Mageia gasped. How in the hell did he find us this fast?

So many questions ached her head and worry withered to her core. Whether they left the lantern behind or not, they had passed so many adjoined tunnels even an experienced person could get lost or give up on the search. She didn't know much about shadowdemons, but a terrible feeling in her gut told her the darkness in the underway must be mystical in itself to direct Sii straight to the trap door.

Whatever was the reason, Mageia knew they couldn't hide for long. Her weary mind argued against her thoughts processing what to do without getting anyone hurt. She didn't know how to use her awakened magic, so the only alternative was to fight.

Sii entered the room and Mageia slid back until her boots pressed against the wall. She felt for the dagger, prepared to stab it into the shadow's face if he peeked under the curtain.

"Hello, priest."

"I am Lord Dorian," he said. "And who are you?"

"A loyal soldier," Sii said. "I'm having the temple searched and heard you were here."

"I see. I hope you find what you're looking for," Dorian said.

"Hmm," Sii said. There was a short pause and Mageia dared to slide forward to peek. Sii still stood at the door, with a hand combing his blond curls back out of his face. "May I look around?"

"I guess so, but no one's here, unless the Strange you're looking for are invisible," Dorian said stepping aside.

"There's no one here," the knight said annoyance growing in his voice.

The shadowdemon ignored him and with a slight tilt in his shoulders he moseyed across the floor to the washroom. He burst open the door and poked his head inside. Mageia held her breath and could see Sii's shadow slithering to places on its own. A possible confirmation to her theory. The darkness speaks.

"I told you, I am alone. I was relaxing," Dorian said.

"I feel something," Sii said. Then his eyes lingered on the table and humor crawled onto his face. "Are you sure you were alone, priest?"

Sii edged towards the table and indicated the tray of food, the bowls, and the cups. At this point the calmness in Dorian's eyes wavered just a bit for the crazy sorcerer to realize he was lying. Mageia frantically thought on what to do. If Sii and his three assassins were able to slice down Lord Hercones, the temple slave, and the nurse in cold blood, what would stop him from harming Dorian?

"Priest, priest, priest," Sii taunted. "Why are there three of everything?"

Mageia moved slowly to the side as Sii's shadow grew at his feet towards the bedpost.

"I had company earlier, that's all. The slaves left when the riots started so no one came to clear the mess," the priest said.

Mageia wanted to applaud the priest for his swift tongue and casual lies. It made her wonder if this is what they taught in the Priesthood.

"You are lying," Sii said and shifted his gaze to the closet. At the same time, his shadow slithered away from Mageia and aimed towards it. Sii followed in suit and she noticed Dorian and the knight did not notice the shadow's shadow. Mageia couldn't think of anything else to do but one thing. Keep the wounded Prince safe and out of the reach of Eron.

"Wait," she called out and felt her heart leap into her throat.

Oh gods above.

Sii froze and his eyes shot in the direction of the bed. It was only when she crawled from under it when he realized the obviously clever hiding spot.

"Ah, Mageia," he said with joy.

"Gods wake me up. The Purple Thief is alive," the knight said revealing he didn't believe the rumors of her dying in flames during the Ceremony only to resurrect and cause the night sky to turn purple.

"Most Holy One, why run away from us when all we want to do is accommodate you within royal grounds," Sii said edging closer.

Mageia glared at the young man. "You know exactly why."

"Where is your royal companion? Is he in the closet?" he said jabbing a playful thumb in that direction.

"No. He's not here at all," she said.

Sii's mouth parted prepared to debate otherwise when the priest spoke.

"She's right, sir," Dorian said. "When I found them, he wanted to return to the palace. I told him where to rent a horse and he left."

"But he was injured," Sii said studying the closest then the priest.

Mageia sensed the shadowdemon knew Gris was in the closet, but she played along.

"I healed him enough to travel," Mageia said.

"You healed him?" Sii said with a perk of excitement.

"Apparently, it's something I can do now," she shrugged.

"May I ask why the Prince was injured and with her?" the knight said.

Sii sighed, staring at the closet, and shrugged. "Alright then. You must come with me, you know."

"Why don't you just leave me be?" she said now curious as to why he didn't want Gris.

"You are the most important person in the kingdom right now, my lady," Sii said closing the distance between them. "The Commander, let alone the King, has summoned you and has claimed you a special guest."

Mageia gave a dry chuckle at the lie. "Oh how sweet. No. Just turn around and leave and pretend you weren't here."

"I don't think I've made myself clear," he said and made sure his back was to the door. His next words were in a low tone for her ears only. "The priest is your friend I assume, and the knight happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time..."

As he spoke, she could see the threat behind his words. His charmed blue pupils gradually charred black as his soul and spread out into the white of his eyeballs. Black veins appeared around his eye-sockets and his haunting grin brought chills to Mageia's magical bones.

"Please don't," she said catching the fire in the chimney flickering wild.

"Then come with me and all will be left alone," he said.

"Fine. Just don't hurt anyone," she whispered.

He held out a hand and his face returned to normal. She scolded and extended an elbow.

"Good girl," he said grabbing hold. "Okay the show is over, folks."

Mageia glanced at the closet then at Dorian who gave an assuring nod as if he read her worries.

"Try not to hide anymore women under your bed priest," Sii said. "They're better on top of it."

With that Sii yanked her from the room and down the hall. The knight fell onto their trail.

"I want to bring her in with you," Ser Owen said.

Leave or he's going to kill you, she prayed, feeling for the dagger in her pocket.

"There's no need, Fair knight. If I hadn't entered, you would've allowed her to escape."

The knight grunted, obviously disappointed and annoyed.

"But this is my unit within this temple, soldier," Ser Owen said. "That means, any successes fall to me first as head commander. You on the other hand is a stray. Who is your chief knight? Halt. A superior has asked you a question."

Mageia heard Sii give a growl and came to a halt at the staircase, just as a soldier disappeared around a corner. He spun around, keeping Mageia firmly in his grip.

"Look you fool. Walk away now or you won't see the sunrise today," he said.

"He's right," Mageia said. "You need to leave."

Ser Owen's face scrunched in pure malice and his hand went to the hilt of his sword.

Sii clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"Hand the girl over now, soldier. I want to see your credentials."

"My credentials," he grinned. "Ok. I'll show you my credentials."

Time felt to slow down as Sii's eyes did its unnatural transition. The light in the hall grew darker. The air, colder. Fear and disbelief crept across the knight's face. Mageia unsnapped the dagger from its sheath, and with one strike, she jabbed it into the side of Sii's neck. The sorcerer gave an unnatural feral cry and the black magic in his face continued to spread faster now.

"Run," Mageia shouted.

The knight didn't hesitate. He shot away. Before Sii could recover and yank out the dagger, she charged at him. Gravity did not save the shadowdemon as he crashed down the stairs. Mageia did not wait to see him reach the end. She ran back to Dorian's room and was relieved to see his door was cracked.

"Dorian," she shouted, bursting in.

The priest jumped around in fright beside the closet. Apparently, he was in a whispering conversation with the Prince.

"We need to leave, now," she demanded.

With Gris partially, healed, and rejuvenated, they managed to take a secret passageway to the lower basements of the temple. Mageia didn't know where the priest was taking them, but she only hoped and prayed that Sii was dead.

Dorian brought them into a double-doored hallway that gave off a gut-wrenching odor. The odor slapped Mageia in the face hard and instantly she gagged.

She recalled waking up gasping for tough muggy air. Her wrists burned and stung when she moved them. Mouth dry and eyes puffy red, she realized what – no whom - she was sitting on and gagged. Bodies. Decapitated bodies and heads staring at her with blank expressions. Bugs buzzed close in her ears and sat on her skin. They had stripped her naked allowing grime of the unspeakable to coat her innocent body. She screamed. The smell of death forced her to vomit an empty stomach.

"Mageia?" Dorian said realizing he was holding most of Gris' weight.

"Are you okay?" Gris said.

Mageia shivered and stared at a single black curtain to the side of the short hall.

"This is the Ash Room," she said.

"Yes. How'd you know?" Dorian said.

Mageia gagged again and reclaimed her hold on Gris, not wanting to explain.

"Never mind. Come on we need to go now," she said.

They quickly exited into fresh air at the end of the hall of death, and Dorian gave his farewells. Mageia thanked him less than what he deserved and hoped to repay him kindly for his unnecessary hospitality one day. But right now, she and her royal companion needed to place distance between them and the sorcerers.

Repositioning their hoods over their heads, Mageia helped Gris disappear into the dark alleys of Midlaan. Rioters passed by them, shouting, waving objects and weapons in the air, and vandalizing whatever their hands touched. Soldiers paying no attention to Mageia and Gris ran and fought rioters on foot and horseback. They even had to step over and avoid bodies lying in puddles of blood. But eventually, they made it to the alleys leading behind Grinner Street.

A shriek of the sun's golden rays shimmered off the rooftops of rowhomes and businesses announcing a new day was quickly approaching. They walked in silence, keeping their heads low beneath their hoods. Then finally they arrived and Mageia sighed with relief.

Mageia released Gris to lean against the wall while she checked the door to see if it was unlocked. It wasn't. She assumed Trekon had locked it when the riots started. So, she grabbed the chain for the interior bell and gave it a tug. The chime echoed through the first floor and she could hear another chime upstairs.

"Come on and answer," she muttered.

"I think someone's coming," Gris said.

Mageia gasped as the shadow of a rider on horseback appeared on a wall where the alleys intersected.

"Get down," she told Gris.

They ducked behind crates and barrels just as the soldier entered the intersection. She slightly peeked and watched the soldier glare down the alley with sword in hand. Mageia whispered a prayer to the gods whether they could hear it or not. Either a soldier on patrol or a soldier under Eron's personal demands, the soldier took a minute to ponder whether to come or not. To Mageia's relief, he nudged his horse forward and continued straight.

"He's gone," Mageia said.

She went to ring the bell again and it chimed through the bakery and the upper living quarters. Then a window opened above them, and a head poked out.

"Who goes there?"

"It's me, Mageia," she said backing away from beneath the awning so he could see her.

"Great gods," she heard him grumble and closed the window.

Within minutes, her friend opened the door and ushered them in.

"Trekon," she said.

The knight blinked in disbelief, joy shining from his face. He came for her and wrapped her in his bear hug scented in sugar and dough.

"My girl, great gods. Thank you for returning her to me," Trekon said pecking kisses on top of her head.

"Trek, I bring guest," she said dying from embarrassment.

"Oh. Forgive me," he said.

A squeal came from the across the room. Lisa, Trekon's wife, looked just as excited.

"You're alive! Thank the gods," she said.

Mageia could not restrain from greeting the lovely lady of the house. She almost ran to the woman to give her a hug. Then a smaller person rammed into her side.

"Zane," she said.

The boy simply cried into her cloak. "The next time you decide to do something stupid, I will personally lock you in the cellar," he said.

"Oh, Zane," she said pecking a kiss on his head.

"Well, Mageia. Are you going to introduce us or what?" Trekon said.

Gris stood wearily at the entrance, caressing his abdomen, and tensing his shoulders.

"I'm sorry. Um. Ser Trekon Arynliit, Lisa, Zane, this is Prince Grisonce Arlon," she said.

"Prince," Trekon said eyes widening. "You've grown into a fine young man since last I saw you."

Gris gave a nod. "It's a pleasure to see you again too, Ser Arynliit."

"Please call me Trekon," he said with a half bow.

"And I Gris," he said.

"You look ill, Your Highness- Gris," Lisa said. "Zane go upstairs and start a fire in the living room and set on some tea. Trek help our guest upstairs."

The boy wisped off.

"Allow me to help you," Trekon said.

"Thank you," Gris said.

Mageia went to doublecheck the lock on the door as Lisa ran into the kitchens. She eventually followed and excited Lisa and helped her carry a tray of food and a pitcher of juice and wine to the living room.

"I want to know how you Mageia was able to resurrect from the flames?" Trekon said as she sat beside Gris on the sofa.

"Yeah that sounds awesome," Zane said.

"And painful," Mageia said unable to make a joking smile.

"You two have to tell us what happened. What brought the both of you all the way here in the state you're in," Trekon said eyes narrowing with hundreds of questions.

Mageia and Gris exchanged glances, heavy with emotion and unbearable pain. The poor prince still looked terrible and since entering the familiar warm aroma of pastries, Mageia finally felt as if she could sleep for a thousand years.

Lisa then cleared her throat, now standing at the center of the living room with blankets and pillows dropping from her arms.

"May I make a suggestion?" Lisa said.

"Yes, my love," Trekon said. Mageia noticed how he gazed at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world to him. Even in her night robe and bonnet.

"It is not difficult to see that Mageia and... Gris has gone through a lot since midnight perhaps longer," she said. "How about we allow them to eat and to rest and once they are refreshed, then it would be wise to discuss everything tomorrow?"

Everyone exchanged glances. Then smiles and nods followed.

"I'm just proud that you are alive and well and back where you belong," Trekon said taking Mageia's hand into his large ones and giving it a gentle squeeze.

Mageia shivered with unspeakable joy. "Same here, Trek. Same here."