The group froze for a moment before Dahlia regained her composure. She gave Daisy a small shove to the side and turned to Teryn, “Watch her.”

Dahlia strode toward the group of guards with a strong step, as if daring them to question her. The air of authority and arrogance around her was so thick Devin found himself cringing slightly while watching her. He continued to do so figuring it couldn't hurt anything to play the meek prisoner for now.

As Dahlia approached the group of guards some of them shrunk back from her with flickers of fear pulling at their faces. The lead guard, he assumed, the one who had ordered the halt, held his ground, though his mouth trembled slightly as she approached. Dalia stood a good six inches over the man and sneered down at him, “You dare to order an Argenti? You dare presume you can tell me what to do, in my own city?”

“I- well, this is Bronn’s-” the guard sputtered, face starting to grow red.

“Bronn’s? Do you forget the Silver Queen rules all in this city? Is there something I need to be reporting back to the Queen herself about “Bronn's?” Dahlia leaned in close to the man and whispered something in his ear. The color drained from his face, leaving him a sickly white with tinges of green.

Dahlia stepped back from him and stood with her arms crossed, glaring directly at him. He did not meet her eyes as he backed down.

“Let them through,” he managed weakly.

The guards parted, with one moving toward the doors behind them. He started to open them up and a sliver of blue could be seen through the crack. Devin's heart leapt in his chest at the light of the beautiful open sky.

“Sir, she's covered in blood.”

Devin snapped back to the guards by the door, noting one guard still standing in the way.

“I said let them through,” the head guard said.

“Sir, we have a dead woman here and blood all over this woman. Shouldn’t we at least do something?” the woman asked, still standing in their way. A few other guards started to mumble around her, glancing at Dahlia’s blood soaked robes.

“I just came from the Cell and have four bloodied prisoners in tow. Why do you think I am covered in blood?”

The lead guard glared at the woman who had spoken up with unmasked fury. She still remained defiant.

“But what about her?” she pointed toward the desk. Devin glanced toward the desk, wondering who in the world she was talking about. Dahlia glanced over and met the guards eyes, “No idea.”

“Now, Captain I presume?” The lead guard nodded. “Just know this will be reported to the Silver Queen. I am not used to such… difficulties in doing my work. Keep your guards in line and get out of my way.”

“Right away, Argenti.” The captain grabbed the woman by the arm and drug her away. Devin almost felt bad for the punishment she was sure to receive, but right now it was them or him. She was just a worker for Bronn, but didn’t deserve the horrific things awaiting her for doing her job and trying to stop them.

Dahlia looked back at the group and jerked her head toward the door.

“All right, let's move it,” Shia gave Devin a shove in the back, pushing him forward. He almost glared back at her before remembering to appear meek. He didn't say anything, but hunched his shoulders slightly and started to walk forward, still holding Murton. His hand was aching fiercely, lighting rods of pain radiating through his arm from his severed fingers.

They followed Dahlia through the now open doors into fresh air. A slight breeze rustled through perfectly manicured trees and brushed Devin’s face, caressing him like a long lost lover finally returning home. He closed his eyes and allowed himself the briefest escape as they trudged along a cobblestone path.

When he opened them again, he was surprised to see the compound gates looming near them. They were already open and another guard stood in a smart salute directed at Dahlia. She gave him a nod as they started to walk through the gates.

The town of Mossglenn Depot was right there. He couldn't believe it! They had made it out of the dungeon and back into the town outside Bronn’s compound. Just a few more steps and they would be completely out. They still had to get away from the compound, but this was the home stretch, the final part of their escape.

His heart leapt violently when he heard someone call out, “Who in all the hells are you?!”

He turned to the left and nearly fell over. A group of three real Argenti were walking up the road towards them. The one in the center was walking quickly, her face contorted into a mask of fury. Small swirls of purple energy were beginning to form around her right arm, which she kept low.

“Shit,” Teryn said, “An arcane mage.”

“Run.” Dahlia said flatly. The group hesitated for a moment. The guards by the gate were peeking around their corner at the Argenti now approaching at a brisk walk. They looked back at the fake Argenti with visible consternation.

“Run!” This time Dahlia shouted it as she turned away from the Argenti and started to take off into a nearby alleyway.

“Griff, grab Murton!” Devin called. Griff dropped the board, letting Murton fall to the ground before swooping down and tossing him over his shoulder.

“Easy ya big brute!” Murton grumbled.

The rest of the group followed Dahlia as the guards started to shout after them to stop. They made a quick turn into the alleyway and saw Dahlia waiting about halfway down, beckoning them forward with an urgent wave.

As they reached her she turned down another alleyway to their right and kept running. Devin approached the turn and a ripple of purple energy whipped past him, humming with a dangerous crackling sound. Shia yelped and ducked, the energy narrowly missing her.

“Quickly now!” Dahlia hissed at the two stragglers, beckoning them down the alleyway. The group fled into the maze like alleys that interspersed the richer side of town. Those with money wanted everything to work perfectly and exactly to their liking, but did not want to see that happening. They expected it to just happen at their whims and demands. Hence, the creation of an intricate network of small pathways and tunnels for all the serving folks to quickly traverse the town and supply what their clients and masters demanded, all without being seen. Physical labor was deemed unsightly by many on this side of the river.

Devin shook his head at the stupidity of this as he ran around the corner Dahlia was beckoning. Couldn’t they see the problems this network would create? It allowed backdoor access into nearly everything on this side of the river. He understood why Bronn had created his own walled off compound, safe from the prying ears and eyes of the spies and workers that walked these every day.

Another hiss of purple electric energy whipped past him as he slowed for another corner.

“Two lefts, three rights, and one left,” Dahlia called from behind him. He glanced back to see her slowing around the corner, pushing herself against the wall.

“What are you doing?” he hissed.

“Buying you time. Follow my instructions, you’ll duck into a brick wall with one imperfect brick. The elf and farm girl will know what I mean. Now go!”

Devin hesitated for a moment as the orc glared at him. “Go!” she said again and he turned to flee. He took the next left and found the rest of the group loitering about, anxiously bouncing on their toes. All except Murton, who was red faced and rambling off curses at Griff as he bounced him on his wide shoulders.

“One more left, three rights, then one left. We will go into an imperfect brick wall?” He looked over to Teryn and Shia to see them both nodding. “She said you’d understand that.”

“Is she coming with us?” Teryn asked, glancing behind Devin.

“I think she’s trying to distract or hold them off. We have to trust she will make it.” Devin said.

A sizzle of electrical energy sounded behind them followed by a sharp yelp. The group glanced towards Daisy as one at the noise.

She shrugged, “Didn’t sound like her.”

“Let's move!” Devin said and started down the narrow alleyway. Buildings walled in on either side, giving just enough room for one person to make it through. Griff barely fit, his arms occasionally scraping on the smooth stonework of either side. With each scrape he made no noise, however, Murton made enough for the both of them.

“Watch where you walk ya big burly bastard, each bump on your hams you call arms means a jolt for my broken body!”

They followed Dahlia’s directions, turning left, then right three times, then a final left, before arriving in an alleyway that looked nearly the same as all the others they had been running down. The only difference was this one was made of brick, a stark contrast to the limestone buildings they had been running down.

“Where is the imperfect brick?” Devin asked, looking around wildly. The walls beside him were all imperfect. The colors ran the gamut of reds, from a burnt deep red to freshly laid bright reds. Each seemed to be a slightly different size than all the rest on top of the variety of colors. Even the mortar between each brick was slightly different.

“Everyone look for an imperfect brick!” he called out. Griff dropped Murton onto his feet as the three women started to go over the wall. Shia and Teryn were running their hands over the wall quickly, pushing slightly as they did.

“The last place was an illusion, allowing us to walk right through what seemed like a solid wall,” Teryn explained when she caught Devin looking at her in a bewildered fashion. They ran along the wall on both sides, finding nothing but impassable brick.

Growing distraught with every passing second, Devin kept looking around wildly. The sounds of magic being released and guards shouting was starting to catch up to them. They echoed through the narrow and twisting alleys, making it impossible to tell exactly how close they were, though they were getting louder. A knot tightened in his stomach as he imagined the real Argenti appearing around the corner into their alleyway and seizing them. What Murton, Griff, himself, and Daisy had faced in Bronn’s dungeon was child's play compared to what the Silver Queen's personal mages would do.

The rest of the group was pushing on and touching every brick they could get their hands on. Devin saw Shia was the only one who did not seem panicked. She stood slightly off to the side, just before another turn in the alleyways, with her hand under her chin and other arm across her stomach, staring at the wall. He walked over to her.

“What are you doing?” he said, looking over the wall she was staring at. Around waist height sat a perfect brick. It was the perfect color of red for a brick, with the exact amount of mortar needed, and was a perfect rectangle. Devin had no experience in any sort of building, but looking at this brick he felt it was just right. The most perfect brick in the world.

“In a wall full of imperfect bricks, would the perfect one be the imperfect brick?” Shia asked him, her eyes never leaving the brick. She reached out slowly and pressed with one finger in the center of the brick.

Nothing happened.

As Devin sighed, preparing to resign himself to fight to death here, in the back alleys of the rich, rather than become a prisoner of the Silver Queen, Shia gasped slightly. His head whipped toward the brick. It was glowing slightly, but growing brighter with each passing second. A small indentation appeared, the shape and size of a finger pad.

Shia reached down and pressed her finger into the indentation. The glowing flashed red for a brief second, then returned to the soft white light. She tried again, frowning, only to have it do the exact same thing.

“Let me try,” Devin said and he reached over. He slid his finger into the indentation. It felt slightly too large for him and flashed red at him too.

“It’s got to be a lock or something, looking for a specific person or pressure or something,” Shia said.

Devin nodded, “I think you’re right.”

“What did Dahlia say about this?”

“Nothing, she just said it would be here and you and Teryn would know what to look for.”

“We just walked into the other one,” Shia looked around, trying to find something else. “We walked up to it and she just let us in…” She furrowed her brows, thinking back.

“Wait!” she exclaimed. “I think she pressed a brick like this one. We need someone who can get in to press it.”

“She isn’t here with us though, who could get in? Should we try Teryn maybe?” Devin asked.

“We can, but if I can't get in, Teryn likely can't either. We didn't do anything that I know of that would enable us to get past this magical lock.”

They both sat in silence for a moment. Devin looked back over the group. Murton was still trying to admonish Griff for bumping into the walls and jostling him on their run while Griff stood stoically, taking the verbal abuse. Devin suspected he saw a small hint of a smile under Griff’s passive face.

Teryn and Daisy were both down the alley a short way, peeking around corners to try to get any sightings of their pursuers or see what had happened to Dahlia. The sounds of magic and the clash of weapons had faded, leaving an uncomfortable silence in the still air.

Devin looked back toward Shia with a large smile on his face. He saw she had the same grin and nodded to him.

“Daisy,” they said together.