Ed and Olly met Quila at the Castle Ward gates, the Ranger moving quickly past them, Olly not even taking the time to braid her hair back. She was furious, determined, and in pain which fueled her desire to fight on even more. She didn't care what lay ahead, even if she had to face the Xanathar himself. Ed watched as Olly lifted up the sewer manhole like it was a flimsy piece of wood, impressed by the strength she possessed when she was angered.

"Remind me never to really piss you off" Ed said looking down into the darkness of the sewer.

"Whatever is down there is about to find out" Olly said taking a closer look at the manhole cover. There, etched crudely into the stone, was a eyeball with twelve lines surrounding it. Olly looked up at Quila who plucked up her feathers.

"The Eye" the Aarakocra twittered.

"Xanathar's Guild?" Ed said looking between the two.

"Looks like we found one of the entrances into his lair" Olly said getting ready to go down "There might be a lot of traps, or a lot of enemies. Xanathar is notoriously paranoid, so whatever we run into, it's going to have back up."

Ed nodded, getting his longsword out and beside him. He didn't want to use the Dawnstar just yet, in case the Beholder himself was going to face off with them. He had never faced an enemy like this before, but seeing Olly so determined gave him hope that even an alien from another world couldn't stop her if they tried.

"You'll understand that I don't join you?" Quila remarked at Olly who strung her bow across her chest.

"I know Quila" Olly said reassuringly "Tiny spaces. Just be ready for my signal in the sky if we make it back to the surface."

"You have my word" Quila said bowing.

Olly gave Quila a nod before jumping down into the dark hole, Ed waiting at the top for her give the signal. When the signal came from the bottom, Ed got ready to jump down before Quila stopped him.

"Cleric" the Ranger chirped at him.

Ed looked over at her, the Aarakocra giving him a serious look.

"Don't hurt her like the elf" she said "Trust her judgment. The only thing you need to protect is right here" she said touching her chest with a nod before taking off into the air.

Ed watched her go before jumping down into the hole, still thinking on the forewarning he just received. What exactly did the Ranger mean by that?

No time to dwell on the warning as Ed landed beside Olly, the stink of the sewer hitting his nostrils quickly. Ed pulled up his sun yellow neck scarf to cover his nose and mouth as Olly continued on. She was using all her senses, even her smell that was bombarded with the stench, to guide her along the sewer path. She could see the gunk of small footsteps that drug something large behind them as she followed the trail, the smell of fresh damp air starting to lift as they turned down tunnel after tunnel. Soon though, the brick layers turned into a stone alcove, a tunnel forming now around them as Olly pressed on through the darkness.

Ed followed her footsteps perfectly, trusting Olly's Ranger training to track and find something even in the darkest of places. It wasn't until the air around them grew cold did she stop, her whole body stiff as a board as she used her senses to feel out the room.

"Ed" she whispered "Get your shield ready."

Ed did as she commanded, taking his blessed wooden shield off his back. Olly moved a little closer to him before unsheathing her swords, the flames of Findex lighting the surrounding area. A faint glow started to show around the walls of the room, eye slits opening with a green glare, lighting the room up completely. Ed looked around with wide eyes, feeling his heart start to race as the room was surrounded by glowing eyes. It wasn't until Olly pressed up against him that he heard a horrid hiss echoing out.

"Ed, aren't Cleric's good with undead things?" Olly whispered at him.

"Last time I checked, yes" Ed said now on full alert.

"Good, because I can smell the stench of death" Olly said looking around in every corner. Although she could see well in the dark, the green glow was hurting her eyes that it was hard to focus. Or maybe that was a spell cast on the room by whatever was lurking in the shadows?

A screech echoed out above them as Olly's vision was blocked by the shield before gnashing teeth came crashing on top of them. Ed held steady as a round mouth full of teeth tried gnawing through the shield.

"Shit!" Olly said ducking down to get a better look.

It was round and slimy, with eye stalks coming out from all over it's body, but the eyeballs looked ghostly, no sign of intelligence within them. Just pure animalistic hunger.

"Is it Xanathar!?" Ed cried out, about to throw the creature away but wanting to be prepared for retaliation.

Olly took a second to examine the creature before her. Round and definitely undead, a rotting corpse of a fallen Beholder was gnawing savagely at Ed's shield with reckless abandonment. A Beholder, with all of it's intelligence was dangerous enough, but this thing was not even remotely there mind wise. Xanathar must have made a zombie of his competitor before he took over the underground gang.

"It's a Beholder but it's not Xanathar!" Olly said striking her swords against the ground to get the creature's attention. The Beholder looked up, it's droopy eyes all now looking her way.

"I don't think this thing is all there" Olly said as it began hovering up and away from Ed, ready to attack her "It's just going to keep attacking us."

"Distract it! I'll get ready to hit it with the Dawnstar!" Ed said moving for his belt.

"No! We don't know what kind of damage that might do in this room!" Olly said "I'm going to try and hit it's main eye!"

Ed nodded and got ready for her signal as the zombie Beholder gnashed it's teeth in a snarl before taking off towards Olly. She flashed her flaming sword in the air just quick enough for the Beholder to be distracted as she leaped forward with Fax's icy blade. The Beholder moved back though just before the tip of her blade hit it's eyeball, her balance caught off guard as she rolled to the side to avoid her own flaming blade to come down on herself.

Ed dashed forward with his shield in front of him, his longsword about to come down on the creature when it whipped around and came for him, the shield once again saving Ed as he bashed it away, it's levitating form bouncing off the wall.

"Forget it!" Olly shouted now knocking an arrow "I'm hitting it at a distance, keep knocking it back!"

"Got it!" Ed yelled ready to knock it away again, his gauntlets lighting up as he braced himself for impact.

Olly made an incantation on her arrow, the tip of the blade glowing white hot now as she set up her shot, the Beholder shaking itself back to attack the two.

"Ed now!" Olly yelled as it charged forward, it's teeth wide and open as Ed knocked it back with a swing of his shield, Olly releasing the arrow with her Hunter's Mark spell so that every eyeball on the zombie Beholder was too focused on Ed to see the arrow about to pierce it's main eye.

The arrow hit it's mark, the zombie Beholder wailing out as it was pinned to the cavern wall. Ed came back beside Olly as they watched it struggle against the wall, it's bloodshot eyes half looking at the pair and the other looking at the blazing hot arrow that punctured their main eye.

"That won't hold it long" Olly said looking around quickly at the now bright green room "Let's find the exit before this thing regrows a brain."

"Just a minute" Ed said closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He meditated enough for his divine sense to feel out a section of wall that he was drawn to, the eyeballs cascading around the cavern wall in a cluster. "Here" he said pointing to the wall "I don't know where it is, but it's somewhere around this part."

"That's enough for me" Olly said pulling out her short swords and crossing them in front of her, both blades glowing white hot as Olly put all her power into the enchanted short swords "You better shield yourself" she said in a grunt as her whole body glowed a bright white.

Ed barely had time to hold up his shield before Olly let out a powerful yell as she uncrossed her swords in a forward motion, the power built up in the blades being released against the wall as it collapsed in a rubble of green eyed stones.

"By all the light of Pelor" Ed breathed out "I didn't know you could do that."

"Only for a little bit" Olly said, her body beginning to dim as light turned to a dim shimmer "Can you mend this wall back up so our friend doesn't follow?"

"Can do" Ed said doing a quick Mending spell to the wall just secure enough that they could continue without the zombie Beholder catching back up to them. He liked knowing that even though this was unknown territory for both of them, Olly was secure in exactly what she needed to do, her body relentlessly moving through the carved out tunnel that was more structured the further they went. Xanathar had made this underground lair truly his home, his visage found carved into many pillars and statues as they continued further.

Olly was trying to feel out ahead of them, her senses heightened to try and locate Nole if he was locked up somewhere so deep blow the city. She could feel the silverfish and underground critters in the walls of the tunnel, she could hear the dripping of water and the rush of sewage that was no doubt mazed in through Xanathar's lair. She felt many bodies somewhere in the lair, and a sinister force finding delight in the rage and revel that no doubt was about to meet them.

"This way!" Olly said moving towards the sense of many people, her feet finding the pathway through the labyrinth Xanathar had put up to capture any intruders. She quickened her pace as they both began hearing shouting and goading of something happening, the terrifying roar of a fight as the onlookers cheered on. Ed watched Olly stiffen and then go into a full out run as they heard the sounds, her eyes focused on a large wooden door where the cheering was heard.

"Olly hold on!" Ed began but she was already away from him, her body running up to the door before giving it a large hard kick, the door nearly busted off the hinges as she walked into the room.

Ed almost collided with her as he took in the make-shift fighting arena they had burst into. A hollowed out hole in the ground surrounded by stone made the gladiatorial fighting arena, a scared gnome plastered against the wall as two manticores eyed him greedily. Above the arena sat Xanathar's guild, a gang of goblins, hobgoblins, bugbears, and everything in between that owed allegiance to the Beholder who was looking at the couple with squinted eyeballs. Olly noticed that two dwarves with scars covering both their faces equally sat side by side the Beholder, obviously his personal muscle during these events. Olly took in the flabbergasted looks on the guild, and knew it was only mere seconds before they were attacked.

"That's Dax" Ed pointed to the gnome who was too preoccupied with the manticores to notice them. He stood about three feet from the ground, with dusty brown hair and wide green eyes and gaping mouth at the approaching creatures.

"You be crowd control!" Olly shouted as she stared down Xanathar from across the room, her arm swinging her bow into her hands "I'll handle the Beholder and the alchemist!"

Ed hit his gauntlets together, the bright light of the golden suns illuminating his body with divine power from the sun itself as he smiled at his foes that were now rushing to get their wits together. Olly darted towards the arena, her body flipping in the air as it landed soundly on the dirt floor, the manticores still focused on their easy meal.

Above, Ed went to work. He took out three goblins that ran towards him, his fists making contact with blazing light against their bodies. He tackled a rather large hobgoblin, pushing him into a small crowd of gang members, their bodies toppling like dominoes.

Olly only saw out of the corner of her eye the good job her partner was doing above as she knocked a bow, another Hunter's Mark spell making the tip of the arrow burn bright. Letting go, she didn't even bother trying to hit the manticore's, instead hitting just above the gnome Dax's head, the burning arrowhead bursting like a firework against the stone, getting the attention of the creatures as they whipped around to face her.

"That's right come to momma" Olly grinned as she made the enchanted blade of Fax glow with a icy sheen. Olly made note that these manticores weren't capable of flight, charred stubs where their leathery wings should be that angered Olly even further. The manticores roared, their grisly lion faces twisting into a toothy smile as they advanced on Olly, the alchemist Dax looking at the strange girl with wide horrified eyes.

"Alright Olly" she thought to herself as she hyped herself up for the fight "Remember your training, just like Father said."

The manticores decided to charge her both at the same time, their heads colliding giving Olly enough time to whip herself upwards, her feet making contact with one of the beast's backs as she nimbly flipped on the other side of them, the blade of her sword hitting one across the face. Fax's icy enchantment made a solid ice trap on the manticore's head, blinding it perfectly as it moved backwards trying to get the ice off it's face. The second manticore tried to roar in a intimidation display that Olly returned in her own way as she unsheathed Findex. Olly squared herself up as she crossed her swords to hit the second manticore with a power blast from both blades. The manticore quickly whipped it's tail around her, it's spikes hitting her backside with a slicing pain that shot up her body. Olly rolled away as she uncrossed her blades, using evasive action as she guarded the gnome who was still paralyzed with fright.

"Dax right?" Olly nearly snarled at him as a fireball came at them from the manticore, the gnome giving her a shaky head nod.

"Let's get you out of here" Olly said grabbing him by the collar and hurling the gnome like he was a paper weight over the stone wall into the seating above. Dax gave a howl as he landed hard on the arena steps while Ed was still making good work of the crowd, unconscious bodies falling every now and then into the arena. The second manticore was nearly about to pounce on Olly when she darted out of the way, the creature slamming itself into the wall. She didn't want to hurt the manticores, but they were made for chaos and evil, and her father's training dictated she had to put them down.

Using Findex, Olly sliced the second manticore's head off, it's body slumping against the wall as it's red blood pooled around her feet. The first manticore was still waving it's head around in fury trying to get the ice block from it's face. As it flailed, Olly came up to it quietly and replicated what she had done to it's cell mate, it's head flying off as icy chunks hit the sand floor of the fighting pit.

She was stained with sand, dirt, and blood as she turned and looked up at the Beholder who had watched the fighting with great amusement, even at the expense of his guild that was still grappling with the Cleric.

"Xanathar the Beholder" Olly said raising Findex as it's flames kissed the air in front of her "I've come for the gnome and lady Juliette Margaster. You have sixty seconds to get her out here before I come up there and do the same to you as I did to your pets."

Xanathar in all his outer worldly aura grinned, his sharp teeth too many for Olly to count as she continued to watch him carefully.

"Well, it has been a while since I was called out so rudely" the Beholder drawled out almost bored "What makes you think you will even make it up here female?"

"I am Allana Duer" Olly growled with her teeth bare "And I will make it up there."

One of Xanathar's dwarf guards shuffled and looked over at it's master quickly at Olly's name, but quickly went back to his stoic stance after a moment for fear of what the Beholder might do if there was any question to his leadership.

"A Duer?" Xanathar scowled "Is that supposed to frighten me girl? I've taken on leagues of adventurer's even more skilled than your so called monster hunting family. I am the Xanathar, the Beholder of the Underworld! I won't be intimidated by a small sword wielding celestial-" but the gang leader was cut off as Olly signaled to Ed, her eyes blazing with light as her faint breath of wings sprouted enough to lift her from the air, rocketing her right on the platform in front of the Beholder, Ed jumping up and joining her side.

The dwarf body guards were alert then, their mighty arms grabbing battle axes and swords immediately as Xanathar screeched at them to get the couple, the Beholder going towards the back of the viewing platform. Olly blocked a swing from one dwarf, her war cry loud as she swung her swords at her foe, Ed knocking the other guard back with his shield, the sound of wood hitting steel echoing around the arena. Olly kicked the dwarf in the abdomen, her body twisting around as she sheathed her swords. It would be easier to handle the tank of a dwarf if she was faster than him, her hands gripping the staff of the axe as the guard tried to bring it down on top of her head.

Using momentum, Olly pulled the staff of the axe towards her, bending her body so that the dwarf had no choice but to roll forward. She pivoted her legs to brace against his body and hurled him over the side of the viewing platform, his body hitting the sanded floor with a hard thud. Ed grabbed his longsword and sliced at the dwarf, his blade hitting the guard's knuckles as he yelled out, dropping the weapon as the greatsword snapped like a twig. Taking his chance, Ed used his shield to hit the dwarf upside the head, a decent blow that knocked out the guard cold. Olly spotted where the guild master had snuck off to, his round scaled body hovering over a large fishbowl where a rather pathetic looking fish stared out from the glass.

"Ed" Olly nodded toward the fishbowl "Time to play keep away."

Ed smiled and put his longsword away for mobility, his shield up and ready as Olly raced forward, her legs skidding down across the wood so that she slid right under the Beholder, her hands trying to snatch the fishbowl from Xanathar. The Beholder quickly grabbed his beloved pet, his huge gaping mouth snapping at Olly's body beneath him. Olly grimaced as she backed away from the huge mouth of teeth, her feet desperately kicking at the enemy.

"Not today!" she heard Ed cry above her as his shield came swinging at the Xanathar, the Beholder moving out of the way expertly as Ed's shield hit the stone wall behind Olly.

"He can see twelve different ways we gotta be quicker than that!" Olly said grabbing Ed's arm to stand up. Xanathar had moved to the opposite side of the platform, his giant eye looking down at the arena while the rest of his alien eyestocks looked at the couple.

"Don't just stand there you idiots!" Xanathar bellowed "Get back up and get these intruders! Or it's all your heads! Rip them to shreds!"

"Olly what are we gunna do?" Ed said breathing hard, the battle starting to wear on the Cleric "We can't take all of them and Xanathar, not in this condition." Olly knew he was right, she could feel her power slowly starting to slip and she would need to rest soon if she stood a chance against the legendary Beholder.

"Give me a minute" Olly said looking around quickly trying to come up with something. She knew they were running out of time, the gang members below collecting themselves as they started heading for the platform, Xanathar still screaming orders at them to move quicker. Findex and Fax were glowing dimly, their power almost spent as it tied into her own. She could probably get two or three swings in before the enchantment gave up and she was left with two basic short swords. Her bow was still ready though, but from this distance Xanathar was sure to catch whatever she aimed his way...

Stepping forward, Olly reached for her bow around her when she heard a creak of boards beneath her, her gaze shooting down to see the floorboard of the platform was loosened, it's long stretch of wood going right under the Beholder.

"Ed, get ready" Olly grinned.

"Get ready for what?" Ed cried out as Olly's foot slammed as hard as it could into the floorboard, the wood see-sawing right up as the end of the plank hit the bottom of the fishbowl hard, knocking it clean out of Xanathar's grip. Ed reached out with both hands as the screams of Xanathar roared out, all twelve of it's eyes watching as it's pet's bowl landed directly in the human's arms.

"SIGLAR NOOOO!" the Beholder screamed, his desperation now very apparent with his pet in the arms of the enemy.

Ed wobbled as he tried to keep the fishbowl in his grip, Siglar with it's comically big eyes bouncing against the glass with a glup.

Olly came up quickly beside Ed who had his shield out ready in front of them both, the fishbowl tucked under his other arm. Olly snatched the broken greatsword the dwarf guard had used and pointed it out like a pike at the Beholder, her other hand making a great burning ball of light above the fishbowl.

Xanathar was now in complete panic, his eye stocks waving around the room as he snarled at the couple "Don't you dare hurt Siglar or I'll- I'll make sure you never leave this place until the name Duer is lost!"

Olly smiled as the Beholder desperately tried to hurl insults and threats at the Ranger, but she knew she had the cat by the tail.

"Where is Lady Margaster!?" Olly demanded "Hand her over now!"

"Fine!" the Beholder yelled as he ordered two of his members to get Juliette.

Olly held steady, facing off with the Beholder's twelve eyeballs glued on her. She knew he could easily try and manipulate her mind, but his pet would be fried the minute she felt a tingly sensation in her head.

A gasp sounded out as Juliette was brought forward, her tear stained face relieved when she spotted Olly and Ed on the platform with the Xanathar. The two hobgoblins that retrieved her let her slip to the floor where Juliette nearly crawled towards Ed, hiding close behind his shield as he whispered reassurance to the girl.

"There you have her and the gnome!" Xanathar cried out "Now give him to me!"

"Not so fast" Olly said growing now dead serious "I want a few things answered Beholder."

"What?!" Xanathar said surprised at the audacity of this tiny Ranger "What now!?"

"First" Olly began "I want to know where my brother is. He was working for you under the orders of the High Mage of Silverymoon, I want to know what happened to him. He was the head of the Empty Eyes under your orders."

"That traitor" Xanathar snarled at her "I know who you speak of! He's the whole reason this mess happened! Trying to sneak around my lair, as if I don't know every nook and cranny of these tunnels. I caught him looking through my artifacts with his cohorts and dismantled them for their trespassing. Then when I found out he had helped my alchemist steal a spellbook from my library, I decided to punish all involved."

"So he's dead?" Olly said trying to hide the horror in her voice.

"Worse" Xanathar grinned "His companions might have suffered a quick death, but when I found out that the alchemist had sold a Yuan-Ti couple a transformation spell from the book they had stolen, I decided to sweeten the deal and offer your brother as a sacrifice to get my property back."

Olly felt the blood drain from her face as she heard the information, her hands giving away a slight shake as she took in the news.

"Now" Xanathar said "Give me my pet!"

"Get the gnome up here first!" Olly shouted back, her demands starting to lose their hardness. Suddenly Dax was hurled up on the platform to join them as well, his body nearly bouncing across the wood as he too crawled behind Ed's shield.

"My love!" Juliette cried out grabbing him and plastering kisses on his dirty face.

"There will be time for that later!" Ed hissed "We gotta get out of here first!"

"Give me a moment" Dax said, his hands digging into his pocket and bringing out a sack filled with what looked like sand "I was saving this for when I rescued Juliette, but it will work out nicely now." Juliette swooned at his words as Olly shook her head, her eyes rolling at their exchange.

"Just do it!" Ed hissed as he put down the fishbowl and Siglar safely on the platform.

Dax didn't wait another second as he crammed his fist into the sack, a handful of sand in his palm as he threw it down on the wooden platform. Olly felt the air around her suddenly suck inwards as a plum of smoke and the sound of Xanathar's screams echoed out. Suddenly the air around them grew quite cold, the smoke wrapping around them and then fading away to reveal the four of them were now above ground, in a ramshackled hut that no doubt belonged to the alchemist.

"Teleportation Dust" Olly coughed out as the spell around them faded "That's a useful tool."

Giving a sigh of relief, Ed dropped down to one knee to rest, his body heaving with each breath now that the fight was over it.

"Oh my love!" Juliette cried out "You were so brave! You aren't hurt are you?"

"I'm fine my flower" Dax said sweetly as the couple cooed at one another for a moment. Ed looked up after a moment to find Olly was standing as still as a statue, staring up at the coming dawn that was nearly peaking over the crest of the horizon through the broken window.

"Olly?" Ed asked as he got up and stood beside her "What are you thinking?"

Olly's gaze was focused and still hard as steel as she turned to look at the gnome and noble lady wrapped up in each other's arms, words of love being exchanged between the two.

Before Ed could stop her though, Olly had come up to Dax and grabbed him away from Juliette, a high squeak erupting from him as she pinned him against the ground.

"Olly!" Ed cried out but she ignored the Cleric's gentle approach. Juliette remained silent, shocked by the attitude Olly had suddenly sparked against her usual calm demeanor.

"You have some answering to do" Olly gritted out "I need to know everything. How you got Nole involved with this mess and where the Yuan-Ti are. And be quick because I'm not feeling mercy as much as I was before I had to go through Xanathar's lair."

"I'll tell you everything!" Dax said "The Yuan-Ti are in The City of the Dead! I can show you!"

"Fine, now tell me how this all happened. And try not to leave anything out" Olly said letting go of Dax and stepping away, her point clearly made as the gnome shuffled to his feet.

"Juliette, I'm so very sorry that you have to see me like this" Dax got out to his love, his eyes cast down in embarrassment "I knew that Lord Margaster would never allow me to marry Juliette. I was desperate to find a way to sneak her away out of the mansion, so that we could run away together" he said smiling at her, Juliette nearly in tears at her love's confession "I had to get money, and a reliable transformation spell that would last longer than a few days so that way we could lay low if the city guards got involved. But I got in too deep with Xanathar's Guild, my debt kept increasing and the work it was having me do was getting too risky. I wanted out."

"And how does Nole factor into all this?" Olly said growing impatient.

"Well, Xanathar must have guessed I was going to try and run away from him, so he assigned Nole to be my "guard", but that's just the Beholder's way of keeping tabs on his lackies" Dax huffed "But Nole turned out to be a spy, just for the wrong group. He and I became quick friends, he told me he was undercover on assignment from the Lord's Alliance. The Alliance wanted to know what the Beholder was up to, because a quiet Beholder as you know is a deadly one."

"Obviously" Ed said under his breath as Olly continued to listen to the gnome. It made sense Nole would make friends with Dax, the alchemist passionate but unable to defend himself or even his love. Nole would have found them enjoyable, and was quick to be loyal with those he considered friends. He would have kept Dax's secret even if it cost him his life, which Olly was dreading would be the case if they didn't hurry.

"Xanathar found out you had stolen one of his spellbooks and sold a spell to the Yuan-Ti cult, and what, Nole defended you?" Olly pieced together.

"He did" Dax said dropping his head once again "He took the blame, and when Xanathar found out he was a spy for the Lord's Alliance, he punished us. He killed Nole's friends, hanging their masks in his halls for decoration. Then he gave your brother to the Yuan-Ti, he told them that if they sacrificed a Aasimar, that they would achieve the ultimate transformation they desired."

Olly felt like throwing the gnome across the shack, her anger raging as her eyes nearly burnt through the floor. She knew violence against the small alchemist would be futile, wanting to save that energy and anger for the cult she now had to face.

"Hey sorry" Ed said butting in "But I'm a bit confused. What the hell is the Yuan-Ti?"

"Snake people" Dax said "They are a cult that worship snake gods. They make human sacrifices to try and achieve the ultimate transformation into a form of their god. They will use Nole as a sacrifice for their leader Enki, who is almost at his goal."

"And you are going to take us there right now" Olly said as she grabbed for him but Ed's hand quickly caught hers.

"No Olly" he said gently beside her, his jade green eyes meeting her nearly burning white ones.

"I'm getting my brother back" Olly hissed at him.

"Yes but not right now" Ed said "Olly just look at you, look at me. We aren't in any position to go and start fighting a whole cult when we are in the shape we're in. You aren't going to help your brother by being exhausted and getting caught."

Against her wishes, Olly heard his words sinking into her skin, her heartbeat slowing as she understood his logic, although she was not the least bit happy about it.

"We don't know how much time we have though" Olly said, the desperation peaking in her voice.

"They won't sacrifice him until the next full moon" Dax interjected then, his body piping in between them "That's in two days. You have some time."

"Fine" Olly said quietly "We rest and then at twilight we go."

Ed nodded, worried about his friend as he could see the wear and tear in her body, her small frame finally giving in as she went from a steady walk to a hobble. Dax offered his shack to them, but Ed declined for both of them, not wanting to spend time resting as he heard Juliette and Dax's bouts of loving confession for each other. As the two of them walked along the streets of Field Ward where Dax's shack was located, Ed made sure he stood even beside Olly, in case her body weakened enough that he needed to catch her. But the Ranger stood firm, even though her body screamed for her to stop.

It was only when the Boar's Smile Inn came into their view did Olly stumble, Ed's arms there to catch her as he held her close to him.

"Here let me carry you" Ed said gently into her ear, no protest coming from Olly as he scooped her in his arms to carry her through the threshold of the Inn. Thankfully, most patrons were still asleep this early in the morning, Ed's entrance barely noticed except by the innkeeper at the bar. Ed gave him a reassuring nod before heading up the stairs, Olly's face tucked into his chest as he felt her start to sob into his vestments.

"That's okay" he thought to himself trying not to bring attention to it "Let her cry, better than her beating the alchemist into dust..."

And cry he let her. Olly felt the hot tears hit her cheeks, but she couldn't help it. She knew if her father were here he would scold her for the quiet outburst she was having, telling her that she needed to be strong if she was going to survive this.

"If Atticus was here..."she began to think but quickly shut it down "He's not. And he will never be here. You are on your own."

But as Ed's warm arms wrapped around her and placed her gently on the bed inside their room, she couldn't help but feel those thoughts start to drift as well.

"You aren't alone" Olly said as her mind began getting fuzzy from sleep and exhaustion, sleep about to take her in seconds "Not anymore..."