Despite still having her hands tied, Iltha had already crawled halfway out of Firkraag's lair by the time Lidia found her. Yoshimo and Aerie had managed to stop her. Aerie gently held her in place while the other was now cutting through the girl's bonds.

Lidia knelt next to Iltha, but carefully-sudden movement was now bringing fresh aches from the back of her head. "Are you all right?"

The girl nodded, but her hands and feet were shaking. As soon as Yoshimo finished, she tried to spring up from where she was seated.

"Whoa, slow down," Lidia said, catching her on her way up. "Let me see your hands."

She had Iltha open and close her small hands into fists and then grip hers, to prove that her circulation had been restored. This seemed to calm the girl a bit, though she cast a glance down the dark tunnel.

"We have to go," Iltha said. "He'll come for us, he'll try to hurt us."

"No, he won't," Yoshimo said, pulling a small leather pouch from his pocket. "He'd need this, first. Aerie!"

The elf looked up.

"Catch!"

He carelessly tossed it to her, and she caught it in her hands. With her long, thin fingers, she pried it open.

"His spell components," Aerie said with a laugh. "Th-thank you, Yoshimo. I think I can use some of these."

"No trouble at all," he said. "Take it as a lesson, too. Mages always forget that they often rely on trifles and a few unbroken moments to become as gods among men."

The tunnel door opened in front of them, then flickered closed as they crossed. The day was only beginning to show its age; the bright light dazzled them all. For several minutes, Iltha practically covered her eyes with her hand as she walked, trying to see by peeking through her fingers.

They wove their way to where the others had already broken camp. All that was left was for everyone to shoulder their packs and go-and to find the direction by which they had arrived.

For Jaheira had not marked their trail as she usually did, citing a fear of being followed. She didn't speak of what she suspected, but Lidia got the feeling that it had been neither the Order nor any of Firkraag's people. As soon as they'd left Athkatla, her friend had a sense of constant vigilance, of always expecting an attack that, so far, had never come. When pressed, Jaheira would only say, "We have had many people seek our deaths so far," and refused to elaborate.

Despite the lack of clear guidance, however, the group didn't have to worry about becoming lost. Before long, the pixie returned, hovering over the shoulder of anyone in front and lingering ahead, guiding the group back along a different way than they came; they took a smoother and easier path that cut directly southeast, and the trees thinned as they went further.

The Company continued on their way, weary but determined to see Iltha home. The girl herself was able to keep pace with them, too. She was much more stubborn than she looked: even after a broken night of rest, a terrible fright, and little to eat, she insisted that she was all right. Perhaps she was eager to show as much bravery as the heroes in her stories, Lidia later wondered.

But as they found the trail out of the woods, and her heart steadied its pace, the intense pain from Lidia's burn grew again, radiating from the back of her head, pounding towards the front and making it nearly impossible to think straight. She wanted more than anything to stop, but she plodded onwards with a dim notion that they would surely be caught if they did. After some time, she had to take a moment to collect herself in order to stay on her feet.

She leaned against the bole of a young oak tree. The group had already moved ahead. Someone-she wasn't sure who-called to her.

"I'm fine." Her voice came out a lot fainter than she'd intended.

The rest of the group immediately checked their advance.

Jaheira rushed backwards to Lidia, then took her by her shoulders and gently seated her on the ground. "Stay still."

"We can't-"

"You need healing. Do not argue."

As Jaheira's spell worked over the burn on the back of her head, Lidia felt an itch, then as though a crawling thing was growing and splaying itself over the wound until the pain disappeared.

When all was done, the only remaining sign of the burn was a large bald patch. She probed the site with her hand, tracing where it was still rimmed with shorn stubble. A creeping exhaustion stole into her limbs; the spell had condensed weeks of rest and repair into a few seconds.

Jaheira handed her a small piece of hard cheese still tightly wrapped in linen. She ate it, then rose to her feet, despite her friend's protests.

"I can still walk," Lidia said. "We'll try to make Garren's house by nightfall. With any luck, Iltha will be home before he is."

They took one short break when they found the main road. The fairy, seeing that her work was mostly done, sped its way from Lidia's shoulder deep into the woods and flickered out of sight.

Lidia brought her pack over to where Aerie was resting. She asked her, "Are you doing all right? That hit from the mage looked like it stung."

"Yes," she said, though she didn't sound so certain about it. She winced as she talked, "I'm a healer, too. It was hardly anything. Besides, I should-I should have known better."

"Don't blame yourself. It's partly my fault, too." Lidia knelt down and opened her pack. "I need to spend more time thinking about how to counter mages, more than I have been. I keep forgetting that Minsc's witch isn't around to take care of it." In fact, she thought, by now Dynaheir would have freely shared her opinion on Lidia's lack of planning.

"You're not a mage," Aerie said. "You shouldn't have to."

"For your sake, and for the others, I need to be prepared no matter what. But maybe we can help each other." Lidia pulled out the pink scroll case. "This-it's got some scrolls in it. Take as many as you like. Especially if they use any of those spell components, or if there's anything that will let you punch through magical barriers."

Aerie's face lit up. "Well, I won't be able to cast Spellstrike or Ruby Ray of Reversal for a long, long time, but I think I could manage Secret Word or Spell Thrust eventually. Secret Word is for dispelling one complicated protection spell, but the other one-sorry, I'm boring you, aren't I?"

Lidia gave her a half-smile. "No, not at all."

"It's nice to be able to talk about magic without having to whisper," Aerie continued. "Or being able to cast whatever spells I want to. I think...I think that's one of my favorite parts about being out here."

"I'm glad you're holding up well. This situation is a little rougher than I thought it'd be."

"That's just how it is sometimes, isn't it?" Her face fell. "But...those knights. Why didn't they just stop fighting?"

"They thought they were in the right. So did we." Lidia felt the weight in her chest again and said nothing more.

They finally emerged from the woods to the clearing near Garren's house. As they made their way down the thin trail, Lidia halted in place.

"What's wrong?" Iltha asked. "Why are we stopping?"

She put a finger to her lips, and was silent for a moment. "Do you hear that?"

They all stood still and listened. The sound of human voices floated through the undergrowth towards them.

"Someone's at Garren's house," Lidia said, keeping her voice low. "All may not be well."