. She reached a gloved hand for the fiddle slowly, gingerly but paused a few inches away from it and backed away quickly, shivering. He did bad things with the instrument. Very very bad things making it so people couldn't think for themselves distraught, Ivy fled from the room.

---

Night had barely fallen when Dib finally awakened, jolting up to a sitting position. A candle burned steadily at the edge of his vision, but the room was otherwise dark. Feeling around the blankets, Dib's hands closed on his pack, and he breathed a sigh of relief. There was evil afoot, he knew, something tangible in the darkness that surrounded him. It was deathly silent, and Dib shouldered his pack without thinking, acting on some instinct perhaps sliding off of the bed, he made his way to the door. A hand paused, however, in the act of reaching for the doorknob.

Frantic voices echoed through the halls, jabbering faster and louder, though he couldn't make out the words. Was something wrong? Something told him not to go out there, but another glance around the desolately empty room he'd been in stiffened his resolve, and he shoved the door open and stepped into the hall. It was as dark as the room had been, not even lit by candles, though a few wildly flickering glows from around corners spoke of torches. Where was Aubri? And KidK? Where was that minstrel? Dib headed off down the corridor, trying not to run as he kept to the center of the hall. Even the walls looked forbidding now, and dark alcoves in the form of doors would appear in them, yawning mightily and seeming to reach out for the nervously searching boy.

he called tremulously, as he rounded a corner towards a torchlight.

a voice said, and the torch was uplifted, illuminating a rough, haggard face not Aubri's. Not anyone Dib knew.

Dib said, confused.

You're looking for that vile wizard, and his friends, are you, boy? Well so God help you, you'll share their fate for bringing this curse down upon Atsel! The torch swept forward menacingly as the figure strode towards him.

Hey wait!! No! I'm just—OW! Cut it out! Dib yelped, and strong hands grabbed him by the arms, threw a rough sack over his face, and dragged him bodily out of the building.

---

Haha! Take that! You'll never defeat the undying power of LOVE! the excited voice split through the air as a brightly ribboned staff swept back and forth. Mike planted his feet solidly, barely noticing Binky clinging to his shoulders. Frightened sparkles shuddered from the koala and scattered over the ground. Mike shut his eyes tightly, concentrating evil such as this could always be defeated by good that was just how it worked. He heard painful howls from the demons. It was working! He concentrated harder.

TAKE THAT YOU SPAGHETTI OF A VICTORIAN SALAD!!! a feminine voice howled. The whistle of steel through air was accompanied by yet another scream. Mike's eyes flew open. Go Kat!! he shouted, jumping up and down in place. They'll soon see the error of their ways! Boy oh boy Binky, we did a great job!!

Kat yelled, and her sword drove home, followed a moment later by a heavy, hulking body slumping over onto her feet. Hey!! Let me go!! I said I'm not going to buy any of your lemon-flavored vacuum cleaners!! she complained, struggling to free her feet from the corpse of what appeared to be an armored orc. Mike dashed up, and carefully pried the heavy axe from the clenched fingers of the creature.

In the spirit of love! he yelled, and hacked off its head.

ACK!! MIKE!! yelped Kat as foul-looking—and smelling—blood spattered across her armor. Did you have to do that!? Now I'm going to— her voice froze in mid-sentence as Binky peeked his head nervously over Mike's shoulder. she cooed, her eyes growing large and glassy. It's so CUUUUUUTE that I—

No! No not now! Binky! Mike plucked the koala from his shoulder and quickly hid it behind his back. Listen to me, Kat! There's more of these orcs around every hill, especially at night! We've cut our way through hordes of them since we've come this way we still have a job to do! No time!

Kat blinked, the glaze disappering from her eyes. yeah. That's true, she agreed. Despite the fact that we're an idealistic magical dude and a badly trained and outfitted overexuberant warrior man, we really have done pretty well. Though it's getting hard to carry all these axes Kat staggered as she picked up an armload of six or seven of the heavy weapons.

Well you could always leave some behind we don't use them Mike said thoughtfully, looking at the one he still held in his hand.

Are you nuts!? They're souvenirs! How else are we going to prove to the mighty demons of haystacks that we have managed to survive inexplicably against ALL ODDS!?

I guess you're right, Mike said after a moment's thought. Binky, take this axe, and we'll be on our way!

The koala squirmed in Mike's hands and gulped uncertainly.

---

They're so mean, JC said ruefully, staring at the camera in her hands. The flash went off.

CONTROL YOUR INCESSANT FLASHY LIGHTY DOOM!!! howled the minstrel, who had incidentally been hit in the face with the flash.

I want some lighty doom, maztur

JC yelped, and set the camera down on the clammy stone floor next to her. Dib blinked, tearing his gaze away from the device, and looked upwards.

Do you think there's any way out of here? he said. He sure didn't see one. His bitter indignation at the unfairness of their treatment was eating at him, and he stared again at the tiny barred window up near the ceiling. Of all things, throwing them in a dungeon. They didn't even know what was going on beyond the castle walls but something must have happened. Something bad that pointed to their group. Or maybe the idiot townspeople of Atsel just wanted someone to blame that was always possible.

Of course there's a way out, Aubri said calmly from behind Dib. All these old fortified cities have escape tunnels beneath the walls; it's merely a matter of finding out where they are and how to get to them.

And how, oh MIGHTY and pitiful WIZARD, is this to be done!? huffed the minstrel, who was holding his fiddle carefully in its leather case and pulling his cloak tighter around himself. Dib found himself suddenly wishing for a cloak it was cold in here. The minstrel's little dog was silent for once, clinging to Zim and staring around him with wide eyes.

I'm a freezy! it said softly, but no one seemed to pay attention.

Aubri ignored Zim's question, moving instead to one wall and reaching a hand towards the stone. He slid his fingers across it, and they stopped in the cracks between the stones, the tips glowing to tapered points. No one moved for a long time the only sound was the occasional chattering of teeth or shifting of movement to try and keep warm. And then Aubri's hand moved in a quick and decisive movement, and he kicked out, slamming a boot into the wall. The glow intensified along the cracks between the wall, and the stone crumbled. Quite calmly, Aubri brushed some of the rubble with his boot into the dark space that had appeared. The crashing and tumbling of stone falling vertically a very long distance echoed up to them. Aubri spun around, robes swirling.

he said, with a small smile. Who's first?