PART II

"You have to go."

"I don't want to."

"It's not about choice. You have to. It's your duty."

"No it's not. There's plenty of people I can help around here."

"The apprentices can handle everything here. The real needy lie beyond these walls."

"But I'd be alone. It's scary. There are monsters and beastmen and things. I don't think I could handle that."

"You forget the old lessons. The first rule is that nobody in this world is alone."

"Out there you are. I am."

"You can go by choice, or we can kick you out. Leave now. Keep your dignity."

"You'd really throw me out?"

"Yes. Don't think it's because I don't like you. It's for the best."

"I don't want to go."

"We told you, it isn't about that."

"Goodbye then."

"Goodbye. Good luck. I'm sure you'll be fine."

Vivli was doubled over panting. The party had voted to get to the mines before nightfall, and so had ran. Running across a desert wasn't easy, and Vivli hadn't been able to keep up. She had arrived quite some time behind them, lucky to not have encountered any creatures along the way, and was exhausted. To top this off, she was also embarrassed. The others stood without worry, Voldos in full armour, without a sign of fatigue. She could barely still stand up. She desperately wanted to hide this fatigue, keep it a secret. She didn't want them to look down upon her (any more than the physical aspects of their height difference made them).

"Ah, don't worry." Voldos said casually. "You'll get used to it."

"Yeah," Bootus surprisingly seemed to agree. "Besides, you've got to run twice as far as us." Vivli gave him a look of confusion. She didn't quite understand. "You're legs are about half the length of ours." Bootus explained. "I don't know why I bother being funny when nobody gets it." He added in a sigh.

"So what now?" Vivli managed to ask.

"We go into the mines, swords flailing, and kill things." Voldos announced.

"Aw nuts!" Zinkata suddenly cried. "I have no weapon."

"Oh yeah," Bootus snapped his mighty fingers, "You really should have brought one in Bastok."

"You can use my staff." Vivli offered him a small wooden stick. "I'll just be casting spells. I don't need it." Zinkata looked at it.
"Actually, I think I'm better off with my hands." Zinkata said as tactfully as he could. Bootus lowered himself on one knee, bringing him to Vivli's height.

"Don't worry," He said patronisingly, "I'm sure your mum thinks it's a cool staff."

"Shut. Up." Vivli made sure each word was emphasised.

"Alive." Signot reminded the quadav leader.

"She'll be alive." The turtle-like beast replied. "Snap her legs. That'll stop her from running." He instructed to his troops.

"Be careful." Signot warned. "She's a White Mage. She can heal any wound."

"Let's see how well she casts spells with no arms, then, shall we?" Snarled the quadav.

"No risks." Signot stated. "If she dies, my master shall unleash a wrath upon you like none you know."

"Okay. No risks. I have no need to angry him. I am his faithful servant."

"Very good. Do not fail." Signot disappeared into the darkness.

"It's dark." Vivli pointed out the obvious.

"That it is." Voldos sighed.

"I hate the dark." Vivli whined.

"Wait. Aren't you mithra feline? Descended from cats? Can't you see in the dark?" Zinkata seemed confused.

"We can see better than most other races, apparently." Vivli explained. She didn't actually know, not having ever been another race obviously. "Doesn't make it any less scary."

"I'm sure there's no- BOO!" Yelled Bootus. Vivli let out a high pitched scream and leapt so high she almost hit the roof of the mines. Bootus let out a riotous laugh. Vivli was panting in horror.

"That was priceless!" Cried the galka cheerfully.

"Never ever do that again!" Screamed Vivli, stomping her foot.

"He might not get the chance." Voldos had drawn his sword. "I think you just called the entire quadav army to our location."

"Blame him! Not me!" Vivli yelled, pointing to the gigantic form of Bootus.

"Let's play the blame game later!" Zinkata screamed. "Battle stations!"

The leading quadav was cut down easily by Voldos as he pulled his sword up in a powerful swipe. Before he could get back into a defensive stance, another of the turtle men stabbed him with a spear. Voldos staggered back, bleeding. A white light engulfed him as his wound healed.

"Keep going!" Cried Vivli as she cast as many healing spells as she could. Voldos swung his sword around, finding it blocked by the turtle. He kicked it and it fell onto its back, comically struggling to get up. Bootus slammed his fists into another quadav so hard its shell cracked. He drove upwards and knocked it out. Zinkata ran and jumped over one, clawing on its back. It drove backwards with its spear only to find it stolen right out of its hands. Zinkata jumped down and thrust the spear into the back of the turtle. A blade of some kind cut him across the back. He turned and got stabbed.

The similar white light engulfed him, healing him. Bootus slammed two more turtles together with his powerful hands. Voldos cut one down, but got caught off guard, being stabbed in the leg.

"Heal, Li!" He cried as he stumbled.

"I can't!" Came the helpless reply. "I'm out!"

"Out?" Snarled Bootus as he fought on.

"Yeah, I can only cast a spell so many times. After that I need to refocus my energies to-"

"Then refocus!" Screamed the Galka.

"It's difficult in a battle like this!"

"Find a way!"

Vivli dropped down, focusing herself. She was trying to pray. She blocked out all external disturbances and focused on her own inner energies. Her own powers. She felt as if she was floating. As if something was carrying her off-

She was being carried off! Something had grabbed her.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!" She let out a scream.

Too distracted to hear the screams of the tiny mage, the party battled onwards. They cut down the final turtles, bleeding and beaten.

"Whew. That was close." Voldos sighed, wiping blood from a cut on his mouth.

"Yeah, no thanks to Miss-" He spun around to see she was gone. "Hey, where'd the midget mage go?"

"Aw frack!" Cried Zinkata.

"Who cares?" Asked Bootus. "We have enough quadav armour there to prove they've taken the mines. We don't need her to claim the reward."

"Maybe not, but something doesn't add up." Zinkata began. "Quadav always kill their victims. They would never kidnap her, unless something else was driving them."

"So? Let the soldiers sort it out." Bootus said with a wild shrug.

"It could be too late." Zinkata pondered. "Something else is at play here."

"What do you care?" Asked Voldos. "You're a thief."

"If the quadav are being manipulated, you can guarantee something bad will happen." Zinkata stated. "And bad things are generally bad for me as well."

"Right now I don't care about his motivation. All I know is that if we don't act fast, she'll be dead." He paused. "Or worse."

"Gorramit! I hate you guys!" Bootus sighed.

Vivli finally opened her eyes. She hadn't been unconscious, just scared. She had to overcome what felt like a horrible force holding them shut just to be able to look out. She saw quadav. Dozens of them. One was talking to a figure in black.
"There. One girl." Snarled the quadav.

"Well done." Stated the man in black. "Of course, you are aware her comrades will come for her."

"They will not." Came the reply. The man in black shot out a hand, grabbing the quadav by the neck.

"They will. It is in their nature. Kill them, and then hand her over. My master is not prepared to receive her yet." Master? Thought Vivli. She wasn't as clueless to the goings on as some may be led to believe, but even she had no idea who the master was.

The figure in black marched away without so much as a word. Vivli began to observe her surroundings. She was in cage. Just bars down an alcove in the cave. She walked forwards to them, and felt the bars. They weren't going to move.

"Sit down." Came a command from the darkness. She backed away in fear. "In fact, I'll just remove your legs, then you'll have no choice."

"No! Please! I won't do it again!" She begged.

"You bet you won't." The voice snarled.

"Bootus! Don't make her scream again!" Came a much more familiar voice.

"Aw, I was having fun." The snarling voice reverted back to the voice of Bootus. "Pleased to see you're as brave in the face of danger as ever."

"That was mean!" She exclaimed.

"As perceptive as ever too." Bootus laughed.

"Just get her out of there before the quadav catch us!" Snapped Voldos. Bootus grabbed hold of the bars and bent them with a groan of effort. He ripped the door open and Vivli quickly zoomed out, almost tempted to hug the galkan brute for saving her.

The four snuck away into a small dark passageway they had found. Bootus was hunched, bashing into the walls as he attempted to fit. Vivli was fully stood, and free to move easily. She giggled to herself. The four emerged from their hidden passageway out into a cave not too far from where they had come from.

"How did you guys ever see that?" Vivli asked in surprise, barely being able to notice the hole now they had emerged from it.

"A map is a useful tool." Bootus stated.

"Well, it would have been had be brought a torch so that we could see the gorram thing!" Voldos cried.

"Luckily we found this stick on the ground, and managed to set it on fire to provide light." Zinkata explained.

"Stick?" Vivli asked in a gasp, suddenly realising something. "Was it about this long?" She made the appropriate length with her hands.

"Yeah, why?" Asked Voldos.

"That was my staff!" She screamed. "I must have dropped it when they captured me!"

"You don't need it!" Snarled a quadav. The party span around to face what they assumed was one. It turned out to be more than they had ever seen, filling the cave.

"HOLY SH-" Voldos began.

"RUN!" Exclaimed Zinkata, before he could finish. The party turned and fled as fast as they could. The turtles hurtled after them.

Zinkata led the way, having much experience in putting as much distance between something following him and himself as possible. Voldos wasn't far behind, giving up on guiding himself and just throwing himself down the tunnel with his own weight. He bounced off the cave walls like an out of control mine cart. Bootus filled the third slot quite nicely, and even if Vivli could have run fast enough she couldn't have overtaken the gigantic galka as he blocked the entire passageway. It didn't matter. She was lagging behind again, and the quadav were gaining on her.

Bootus let out an irritated sigh and turned around, lifting the mithra above his head and running with her above him.

"I feel violated." Commented the tiny mage. The party continued to run until they reached the exit. Zinkata leapt out dramatically in a forward role. Bootus hurled Vivli out the exit effortlessly. She flew further than Zinkata had leapt and slammed into the ground painfully. Voldos had stopped at the exit, sword drawn. He spun it around skilfully and cut the large wooden structural supports holding the entrance up. It caved in as he jumped back. It seemed they were safe.

"OW!" Whined Vivli, lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"I've never seen anything like that." Commented Zinkata. One of the rocks fell from the caved in entrance, and snorting could be heard quite distinctly on the other side. "Aw, felgercarb."

"Maybe we should keep moving." Voldos suggested.

"Lets." Bootus agreed through gigantic gritted teeth.

They stopped and collapsed on the sand once the mine was safely out of sight.

"So, care to explain that one, Vivli?" Bootus snapped. The little mage was panting too much to respond.

"I don't mean to sound like Bootus, but I think you owe us an explanation." Voldos said bluntly. Vivli looked up from her sat position.

"It's difficult to explain." She said. "I don't understand it myself."

"Well start understanding." Bootus snarled.

"I was trained as a White Mage within a monastery. I was risen shielded from the outside. All the other mages were allowed to leave. But not me. They said it was too dangerous. They never said why. And then, one day, somebody showed up at the camp with a message. That day they told me to leave. I didn't want to, but they told me I had to. To go to Bastok and make my way as an adventurer."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Asked Voldos, perhaps being a little dense.

"I left, like they said. But just before I started by journey, an old friend came running out. A man named Fiorel. A paladin. He had been like a father to me when I was younger, being trained." She paused, mostly for dramatic effect. "He told me that I wasn't safe. That the monsters of this world would be hunting me. He said he couldn't tell me why, but that it wasn't safe for me to stay anywhere alone."

"Great, so we've teamed up with a hunted mage." Cried Bootus.

"That doesn't make sense." Zinkata said curiously. "Monsters don't just hunt one person. They don't have the organisation."

"We can worry about it later." Voldos announced cheerfully. "We have these!" He held up a bag of armour. "One reward, here we come!"

"Master, they escaped." Signot said upon one knee.

"I know." Replied the voice. "Do you not think I have eyes in every part of this world?"

"I am sorry master. I did not mean to doubt your abilities." Signot was either nervous or sarcastic. It was hard to tell.

"She is proving difficulty to get to." The voice stated. "We need a way to strike at her."

"My master, what do you suggest?" Signot asked.

"There is one who we may be able to manipulate to our will." The voice told Signot. "The galka. He has no liking for the mage."

"That is true my lord, but he would never serve us." Signot explained. "He would never serve the forces of darkness."

"Unless he didn't know what they were." The voice finished. "He will be celebrating in the tavern tonight. Go Lord Signot, and deliver some hints. His drunken brain and anger will do the rest."

"It will be done, my lord."