The elf sat in the cell, the same as she had for the past months. It had been... two weeks since she found the note? No, was it closer to three now? Since then it had just been the same daily routine as always, sitting in the cell and waiting. Nothing new from the note's author, no sign that anything would change, nothing. The dark mage came once a day to give her and the humans just enough food and water they didn't die, occasionally accompanied by the creature. She was beginning to doubt her sanity after so long staring at the same stone walls. She had even tried talking to the humans, though it had soon proven useless.

She was beginning to think it may have been a ploy by the dark mage to break her. That he had given her a way out, a little piece of hope, and that nothing would come of it. It was a trick, either for the mage's amusement or to strip away her last vestiges of hope that rescue may be coming. As much as she hated to admit defeat, it was beginning to work. The a few weeks of her hope slowly draining away had been harder for her than a month of waiting for a chance to escape.

During another long night of simply waiting, a sound caught her attention, a small creak coming from the direction of the cell's door. Her eyes snap towards it, shocked to see the door hanging open. Once she regained her composure she lunged towards the door, towards freedom... only to have her shackles suddenly stop her, the chain attaching them to the wall pulled taught. After a quick glance to make sure the humans were still asleep, she took a step back to consider the situation. In the months of being trapped in this dungeon she had tried more than a few times to break or slip free from the shackles to no avail, and there was no reason to think that she would be able to now. So what would she d-

Plink. Her eyes darted towards the sound, spotting the key that had come to rest next to her foot. It had a small scrap of parchment tied to it with a scrap of twine, which she unfolded to reveal a short note.

The key to your shackles. Follow.

It was certainly succinct, but it was more than enough to get the point across. She unlocked her shackles, reveling in the feeling of the weight falling away after such a long time, and began walking towards the cell's exit to thank her savior. When she reached the door she was more than a little confused to find nobody there. Glancing down the hall outside she barely noticed a cloaked figure standing in the shadows at the end. Upon noticing her they gestured for her to follow before rounding the corner out of sight. She glanced the other way down the hall, seeing nothing particularly interesting, then hurried to follow the figure.

After so long chained to a wall with little to do for exercise it was difficult to run or even walk quickly, making it impossible to catch up with the cloaked figure. She had tried calling for it to slow down to little effect, and quickly come to the conclusion that her only choices where to follow them to the best of her ability or stumble around at random until she either found an exit or collapsed. Following the figure seemed the better choice for the time being. While doing just that, she began to notice that the figure seemed a bit... off. They limped terribly on one leg, then after a few steps the other, stumbling and pushing off the wall to stay upright. It almost seemed as if they were having more trouble than she was.

After a time the cloaked figure paused before a door, pulling it open and slipping inside. The elf followed them in, pausing at the sight of the figure holding down the dark mage on the bed. the mage straggled and shouted, demanding that the figure release him, but the figure simply stood there. Stood unnaturally still, not moving an inch save when jostled by the mage's struggles, making no move to further restrain or kill the mage. She stumbled into the room, coming to a stop beside the bed. On the beside table sat a piece of parchment with two simple words written on it, and... a bone. A bone with the end crudely sharpened into a blade.

Kill him.

The elf's hands shook as she picked up the bone, almost without thought. She glanced from it to the dark mage then back, not moving for the moment, unsure of herself. Everything seemed to slow as her mind raced, trying to decide what she should do. She wanted the mage dead, but... How would her brother react if he heard she had killed another person? How would the rest of her village? Her parents at the side of the Great Spirits? Even if it was someone like the dark mage they would surely banish her...

She had a strange feeling of detachment, as if she was simply watching someone else doing things. She began to notice details of the scene before her, such as the dark mage's eyes widen as he stared at the bone in her hands. The saw the thin black tentacles extending from the sleeves of the figure's cloak, wrapping around the mage's throat and wrists. She felt as if that sight should shock her. She noticed that the figure stood unusually still, save for where its arms were jostled by the dark mage's struggles. It didn't shift its weight or look to see why she had paused, it just held the mage and waited. Finally, she saw herself begin to raise the sharpened bone, a small part of her mind wondering why she was doing it. After a moment she realized, she had made her choice. Once more feeling in control of her own body she raised the bone above her head.

Then she slammed it down through the dark mage's eye.