Kyle and Akora stood before the fortress gate. They took a moment to admire it all. Hundreds of thousands of stone bricks, the finest reinforced iron gates, windows wide enough to launch arrows and see, but narrow enough to lessen the chance of a loss on their side. How much blood had been spilt defending the fort, and trying to claim it?

"Well, this is it." Kyle took in the sight again. They had tried to spot potential weak points on the walk down, but nothing was obvious near the front. "Do you have any ideas?"

Akora scanned the gate much slower. "Are you alright to stand?"

He nodded, and she let go.

Akora stepped closer to the iron gate. Her gaze was at the ground, and she didn't lift her feet. She stepped forward with a slow sweep of the leg, toes to the ground, like a ballerina in the beginning of a show. She gripped the iron in her hands. The bars were crisscrossed, and the square gaps between were too small for a person, no matter how small, to squeeze through. She put her hands beneath two bars and pulled them upward, but did not have the intent to lift. "There's no traps leading up to the gate," she reported, "and this gate isn't going anywhere." She peered through the bars. "But even if we could get through here, I don't know if using the front door is the smartest way for us to enter. Let's take a walk around."

The two walked lightly around the fort. Not a sound came from within. Somehow, that was more terrifying than the alternative. They rounded to the back where they discovered a frozen lake.

Akora stopped to look at it for a moment. It wasn't very big, and was a few feet below them, with a ten or fifteen foot cliff leading down. Unlike the frozen lake they crossed to get here, there was no snow on the ice. She approached the cliff, then peered over. "I think we just found our way in."

Kyle sidled up next to her. He got down on his belly, knowing full well he would not be able to get back up, and looked down. There was nothing out of the ordinary he could see. "What are you talking about?"

Akora stood back up and helped him to his feet. "Come on. Let me show you." They walked along the cliff until it sloped down towards the lake. They tested the surface first before putting their full weight on it. It was very thick, but it was also very slick. Akora gripped the rocks of the cliff wall. "I'd recommend you do as I do," she said. She held as much of her weight as she could on the rocks, keeping it off the ice and therefore putting less pressure on her feet. She shuffled along, hand over hand, towards the center of the cliff. Kyle followed suit. He didn't have the most upper body strength, but thankfully there was not a lot of him. He sidled along the ice, slipping every now and then, but catching himself with the rocks. Runt and Sasha did not have any problems crawling across.

Akora paused in the center of the cliff. She pointed down to a mess of mud and rock. "Do you see that?"

Kyle took a closer look. "What am I looking at?"

She knelt down and pointed at a patch of dirt. "Do you see how smooth this is?"

Kyle took another look. All around, the dirt had been fairly undisturbed; it just sat in its lumpy piles, undisturbed from the position the little ripples in the lake had given it. But there was a patch where the dirt was almost smooth. "Now I do."

Akora felt around the dirt, keeping her focus on one large rock. "Our forts are like this back home. We almost always have a secret entrance, and sometimes, underground water makes the perfect secret tunnel." She wiggled the rock. It moved a millimeter in either direction. Kyle eyed the top of the cliff nervously. He glanced back and forth at Akora as she pulled, freeing the rock from its earthy tomb inch by inch. She bit her lip to keep from grunting, at least not too loud. Kyle prepared to throw himself on top of her to push her out of the way if the cliff came down, but it never did. The rock slid out of its space, revealing a small tunnel, just as Akora had predicted. "And there it is. The perfect secret tunnel."

Kyle got down on his knees. The darkness made it impossible to see very fat, but from what he could see, there was, in fact, an opening. Not really thinking, he crawled in. His hands and knees sank into the shallow, dry mud. "It's really dark," he whispered.

Akora crawled in after. "Yep. Now don't say a word. Sound can travel for miles in tunnels like these." She nudged the back of his leg. "Guess I'll take up the rear." She backed out of the tunnel, letting a little precious light fill the space in the tunnel. There were strange patterns in the mud, but it was too dark to make them out. The light disappeared again as Runt crawled in, his little paws reaching out from under his shaggy fur. Sasha was next. Though the tunnel was small, she could still fit. Akora came in last. She dragged the rock back into place, sealing it as tightly and quietly as possible. There was the scraping of rock against rock, then silence. They were entombed in darkness. Runt nudged the back of Kyle's leg. Kyle took a few deep, quiet breaths, and then pressed on into the unknown. The mud turned into dirt fairly quickly, although there was consistently a dampness to it. He reached forward, one hand in front of the other, pulling himself through the dirt, searching for a door or some way out of the dark. He wanted to ask Akora what to do, but she had warned him not to say a word. And so, he persisted in silence. Finally, his knuckles brushed up against a flat wooden surface.

They had reached the end.

He took another breath. Runt's nose nudged the bottom of his foot. Had he been alone, he would have stayed to take another breath, but everyone else was surely ready to get out of this dank tunnel. He pushed slowly on the wood, listening for a creaking or a sound on the other side. He peered out into the room. All around them were overturned barrels, but there was no sign of guards. No sign of any life for that matter. He pushed open the door the rest of the way and crawled out into the room to get a better look. As he hoped, there was nothing. "Okay," he whispered into the tunnel, "it's clear."

Runt and Sasha leapt out of the tunnel, the pads of their paws cushioning their footfalls. They stretched their bodies out and shook their fur. Akora was the last one out. "Good job," she said. "I was convinced you'd give up and need me to take over."

"Thanks," he said. He looked back around the room. The floor was cobblestone, and the only furniture were the overturned barrels. They had masking tape with dates and labels on them, some of it peeling off. It must have been a storage room.

Akora knelt on the ground. "The floor doesn't seem too scuffed, at least not from anything more than damage taken over time. They must haven't had time to clean up since whenever this back entrance was used last." She looked up to the wooden door. There was a beam resting beside it, perhaps to lock the door and slow down pursuers. "I wonder if our friends were dragged through this way? But if so, why?" She took slow, cautious steps towards the door. She opened it a crack and peered out. "It's clear. Follow me quickly and quietly."

Kyle did as he was told. He followed Akora out of the room, leaning on the walls for support. Runt and Sasha stalked behind them, ears pointed back and snouts shifting from the ground to the air. The door opened directly into a hallway. It reminded him of the halls at the Academy. He scanned the corners for any spying spiders, like the ones back home. He wanted to give Akora the heads-up, but he had to stay quiet. She would know.

They came to another door a short way away. Akora peered inside, then waved at him to follow. They entered what appeared to be a bedroom. There was a cot draped with blankets pushed against one wall with a nightstand on one side and a chest at the foot. To their left was a cluttered desk, and to their right was a plain wardrobe with one drawer beneath the doors. Akora pointed to the wardrobe and hissed a command under her breath, "Seek!" Runt slipped through the door and ran up to the wardrobe. His steps were silent, save for the muffled scraping of his claws against the stone. Sasha also muscled her way in, focusing more on a dirty plate on the desk than... well, whatever Akora was hunting.

"What are you doing?" Kyle asked in a hushed voice.

Akora pushed the door shut, save for a crack to listen for noises on the outside. "I'm thinking your friends, as you call them, might be in a dungeon, but I'd rather be thorough just in case he's trying some kind of experiment as you described."

Just as she finished explaining, Runt sat himself before the wardrobe and cast a glance at her.

"There's something inside!"

Kyle crept towards the wardrobe and pulled the doors open. He feared what he might find on the inside. In the back, nestled between stacks of folded clothes and behind hanging shirts and coats, was a writhing mass. He froze until he saw the needle-like teeth and beady yellow eyes.

It was Drake, limbs bound to his body with tape.

"It's Dra-"

"Shhh!"

Kyle pushed the doors closed and crept back to Akora. A voice and a set of footsteps echoed down the hallway. "-the only one! The only one they didn't take and he's the one I needed!" Even though it had been so long, Kyle still recognized the voice. It was the old man.

"Well, I'm sorry!" another voice hissed. "I would have double checked if someone hadn't plucked out my eyes!"

The old man growled. Their shadows crawled across the walls.

Akora turned to Kyle and mouthed, "Hide!" and covered her eyes to make what she meant clear. She ushered Sasha under the desk and Runt under the bed, then tucked herself into the chest. Kyle clambered up into the wardrobe and held Drake tight. Although their last one-on-one session had not been the most pleasant, Drake was glad to see a familiar face. While not calm, he stopped struggling in Kyle's grip. Kyle kept the door to the wardrobe open a crack to hear and see what was happening on the other side.

The old man's voice continued to flow down the hallway, "I know! I know. I'm sorry. I'm just a little frustrated is all. This is the closest I've been in fifty years, and for them to screw up that badly!" He sighed. "Well, regardless. I have the others. Maybe it won't be so different. Maybe I'll finally figure it out. I hope so. If not, hopefully the scouts I sent out will find him and bring him here. I need that to work. I don't know if I'll make it through next winter, and I want to see her again before I go."

Her?

The old man yawned. "I'm tired now. Can't believe they botched the job that badly... I need to rest. Take Mr. Turncoat to his room." Not a moment later, the door opened and the old man shuffled in. Kyle caught a fleeting glimpse of the birdman, head wrapped in a bandage, as he walked down the hall with two Ivory Horns at his side. Thankfully, he only saw the back of his head. Surely if he saw the bloody bandages he would scream. He turned his attention to the old man, shuffling across the room, so stiff and tired it was almost robotic. He leaned back and away from the door. The cot creaked as the old man lowered himself in. There was a rustling of the blankets, more creaking as he tried to find a comfortable position, groaning from all the movement, and finally a relative quiet as he switched into a more relaxed, but still labored breathing. Without an opponent, it was almost sad listening to him struggle. But he had taken Kyle's friends for an unknown reason. Drake was in the wardrobe, and wherever he was, Sean would surely be pitching a fit. The old man was torturing students, and for what? To get the attention of some long-lost friend, family member, or lover? Someone who had moved on? Or worse, was he trying to raise her from the dead? He was not a good man. He deserved no sympathy.

The group waited. And waited. And waited. It felt like an eternity of sitting there, waiting for him to fall asleep. Finally the old man's breath became deep and steady. They waited a few minutes longer just to be sure. Then, the chest opened and Akora crawled out. Kyle pushed the wardrobe door open and scooted out. His legs still hurt, especially now that he had been folded up inside a wardrobe for who even knows how long. Akora put her arm under his shoulders once again. Runt crawled out from under the bed and stared up at Drake, excited to see another Familiar. Had Sasha not eaten the last scraps of the old man's breakfast, he would surely have given him an offering. Sasha, speaking of her, was wiggling her way out from under the desk. It was amazing how the old man missed her, but nobody was complaining. They all crept to the door and out into the hallway, where they broke into a quiet sprint to take them as far from the room as they could. When they stopped, they found themselves before a staircase on the right, and a double door on the left, concealed in part behind shadows.

"That should lead to the dungeon," Akora said. "The design of this fortress is pretty similar to the ones back home."

Kyle opened one of the doors with his free hand. Drake was squirming, eager to get going. Sean must have been nearby. "But you're from a different world, right?"

She shrugged. "It seems like there's no barrier we can't cross. But if my hunch is right, then we're going to have to come back out and around. There's no way a secret exit is going to be put in a dungeon unless a captive dug it themselves."

He nodded slowly as he peered into the dark stairwell. Out of habit he expected wall torches to rush to meet him, but of course, none came. There was, however, a distant muffled scream that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Drake thrashed violently. Kyle had been picking at the tape as they snuck around, but had yet to get it off. At this point, he considered himself lucky; if Drake's sharp claws had been free, they would have torn Kyle's hands to ribbons. He held the Familiar close to his chest and took the first step into the darkness.

"Wait!" Akora whispered harshly. "Aren't you worried about falling? You still can't walk very well."

Kyle peered deeper into the darkness. He had no idea if there were five steps, or five hundred steps. Akora was right. It could potentially be a nasty fall.

Akora stepped in front of him. "I'll go first. Runt, hang onto him."

The wolf took the end of Kyle's sweatshirt in his mouth and pulled gently. There was still a bit of give, but there was a noticeable force pulling him back.

Akora then pat her side and Sasha came lumbering up beside her. "We'll break your fall. Runt is going to try and keep that from happening."

Kyle nodded. He clutched Drake closer to his chest. The drake's sharp, curved claws snagged his sweatshirt. He was relieved the old man had not confiscated a noisier Familiar. Akora took the first steps down. Despite the slow, deliberate motions, her footfalls echoed. In just a few steps, the shadows swallowed her and Sasha completely. The only thing letting him know she was still there was the soft echo. He took the first step. His legs were less wobbly now, but he still had to lean against the wall for extra support. He was glad to have Runt hanging onto him. Just a few steps later, he, too, was shrouded in darkness so thick he could not even see the tip of his nose. Akora's footsteps, Drake writhing in his grasp, and Runt's tugging on his sweatshirt were the only signs that he was not alone. Those, and the muffled screams coming from below.

They reached the bottom of the staircase. Runt released his grip on Kyle's sweatshirt. The stairs had led to what must have been a hallway. Just ahead was another door, only visible from the light crawling out from under it. The muffled screaming had grown louder. They were going to find someone behind the door. Would it be Sean? Would it be everyone? Would it be some other poor soul? Would it be a specter, slain in one of the fort's battles and forced to roam the fortress forever? They were going to find something behind the door. Akora's hand wrapped around Kyle's arm. "Are you still okay?"

"Yes."

She led the way forward. The screams grew louder with each step closer. Kyle's pulse pounded. It was much too late to turn back. They had to move forward. Akora pulled the door open a crack and peered inside, just as she had done each time before. Then, they moved to the other side.

A bright light overwhelmed the two. They had to shield their eyes for a moment while they adjusted. A moment later, it was revealed the light wasn't actually very bright at all. A firefly would have been too bright after such oppressive darkness. Before them was a round room lined with iron bars. In the center of the room was a pillar with four torches around it. Despite such meager flames, the room was warmer than the rest of the fort, though not by much. It was then that Kyle realized, the room was lined with iron bars! Without a second thought, he followed the bars until he spotted someone inside. It was Elvia, resting on a bed of hay, staring into the void with Skitter-Scamp curled up at her side.

"Elvia!" he called in a whisper.

Consciousness snapped back into Elvia's eyes. She rolled onto her stomach. Her hopeless expression lit up to excitement. "Kyle!"

There then came a choir of "Kyle!" all around him. "It's really you!" "How did you find us?" "Can you even get us out of here?" But there was one muffled voice in the mix. He couldn't make out what it was saying, but he did recognize it as the voice he heard from the top of the stairs. The screaming had stopped. Whoever it was had calmed down. He scanned the cells until he spotted the only person who had not come to greet him.

It was Sean, blindfolded, gagged, and bound to a chair.

Kyle rushed over to him. "Sean!" he called. Sean turned his head towards Kyle. "We're here to get you all out!"

Sean let out a muffled sigh.

Kyle pulled the tape off Drake's hind legs, and unhooked his claws from his sweatshirt. Before Kyle could undo the next strip, Drake launched himself from Kyle's hands and scurried across the floor. The drake then chomped at the rope binding Sean's hand to the chair, biting and tearing at the thick twine, pulling out chunks of frizz.

"Is there a key somewhere?"

"Yes," Asim said. "It's behind you on the pillar. Poor old man keeps it down here, probably afraid he'll forget it somewhere."

Kyle retrieved the key and unlocked the door to Sean's cell, careful not to make too much noise. "Don't call him a poor old man. He locked you all away down here. This is the second time he's done this to you and Aoife." The lock clicked and the door swung open. Kyle stepped inside. "He doesn't deserve sympathy."

"That's such a heartless thing to say!" Asim argued. "Clearly, he's hurt by something, and he's trying to ease it through whatever methods are at his disposal!"

Akora growled. "You're not defendingthis guy, are you?"

"No, but I am-"

"We'll argue about this later!" Kyle hissed in a whisper. "For now, I seem to remember a certain someone telling me to keep quiet!"

Akora folded her arms and looked away. Asim only nodded in quiet compliance.

Kyle knelt beside Drake and helped him untie Sean's hand. He suffered a small bite to the hand in the process, but it was an accident. He lifted the blindfold as Sean tore off the gag and pulled what appeared to be a wadded up sock from his mouth.