Mark looked at the Dark Elf as she grit her teeth; her eyes burned with loathing, but he ignored it, focusing instead on the door. His hand reached out to knock twice, and the bonded Dark Elf spoke. “Open up.”

“Done already?”

The fellow guard chuckled as she pulled the door open. “My turn yet?”

“Sure.”

The maiden stepped inside, a wide grin on her lips as she focused on the lump that lay under the bedsheets. “Wait, did you tucker him o-…?”

Mark stepped out of the room, Noah hot on his heels. Both of them saw the sword and keys waiting for their owner. Meanwhile, the armed guard heard them, spinning around with a frown, clearly confused by what was going on. Her lips parted as she attempted to speak, likely to trigger the spell that might paralyze them.

The attempt was thwarted when her companion tackled her from behind, knocking her to the floor. “I’m sorry,” the half-naked Dark Elf muttered, her eyes burning red-hot coals on the two escapees.

Before the guard could disentangle herself from her companion, Mark had closed the door, and Noah locked it, snapping the key to make sure it couldn’t be pulled out easily.

A heavy thud followed, and human and mouse glanced at the heavy door, waiting.

Mark sighed.

“Alarm’s going to be raised,” Noah pointed out, grabbing the sword and swinging it. The thing was almost half her height.

“We start running.” The human nodded, looking at the petite woman with some wariness. “Think we can trust the bitch’s directions on how to get out?”

“I’ve been here before.” She nodded, moving ahead and taking point. Her tail was stiff, her ears perked, and the maiden’s hand had a slight shake to it as she held the blade at the ready. “I doubt she’d want you around, probably going to be very happy once her bond snaps.” Stopping dead on her tracks, she took a good long sniff, tilting her head down to one of the corridors. “Blood.”

“Then not that way.”

They turned in the opposite direction, their rush down the wooden corridor coming to an abrupt end when Noah froze on her tracks. Her eyes widened, spinning on her heels and reaching out to grab Mark’s hand, yanking him exactly in the opposite direction they’d been running. “What the-”

“RUN!” She spoke with a shrill proclamation of terror.

Mark looked over his shoulder just in time to see a familiar face stepping into view. Broad muscular shoulders, long white hair, three meters tall. Except this time she was fully armored with metal plates and a wicked looking axe that should have been far too large for her to be able to even carry.

The daughter of the Warlock stopped dead in her tracks as her eyes met Mark’s right as they took the corner.

“ALARM!”

Her roar bounced off the walls; the human had lost sight of her but he sure as fuck was not going to stick around and find out how long it took her to catch up. The instant they’d taken the turn down the corridor, his eyes locked onto the nearest window.

A part of him wondered how far up they were.

The other saw Noah jumping through the hole devoid of glass and followed through without waiting to confirm. And as soon as he was airborne, he realized the drop was at least four meters’ worth.

“DO NOT KILL THE MALE!”

The voice boomed far FAR closer to them than what he thought it should have been. Not that Mark was paying attention, plunging his way down to the ground and doing his level best to roll to disperse some of his inertia.

Both his ankles screamed upon impact, but it had not been enough to cause actual harm… or at least not enough harm his adrenaline-addled brain couldn’t ignore. He wobbled a step, finding his hand being yanked by Noah as she rushed him down the inner yard towards the only door that could get them out of there, rushing through the handful of trees that adorned the otherwise empty space.

Both spotted the stunned looks from several maidens that appeared entirely shocked at their presence there.

The wooden door swung open right as Mark’s ears prickled at the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. He looked over his shoulder- a mistake, as the tall woman had opted to follow their tracks. Noah didn’t wait for the human to process the sight, instead slamming the door shut as soon as she’d pulled him through.

Her eyes were dead ahead, yanking him forward.

One of the doors they’d been about to cross through snapped open, and a pair of grey hands snatched Mark, pulling him in. Noah was dragged along by just how little she weighed. The door did not even close; as soon as they’d been yanked through, a hand moved to cover Mark’s mouth, and the air on the frame of the door shimmered.

Two seconds later, the sound of splintering wood followed, and the Warlock’s daughter rushed past their room as if there were no open door at all.

“Shhh, little pet.” A familiar voice whispered in Mark’s ear; he turned to glance at Brye, smiling smugly at him, both tails whipping back and forth in a slow wag. “Don’t want the big bad lady finding us, right?”

“Illusions,” Noah spat. “At least you’re useful for once.”

The amusement in the fox’s face died as she turned to stare at the mouse coldly.

“If either of you wants to die, you’re more than welcome to step outside and fight,” Shery hissed, letting go of Mark and letting him breathe normally. “Everyone else is welcome to figure how the fuck we get out of here before they start sniffing us out.” She paused for a moment, looking at Mark. “And how did you escape?”

“He fucked the guard.” Noah and Brye stated at the same time, glaring as they shared a barbed look with each other.

“I’m surrounded by horny idiots.” Shery’s brow dropped, unamused.

A crashing sound outside startled them into silence. Someone’s voice carried through, a scream that came to a very abrupt end. “What the fuck!?”

“Ferals,” the fox declared, leaning towards the door. “Fuck, that must be what the ritual’s for.”

“What?”

“Warlock’s doing something nasty big,” the fox said. “It’s probably to kick the ferals off before they can cause more damage.”

“If it works, they’ll be able to focus on us.”

“And we’ll be fucked.” The nods were shared.

“So our only option is to run… through a feral rush.” Shery took a long deep breath, rubbing her temples. “Just fantastic. Next you’ll say we have to wrestle an Ursine with our hands tied behind our backs. Can we actually even make a run for it?”

“We can.”

Noah’s words drew the other’s attention.

“I’m calling bullshit.”

“There’s a river not too far from here.” The mouse kept glancing out the door. “The rush can’t be hitting both sides at the same time. We just need to cross it to get away from them. The Court won’t be able to pursue past the river either.”

Shery frowned, lips pursing as her brows furrowed. “Are there any bridges?”

Mark glanced at her in confusion.

“Her genus can’t swim, they’re too dense. They sink like rocks.” Brye rolled her eyes, patting Shery’s shoulders. “I can make a jump with you, but you’ll have to carry me the rest of the way.”

The gray-skinned maiden nodded and relaxed her shoulders ever so slightly.

And for the barest instant, Noah’s lips had twitched upwards.