So! Niira and co. are headed into Hellena. What joys await in the old prison? Well...

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Even the interior of Hellena was exactly like her vision. It was lit more by the rivers of magma down below than what little sunlight came in through the windows and holes where the outer wall had fallen in. And the heat was horrendous. Niira lay her ears back irritably.

"We should split up," Marach said. "No sense in giving the Fireborn a chance to kill us all at once."

"Thank you for being so optimistic," Niira muttered dully.

In the end, it was decided that Meru and Niira would head east, and Marach, Lavitz, and Kitty would go west. That way, each group had at least one dragoon, and Kitty could assist the one non-dragoon if needed. They had no idea if theey would ever meet again in the massive building. But they said nothing in the way of goodbyes. They simply turned away and started walking.

Meru was, surprisingly, silent during their trek. The oppressiveness of the former prison seemed geared exactly for causing silence. They walked along one of the old stone roads, guided only by the light of the lava.

Time was impossible to keep track of in Hellena. Perhaps thy had only been in there for a few hours, or maybe even days by now. Niira, in any case, was hopelessly lost. How many turns had they made now? Had they gone up or down or where they still on the same level?

They stopped to rest for the fourth--or was it fifth now?--time since entering Hellena. Niira was beginning to doubt her vision. Surely Serpent Mother wouldn't direct her here and then just leave her to get lost and die. She had to have remembered the vision incorrectly.

"Hey, we have to run into something sooner or later." Meru said again.

"We're lost, Meru," Niira said shortly. "We'd be lucky to ever find the front gate again." That ended the conversation, as brief as it had been to begin with.

Lavitz and Marach were having similar luck. Lavitz remembered absolutely nothing about the confusing layout of the prison, although he was quick to point out that at the time, there had been lights throughout the building, but even still, he hadn't been in any condition to be memorizing where he was.

At least they had Kitty to lean against when they rested. The giant gryff seemed to enjoy having someone sitting next to him, often closing his eyes contentedly or even giving a soft whistling purr. But Marach preferred to sit by himself on the rocks, not liking to get too comfortable. It was because of this that he was the first to hear the noises.

"Get up, human," he growled in a low voice.

"What?"

"There's something beyond the turn ahead."

Silently, they crept along the path, following a curve in the wall until they were looking out across a large open chamber. The rivers of lava were clearly visible from their vantage point. Lavitz hadn't realized they had travel so far down into Hellena.

Marach was staring fixedly elsewhere, though. There was a rocky outcropping above the lava. And something occupied that outcrop.

It was impossible to tell how many of the shadowy creatures there were. Lavitz could make out the heads, and sometimes an arm, even what looked like tails, but the creatures seemed to be merged into one dark smokey mass, making an exact count, at best, extremely difficult. There had to be hundreds of them at the very least. They swept across the stony floor, almost appearing to float, as they talked amongst themselves in hushed voices.

Marach was growling softly.

"So those are Fireborn?"

"Yes." The guardsman's ears turned back. "There are so many of them..." It was perhaps the only time Lavitz could remember ever hearing fear in Bead Pouncer's voice.

Backing away form the edge of the path so they wouldn't be seen, they followed it as it took a downward slope. Lavitz hoped they could get a closer look, perhaps find something to help him identify where the Fireborn were, so they could find Niira and Meru and bring them back to the room. But the path turned away from the Fireborns' meeting grounds. Eventually, they emerged into another chamber, smaller than the last one, and lit not by molten rock but a single vial hung from the ceiling. It was filled with a liquid that gave off a soft, weak silver glow.

"Starfire," Marach muttered. "It's a substance our magicians make often back home."

Kitty hooted softly, sounding intrigued by the light. Lavitz reached up to lay his hand on the beasts neck, to prevent him from investigating the vial. But Kitty wasn't there. Worried, Lavitz looked around him. Kitty was nowhere to be seen. Which meant he had gone back up the path. Lavitz cursed softly to himself. "That beast ran off without us," he said to Marach.

"So go find him."

The knight tapped the butt end of his spear against the floor a couple times, by way of expressing frustration with the hyaeniform's surly attitude. "Fine."

Then Marach jumped. "Run!" he shouted.

Before lavitz could do so, he felt something sharp, and definitely meant for hurting someone, press against his armorless thigh. Marach must have been having the same experience, for he stood stock-still.

"Brave fools," a silky voice whispered in Lavitz's ear.

Didn't even hear her coming...damn it.

"You had better pray to whatever gods you follow for a rescue, or else you may find yourselves fodder for the wizards. They have no eaten in such a long time." The unseen female spoke the words seductively, with a slight hiss to her words that indicated an inhuman mouth was saying those words.

Lavitz knew he was shaking. He swallowed once. He and Marach had little chance of getting away from their captor. He had a sinking feeling she was one of the Fireborn, and there was no doubt her companions would come to aid her if she called for them. And yet the chances of Niira and Meru suddenly finding them in the huge building, and soon, were very slim indeed.

He wasn't one to die without a fight.

In a swift motion, he lifted up his spear and jerked its blunt end backwards.