Sylvie heard scratching in the wall and looked around her cell. Where was it coming from? A little trickle of stone dust began to pile near the corner. She ran over and began to wiggle the stone.

“Hey, careful you oaf, I don’t want get squished back here…”

“Don’t call her an oaf! That is the Lady Sylvie.”

“Well if she squishes us with the stone, we will be dead, and then it doesn’t matter what I call her.”

Sylvie smiled; it must be rats. She liked the intelligent and misunderstood creatures. Once she had gotten a huge bounty for clearing the rats out of the new market. It had been assumed she had exterminated them. Far from the truth, she had debated with them for hours. Found them a more suitable home (an abandoned little village not far from the lake), and literally helped them move.

She pressed her lips up onto the wall. “Tell me what to do, the stone looks like it is almost ready to fall out.”

“MOTHER OF GODS, do you want us to be squished and deaf before we see you?”

“Lady Sylvie only want to help.”

“Help us? Dragon balls you are a daft one, we are coming there to help her.”

Sylvie couldn’t help but chuckle a bit and sat back. Ten seconds later the stone popped out along with two rats. A fat large grey one, and an average sized darker one.

“See I told you, you ox, that was the right stone.”

The fat one ran up to her feet, “Lady Sylvie, Eda happy to meet you.”

“Yeah, yeah, pleasure, I am Kol and this is Eda. We heard through the walls that you might need some help. You see, I hate Colonel Rojel more than anyone. The fat red-faced bastard ate my mother. And Eda, well she thinks her family ‘disappeared’ but I know that he ate them too.”

“Disappeared, disappeared!” shouted Eda.

“Yes, they disappeared. We don’t need to get into that argument again,” he shrugged his shoulders and looked at Sylvie, “So what’s your plan?”

Sylvie looked taken aback, “My plan? I hoped you guys would have a plan.”

“Uhm, lady, we are rats in case you haven’t noticed. And as much as I would like to do the deed myself, Rojel would likely stab me first.”

“Well, I need my weapons before I can do anything. Legionnaire Alaric said they are in the guards’ room.”

“We get weapons for Lady Sylvie,” said Eda excitedly.

“Hold on, hold on. A weapon or weapons? I am not risking my life to do twenty trips back and forth in these stone walls.”

Sylvie ran her fingers through her matted hair, felt some substance that might have been orc blood, shuddered and tried to concentrate; the rat was a smart one. “Ok, if I had to choose one it would be my bow and maybe just a few arrows. I am not even sure if all my daggers are there. Be careful though, everything is coated in a poison that will temporarily blind you.”

“Great, just great, not only will it be multiple weapons, hence the plural ‘s’ in arrows, but they are coated in poison too. Eda remind me again why I agreed to help this lady?”

“She kill Colonel later. But then little girl that shares apples goes too,” said Eda sadly.

“EDA, all you do is think about eating. It is disgusting. All right Lady Sylvie, do you promise to kill the fat red-faced bastard?”

“I do Kol, but I can’t promise you when,” nodded Sylvie.

Kol sighed, “It better be during my lifetime.” He began to shove Eda back through the hole.

Sylvie could hear them in the wall, “Bread crumbs, bread crumbs…”

“If you start eating in the guards room I will feed you your own tail.”

“Eda hungry.”

“When are you not hungry!”

When she couldn’t hear them anymore, she looked up and saw Larkin’s family had been watching her. The little girl spoke up, “Mama, she can talk to animals! I saw her talking to the fat rat.”

The mama whispered back, “Hush girl. I told you the dungeons make people go crazy.”

Levent, the little boy that looked like a copy of his father, looked down the hall, “Lady Sylvie, are the stories about you true? Are you really the best archer east of the Lake? Is that how you are going to save us?”

Sylvie smiled, “I am pretty decent with my bow, but who knows- one day maybe you will be even better than me.”

Levent’s eyes got large and he smiled back.

Sylvie’s face turned serious, “Something is going to happen later, and I need you guys to promise you will not say a word.”

She locked eyes with the mother, “I am going to get you guys out of here.”

The mother started praying, the only person we have aiding us is a nut that talks to walls.

“Ok,” sighed the mother.

Thirty minutes later, Sylvie heard the familiar scratching sound in the wall.

“You dumb cow. I can’t believe you licked the dagger.”

“Eda can’t see, Eda can’t see.”

“That’s cause you ate poison you idiot!”

“Eda no eyes, no eyes.”

“I don’t know if I can take this, what did I tell you, don’t eat the shiny green stuff, and what do you do? YOU ATE THE GREEN STUFF.”

Eda, came flying out of the hole, dragging one of Sylvie’s precious daggers with. Sylvie caught her and cooed, “You poor little thing, don’t worry in half an hour you will be able to see again. I saved some of my apple for you.”

If a rat could smile, Eda was smiling again, and had seem to forgotten her temporary blindness.

“You think she’s a poor thing? What about me? She is already happy again, the dumb brute. At least she is strong, otherwise I would really have no use for her,” said Kol, as he pushed through the hole with an arrow.

“Eda strong,” she said while happily chomping on an apple piece.

Kol rolled his eyes, “Mother of Gods, my only companion in life is an idiot.”

Sylvie smiled at them both, and softly stroked Kol’s fur. “Thank you both. I wouldn’t not have been able to do anything without the wise Kol and the strong Eda.”

“Yeah, yeah, flattery works with the dumb ones. Just remember your promise,” said Kol.

Sylvie could tell deep down Kol also felt very proud. She looked down at the arrows, “But wait, I don’t have my bow.”

“Like I said, Lady, I am a rat, not the Mother of the Gods, how would I have pulled a bow through this hole?”

Sylvie looked at the hole, and back at Kol, “Aye, you are right”.

Kol started to guide Eda back to the hole, “You know if I was someone trained in fighting, like I am sure someone with these type of weapons is, I would simply snatch a bow from one of the guards on the way out,” he turned his direction back to Eda who was now walking back towards the apple.

Sylvie smiled, “Aye, that’s exactly what someone trained in fighting would do.”

“Or maybe they would use this key to unlock the iron bars on the window,” Kol nudged a small rusted iron key in her direction.

Sylvie clapped her hands together, picked Kol up and plopped a kiss on the top of his head.

“You smart little things.”

“Eda smart Kol.”

She winked at Kol, picked up Ida in her other hand, and placed them in the hole. She grabbed the remaining apple she had, shoved that also in the hole, and then replaced the stone.

She heard, “Dragon Balls, now she tries to kill us by squishing us with an apple.”

“Eda happy. Eda eat apple.”

“Yeah, yeah, come along, and yes you can bring the apple with.”

Sylvie stood up and nervously looked at her dagger, arrow, and the little key. Cringing she ripped the bottom seam of her dress off. She tied the dagger to her thigh. The dress had something similar to a belt and she slid the arrow through it.

“See mama, I told you! The rats brought her those weapons,” said the little girl smiling.

The mother was shocked, but had seen the rats with her own eyes carry weapons out from the hole.

Sylvie walked over to the gated bars and whispered, “In a few minutes, I will be drinking a potion. I am not exactly sure what will happen, but if it is what I think it is, it will look like I have disappeared. I want you guys to know, I will not leave without taking you with. If the guards come looking for me, you just say you don’t know a thing.”

She took a deep breath; the guards would be making their rounds soon. She hoped it wouldn’t be Alaric.

It felt like eternity, but a few minutes later, the heavy door began to creak open. She pushed herself up to the side of the wall and chugged the potion.

She looked down. She was slowly starting to disappear. Everything touching her was becoming invisible. Her heart began beating faster when she heard a familiar voice.

“Hopefully, you will like this shipment of weapons Alaric. My boys enchanted them with speed. You will all be able to swing faster than dragon wings.”

It was her father with Alaric, and a guard with keys. What is father doing here! But it was too late, she had no antidote and she had to follow through. She held her breath as they approached her cell.

Alaric looked alarmed, “But…but I just spoke to her a few hours ago,” he stammered.

“What!” said Fergus. “What do you mean?”

“This was her cell…. I saw it with my own eyes,” answered the other guard. He unlocked the cell and poked the straw bed.

“I won’t give you anything, until you find my daughter.” Sylvie could see her father’s icy eyes flaring up. He looked like he would kill someone. “MOTHER OF GODS,” he roared and pounded the cell door so hard it bent.

The guard, a little scared, began to back away. “I will alert the Colonel immediately.”

Alaric’s whole face was red; he looked around the cell and saw the little bottle he had given to Sylvie a few hours earlier was now empty. He sniffed it and then shoved it in his pocket. He whipped around and asked Larkin’s family, “Where did she go?”

They all looked at him innocently, and the mother hissed, “I have no idea what you are talking about.”

Alaric sighed. If she had just waited, she would have been rescued, the Legionnaires would have been satisfied with their new weapons, Fergus would have been happy, it was a win/win situation. Except, Sylvie is not a woman that needs to be rescued, he thought smiling to himself.

Sylvie watched her father storm out of the dungeons, and then Alaric pick up the empty bottle. He was smiling staring at it. He is certainly a peculiar one. She waited for him to leave and she finally exhaled.

Levent ran to the bars, and peered hard at her cell. How will I get them out? I should have swiped the guard’s keys. She smacked herself in the head; his bow had been just dangling there. He wouldn’t have even noticed if I had grabbed it.

“That’s it,” she said out loud, and then quickly covered her mouth, not that anyone could see.

“What’s it?” asked the little girl. “How are you going to get us out?”

She heard the guards tolling the heavy bell outside. Soon the dungeon would be surrounded. She had five minutes maximum.

She ran to the window, the rusted key barely fit into the ancient looking lock. She finally got it in, but it wouldn’t turn. Sylvie wiped sweat that was beginning to drip. She quickly grabbed her arrow. She rammed it as hard as she could against the iron. Slowly a little bit of poison leaked out. She carefully lubricated the key, praying it would dissolve some of the rust.

The bell was still tolling. Had a minute passed?

She tried again the key and was met with the glorious sound of a ‘click’.

“Get ready we are going to be going out the windows.” She didn’t dare slide the key over, nervous she would miss.

Sylvie took a running start, and propelled herself, she felt the ground outside of the cell window. Using all of her strength and feeling the dress tear more she pulled herself up, out of the window.

She looked around quickly. There were no guards here yet, they had all gathered near the entrance.

Sylvie ran around the side of the building, peering through cell windows. Finally, she saw Levent’s little hands grasping the bars. The mother already had him propped up. “I’m here,” she whispered.

“I could hear you running, you are like a horse,” said Levent.

She tried to smile, but was truly too scared. If they got re-captured, she didn’t know what would happen. Her hand was shaking as she handed Levent’s mother the key. Their lock wasn’t as rusted as hers had been, it clicked immediately. Thank Mother of Gods. She reached in and pulled Levent out, he didn’t look scared at all.

She looked behind her back, if they exited here, they would head into Old Town, which would be the easiest place to hide, but the first place the Legionnaires would look.

Her window had been close to the docks. “We are going to head towards the pier. If someone stops you, answer that your master is waiting and will be angry if you are late.”

Levent looked down to his sister, “Don’t worry Mama and Maggie, everything is going to be all right”.

Sylvie realized she hadn’t even asked the little girl for her name, “Yes, that’s right Maggie, we are going to go for a boat ride.” She reached down and pulled Maggie up.

The mother whispered, “Just go, take my children and go. If I stay, he won’t go looking for them.”

Maggie turned, and tried to crawl back in the cell, “I won’t go without you mama.”

Levent grabbed her; Maggie began to shout in protest. “Shhhhhh, no shouting. They will find us.”

Sylvie turned to the mother, “No. You don’t understand, he will look for them no matter what. You are no good to your children dead. I won’t debate this with you any longer.”

She squatted, grabbed the mother’s shoulders hard and pulled. Sylvie had expected it would be difficult but the woman felt light as a feather.

Maggie jumped out of her brother’s arms and into her mother’s crying.

“It’s ok my darling,” hushed the mother.

“Now is not the time! We have to be quick.” Sylvie grabbed Levent’s hand and began running down the hill towards the docks. She could see Alaric’s boat neatly tied up with a few crates in it.

“You guys see that pretty red boat up there?” as Sylvie asked, she was pointing at it but forgotten that they couldn’t see her. They anyways nodded and understood.

“Good! There are crates on the boat. Levent and Maggie you will jump in one crate, you….” She said looking at Larkin’s wife, “-forgive me we haven’t even had the opportunity to do proper introductions, will jump in the other crate.”

The dock clip clapped under their feet, but the children were surprisingly fast. Sylvie’s hands were slippery from sweat but she somehow managed to untie the boat.

I wish I had Blanca with to do a spell on the currents. She looked over the side of the boat, and pleaded with the fish, “Please if anyone can hear me, I need your help to get out of the city waters as fast as possible.”

The water began to ripple around the boat, at first slowly the boat began to move, and then faster and faster. Sylvie looked up at the dungeons, and saw a very angry Colonel and an even angrier Fergus, walking toward the dungeon entrance. Alaric, was walking a few steps behind them looking worried and shaking his head.

Sylvie bit her lip, she felt a bit guilty about Alaric, but she had given him a choice and he had chosen. The boat was moving so fast, that the dungeon was almost out of view, when she heard the bells tolling again like crazy. They must have discovered that Larkin’s family had escaped, it wouldn’t be long until they realized the boat was also missing.

As the boat was out of the city grounds, Sylvie saw her hands and arms come back into view. That was cutting it close. She knocked softly on the crates, “you guys can come out now.”

“Do you know what was in these crates?” asked the mother frowning as crawled out.

“Under the blankets, are lots of swords!” shouted Levent, his eyes shining.

Sylvie quickly peered into the crates. “Dragon balls, these are from my father’s shop. He must have been bringing them to the Legionnaires….”

Maggie pulled on her mama’s skirt, “Mama, she said dragon balls.”

The mother, trying not to grin said, “I know sweetie, its ok.” She looked over at Sylvie. “I am Elenia. And I am forever in your debt for saving my children.”

Sylvie placed her hands in her own and squeezed, “We are in your debt, Elenia. Your husband was in a very dangerous situation and he chose the best he could to keep as many as possible safe. If you don’t mind me asking, do you know how he knew my mother? He said something about her, before he… before he passed away.”

Elenia looked surprised. “You don’t know? He was in your mother's clan.” She paused uncertain to continue, and then sighed, “he also was in the clan with the Second in Command of the Cloaked Knights.”

“Second in Command?”

“Ja, he goes by Myles. Larkin approached him to join the Knights a few months ago. I don’t know why, but he looked to be in some sort of trouble. Now, I suppose it had something to do that monster Colonel.” She shut her eyes and shivered just saying his name.

Sylvie sat in silence for a minute. She hadn't seen Myles on the battlefield; however, it had all happened so fast. It would make sense that he would join the Knights, her father and him were best friends. Still something irked her that she couldn't quite place.

“It is weird that my mother would not have introduced us to Larkin. We are very close to Myles.”

Maggie was twiddling her mother’s hair, and broke Sylvie's thoughts, “Will you do as you promised the rats?”

“Yes, I always do my best to keep my promises,” Sylvie answered.

Levent was peering over the boat; trying to pet a fish. He started to laugh; they were all too fast and too slippery for him. Maggie joined him.

Their mother looked over and smiled, it was the first time her children had laughed in a long time. She didn’t think there was a sweeter sound in the world. She looked over at the woman who saved them. She looked deep in thought.

Leaning towards her, not wanting to disturb the children she asked, “Lady Sylvie, where are we headed? Your father’s shop is too dangerous for us, or?”

“Aye, and please, just call me Sylvie. We are heading towards my Aunt’s place. She has a hut in the woods, we will be safe there for a while.”

Elenia nodded, accepting this temporary solution. She took a deep breath of the delicious fresh air, and closed her eyes thinking of Larkin.

Sylvie glanced around the boat, and took the huge blanket covering the weapons out. In one swift move, she wrapped it around the exhausted looking elf. Elenia smiled, grateful for the gesture, and nodded off. The adrenaline and fear she had been carrying around for the past weeks had taken its toll on her.