Dawn came to slowly, feeling disoriented and weak. Her surroundings were dark, the only reason she could see anything was her Dark Sight skill. When she tried to sit, she found she had been tied up and couldn’t move. Dazedly, she tried to think. She had been at the market with Yasema. Then someone had grabbed her and apparently drugged her. She had been abducted! The realization filled her with icy fear, which finally managed to cut through the haze she was in.

She was lying on the floor of what seemed to be a tent. Canvas walls surrounded her on all sides. Outside, she heard the voices of men. Apparently they were fighting.

“What on earth were you thinking, Aaron? Grabbing her from the market place, practically in plain sight. It’s not like you to act so clumsily. Why didn’t you just charm her?” a scratchy voice asked.

Then the voice of Aaron replied. “Because my charm didn’t work on her. I don’t know what happened. One moment I had her eating out of my hand and a second later she was acting all spooked and couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”

“You’re losing your touch.” The first voice stated scornfully.

“As if!” Aaron scoffed. “The rangers were charmed quickly enough. But when charm didn’t work on her, I had to find another solution. We need her to show us the way to the city. And I asked around beforehand. She has no family in Atelang. The rangers found her alone in the wilderness. So it’s not as if anybody will care about her disappearance.”

“Maybe you are right,” his counterpart said. “But the rangers clearly kept track of her. And the fact that you bought her books makes for an obvious connection between you. I don’t like it.”

“Just think about the riches we will find in the city. I heard there was an entire library there, left untouched and protected by some sort of spell. Maybe hundreds of books. The alchemy books she sold me were the most advanced I’ve ever come across. Trust me, we will get our hands on the secrets of the stoneblood folk.” Aaron sounded entranced by the prospect.

“Well, at least you managed to get her out of the city without creating an uproar. But how will you convince her to help us, if your charm doesn’t work on her?” The gruff voice expressed doubt.

“Who says it doesn’t work on her? I only had a few minutes with her before. I’m sure I can influence her if I get to be in her company for some time.” Aaron sounded condescending now.

“When will she wake up?”

“It should take another hour or two, we reapplied the drug before we smuggled her out of the city. Better to be safe.” Stated Aaron.

“The rumours I heard about the ancient city said there were some kind of beasts or demons running around in it. Sounds like a dangerous environment.” The first man said.

“That’s why I brought a whole troupe of our men at arms with us. A dozen of them should easily suffice to protect us from some beasts.” Aaron was obviously fed up with the questions now.

Dawn was bewildered after listening to the conversation. Aaron seemed to be convinced he could easily charm her and make her do his bidding, even after he had abducted her. Could he really influence her so heavily? The thought that she couldn’t call her own mind and thoughts her own made her shudder. This was a nightmare. She tried to calm herself and took a few deep breaths. First, she should get rid of the remnants of the drug. She cast Nurture on herself and her thoughts seemed to come into focus. Now, how could she get out of this tent and away from the men? Did she still have her ring? She felt for it, and was relieved when it still was on her thumb, signet part turned inwards as usual.

Should she attempt to get out now? She didn’t know exactly where she was and how many people were around her. Obviously, at least Aaron and one other man. But if these men at arms were here too, it could easily be a lot more.

As she was still thinking, a flap was pulled back and someone entered the tent. Dawn hastily closed her eyes, better her captors didn’t realize that she was already awake. The man approached her and picked her up easily, as if she was light as a feather. He hoisted her over his shoulder and left the tent. She was hard pressed to keep her eyes closed, feigning unconsciousness didn’t come easy when she was carried away like a sack of potatoes. She tried to keep her limbs loose and her breath even.

The man heaved her onto a horseback and bound her to the horse. It was an uncomfortable position, maybe she should have tried to get away earlier, after all. Too late now, she could hear the voices of several men and the noises of many horses around her. Carefully, she tried opening her eyes a little and tried to perceive her surroundings through her lashes. It was night outside. The horse she was bound to was standing in the middle of a group, encircled by armored men on horses on all sides. Obviously not a good time for escaping.

Suddenly, a man pushed himself into the saddle behind her and she heard Aaron’s voice as he commanded. “Let’s move out.” He took up the reins with one hand and put the other onto her back, as the horse started to move.

“Now let’s see if I can make you compliant,” he muttered. As the horse plodded along, Dawn felt the beginnings of an headache. Should she risk casting Nurture on herself? Would Aaron realize what she was doing, if she did that? Maybe she should wait.

Why did she want to heal herself? Maybe she should ask Aaron what he wanted her to do. He was such a charming man and did know so much more than her. Her thoughts started to tangle.

“Wake up, Dawn.” Aaron told her. She opened her eyes slowly. “What?” She muttered and tried to move.

“Why am I tied to a horse?”

“You were unconscious, Dawn. I was afraid you’d fall off.” Aaron said.

“It is very uncomfortable.” She stated sullenly.

“You need to wait a little while. We will rest shortly and then I can free you.” Aaron left his hand on her back and she felt his calming presence against her.

“All right,” Dawn said, trying to ignore how uncomfortable she was.

Aaron talked to her earnestly. “I need your help, Dawn. We need to find the ancient city of the stoneblood folk. The library inside contains a huge treasure of ancient books. That knowledge is extremely important for us. Think of sll the good we could do with it. Will you lead me to the city?”

His voice seemed to enter her head and made it hard to think clearly. The city was dangerous, she hadn’t wanted to return there. But if Aaron needed her help, she couldn’t refuse.

“The city is dangerous. So many demons, they will kill you Aaron,” she warned him, afraid for him.

“Don’t worry, Dawn. See, I have taken my men at arms with me. We will be safe with them.” He said soothingly.”

“If you are sure.” Dawn mumbled. “Of course I will help you.”

“Yes, I am sure.” Aaron stated emphatically.

Moments later he commanded the group to halt and dismounted easily. He freed Dawn from her restraints and helped her down.

“Walk for a moment. It will make you feel better.” he said. “We will continue on our way in a minute.”

Obediently, Dawn walked around. Her limbs began to tingle, as the blood flowed back into her extremities. After a minute, her thoughts began to clear a bit. What was she doing here? Hadn’t she wanted to get away from Aaron?

But as soon as she was remembering that, Aaron came back to her and put his arm around her shoulders. “Here you are, Dawn. Come with me, we are starting out again.” He led her to the horse and got back into the saddle, easily pulling her up before him. He held her against him as the group continued on its way.

The night waned and they rode on as the day began to dawn. Dawn was tired and had developed a headache. She wished they would stop, so she could lie down and sleep. They had taken a few short breaks to water the horses, but the men showed no intentions of setting up a camp. Aaron didn’t let her out of his sight during their breaks, taking care to keep in contact with her. Either he had an arm slung around her shoulders or he was holding her hand. They had left the fields and meadows surrounding Atelang behind during the night and entered the forest. Dawn closed her eyes, wishing for her headache to go away. When they next stopped to water the horses, she went down to the creek herself and splashed cold water onto her face. Aaron was talking to the leader of his men at arms and had let go of her for a time.

The water seemed to clear her head, and she thought: “I’m an idiot again. Why didn’t I heal myself?”

Shaking her head in frustration, she cast Nurture on herself and her headache vanished. Simultaneously she got the notification that her mental resistance had gone up.

As she was still thinking about the notification, confused, Aaron appeared at her side and led her back to the horse. Desperate, Dawn tried to keep hold of her thought, but it vanished when Aaron laid his arm around her. Soon they were back on his horse and Aaron started to ask her all kinds of questions. How big the city was, where the entrance was situated, had she found valuables there apart from the library, what did she know about the stoneblood folk. She found herself answering his questions eagerly, but a little kernel of resistance began to grow inside of her. She managed to avoid any mention of the echo stone or the books on runic magic. It was hard, the voice in her head tried to make her tell Aaron everything she knew. But little by little she gained a few instances of clear thought. Fortunately, Aaron showed no interest in her skills or her blessing. In all likelihood, he didn’t expect her to have anything interesting. It was the only bit of luck in her current situation.

When she told Aaron about the cave-in that had shut down the entrance to the caves that she knew of, he began to curse. She didn’t want to see him unhappy and told him there had to be another entrance because the demons had gotten out of the caves somehow. They just needed to find it.