Merdon woke up early the next morning and put his armor on as quickly as humanly possible. While his surroundings left him wanting a bath, he doubted the witch was friendly enough to let him do so. They had been left alone, that much was obvious as the room was undisturbed save for where they had laid. As to why they hadn't been disturbed, only the crazy lady of the tower knew. What was important to Merdon now was for them to get moving. Of course, it was only now that they had slept, with his brain working without the clog of sleep, he realized they could easily be trapped in the room, or perhaps find they'd been put into an ages-long sleep, or any kind of curse really. Their opponent was magically gifted in ways the knight couldn't fathom thanks to his limited knowledge. It was the best he could do to guess at what she was capable of, expect the worst, and hope she wasn't as clever as he was when it came to how wrong things could go for the group.

The kobolds around him stirred at the sound of his clanking metal and before long they were all ready to go. Packs were slung on backs, weapons at the ready, eyes peeled. They seemed more well-rested than Merdon, thanks to the low sleep requirements of their smaller bodies. But, none of them were prepared for the witch's illusion to reappear, and they were even less prepared for her to look so emotional. Red took a hesitant step back at her appearance. Something inside the kobold made her feel that expression was one to be avoided. Skyeyes, unsure of what Red's reaction meant, did the only thing he could think to at the moment. He put an arm around Red and carefully eyed the witch. It was far from menacing, but her gaze wasn't on the kobolds for once. She was looking at Merdon, and her face seemed to be conflicted about what exactly she wanted to convey. Anger, confusion, and some kind of distress were all evident simultaneously, like a child whose toy turned out to be something unexpected.

“You killed how many?” she practically shrieked at Merdon. Clearly, she had found out about what he did in Ardmach.

“I lost count,” the knight replied confidently. His helmet was on again. He wanted to keep her on her toes, unsuspecting of what he was like beyond rumors and speculation. The less she knew, the less likely she was to act against him in fear it would be the wrong move. It was a two-man cold war.

“They're looking for you, you know,” the witch said flat out. “Even if you deal with me you'll never be able to live in this nation.”

Merdon shrugged. “So I move,” he responded, acting casual. The kobolds behind him looked a little more stunned at that response though.

Their reactions weren't unnoticed either. “Your kobolds think otherwise. You can't fool me, you can't hide from me, not in this tower,” she warned him. “I'm everywhere. I'll figure out your powers, and I'll take them for myself.”

The knight shook his head. “You'd have to come face me without your illusions to do that.” To make a point, he drew his sword and held it in front of him. “And if you did, you wouldn't survive.”

She only laughed. “You think that's what I would have to do? You're sorely mistaken, foolish knight. All I need is the right moment. So come on,” the witch taunted as her illusion slowly faded out.

Sarel shivered and looked at Merdon. “We don't have much of a choice now do we, verakt?” Merdon shook his head without looking at her. “Then,” the blue kobold said, steeling her nerves. “Red, lead the way.”

The former slave nodded and pulled away from Skyeyes' grip. She led them back out the door and looked to the end of the hall where a set of stairs sat out in the open. However, she turned and said, “We could probably get something to eat from the kitchen. The kobolds won't stop us. They're too … distracted.”

“Their minds are barely their own,” Skyeyes said without any sugar. “The loss of their names has rendered them as animate as golems.”

The red kobold frowned and nodded. “It's a haze over the mind, and the witch's voice is the only thing you can hear clearly.”

Merdon made a face and shook his head. “No, I don't feel like taking advantage of them like that,” he said quietly before turning towards the stairs. “We have plenty of rations and this tower isn't so tall we'll be in here for more than a day or two.” At most, he figured. The worst floor would clearly be the final one before the witch. If they got that far without her coming down to meet them in person.

Sarel smiled at his decision but didn't say anything out loud. She knew Red was just trying to help, and it was doubtful there would be anything on the floors above them that would let them restock. Still, knowing that, Merdon had made the choice not to capitalize on their suffering. He was a changed man after Ardmach. While he had displayed sympathy for their position and struggles before he hadn't been this dedicated to helping them, this self-aware of what his actions encouraged, until now. The kobolds wouldn't have even realized he wasn't supposed to be there, or take the food. They would have blindly made replacements for what was taken, but even that was too much for him. That was how Sarel saw it, and it made her happy.

“Then let's go, verakt,” she said, stepping forward, taking the lead with Red. “Quickclaw will keep an eye out for traps of the conventional kind.”

Merdon nodded and followed third, with Skyeyes at the rear. As they walked, Skyeyes asked Red what she remembered, anything that would help. Unfortunately, the girl barely remembered anything. She told him, and the rest of them due to proximity, she remembered the witch being rather dismissive of them like they were children. The things they did for her were like chores, and they were kept in a near-constant stupor any time they were following those orders. Any time they were outside of her control rarely lasted. It was like free time in a prison of their own minds. Even so, she quietly wondered if it was any worse than being in a literal prison. Her recent experiences said otherwise.

Still, it gave Skyeyes some idea of what they were up against, the extent of their enemy's power. Illusions, manipulation, the witch was a classic sorceress. It made her dangerous, but it also gave her very weak points they could abuse. Her intelligence was likely great to keep such machinations going, but they were many, she could be outsmarted by them if they worked together. Plus, Red's knowledge of some of the more dangerous traps was already giving them a benefit. Knowing the last thing between them and the witch was a magical dimension by itself was advantageous. All they had to do was stay a step ahead, adapt quicker than she would against them.

Unfortunately for them, it seemed the witch was never quite off her game. In the middle of the second-floor hallway were several dozen kobolds, each with a dim look in their eyes. They were packed in tight, too tight to push through or past, and it was too far to try something like jumping. Merdon frowned at the sight and looked at his companions. He didn't have any ideas. Sadly, neither did the rest of them.

“She's trying to test your powers,” Red figured. “If you could command kobolds, you'd make these ones get out of your way no problem.”

The human sighed and crossed his arms. Since he didn't have a special power, he couldn't do that. He certainly wasn't going to kill them, and Sarel was already attempting to move them to no avail. She had tried to push one out of the way and it didn't move, pulling one out of place resulted in it walking back into position. They could maybe charged through them, but there was a larger issue at play.

“She's going to know we can't do that,” Merdon whispered to Red. “And if we don't hurt them to get through she'll know we won't kill them either.” The witch had a practical army that Merdon and his own kobolds wouldn't fight and couldn't stop. It was win-win for her, and she knew it.

The whole thing confirmed when she appeared in her ethereal form, hovering just over the kobolds with her arms crossed triumphantly. Merdon frowned and met her gaze. He knew what she wanted, but he couldn't give it to her, nor could he let her know he couldn't do it. Finding out he had no powers over kobolds could lead to their deaths, but doing nothing could have the exact same consequence. Pondering this in his mind, the witch broke the silence between them.

“Well? Move them, Whisperer. It shouldn't be any more of a feat for you than huntsman commanding his hound, yes?” she chided him with a smirk. She would see his powers for herself.

The kobolds at Merdon's side were tense, each quietly eyeing their human companion. They needed a smart way out of this, and they needed it fast.

Merdon took a deep breath and sighed. “Is this the best you can do?” he asked, causing the smirk to fall off the witch's lips.

“What does that mean?” she demanded.

“I was told,” he started slowly, carefully. "You loved these creatures. That you enslaved them to protect them. Yet, here you are, putting them in my path as an obstacle, like a barricade.” As if they were nothing to her.

The red-haired witch tensed for a moment but regained her composure. “There's nothing better to test you with,” she declared. “Certainly you could move these ones without harming them.”

“Indeed,” Merdon lied, his tone confident and his reaction quick. “But, that's not what I question.” He gestured to the way he stood in front of his kobolds. “Do you not care for them as you claim you do?”

Again, the witch was caught off guard, but she didn't recover so quickly this time. In fact, she noticed the way he was standing compared to her. She wasn't even there, not physically, while the knight was blocking his kobolds with his entire body. Save the blue one that nearly stood at his side. Her face matched her hair for a moment as she realized her folly. But, wasn't she committed? Knowing this man possessed the power she sought was more important. The knight wouldn't idle with this lead, however.

“To use them as a physical barrier is truly weak and cruel,” Merdon told her. “I've seen nobles in Ardmach who treated kobolds with more care.” It made him sick to say, but it made her feel even worse.

After a tense minute staring at each other, the witch waved her arm and the kobolds dismissed, returning to their duties around the tower.

“Know this, knight,” she warned him. “You have bested me but for a moment. I know the depths of your character now, and soon I shall know more than you know of yourself. I shall be your absolute undoing and you shall curse the day you came to my home with what little time you have left.”

She vanished once more, leaving the party unscathed, and relatively unchallenged. While Merdon hurried them towards the next floor, and certainly their next challenge, the witch watched from her scrying orb. She had to invent more challenges for the knight, to find a way to make him display his ability. An idea came to her as the group reached the stairs. Something simple but duplicitous in that simplicity. The floor they approached shifted at her will, by her magic. Walls moved, opened; paths closed up, others were created, and her kobolds were left only partly stranded in the maze she had just created. Guiding them out would be easy, they were in little danger, but the knight would suspect the maze was something her kobolds knew. He would try to coax the secrets out of them, and that would be enough for her to know.

Merdon frowned as they entered the next floor and beheld three entrances. Red shared his sentiments, as she didn't recall a maze as part of the tower. Sarel, contrary to them both, looked giddy. Mazes usually meant treasure, and as a thief, she was all about loot and challenges. The blue kobold also knew the secret to every maze. Which she was too eager to demonstrate as she sprinted to the closest path to her, on the right.

As she entered and raised her claw to explain, the floor suddenly shot up behind her, while Merdon was reaching out to stop her. His arm fell as he ran over to the wall and pounded on it with a gauntleted fist. Red gasped and looked at the other entrances. Surely the maze reached the next floor from all of entrances, at least she hoped it did. The question to be asked, however, was if the paths met up at any point. If they could find Sarel without finding the end.

“We shouldn't split up,” Skyeyes said, looking at the two paths in front of them. “It would be foolish.”

Merdon nodded just in time for the section of floor between him and the two kobolds to suddenly shoot up to the ceiling like how it had closed off Sarel. They were definitely being watched, and now they didn't have much of a choice about splitting up. With a sigh of defeat, the knight started walking down the path before him, the only path he could take now. His armor felt more like a burden than ever before, with a long slog surely in front of him, but still, he didn't dare take it off. Not yet.

On the other side of the wall, Red and Skyeyes were debating what to do. Forward, Red decided, telling the priest that the witch must have been watching. Staying put got them nowhere, and made them easy targets. At least, she hoped, on the move, the witch could only deal with one of them at a time. If she were focused on Merdon for his alleged power, they might slip through unaffected by her traps and plans. Were she to focus on them, of course, it would mean the other two were having an easier time with the maze, which was still a plus to her. Skyeyes didn't relax, but he agreed to start moving at least. They had a long way to go, and if the witch was manipulating the maze as they went it would only get worse if they stayed still. It was a hefty reminder to him of how little power he had without his faith, and how much they were all at the mercy of this mysterious witch while they stayed in her tower.