Delrik led us into the northern structure of the bridge. It was made almost entirely of stone save for the metal bars on the doors. The lack of any hay-like material suggested the building might not have been built by the raventaur but perhaps humans.

We’d first been greeted by a horrible stench in a mostly empty entrance room. An abandoned desk, a toppled chair, and a hooked roll of rope were all that was left. A stairway led underground to a long corridor lined with doors on either side. Most of the doors were open. The cells were empty. The only sign of the raventaur hay was what one might call a mattress that furnished each cell along with a wooden chamber pot, most of which were well-used.

Delrik marched through the corridor with purpose, never stopping to investigate any of the cells. Max followed the raventaur child closely. I stayed back a bit, hand hovering just above my belted wrench. Ucntcme took up the rear. I glanced over my shoulders often to make sure she hadn’t disappeared on us. Though I saw no evidence of it on her face or in her body language, the scout just seemed so comfortable in the darkness of the corridor.

We picked up speed near the end of the corridor as Delrik started running. We reached a large door at the end. It was the same grey stone and black bars like the other, but much larger. I doubted that any of us had enough strength even to move it.

“Mongrim is right behind this door.” Delrik stopped and faced us. His dark purple beak frowned somehow. “Be on your guard, adventurers. Mongrim alone has the strength of five elite gnoll guards. He isn’t the gnoll chief for nothing.”

If elite gnoll guards were the two massive ones we’d fought before were, there was no way we would stand a chance against this Mongrim. I wanted to tell Delrik that we should leave the prison and just get him home, but he’d ignored me so many times, I doubted he’d listen now.

“Four of us could not defeat the elite guards,” Max said. “Now three of us, without pets, are expected to defeat a single foe with the strength of five? I don’t need to tell any of you that our chances are poor, but I am willing to try if it’s what it takes to be done with Dark Talon.”

“I’m in.” Ucntcme leaned against the wall with her arms and legs crossed.

I felt nothing but dread when it came to pondering the possible outcomes of the upcoming fight, but the party had spoken. “Let’s open the door, then.”

“One moment.” Max pulled something from a small pouch on his belt and moved past the loitering scout. He crouched in the threshold of an open-cell door, placed a small white object on the floor, and held both hands over it. His long hair shot up as if a gust whipped around him in the dead air of the prison.

“Does he know?” Ucntcme spoke in a low voice. She took a few steps closer to me.

“Know what?”

“What you have in your pocket.”

My eyes widened. I looked around the scout to see if Max had heard her. Whatever sort of spell he was casting seemed to have been taking his full attention. His pointed ears stood tall. It was hard to accept that they could’ve missed any sound in such a confined space.

“I guess that’s a ‘no.’” The scout laughed. “I hope they join your guild when you finally ask them. You and the bard deserve a break.”

“You could always join, you know.” I waved a dismissive hand before she could reject the offer. “Haven’t you been following us since we left? Why do you have to ask if he knows about the book or not? You’re just trying to reveal it.”

“Like I said before, I kept my distance,” Ucntcme said. “I don’t like being around others. People bug me. No one ever has anything interesting to say, yet everyone thinks they do. I just stayed close enough to still be in range of the escort and other quests.”

“I still can’t believe you did all that,” I said. “Will you be following us around up to level forty? It’d be much easier just to join the guild. Make it official.”

She shook her head. “Dark Talon is the only province where a group can progress significantly faster than a solo adventurer. I’ll be out of your hair once we get this sniveling hatchling home.”

I didn’t enjoy the news as much as she thought I did. For some reason, I liked having the scout around. Maybe it was because she’d saved us twice, thrice, if I counted the barbershop when the mob chased me in the city. Maybe I just liked having a competent fighter by my side. You could never have enough of those. Whatever the reason, I wished she’d been able to admit that she wanted to be around us as much as I wanted her there.

Max’s small gust had expanded to our end of the corridor. Ucntcme’s hair whipped around her head. She slammed her eyes shut and faded into the shadows. I tried to peer through the darkness to find her, but churning dust kept my eyes shut. “Max, whatever you’re doing, stop it,” I shouted over the gusts.

The elf ignored me. The winds grew. They pulled at my clothes, beard, and hair as I stood alone in the corridor. I had no way of knowing where Ucntcme had gone. She could have been right by my side, or she could’ve miles away from the prison already. I knelt before Delrik and covered him from the dust.

The winds died down. I got up. Delrik was still in the same position he’d been in before the winds. He showed no sign of having even noticed them. Ucntcme reappeared, her hair disheveled. Max walked back toward us with a massive grin above his broad chin. I pursed my lips, wondering what he had to be so happy about.

White behind the elf caught my gaze. Buttons followed at her master’s heels, her pelt clean and undamaged. There was no sign of her having been smashed against Scallion or other wounds she’d earned during the battle. Max stuffed the white item back in its pouch and drew his bow.

I had many questions. How did Buttons come back? What was the item? What was all the wind? But only one seemed worth asking. “Do any of you know anything about this Mongrim? We should come up with some sort of plan before entering.”

Ucntcme snorted as she fixed her hair. “Planning didn’t help you much with Mallar.”

“I was alone against Mallar,” I said. “Hendrix had barely any HP left.” I stared at the scout for a moment, then raised my voice a bit. “Scratch that. I wasn’t alone. You were there the whole time, and just like you did against the gnolls, you waited until just before the end to help.”

“I thought maybe the first time had been rookie mistakes,” Ucntcme said. “But the fight against the gnolls confirmed that I could no longer rely on you and the bard.”

“Oh, poor you,” My voice took a sarcastic tone, which I usually tried to avoid. “Maybe now you’ll actually have to work for your own success.”

Her eyes watered, and her face froze. Only her lower lip moved in a slight tremble. Shadows swirled around her, and she was gone before I could say anything.

“Wait.” I walked forward and reached around, hoping to reveal her.

Max stepped in front of me. “Let her go for now. We have much more pressing things to attend to.”

“I didn’t think my words could even hurt her,” I said. “She acts so tough and indifferent all the time. I shouldn’t have been so abrasive.”

“Do you stand by what you said?” Max asked. “From what I gather of your quarrel, you and the bard have every right to feel slighted and used.”

“I stand by what I said. I just wish I’d said it in a different way.”

“We can figure all that out later,” Max said. “Though Delrik here seems to have the patience of a river carving a canyon, I myself do not. I may not be as restless as Nikk, but even I have my limits. We’ve been out in these woods for days now, and I would be delighted to return to the inn.”

I nodded. Max moved past me to the door. I lingered a while longer to stare down the dark corridor. It must’ve been in my head, but I thought for a second that I could see the scout leaning against the wall a few yards away. Perhaps ‘felt’ was the better word. Either way, I knew she was there. I joined the elf at Mongrim’s door.

Buttons sat on her haunches and cleaned her face with a licked paw. “Can we bring Scallion back for this fight?” I asked.

Max shook his head. “Only a pet’s master can revive it.”

“This will be difficult,” I said. “Only the two of us. Three if you count Buttons.”

“Our chances are low,” Max said. “Depressingly low. But there is a chance. Once we enter, damage him as much as you can, and hope for the best. If things go south, we can always try kiting him down the corridor. Buttons can tank, but she won’t survive long. I can pelt him with arrows as long as we keep him at a distance, and his HP will drain. How fast it drains is the key to all of this.”

I almost asked what ‘kiting’ meant but decided against it. I had a pretty good idea of what he meant through context. “What about me? I’ll be fighting with a short wrench. I’ll be within reach, and I’m guessing he can do some serious damage.”

“Beads and environmental creativity.” Max smiled. “I’m not worried about you. You’ve gotten yourself out of worse messes than this.”

“Ucntcme got me out of most of those.”

“Perhaps she’ll do it again.” Max opened the door.

A cool breeze and a musty smell drifted out from Mongrim’s room. Delrik was the first to enter. He scurried in as soon as the hinges creaked. I followed quickly. We hadn’t come this far just to let the child run into the arms of death.

The room was dark. A small window near the high ceiling let in a single beam of light that shone directly onto a massive chair—a throne, perhaps. It was unstable as it was built of misshapen and uneven bricks. It looked as though the material had been quarried from the very walls and floors of the prison. Mongrim’s men built this for him.

No one sat upon it. A layer of dust and a few stray sprigs of straw lay where a gnoll king once reigned. I drew my wrench. Much like a spider or a snake, I found that a gnoll king was much more frightening when you knew he was there but couldn’t see him.

Delrik fell to his knees near the throne and wept. Why would he weep for Mongrim? I approached him, my eyes darting to every corner of the room as I moved and crouched beside the raventaur. He wasn’t crying for the gnoll. Delrik held a severed wing, covered in feathers similar to his own, while Buttons sniffed at a pale, raventaur arm that lay not far from the wing.

A torch ensconced on the nearby wall lit up suddenly with nothing around it. I jumped up and pointed my wrench at the flame. Max stood calm, but his bow was ready. The next torch ignited, and a chain of them lit up around the room, one by one. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure,” Max’s piercing elven eyes were intimidating in the dimly lit room. “Stay vigilant.”

The room was empty other than the massive throne and a few crates and barrels in every corner. Not to mention the severed raventaur parts, which the light revealed many more of. I’d yet to look behind the throne. I doubted there was enough room for Mongrim to be hiding there, but there wasn’t anywhere else he could’ve been.

Delrik wept and started collecting raventaur pieces like firewood. I winced. The display was both heartbreaking and disturbing. My eyes followed the trail of severed limbs and drops of blood. It led behind the throne. I got Max’s attention with a quick wave and pointed to the throne, he nodded and knocked an arrow. A low hum of a whistle slid from his pursed lips, and Buttons stood at attention and moved to my side. It felt good to have her there.

Wrench gripped tight, I moved to the throne. I was about to turn the corner when Max put a hand on my shoulder. I nearly yelped in fear. The same jolt of fear took me when I turned to face him. His eyes were intense, like windows into hell. Torchlight did not go well with elf eyes. He raised four long fingers and pointed to the throne.

I took it as him telling me there were four enemies in that location. How could he have known? Him telling Ucntcme about having detected her back in the woods came to mind. His track humanoids ability must’ve come through for him — for us.

I nodded and waited for the ranger to distance himself from the upcoming battle. Four enemies. Mongrim and three guards? If they were anything like the two gnoll elites we faced in the field, we’d stand no chance.

I took a deep breath and charged around the throne, ready to strike at whatever I saw, then run out into the open to lead the enemy into Max’s field of view. I raised my wrench high but stopped mid-swing. The image of frothing gnolls, matted fur, and blood-tipped teeth quickly melted away as four raventaur, wrists, and ankles tied with rope took its place. They were placed in a sort of circle, all back to back. Their heads hung, and they didn’t move. I couldn’t tell if they were dead or alive. One of them had his head hanging backward and was gagged with thick rope. They might’ve all been gagged, but his was the only face I could see.

Delrik had continued his path collecting parts and had almost reached a point where he’d be able to see the captives. I stepped in his way, but he skirted around me.

“Well?” Max waited patiently with a knocked arrow near the large door.

“I’m not sure,” I said. “They aren’t enemies.”

Max joined us behind the throne. He looked dumbfounded when he saw the raventaur, but his eyes quickly went to work. “The rope used to bind them. I noticed the same kind hanging in the entrance room. Look at their clothes. It’s uniform. These must’ve been guards here. Now gagged and bound by their own equipment.”

Delrik screamed when he saw them. He ran to the circle of unconscious raventaur and fell to his knees before the one with the visible face. “Koray. Koray, please wake up.” He nudged the raventaur’s face until the captive’s eyes flickered. Delrik glanced at us. “Please, cut them free.”

We did. Max used his hunting knife, and I worked at the tight knots with my fingers. Ucntcme appeared and cut the last two free. She looked at me with soft, kind eyes. It seemed strange on her, like heavy plate on Hendrix, or me in a dress. It didn’t take long to get used to the look, however.

“I’m sorry about what I said before,”

She put her hand up to stop me. “You were right. It was wrong of me to benefit off others' work like that, and even though I did save your lives twice, it was only for personal gain. Now enough of this sappy talk.” And just like that, her eyes were as hard and stern as ever. I smiled and untied the raventaur captive.

The captives woke and got to their feet, or whatever raventaur had. One needed support from the others as his leg twisted grotesquely at the knee where flesh stopped, and bird-like bone began.

“Koray, what happened here?”

The largest of the four captives looked down at Delrik with disbelief in his eyes. “It can’t be. They killed your father. I thought for sure they’d gotten you.”

“They…” Delrik’s voice trailed off to make way for sobs.

“I’m sorry to be the one to tell you, Delrik,” Koray said. “Rootroost is destroyed. Anyone who was there when the gnolls came is gone now.” He made a fist and flared his wings. “The Dark Lady must pay!” His voice rang hard against the stone walls.

“I must return home,” Delrik said. “Maybe you’re wrong.”

Koray simply shook his head and placed a caring hand on the boy’s shoulder. He looked at us. “I can’t thank you enough, adventurers. The gnolls left us here to wither away. They told us it was our payment for restricting them to only one meal every day for the duration of their imprisonment.” He made another fist. “They should count themselves lucky. Had it been up to me, we would’ve lopped off their heads and used this place as something useful instead of a home for our enemies.” He turned to the raventaur with a broken leg. “Can you fly?”

“Yes, sir.” His voice was frail.

Koray turned back to us. “We will fly you back to Leafveil. The Sun-Touched will know of your deeds, and you will be justly rewarded.”