Ruyo worked in her underground prison cell, trying to break the bars by magically freezing and melting water around them. It was going to take a while.

"Any keys around?" she said, hoping that Nusina could float over to find them.

"Oh! Yes, I saw them, but I can't just grab them. See the T intersection our captors came through? We're by the middle part, the fire elemental's on the left, and Virid's cell is off to the right. This place looks like it was a warehouse; maybe there's an elevator."

"A what?"

"Or... stairs."

"Why are they doing all this?" Ruyo asked.

The spirit curled in a shrug. "Learning magical secrets to get more powerful, and especially to tame a fire elemental they've somehow trapped in a runic circle. Beyond that I assume it's a bid to take over the city or something. Evil is usually pretty boring."

Ruyo listened for sounds of any guards approaching. Maybe it was time to start in on the bars. "Some kind of enchanted ward is trapping the fire thing?"

"That's right. It might be able to snare me too; I'm not getting close enough to find out. Especially not with that thing in there, brr!"

"Could I give you some water to fling at it? Maybe get it mad and have it break free?"

"I fail to see how adding an enraged fire monster improves our situation."

"It could be a distraction, even if it doesn't break free. What else... Did you talk with Virid?"

"I didn't try."

"Do it, trying immaterial first and appearing if he can't see you. If you can avoid being spotted by anyone else. I'll start on the bars; can you keep a lookout for me too?"

"Here I go."

Alone again, Ruyo started creating water around the base of one bar and freezing it. She could sense the slight ebb and flow of her own energy as she changed the water again and again. Maybe that loss of control, earlier, had been the moment someone prayed back in the cave. That was a good sign, probably, that Tulia was all right.

"You look intent," Nusina said, coming back after a while.

"Just thinking that more and more people will be counting on us."

"That's the job, yeah. Virid is able to see me even in my usual state, so that's interesting. They've been starving him and beating him up to make him demonstrate how he makes tiny earth elementals."

Ruyo's fists clenched. "For starters, if I make some bread and water, can you float those over to him without any of us being caught?"

"Make a small roll and I should be able. I'm sure he'll scarf it down quickly."

Ruyo conjured one, and had Nusina levitate it on a watery cushion. Like Ruyo, her magic could handle water but struggled to lift anything else atop it. By the time Nusina returned, Ruyo had tried the bars again.

"Progress," Ruyo said, pointing to subtle warping of the metal's bottom edge. "But it'll take a while. Probably need to break it in two places but I'm skinny enough to squeeze through after just one bar."

"We have bigger problems."

"One step at a time, droplet. Maybe breaking the stone beneath the bar would be easier? It's cracking a little."

"Yes; stone is more vulnerable to our charms in general. But don't make an obvious mess."

"Okay. Lookout?"

It was a good thing Nusina started keeping watch again, because she hurried into view minutes later to say "Those two guys are coming back!"

Ruyo did her best to hide the stone dust, and left her cutting tool as a puddle. Come to think of it, Nusina could probably inspect the barrels that sat in a corner... but now the immediate problem was the pair of hooded cultists or whatever they were.

The two hooded ones walked into Ruyo's room and peered at her.

"What?" snapped Ruyo, unable to see their faces.

They turned away and kept going to the left, to the fire elemental's room.

"What're they doing? Follow them."

Nusina was already on it. Moments later she zipped back. "They're breaking the circle!"

"Why?! Never mind." She hurried back to work on the damaged bar.

Ruyo abandoned stealth and tried to weaken the bar's middle. "Can we grab Virid's cell key on the way out?"

"You can."

The two cultists ran down the hall past Ruyo's room. Behind them the firelight grew more intense and its noise crackled and hissed.

Nusina couldn't do much to the bars. Ruyo said, "Grab water and try to use that to grip the keys."

"I'll try," she said, sounding doubtful. She snagged a ball of water from Ruyo and flew off with it.

Ruyo strained at the metal, dividing her attention between brute force and rapid tricky spellcraft. She was wearing herself out physically and mentally. "Come on! I'm a goddess; I can't be beaten by a chunk of iron!" It was starting to wobble.

The once-trapped creature flowed into view at last on burning paws. Its body was made of flame that flickered vaguely upward like fur standing on end. It had a piece of firewood in its mouth that it dropped, batted forward, and sprang on to bite again. Its teeth tore into the wood and snapped it in half, each side spraying embers. Then its sharp ears flicked and it turned its white-hot eyes toward Ruyo.

She summoned as much water to each hand as she could and started flooding the floor.

The elemental hissed at her. Ruyo said, "Yeah, mind your own business." Then she thought of the boy somewhere ahead. "Wait, no, check out my tasty wooden barrels!" She tossed a ball of water at one to make it wobble, trying to draw the thing's attention.

The elemental padded into the room, but the floor was damp and it hesitated. Blood-tainted steam began to boil up from the stone.

Ruyo sweated. She called out, "How's it coming?" No answer. Ruyo cursed and focused again on the bar. Suddenly it gave way, bending loudly and snapping free at the bottom. Ruyo scratched one shoulder on the broken edge but scuttled out along the floor. She came up wet, bleeding, and face to face with a monster made of living fire.

Ruyo ran for one of the barrels, hoping to knock it into the beast's path.

Instead she misjudged the depth of her own puddles and crashed into the wall, hands first. Now the elemental's tail of cinders twitched and it crouched, ready to spring.

"Get back!" Ruyo said, and hurled gallons of water at it.

Where the attack would only annoy a human, it was agony to the monster, vaporizing chunks of its head and torso. It sprang desperately at Ruyo but stumbled, giving Ruyo just enough time to dodge and kick more water at it. Steam boiled up where it touched the floor. A stray swipe of one blazing paw caught Ruyo on the left leg and made her scream.

Ruyo ran for her life down the right side of the hallway. "Nusina, I hope you got those keys!"

"Almost!" she said. There was a similar room ahead, where a heavy metal keyring lay on the floor and Nusina was struggling to drag it along by flowing water past it.

Ruyo snatched the ring and looked up at the cell. A terrified boy in tattered, dirty nobleman's clothes was there, trying to get bits of gravel to move and help Nusina. When Ruyo suddenly held the keys instead, he looked up and met her eyes.

"Don't worry," she said, and tried one of the two keys in the heavy lock. Didn't work. The other turned slowly. Behind her, the elemental yowled. "Nusina, fend that thing off." She fed the spirit another ball of water.

The door opened and the kid ran out, hugging Ruyo. She patted his head and said, "We'll get you home. Which way is out?"

He pointed toward another door that had no lock. Ruyo pulled it, failed, and shoved.

Someone grunted in pain. Ruyo blinked and peeked around it. The murderous cult leader was there, holding his nose where the door had banged him. "Sorry," Ruyo said by instinct, and shut the door on him. "Kid, is there another way?"

The leader rattled the door handle. Ruyo shoved the door again, saying, "We're busy!" and hit him in the nose before shutting it again.

The elemental slipped into the room right past Nusina's attempt to play defense. Now the air grew hot and steamy and every object in sight had long dancing shadows.

Nusina bombed the creature with water, drawing its hate again.

Ruyo re-opened the door, saying, "Okay, fine, you can play with it." She hopped sideways. The kidnappers swarmed into the room, three of them, and they immediately regretted it.

They sprang to either side to avoid a leap by the tormented monster. All three of them had long knives.

"Kid, run!" Ruyo said. He did, ducking and weaving past the cultists to reach the stairs. Ruyo tried to do likewise.

But a knife grazed her belly and only an accidental parry by the monster saved her from getting gutted. Just being near that thing was scorching them all. Ruyo said, "Why did you think this pet was a good idea?"

"We're the Inheritors of the Lost World! You fool; you've let a monster loose!"

"Wasn't my doing." She tried again to escape, using swipes of water to confuse the men and wound the monster.

She got grabbed and slammed into a wall, but it was just the right direction to slip away from the follow-up stab and get through the door. She turned back toward it and it slammed outward, striking her in the nose. "Ow! I earned that." She staggered up some stairs, flinging water behind her.

Nusina flitted after her, saying, "Freeze the door?"

"No time. Can we get out?" She panted for breath.

At the top of the stairs was an open door with daylight beyond. It showed another hooded figure, a woman who'd grabbed the boy and was holding a knife to his chest. "Don't take another step!"

Ruyo stopped and panted. "What... what do you want?"

"Put down your weapons and put your hands on your head!"

Ruyo held her hands behind her head, letting created water trickle down from each and drip along her neck. "I haven't got weapons. They need your help down there! They made me create a water creature and it's running amok! Even now it might -- look out!"

A hovering orb of water glowed and pulsed in the stairway, flying up. The cultist drew back in fear, and the kid elbowed her and wiggled free.

Ruyo dashed up the stairs and flung herself at the cultist, shouting obscenities. They crashed and fell to the ground, pummeling each other.

Nusina said, "Ruyo, stop it!"

She was right. Ruyo scrambled free, kicked uselessly at her enemy, and looked around.

This was a small courtyard with long stone benches. Ruyo had stepped out from the corner of a tall but narrow house surrounded by a low wall. She had no time to admire the architecture. Virid, the prisoner, was trying to get over the wall. Ruyo created some water, slapped it against the wall and froze it in place as a foothold. "There."

He stared at it for a moment, then kicked off it to scale the wall. Ruyo followed. Now they were... where was this? A slope with several nice homes, overlooking trees and a market. The Council Oak district, still!

Ruyo said, "Which way to your house?"

Virid said, "Here!" and started running. Ruyo followed. Nobody managed to catch them in time.