As Lidia traced her way through the tunnels, finding each marker that she'd noted, she briefly wondered about the circumstances that had led to her running alone through the city's dark, dank bowels.
In some ways, this was inevitable. Nothing was ever as simple as just smiting the evildoer and going home. Deeds were never divorced from their circumstances - what was done, whom it was done to, how it happened, and what the consequences might be. Finding the right way forward was one part considering all of this, and another part balancing contemplation with action. It was a difficult dance that took a lifetime to master. But sometimes, the hardest part was remembering to start the pattern of steps.
She saw a dim light appear around a corner. She turned and ran after it.
She returned to the long tunnel where the group had started, with the entrance to the Coronet open. The portal had reappeared in a ring of blue light, opening again to the prison cell. Hendak was nowhere in sight.
The opening began to steadily shrink as she approached. She called up one last burst of energy, sprinting forward.
When she had closed the distance to ten feet away, it stopped contracting, perhaps acknowledging her will. She leapt through the remaining hole with little trouble, and it snapped closed behind her.
The prison was completely empty, and the wooden door was wide open, its lock destroyed and its wood splintered. She rushed through, taking a left down the hallway to the stadium.
The diversion had worked even better than she'd hoped. A thick, dark grey smoke filled the entire balcony, mingled with a great commotion below. Most of the spectators were gone except for a few stragglers.
One of them, a nobleman in a royal blue robe, caught her eye as she went forward. "Come no closer! The beast is free and so are the slaves!" he said. He started coughing and tripped over the edge of his robe.
She caught his arm and helped him up, and he stumbled on his way, keeping his head down.
She went to the balcony and looked down towards the source of the noise. The smoke lingered over the gladiator pits, leaving them clear.
The bear and the dwarf were still in the pit. The bear had thrown off its chain; the binding lay idly at the bottom, next to a limp body. The dwarf was uninjured, and for the moment he and the bear seemed to be disregarding each other, each paying much more attention to what was just outside the ring. Three guards surrounded them, but seemed hesitant to come closer. Two more had aimed their longbows towards the rafters, scanning above them for a clear shot at Yoshimo.
Lidia glanced across the balcony and spotted where the smoke rose. She ran towards the spot, and immediately found the device that Yoshimo had planted in her absence. As she approached it, she blinked to clear her eyes from the soot.
A small, round iron globe had rolled into a corner. Smoke was spurting from a hole in the top. She picked it up, aiming the smoke away from her, and returned to the balcony.
"Can we go whack something now?" the longsword said. The voice drew out the last word as though it were impatient.
The guards with the longbows heard the noise and raised their bows in her direction.
She did the first thing she could think of. She aimed the globe of smoke and threw.
She ducked as soon as it left her hand. Two arrows flew above her head and bounced off the stone walls. One remained embedded in the tapestry.
The smoke began rising from below, spreading into a cloud near the pit.
She ran, bounding across the balcony and down the stairs, returning to where the hallway split into three. At the intersection was Hendak. One guard lay at his feet. A second had drawn his sword and was fighting with one arm, while he held the other stiffly. Hendak himself was fighting in the same sandals and tunic he'd worn while escaping. He had hardly a scratch.
The other guard glanced towards the new arrival on the scene, probably without even thinking. It was the last mistake of his life.
Hendak's dagger plunged into his throat.
Hendak watched the guard for a moment as he slumped towards the ground, then wiped the dagger on a blood-stained rag. "You have come after all!"
"There's still a slave in the pit!" Lidia said.
"That way." He pointed to the middle corridor, and they took off, running down a narrow hallway to a nondescript wooden door marked "EMPLOYEES ONLY." It wasn't locked.
They found themselves on the stadium floor, not far from one of the fighting rings. A fine layer of sawdust coated the floor, and though it was still clean, one could still detect a faint scent of old blood, especially close to the pits. The cloud of smoke had risen and spread, billowing upwards and over their heads, and the stream was fading as it was nearly spent.
The more pressing matter, however, were the two guards directly in front of them. These two, wearing mail and helmets, had left their longbows behind.
"You'll pay for this, Hendak!" one of them said, drawing her sword. "Go back to your cell, and maybe you live."
"Is Lehtinan paying you enough to fight for him?" Lidia said, holding her sword into a guard.
She scowled. "Meddler."
She charged Lidia, and the other guard drew his sword and went after Hendak.
The guard swung first in a crosswise cut.
Lidia brought down her own sword on top of hers, locking it in place and driving it towards the ground. She drove her hilt upwards against the guard's jaw, rattling her helmet and causing her to stumble backwards.
Before she could recover, Lidia cut the guard on her thigh. She stumbled down, crying out and letting go of her sword.
Lidia picked both swords up, and held them towards her throat. "How about now?"
"Go to hell."
Lidia drove the pommel of her sword against the guard's helmet. She fell to the ground, helmet rattling, still conscious but in much less shape to move than before.
Hendak threw down the guard that had been confronting him, and he landed with a sickening crunch. He didn't get up again.
Meanwhile, the bear had now clambered up the pit, fitting in the gap between the stairs and using the spikes to help its way up. It ambled towards the remaining three guards with a rumbling growl.
One of the guards stepped back with a cry of fright, while the other two held out their halberds.
The dwarf followed the bear up with a wide grin on his face. "Me and this beast here would just like to leave, methinks."
The bear reared on its hind legs and roared.
The guards glanced about like frightened rabbits, first to the bear and the dwarf, then back to Lidia and Hendak.
"The door's that way," Lidia said, pointing in its direction.
The guards still didn't move.
"If you drop your weapons - all of them - and leave, I promise we won't tell."
Evidently, these particular guards were not paid enough. They complied, not so much as looking back as they ran out the door.
Jaheira shifted from the bear's form back into hers, then wiped her hands upon the sawdust. "It is about time you came. Both of us are all right, thankfully."
"I couldn't have done this without you," Lidia said, and Jaheira smiled. "Who's in the pit over there?"
"The unfortunate beastmaster. They called him in after several minutes passed without the sight of blood. He had his fair share spilled when he brought out the charged prod, though he will live to tell of it."
The dwarf was still staring at them with a combination of awe and befuddlement. "Well, I've heard tell of shapechangers and such, but I'd never thought to see one up close. I'd been on old Snakeface's bad side for killing off the beastmaster's pet leopard." He bowed to Jaheira. "You've saved my life, miss."
A decisive thump came from the wooden floor above their heads, and Yoshimo appeared at the balcony, carrying his bow. He had a look on his face that told how pleased he was with himself. "A jumpy crowd, if I've ever seen one. Between the beastmaster's fall and the smoke, everything seemed to work nicely."
"I was hoping for just a bit of confusion, but clearing out the place works, too," Lidia said. "The others are still helping the prisoners escape. The rest of you may want to lay low until -"
She noticed that Hendak had turned and headed for the exit. She followed him, with everyone else close behind.
Lidia called out to him: "Wait!"
He stopped and gave her a fell smile. "I'm set to the task of killing that fiend, Lehtinan. Assist me if you wish."
She quickly moved between him and the door. "What would you gain from killing him?"
"If he lives, he will be free to continue this sick and twisted enterprise. And if he dies, I intend to take over the inn to ensure that no one else uses it like this."
Perhaps someone wiser would have stood aside. Possibly nothing would change if she did. Lehtinan certainly had it coming. And yet this was still paying evil for evil. She'd hoped to avoid what happened at the Harper Hall, too, but that was seeming less and less likely.
"He deserves to die," she said. "But if you go through with this plan, you won't be able to keep this place for long. What'll happen when the city finds out?"
"No 'civilized' creature could possibly understand what I have suffered!" Hendak shouted. "Those nobles in the balcony leered at my spilled blood and my toil and you, knight, are of the same kind as they. Whatever game you wish to see played, you have never known honor not derived from station, nor the pain of being chained like an animal."
She had to calm the words on their way up. "You've suffered more than I can know. But you can't do this, Hendak."
"You cannot stop me."
"I will if I must."
Hendak scowled and reached for the dagger on his belt.
Lidia stepped back, but chose not to raise her sword yet, keeping an eye on his hand.
As soon as Hendak's fingers closed around the hilt, he paused. A shadow lifted over his face.
Finally he said, "You have an idea, friend?"
"I do. Let's go."