The guard led us around several corners and seemed to be looking around a lot. Was he lost in here? These paths did all look the same. After a few minutes we were ushered into a rather small room at the end of a hallway. The room was dark with only a small window high up on the wall and no other way out but the door we had just entered. It also did not seem to be a waiting room, as the only things that were in it were stacked boxes and barrels. 

Feeling something was not right, Leafia, Gray and Istan all started inching their hands to where I knew they had daggers ready. “What is going on here?” Gray said, breaking the silence.

“This does not seem like a waiting room?” Leafia was standing defensively, her hand now firmly on the hilt of her knife.

The guard held one hand up clearly showing that he was not going for his sword while the other one continued to close the door behind him. The room was dark with only a little light trickling in through the high window. Once the door was thoroughly shut the guard asked in a small voice, “Are you really here for Faun?” 

I was hesitant on what to say, but I decided to just go with the truth right now. If this guard was trying to make trouble he had led us to a nice quiet place where no one would notice if we made him take a nap. “I have come to take Faun and Mist home.”

“You even know about Mist?” the guard said under his breath. Then he spoke up, “Maximus is not going to let you take them.” He said this with obvious bitterness in his voice. 

“Are you going to stop us?” Leafia glared at him pulling out her knife. There was wariness in his eyes but he did not move for his sword. 

“I am not going to stop you, but I cannot help you either. If you turn left at the end of this hall you will find where they are holding your friends. I would hurry. You want to get out before the other guards find you.” With those words the guard turned to leave the room. “They still think Faun is a monster so the courtyard is likely empty.” Just as he was about to leave the room he whispered, “Sorry.”

“He is going to call the other guards and we will be trapped in this dead end!” Istan called out. Hearing his words Leafia rushed forward knocking the guard’s hand free of the doorknob with her hip. With blurred speed she spun, locking her free hand onto his hilt so he could not draw his sword. Her other hand wrapped around him, placing her knife near his neck. The guard struggled and started to shout at the surprise attack.

“People are going to hear him,” Gray hissed and started to move forward.  

But before he got there a small ball of water had formed over his mouth muffling the cries that were starting to get louder. Terror filled his eyes as he sucked water into his mouth. He pulled a great breath in through his nose, trying to shake the water off. But it stayed put. Tide commented dispassionately, “You know, it’s easier to breathe if you calm down.” 

Istan also commented, “Probably wiser not to jerk around with a knife so near your throat.” The guard’s thrashing was increasing as he tried to get the water off his face and he did not seem to hear either of them. Did he forget that he could breathe just fine through his nose? With one particularly wild jerk, Leafia’s knife slipped a little too close and drew a few drops of brilliant red from the man’s throat.

Leafia swore. “Hold still, would you!? I don’t want to hurt you if I don’t have to!”

Gray approached the struggling pair. “Hey. Look at me.” He waited until the guard’s desperate eyes locked on his. Gray gave off an air of focused intensity. Gray’s focus seemed to freeze the man as he calmly but sternly said, “We aren’t here to hurt you. Just breathe and we can figure this out.”

Wild eyed, the guard seemed to realize again that he could indeed breathe through his nose. But it was still several long moments before he had calmed enough to slow his breathing. Fear and panic were still etched on his face with glistening sweat, but he had stopped struggling.

Once he was in a steady state, I asked, “Will you stay quiet if we let the water go?”

 With a small nod of his head, Tide obliged and moved the water a finger's breadth off the man’s face. Clearly she was not fully trusting him. But he did not cry out and only took a deep breath.

“Now can someone tell me what just happened?” I said, feeling exasperated, turning to face Istan who started this mess. “This man just told us where to find Mist and Faun. Why are we now holding him as a prisoner?”

“He was going to give us away,” was the only response that Istan seemed willing to supply. 

“After just helping us?” I could not help feeling incredulous at the thought of this. 

Quietly, and in a rather sodden voice the guard spoke, “He is right. In a few minutes I was going to say that you attacked me and escaped into the fort. What do you want from me?”

“You said you would not stop us, but you would not help us. Why not? And on top of that, you were about to sound an alarm?” Remembering his bitterness earlier, I added, “Clearly you do not like Maximus. Why won’t you help us? If you’re afraid Maximus will punish you, we can take you with us.” I gave what I hoped was a gentle smile, trying to pull him softly over to our side. I was not sure how genuine my smile seemed. I was hurt that my trust I had placed in him was betrayed so quickly. 

“I can't,” he said softly. His voice sounded calm and in control. But there was unspoken despair in his eyes.

“No matter what we say he is just going to call the guards. We need to bind him.” Leafia still had her knife near the man’s throat. She was clearly not willing to take any chances. But I held up my hand. I could see the guard wanted to say something.

The man's face contorted in anguish but it was not from fear. He shook his head. “I don’t want to call anyone. But…” He looked at me almost pleadingly, piecing his sentences together with great effort. “It’s not that… I wouldn’t like to come… I want to get away. I hate Maximus. He is despicable. And I don’t want Faun to be hurt any more. She has been through horrible things. So much pain.” He closed his eyes with a shudder. I was transfixed, terrified of imagining what he was remembering. After a moment, he continued in a stronger voice. “But Maximus has my sister. If he finds out that I have helped you in any way… who knows what he will do to her? If he finds out… I let you inside the walls… I fear Stacy will be in trouble.”

What are we going to do now? If we let him go, he might be able to save his sister, but our chance to rescue Faun plummets. But if he helps us we are just sacrificing his sister for Faun. And I knew Faun would be upset at me for doing so. 

“Well then, let's not give you a choice.” Istan walked up to the guard and unhooked the sword from his belt. “Feel free to tell all the guards that we overpowered you and forced you to take us to Faun.” The relief that spread over his face seemed oddly mismatched with being disarmed by enemies at knife point. I guess that was one way to solve the issue. Taking a hostage just made things much easier. Um… Should I worry about this? Tide did not seem to mind as the ball of water returned to her hand and disappeared. 

“I would not try calling out for help,” Leafia said, still holding the knife to his neck. The guard nodded hesitantly to this. I was thankful for Leafia and Istan’s quick actions. But this seemed so out of character for them. Where did my friends go? Or my friend and my… I guess I will just call him my friend. That is how I got him to stop calling me forest mother. “At least not until we have already been found out,” Leafy added, sounding more like the girl I knew.

Katuwarrior

Thank you for reading. Please forgive me for being gone for months. Hopefully I did not lose all of my readers.