Alarmed by what had happened, they now had to make an even greater effort to enter the prison cells inside the fortress. It wasn't only about rescuing the woman who had helped them and the rest of the prisoners; now, they also had to save the Akajsi girl.

The path through the stone corridors seemed to spiral further and further down into the subsoil of the place. The area was protected, and Ronan must have led Fynn as they went.

"One step at a time..." was Ronan's mantra repeatedly recited between whispers.

It was almost as if they were sliding along the ground; Ronan was making sure Fynn didn't make any noise, holding the boy's armor scales.

Amidst sleepwalking guards who wished they were in their beds and screaming prisoners who helped cover their footsteps, they advanced to the disbelief and indifference of many of the imprisoned.

"There's somebody here!" shouted one of the prisoners accused of robbery. Naturally, they paid no attention to them at that hour and with an annoying guard.

"Shut your mouth!" shouted one of the guards once again.

Door after door, they continued to advance.

"Do you know where we're going?" asked Fynn of his mentor and who he was following.

"No, but I'm following the scent," Ronan expressed.

"Scent?"

"Yes, one of the order priests was carrying bular incense with him, don't you sense it?"

"I sense too many smells in here,'' Fynn expressed disgust at the cells' horrible odor.

Ronan shook his head.

"The bular plant is used for ceremonies, and in concentrated doses, it's used for torture."

Ronan stepped through the threshold of another door, and behind him, the boy followed. Each time, the rooms became emptier and emptier and thus more hidden from the eye of those who had to make sure that nothing terrible happened.

Down there, no one would hear the cries of the traitors.

At the other end of the room, Yue stood far away with her bow and an arrow at the ready. The yellow eyes of the one speaking to her lit up a corner, but she didn't seem to do anything else from there.

"I don't understand why you get so upset, akajsi girl," a purring voice was heard to say in the darkness. "There's no need to exalt yourself like that."

"Shut your mouth!" the girl spat. "Show yourself if you don't want to get an arrow stuck in you."

"If you can't see me properly, whispers shouldn't be so accurate. Am I right?" asked the voice.

The girl hesitated a moment, then readied her arrow. But, just as the voice told her, the whispers that helped her shoot her arrows before, and had now sent her through the wall, weren't there.

"It can't be..." expresses the girl to herself.

Then, the eyes closed, and the cell was now only dark. The light from the torches in the farthest corridor barely illuminated the girl's surroundings, and the light from outside had almost vanished with the moon's passing.

Soon, Yue heard a purring sound in the darkness again, and almost without noticing, a hand rushed to her face.

Unprepared, she fell to the ground, releasing her arrow, which impacted the stone wall.

"A slow akajsi, quite unknown..." voiced the voice, laughing softly.

The marked girl raised her gaze and was petrified to see what was in front of her. A giant cat, or a very furry human, stood before her, staring at her with its yellowish eyes fixedly.

"Now yes, I think we can talk like civilized creatures, don't you think?"

The girl observed him and slowly moved her hand to her knife, ready to use it.

"What are you?" asked Yue in a defensive tone.

"A cat with few lives or a human with little luck. And you, akajsi girl, You're not an akajsi girl, are you?"

Yue watched him in confusion and stepped backward on the ground.

"I have no intention of hurting a marked one. Attacking one would only get me in trouble. So, you need not fear me. Unless you're afraid of cats, then you can be afraid."

"How the hell are you a cat, and you talk?" asked Yue, annoyed.

"How on earth can you be an akajsi without being an akajsi? In both cases, the answer may be magic." The purring-voiced feline extended his furry hand to her. "I am Asmund. Yue is the name you've been given, isn't it?"

Yue didn't accept the hand, and she stood up on her own. "What are you doing here?"

"This cat is just wasting time since three nights ago, when my disguise ran out," the cat man expressed, "You?"

"Helping a friend rescue someone."

"This cat think that doesn't look like the plan is going very well," expressed the cat with teasing sincerity. "Is it because of the newcomers? The so-called 'traitors'?"

"Have you seen them?" asked Yue.

"Maybe, maybe not. Asmund maybe just heard a bunch of humans shrieking, begging for mercy. Or it was just my imagination."

"You're such a pain..." the akajsi girl bellowed through her teeth.

"Who's there?" a guard was heard shouting. Yue hid in the darkness but soon heard that it wasn't her they were looking for.

"Quiet, boy," a hushed voice was heard to speak.

"Freeze, don't take another step!" the militia member ordered once more as a weapon was heard being drawn.

After a quick clash of weapons, Yue and Asmund heard a sharp thud and a loud groan from the soldier.

"Did you kill him?" a young voice was heard to say.

"No, but he'll be sore from now."

"Fynn, Ronan!" cried Yue, clinging to the bars.

Fynn heard her friend and quickly went to where she felt her voice.

Ronan followed, but not before grabbing one of the torches. So he could light up the place.

"What is that?!" cried Fynn, surprised.

The feline, now clearly visible, observed the boy behind bars, "A cat with few lives, or a human with bad luck..."

"The cat can talk..." he expressed in amazement.

"Oh, what the hell are you doing here?" asked Ronan, annoyed.

"Ah, the man from Vilna is back," expressed Asmund, leaning against the bars.

"Do you know him?" asked Yue.

"Yes, we could say that I do. I thought from Lastrel you would travel east to Soramel, Asmund."

"Change of plans, is not Asmund's fault." expressed the feline with a smile.

"Mhhhh, there's a cat in the cage here; we should leave it here..." joked Ronan.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that..."

"We have to hurry!" shouted Yue. "He said they took the prisoners to torture."

"Heh, knowing him, surely they must be at a banquet," retorted Ronan in allusion to that lying cat.

"You can corroborate it yourself; they're down the hall, down a staircase. Asmund heard them being dragged down it..."

"Fynn, open the door," Ronan ordered. However, he soon stopped the boy, "But only do it if this cat here swears to help us."

"Asmund swear," the feline expressed smilingly.

"And by help, I mean you'll escape from here, drawing the attention of the local guard while we sneak away. You'll do it right now once I open the damn door; do you hear me, Cat?"

"Always so specific; You're boring, man of Vilna. Nevertheless, Asmund has no other alternatives..."

Fynn then opened the door, and with both prisoners outside, everything seemed to be back on track.

"The keys, give them to Asmund," the cat extended his hand to the boy.

"Okay?" Fynn handed them over, intrigued.

"Asmund will make a bait by releasing prisoners. Asmund hope you don't mind..."

"With pleasure," Ronan said.

"This cat hope we meet again under better circumstances, marked children. Ronan, a pleasure to see you again."

The cat man quickly pulled the hood of his attire back on and dashed towards the exit of the place, not uttering a sound at every step he took, losing himself in his escape.

"What was that, and why does he know you?" asked Yue.

"A familiar. A magician's familiar cat. It's a long story," Ronan explained without much interest, urging the children on their way.

The last hidden door of the prison, leading down the stairs to a much more hidden enclosure, where the screams of the unfortunate could not be heard, was their final destination.

Step by step, the group of marked ones descended, encountering empty cells or bones along the way.

"Those bones..." Fynn was alarmed and expressed it hesitantly.

"Don't look at them; concentrate," her friend caught the boy's attention, encouraging him from behind to move forward.

Finally, the screams of agony of men and women were a helpful guide in that place. The lamps illuminated a big dungeon where the sullied traitors were tortured; fire and burning metals, blows and threats, cuts and sensorial tortures. All that made Fynn and Yue's chest bristle, especially the boy, who had finally realized its magnitude.

Fynn wanted to move forward, but Ronan held him back in that hiding place out of the light of the enclosure.

"You're both aware of what's in there, aren't you?" muttered Ronan.

"Those people, they're suffering because of us?" asked Fynn.

"Not only bu you; It's not the first or the last time something like this will happen..."

"How are we going to do this?" asked Yue.

"You guys won't do anything. I'll be right back," said Ronan before coming out of hiding.

The kids tried to stop him, but the trickster had already walked away from them with a new face. Ronan now wore the clothing and look of a member of the White Flame.

Amidst the screams, the Vilna trickster charged at those preparing the tongs over a fire to continue torturing the men and women, pushing him over it.

The man fell over the cauldron of fire, where his tabard and armor began to burn and heat up, thus hearing the horrible shrieks of pain from that person.

"What are you doing!" shouted one of the men.

With an almost whispering scream, much of the lights in the compound went out, the only ones lit being the cauldron and a few torches that did not succumb to that quick gust of wind that whipped through the place.

Losing himself among the acolytes, Ronan stabbed as many of them as possible with his knives before taking on the guise of another one of them again to continue the confusion.

"It's him!" shouted one of the members of the order, who stabbed without premeditation at that priest. Little did they know that the one who had given a shout was the assassin himself.

A couple of acolytes managed to turn the lights back on and thus, catch a glimpse of the assailant. While Ronan ended the life of another of the acolytes, one charged toward him with a sword in hand.

Ronan didn't even notice it, but the guy was dragged against a wall when he did.

Fynn had charged against the acolyte of the White Flame with a sword in hand, stabbing and driving him to the wall, taking his life in that instant. Fynn was aware of what he had done for the first time, and as he watched that person's life vanish, he knew there was no turning back.

Yue came out of hiding with her bow in hand. When one of the order members tried to attack her friend, she pierced his neck with an arrow; neither of them would still be innocent after that. Then, with no word, she pulled out her throwing knives from the breastplate of her armor and threw them accurately into the slits of his helmet.

The man screamed as he was blinded by the maneuver, and Ronan rushed up behind him to put him out of his misery.

Within seconds, a dozen men lay dead on the ground. The surprise effect had been a success.

"Are you all right?" asked Ronan to the kids, panting as adrenaline pumped through his body.

Fynn stepped away from the man he killed, withdrawing his sword from his body. The boy drew in a shaky breath, but his mind and eyes soon sought out the torture survivors.

"Idda? Are you here?" he asked insistently, dreading the sight of the girl's reddish hair amidst the burned bodies.

Shackled back and others to the walls, the witnesses watched in disbelief as their abusers were slaughtered. They were pools of blood still flowing across the floor before their feet.

"Idda?" insisted Fynn again.

Yue helped his friend search for Idda among the prisoners.

Soon, she found her.

"Fynn!" shouted the girl.

The girl had been hit numerous times, and her body bore several bruises and marks. However, she was still alive.

"Idda!" cried Fynn in desperation, reaching where Yue had found her. The girl was breathing heavily, but her eyes opened, and in her blurred gaze, she managed to notice the presence of both children.

"Is that you?" she asked with difficulty, "come out of the stable. There's still time..."

The raving from the pain was intense. Many were in the same state, stammering from the pain, while few were those who retained their strength.

"Whoever can carry someone, help us. There's a distraction," Ronan pointed out as he opened or broke shackles. "Come on, we still have to get out of here."