Barret sat up, his head pounding. He heard the low rumble of thunder, and the pounding of the rain outside of the stone walls. Walls? He looked around, and saw three stone walls, and a set of steel bars. There was a wooden plank he was sitting on, and behind him was a small window, where the still dark sky gave way to the storm. He reached up, rubbing the side of his head where Eris had punched him, looking at the plain stone walls of the jail cell. Then his eyes fell on "Haeltih!" He rushed over to the open grate, and stared. She had been placed in the cell across from him, her limp body laying on the floor. Tears welled in his eyes, and he pulled at the door of the cell.

"Don't bother." came a female voice to his left. "These were built to hold anyone in. The bars are connected to the tower, so if you try to use magic, you'll only get zapped. Pull too hard, zap. Breathe on em too aggressively, zap. Look at them the wrong way, well, you get the idea." Barret let go, and stood there, wishing he could do anything.

"Where are we?" he asked no one in particular.

"Wenmoor Fortress." came a deep response to his right. Across the way on his right, an older Ishtaer stepped into view. "What makes you so special?" he asked, his gold scales having lost all their shine.

"Special? What do you mean?"

"When you were brought in, he said you weren't to be hurt. He's never cared about anyone like that before. What makes you so special?"

"Eris… he doesn't want to hurt me. But he can't bring himself to kill me. He used to be my older brother. I think that deep down, he still cares for me."

"That monster is your brother?" came a third voice, male again, but on Barret's left, across from him.

"I'm sorry." Barret walked back to his bunk, and sat down. "I know my brother. That man is only masquerading as him. He destroyed everything about what made my brother wonderful. I remember when Eris was kind, and courageous. He was willing to die for me. But that man… that man is not my brother anymore."

"He is a blood traitor." the woman said. "I am sorry that he fooled you too. To betray your own kind is one thing, but to betray family… I can seldom imagine how you must feel."

Barret sat in silence as the rain poured outside, the thunder rolled, and the occasional flash of lightning lit the prison, only to feel all the darker afterward. "Why are we here?" he asked, a strange though coming to his mind. "Wouldn't it be easier to kill us? Why capture us, why bother keeping us alive?"

"We are test subjects." said the man on his left. "They test spells on us, come up with ways to try and control us."

"But we are resistant to mind magic." the man on his right continued. "When they find a spell that works on us, they know that it will work on anyone else, even the Basitins. It takes a lot, but there are a large number of spells that they use to control us, mostly with pain. They work tirelessly here to try and come up with more powerful spells, modifications to old ones, and if that doesn't work…" his voice faded, and Barret looked over. The Ishtaer had faded golden scales, but it was what he was missing that drew Barret's eyes. "I lost it when I tried to fight back. Can't throw a punch if I don't have a hand, I guess."

"You two are lucky." the woman said. "They just lost two of their favorite test subjects a few days ago. Heard some wicked screaming coming from the courtyard. Couldn't get a good view, but I think they might have tried to escape together. They're not the first to try, and they won't be the last. I can't blame them. This place is made to break more than your body. It breaks your mind. Your soul."

"You've been in here a long time?"

"Longer than anyone else. I lost track of what day it is a long time ago."

"It's April twentieth of four eighty four if I'm remembering things right." Barret tried to lean around, but the bars were too close for him to even dare leaning against them.

"Oh? Well then I've been in here for seven years."

"And you've never tried to run away?"

"I do not have a death wish. I am not happy now, but I am at least safe. I am at least warm. And I still have all of my limbs."

Barret walked back to the cot, and sat down on the edge again, though only for a minute, as there was a low groaning. "Haeltih!" He flew up, and walked over to the bars. It took everything in him to not try and reach through to her.

Groaning, she slowly turned and sat up. "Barret?"

"Are you alright?"

"I think so. Everything hurts." She rubbed her throat and stretched her joints, rolling her neck, which cracked a few times.

"What happened? Where's Raine?"

"I told her to run. They weren't hunting her. They were after me. Because of Brundt."

"Brundt? Your… adoptive father?"

"He was a Templar Commander. He had access to important information, but I didn't care about any of it at the time. Even when there were whispers of war, I didn't care. I just wanted to read my books, to learn what I could about medicine. Why would it have mattered if there was something big going on? I never paid attention."

Barret didn't say anything for a few minutes. "I… I'm sorry. This is all my fault. If we had just run, if we had left them, we might have been chased, but at least we would be free. I'm sorry." There was a loud thud as the prison door opened, and heavy armored boots came stomping down. The warden had come with an escort of four others, and they stopped in front of Haelith. "What are you doing? Leave her alone!" Barret threw his arm through the bars, and reached for one of the soldiers, only to receive a painful shock as his scales pressed against the metal. Howling in pain, he reeled back, falling to his knees.

"Barret!" Haelith cried out as her cell was opened, and she gasped as they grabbed her. "Let go! Let go of me!" This time, she was the one who cried out as one of the men kicked the back of her knee, forcing her to the ground.

"Keep struggling, and it will not be you who suffers." A voice said, clear and smooth. Erisdar stepped forward from where he had been standing out of view, and he drew his glaive. "Which one will be wounded for you? Her? Him? Maybe even Barret? You are a doctor, after all. I seem to recall all of our doctors repeating the same mantra over and over. What was it again… oh, yes! I remember! 'Do… No… Harm.' Fight, and by your actions, someone will suffer. It is your choice." He pressed the polearm through the bars of one of the cells, and there was a yelp as his blade pushed against one of the other prisoners. Haelith made no move, and her mind raced, weighing the options. Finally, she relaxed, her shoulders drooping and her head falling. Steel bindings were placed on her wrists, and Erisdar pulled the glaive back to his side. "There. That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"You are a cruel man." came her reply.

"I do what I must to survive. Take her to the interrogation chambers." The soldiers led her away, and Erisdar walked to stand in front of Barret. "Have you reconsidered my offer? You could be free, you know. We don't have to be enemies." Erisdar held out his hand close to the bars, and stood there.

"When you die, there will be no one to light your pyre." Barret scowled.

"You think I care? Honor is something I abandoned long ago. But my offer will stand. You could stand with me." Erisdar turned and followed the soldiers away, leaving Barret alone again.

"It takes a lot of courage to stand up for yourself." a soft woman's voice on his right said. "Takes even more to stand up to family." Barret sat down on the wooden cot as thunder rolled. The pouring rain dripped into the cell and made him wish he could be anywhere else. There was a hollowness in his chest as he looked over to the now empty cell. He would find a way out. For her. One way or another, he would find a way out.

…

The salted meat was chewy, and tasted a bit stale, but it was rather filling. They may not have much, but they really knew how to make a good set of rations. Holding the coat tighter, she wandered around the hills and through the forest, taking it all in. The fortress was solid, and there was only one way in: through the main gate. There were a few ways to get out, but none of them seemed particularly good. You could go out the gate, which was great if you wanted a dozen arrows and bolts in your back from the constant patrols of archers. You could leap over the wall, and hope to land on something that could break a twenty five foot fall. Perfect for breaking ever bone in your lower torso. There were the sewers, which were barely large enough to crawl through, and would be filled with waste and muck that you would have to lay down in, and on top of that it would be slow to try and squeeze through the pipe. No matter which way you went, it would always be a terrible thing. But worse than looking at the fortress were the sounds. Howls of pain and agony came from within the walls, and even over the heavy rain and rolling thunder, she could hear the tromp of boots, the shouts of sergeants, and every time the gate closed with a loud crash it echoed through the forest.

Raine had done a full loop around over the course of the day, and sighed. There had to be some way to get in. She just had to figure it out. She reached into her bag for more food, and her hand brushed against the wooden charm she had gotten from the nomads. Good luck? I'll need more than luck, what else do you have? She looked through her belongings. A tent, some rations, the totem, a few old bandages, some scales, her journal, a- Scales? She had forgotten that Yapha gave her scales. Pulling them out, she looked at them closely, and observed their contours. It was like a fingerprint in the palm of her hand. An idea suddenly came to her, and she flipped through the journal. Barret had once mentioned… yes. That could work. She knew how to get in. It was getting back out that was the problem.