Torrin pulled himself up as tall as he could in his kneeling position, his hands pressed to the wall behind him. He stared at Yawnel with a blank look as the elf took another step forward.

"Did you hear me? Do you not understand that I'm going to hurt you?" Yawnel seemed distressed by Torrin's lack of response to his threat.

"Sorry, just a bit distracted," Torrin's lips tugged down. "I just don't understand why you think Dawn will be okay with you locking up the elves and torturing them. That's the part that I don't get."

Mana seeped from Torrin's hands into the stone wall. The earth slowly retreated from the iron bolt that held his chains in place behind him. As he worked, he kept his expression neutral. A bead of sweat slid down his face from the immense effort it took to manipulate mana outside himself with the collar around his neck.

"She'll have no choice but to accept it," A sneer curled Yawnel's lips back, "I am a part of a bigger plan than even she understands. And once it is complete, her status will be meaningless."

Torrin's brows furrowed, "You do remember she's the princess, right?"

The elf scoffed, "That's the beauty of it. No one will want to follow her once they know the truth, see the truth, and if she tries to cause any problems with me, I'll tell everyone. She has no hold over me until her part is complete!"

"What truth? What part?" Torrin couldn't help asking.

"Enough!" Yawnel barked, his voice turning from arrogant to insane in but a moment.

Torrin lifted one questioning brow. Yawnel didn't seem to like the look he was receiving, because he charged forward, swinging his blade at full strength in an overhead slash.

Torrin smiled. He ducked beneath the blow, his Saen enhanced strength pulling the latch and bolt straight out of the wall. He used his momentum to roll forward, landing past Yawnel in a crouch. His leg shot out before Yawnel could react, sweeping the elf's legs from under him. A yelp of surprise sprang from the elf's throat as he tumbled to the floor.

Torrin took a moment to sit back and pull his manacled wrists under his legs so that his hands were in front of him. A small bit of mana activated his ring and he placed the collar he'd snatched from Orel's body around Yawnel's throat with a crisp click. A quick nick of his finger on Yawnel's sword provided blood to bond the collar to himself.

Yawnel was speechless for once. He lay on the ground, his eyes disbelieving, his mouth opening and closing over and over. Gone was the usual flush of rage, replaced by a slightly green tint to his face. Torrin had been surprised the earthen fortress was so well lit in each of its rooms, but now he was glad since he got to see the defeated elf's face clearly in this moment. His happiness was short-lived as he watched the elf spasm slightly, causing him to frown.

"Now, Yawnel, I'm going to need you to release everyone from their collars for me." Torrin stated succinctly. The elf still lay on the ground as if he were lost. His face full of disbelief at the turn of fate. Torrin gave him a light kick to get his attention, "Hello?"

"How did you-- How?" Yawnel asked.

"Not important. What is important is making sure you get these collars off as fast as possible." Torrin said, wanting to get this part done before any guards came looking around. He gazed through the open doorway, across the prison room to the shut door that led to the stairs. He didn't think the door would be locked since Yawnel was still down here, but if he didn't go up soon then someone might get curious enough to come check.

"I won't" Yawnel said firmly, some misplaced sense of defiance hardening the elf's features.

Torrin sighed at the scene. His rage had quickly turned to annoyance. Yawnel had something wrong in his brain and Torrin wanted to be a better person. The elf surely deserved to die for his crimes, but Torrin needed to make sure the others were safe first. His sword manifested itself from his ring, "Are you sure there's no way I can convince you?"

The elf gulped audibly. The collar rose and fell in time with the motion. The elf stared into Torrin's eyes for a long moment. Yawnel must have found what he needed in their depths, for he nodded once, averting his gaze.

"Perfect. How do you do it?" Torrin asked, his mood quickly improving now that things were progressing.

"I-I just need to touch the collar and think that I want it to open." Yawnel stammered out, his head bent low.

The words made Torrin suspicious. And the way Yawnel was acting was so far from the norm that Torrin thought this had to be some trick. Why was he sitting like that, anyway?

"Are you sure, Yawnel?" Torrin asked, his voice like steel. The elf raised his head and looked at Torrin with a strange expression before lowering his head and nodding once more. Yawnel's behavior didn't help alleviate his suspicions. With no way to disprove what he was being told, Torrin shrugged. In case Yawnel tried anything, Torrin decided that he would try it out first on Yawnel's collar.

He crouched by the elf. He set his sword down and reached both his hands forward. As soon as his hands touched the metal, the elf twisted under him. Using the movement, Yawnel pushed Torrin onto his side. For a moment, Torrin was stunned.

The elf took up Torrin's blade and pointed it at him. A manic gleam shone in the elf's eyes. Torrin stood to his feet and almost laughed at the turn of events. He couldn't stop his lips from turning in a smile.

"What's so funny?" Yawnel spat, his tone malicious.

"Your performance. It was terrible, to be honest." Torrin's mouth split into a full grin. The elf sneered, pushing his booted foot forward to move his own sword from Torrin's reach. The sword scraped across the hard ground and Torrin watched it go.

"I'm still in control here!" A harsh bark sounded from the elf. The voice didn't sound as if it were all too sure of itself. Torrin raised a questioning brow at the elf.

"Don't forget you've got a collar on as well. If I die, you die." Torrin spoke softly, as if to a child throwing a temper tantrum. Though he had mitigated a large part of the threat Yawnel posed, and he was not worried over his fighting skills, Torrin still didn't want the idiot to kill himself in a fit of idiocy that would kill the other elven prisoners.

A thoughtful expression appeared on Yawnel's face. Torrin was highly confused by the elf in general, and the flipping emotions he displayed caused that confusion to deepen. Something was terribly wrong with the elf.

The elf shook his head and his face hardened once more. He seemed resolute about something. Torrin didn't have a good feeling.

"It doesn't matter. You have to die." Yawnel spoke as if from somewhere far away.

"It doesn't have to be that way, Yawnel. Just put down my sword and once you let the elves go, I'll leave with them. You and I don't have to fight." Torrin tried to convince Yawnel. His words held truth to them, though he left out the part about killing the elf before they left.

That look crossed the elf's face once more, "You need mana to release the collars. We're stuck like this." His voice was weird. As soon as he'd spoken, his eyes shut tight. He shook his head violently and even took to hitting his head with his free hand.

Torrin took that moment to leap forward. The elf's eyes opened at the sound of rattling chains, putting the sword forward in defense. Torrin moved swiftly to the side, avoiding the blade. His fist shot forward, hitting the elf's wrist. His sword clattered to the floor and Torrin kicked out at Yawnel's knee.

The leg buckled, but didn't break. Torrin wrapped his arms around Yawnel's neck and squeezed firmly, but delicately. A long suffering minute of nails scratching his arms and elbows raining into his sides came to an end as the elf lost consciousness and Torrin released his grip.

Torrin held his own breath for a long moment as he stared intently at the elf. After half a minute passed and his head didn't explode and no one rushed into the prison door, drawn by the noise, Torrin sighed a breath of relief. He had been unsure if the collars could be triggered by a loss of consciousness or not. He had no idea how the collars worked.

Torrin spent some time searching Yawnel's pockets for a set of keys. They were either in his spacial device, a ring he found in one of the elf's pockets, or he didn't carry any. His eyes roamed to the collar he'd placed.

Now that he had a minute to examine it, Torrin noticed there were symbols on the collar above each set of runes. They seemed self explanatory as Torrin spotted one with what looked like a small circle, below which was an arrow pointing to another small circle that was broken near the bottom. It seemed to indicate the open and close function. Torrin had no idea why the collars had such simple pictures to indicate their function, and chose not to think on it any further.

Torrin placed a finger to the line of runes beneath the picture and dribbled a bit of mana inside. The collar opened with a click. Torrin closed the collar once more around Yawnel's neck and applied another drop of blood to make sure it was still keyed to himself.

Now that Torrin knew how to open the collars, he needed to test if anyone could open them, or only the person they were keyed to. Orel's collar had either been opened by the fall somehow or by his death, so Torrin hadn't needed to unlock it originally. The thought nearly derailed him with a wave of loss and rage, but he kept his mind focused. He made it to the side of the elf nearest the door. Placing his finger to the correct spot, Torrin applied some mana. The collar snapped open. The elf's empty gaze turned to him, but Torrin was unable to find any emotions.

Torrin undid the latch that held the elf's arms in place and lay him gently to the floor. Torrin went down the line repeating the process. Each elf showed a slight turn of the head in his direction once they were released. The entire process was heart wrenching and Torrin moved as quickly as he could.

Once he lay the last despondent elf on their side, he swept mournful eyes over the lot. Torrin shook his head and took a small mirror from his ring. He checked himself over in the mirror to find the correct rune sequence to unlock them. He had to be sure it was the right one as the symbols for the other functions seemed extremely terrible.

As the mechanism clicked and Torrin's mana core was freed, he felt a jolt of mana surge into his core, taking with it the cycling mana within himself. The feeling was strange, but Torrin moved on quickly.

Mana flooded from his hands and wrapped around each of the elves. Their wounds were healed within his tide of mana. He had no idea where each of them were injured the most, so he spared no mana in flooding each of them with restoration.

Soft sighs of relief could be heard all around. Torrin kept himself from losing sight of his plan under the tide of emotions he felt. He removed a barrel of magical water from his ring and plenty of bottles and vials for each of the elves. He popped the lid open and began filling a container for each person.

After filling the last container, his attention moved to the chains that kept clinking every time he moved. Not only was the constant noise shortening his ever withering patience, they were completely impractical. The chains only allowed him to spread his hands shoulder width apart. All in all, they weren't a terrible burden, but he was tired of being restricted.

Saen strengthened his muscles and he put his wrists together. He pulled his arms apart as quickly and with as much power as he could. A clanking sound rang out at the motion. The chains withstood the attempt. Torrin stared at the chains for a long moment. Torrin manifested sword energy on the tip of his finger and attempted to cut into the chains. A rune flashed silver on the far end of the cuff and only a small white mark shone for his effort. After pondering the situation, he decided finding a key for them was the most practical solution so he could reuse them if necessary.

Moving forward, he helped each elf with consuming the liquid from the sea serpent's pool and a sense of relief was palpable as they greedily gulped the water down. Torrin was unsure if it was from the parched desert of their throats being washed away, or if they understood through their haze how refreshing and mystical it was, but Torrin smiled softly all the same.

Torrin made sure each of them seemed as fine as he could make them, before returning to the chamber that held Yawnel. Without fanfare, Torrin kicked the elf a few times to wake him up. There was a distinct lack of response, so Torrin gathered the little water mana he could from the air and splashed the elf.

The elf tossed around a few times before he finally gained his senses. His eyes were wild, seeming unsure of where he was. As his eyes landed on Torrin, something within that forgetful look changed. The elf's face contorted with hatred and rage. The change was so distinct to be startling.

"It's time to gather your people." Torrin said simply. Torrin was sure that if he expounded any further than necessary, his feelings of hatred for the way the elves were treated would soon overcome any sense of reason.

"Why would I do that?" The elf spat in response. Gone was the confusion from before, the usual sneer contorted the elf's features.

"Because I asked nicely? Because I don't want to kill any of you until I've found out who is responsible for what?" Torrin replied, his tone weary.

The elf scoffed. Torrin glanced to the door where the stairs were. No one had come to check yet, so Torrin continued.

"Do you not see that I don't have a collar anymore? None of the elves do. You have no leverage, so if you want to live just a little longer, come help me gather your so called people." Torrin's patience was wearing out. The elf stared at Torrin defiantly.

Torrin spent a few minutes going back and forth with him. The elf seemed completely incapable of complying to anything Torrin asked of him. He knew the elf hated him from the beginning, always trying to cause problems, but not to this extent. The actions he'd taken against the other elves were monstrous and the distinct lack of remorse frightening. He wasn't even asking to be spared.

The entire situation was taking him nowhere, but closer to someone coming through the door and causing a scene. The former prisoners were still shackled, but they one and all were sleeping peacefully. Torrin turned his attention back to Yawnel.

"Break your bond with this," Torrin said, bringing Yawnel's ring from his pocket, "And you don't have to move from this spot."

The elf laughed maniacally, his voice reaching an unnatural pitch. Torrin's leg shot forward and kicked the elf in the temple. The elf landed hard on his back, but seemed unfazed. He continued laughing and laughing. Torrin's eyes shot to the door, before returning to the hysterical elf.

Torrin was unsure what was wrong with the elf. Since he couldn't access the ring, Torrin sank threads of mana into the earth. He moved the earth around Yawnel until he was thoroughly encased, only leaving enough room for his chest to get air. His head was the only thing above ground. His chin lay even with the earth and his eyes stared at Torrin with a strange intensity.

Yawnel was no longer laughing. However, the glint in the elf's eyes and the smile that stretched further than Torrin thought possible made him thoroughly uncomfortable. Should he just kill the elf? The only reason he hadn't yet was because of one thing. The way the elf acted seemed strange to him.

The grandstanding and bragging were classic Yawnel. The torture and imprisonment were not. Though he was always an asshole, he seemed to do it for attention. Torrin couldn't see the elf going this far. He was stupid, sure, but he was also cunning. Not the type to think that this wouldn't backfire on him as soon as he left the pocket dimension.

The look in his eyes right now made Torrin think he was a wholly different person than the idiotic elf he knew. Torrin knew that wasn't possible, and the elf might have just snapped, but it kept nagging at him. The nagging feeling made him think. His brows furrowed as he looked into Yawnel's eyes.

Torrin shook his head, as if it would help him shake the feeling away. Torrin sighed and stood up. He left the room and set the bar into place in the door. Yawnel had no weapons or any way to unlock the collar. Torrin clanked his way through the room, sword in hand. He pushed the door to the stairway, and it moved open smoothly.

No one guarded the doorway, so Torrin made his way down the tunnel to the stairs. He crept his way forward, coming to one of the doorways that held a room. He peeked his head around the corner and saw the room was empty.

Torrin took a few more steps. He checked another room. Two elves sat on one bed each. They were speaking in hushed tones and their eyes widened as their heads snapped to Torrin. Torrin held his sword at his side, not wanting to use it unless he had to. His other hand placed a finger on his lips and the two elves nodded, a look of relief on their faces.

"Why were there no guards at the door to the prison?" Torrin whispered.

A female elf with long hair braided to one side of her head answered, "Yawnel doesn't allow it. He didn't like the looks people started giving him when he took the others prisoner." Torrin thought her name was Ellien.

"Ellien, right?" the elf nodded, "Okay, why have you joined Yawnel? You don't seem like the type that would associate with him too closely." Both elves shot furtive glances at the door.

Torrin reassured them, "He's in the prison. You're safe for now, okay?"

The elves nodded in unison, the other was Yettien, an earth and water mage from Orinel's team.

"Where are the others? Where is Orinel?" Torrin asked, his senses spread up the staircase to look for anyone else.

Yettien shook his head, "They went with Dawn and the other two fire mages to the fire temple. Him and a few others who were done at the wind temple, that is."

Torrin nodded, "So why did you guys stay? And why join Yawnel?"

A look of fear crossed their faces, and Ellien spoke up, "We had no choice. I don't know what happened, but Dawn was leading everyone after you we left the earth temple. Everything was fine for a while, even Yawnel was less of an ass than usual. After he came out of the wind temple, he spent a lot of time off alone. He barely interacted with anyone, only Dawn sometimes."

Torrin's brows furrowed, not understanding what they meant. If he seemed less of an ass, how had he turned into this?

"I think it was one of the fire mages..." Yettien said in a small voice, sounding unsure.

"Hm? What about them?" Torrin asked.

"They've never really fit in with anyone, and I saw one of them speaking with Yawnel right before they left. I wasn't sure which one, since they both took to wearing cloaks. It wasn't a day later that Yawnel was ranting and raving about how he was in charge now and that we had to join him." Torrin understood the sounds he heard, but the words seemed incomprehensible. Why would one of the fire mages talking with Yawnel cause him to lose his mind?

"But why would that have made Yawnel crazy?"

"They both have an affinity for fire. But they also both have an air affinity..." Torrin's look must have conveyed his confusion, because Yettien continued, "Meaning it's possible that one of them could have used sound magic... Like the type the queen uses when she's mad... I only mention it because they both came from another elven settlement a few years ago, and haven't really fit in. We were all in Dawn's group, and they always seemed a bit strange."

Torrin's eyes widened in realization. The look in Yawnel's eyes was similar to the intense look that Ollivel had when they fought. Could it be possible that Yawnel had been controlled? Were there any other elves being controlled? How long and how strong was the compulsion?

Torrin shook his head, unable to piece everything together just yet. Though his actions were strange and the words painted an even stranger scenario than he imagined, he wasn't convinced just yet. He couldn't remember ever speaking to either of the fire mages in a personal fashion, but he hadn't found them all that odd, though he also hadn't payed much attention to them aside from giving them commands during their training.

He decided he needed to finish clearing the other rooms before he did anything else. Torrin received a negative response when he asked if they had the keys to his manacles, being told they weren't trusted with that.

"Okay..." Torrin let out a long breath, "Stay in this room. Don't come out no matter what."

The elves nodded at his words, and Torrin turned back to the doorway. Creeping up the stairs, he tried his best not to rattle his chains. He could hear conversations drifting on the air. Torrin came across three more elves in the next room, who claimed to be innocent. He couldn't stick their names with their faces, but he could vaguely remember which groups they belonged to.

"Just a precaution, okay?" Torrin said as he snapped a collar around each of the trio, "Once I'm done checking on everything, I'll remove them."

The elves didn't like that, but Torrin remembered at least one of them being Yawnel's friend, so he wouldn't take any chances. As soon as he walked through the doorway, a scream tore from one of the elves behind him. His head shot around as the elf screamed, "He's out!"

Chaos ensued, as curious elves ducked their heads from doorways and went back to what they were doing when they noticed Torrin. Others gathered mana and pulled weapons out, ready to attack. Torrin glanced back in the room to see the horrified expression of the two who had stayed silent as they stared open mouthed at the one who'd yelled out. Torrin let out a weary sigh as he prepared to fight off the droves of incoming elves.