I snuck a peek away from the battle between Tide and Maximus in front of me over to Faun and saw that, besides some water on the ground and a few more plants, everything looked the same as when we first entered the courtyard. Tide was right and it did not seem like Tide was having any more luck with the cage than I was with subduing Maximus. A switch might be in order. We needed to get Faun out of the cage before Maximus could pull any more tricks. Leaving Tide to deal with Maximus, seemingly more effectively than I was able to, I rushed over to the large cage that held my oldest friend. By the soft footsteps behind me I could tell that Leafia had once again followed me. 

I looked over to Gray and Istan, and noticed they held their next arrow ready to fire but were hesitating. The two of them apparently didn’t want to hit Tide by accident. Tide was struggling to maintain her hold on Maximus and neither of them were staying still. Despite Istan sending me a worried look, they were still focusing on the biggest threat. But by the look of it they would be out of arrows in only a few more volleys. I guess they wanted to make sure those arrows counted. 

“I am so glad to have finally found you,” I said, reaching my hand to Faun through the bars. 

“Can we save this until after you get me out of here?” Faun said slightly castigating me, but still she grabbed my hand and gave it a tender squeeze before letting go. 

After giving the cage a quick once over it seemed like the door would be the easiest part to break open. Tide was right, this cage was strong. I could hear the groaning of the metal as I pulled on the door. Slowly the latch was starting to give. I rooted my feet into the ground, anchoring myself in place as I continued to pull.

“Stay back,” I heard Leafia shout from next to me. 

I looked over to see Stacy approaching us as steadfast as ever. Michael was on the ground behind her, struggling but failing to get up. Leafia’s eyes flickered between Stacy and Michael, hesitating for a moment about drawing the knife. Before Leafia managed to act, Stacy’s fist came flying at her. Leafia confidently blocked the punch just as I had seen her do before. But this fist must have more power than expected as she stumbled back into me. The bars of the cage creaked back into place as I helped Leafia right herself. She was clutching her arm grimacing. 

“Let me deal with her,”  I said after taking a quick look at the welt forming on Leafia’s arm. Whatever Maximus had done to this girl clearly gave her much more strength than any human I have seen.

“But.” Leafia looked at the cage in concern. Though the fact that she was clutching her arm in pain made it clear that she did not really want to face Stacy again. 

It would take longer to argue than to just deal with Stacy. This area of the courtyard had been spared the brunt of both Maximus and my attacks. This left me enough plants to work with. Thick stems braided themselves into ropes which lashed themselves around Stacy, pulling her to the ground. Knowing how strong she was I secured her joints taking away her mobility. In barely more than a second she was out of the picture. 

“See. I can deal with her,” I said, turning my focus back to the cage. The cage had just started to creak again when I thought of something. “Leafy, can you go check on Mist in the fountain?”

“Um, sure,” she responded with slight hesitation, but still headed around the cage to where I could feel Mist lay in the water. 

“You know she is not going to be able to see her,” Faun said in a whisper. “Mist has not been able to maintain any sort of form for several days now.”

“She is more perceptive than most.” I caused my fingers to grow in between the latch and the door trying to pry the latch. “She has a chance.” I grunted pulling harder on the cage. “If this was a different circumstance I would really have to give my compliments to the smith,” I said through gritted teeth. I had not had to use this much strength in a long time. 

“He made it just for us,” Faun said coldly. “He seemed to know of our strength.”

Pulling even harder I heard a cracking noise distinct from the creaking of the bars. The stones holding the bars in place had begun to crack. 

“There are no bars under you!”  I cried out.

“Um, no?” Faun responded, clearly thinking my statement went without saying. 

“I have been going about this all in the wrong way.” I freed my fingers from around the latch and squatted down, fishing my fingers through the gaps between the rocks at the bottom of the cage. Loud popping noises soon echoed around the courtyard as I pried the cage from its anchorage in the rock. 

As soon as the gap was up to my knees, Faun began to try and crawl through. She was making rather slow progress. I had never seen her this injured, and she was a reckless spirit. Now that the cage was free from its anchors it was not that bad to hold. I reached down with one arm and half dragged Faun out from under the cage. 

Finally having her free I dropped the cage. The resounding clang that reverberated around the courtyard was nearly deafening. I should not have dropped it, I thought to myself as I pulled Faun to her feet.

“Can you walk?” I asked her once she was steady. 

“I think it would qualify as more of a shamble,” she said with a small derisive laugh. 

“Let's get you towards the doorway before I help Tide.” I led the way to the door that still stood behind Gray and Istan. But after one step I could tell that shamble was not an exaggeration. If anything it was a bit of an understatement. Ignoring the slight cry of protest from Faun, I took more of her weight and basically carried her. 

A shrill cry filled the yard. I turned to the source and saw Tide fall to the ground in what looked like tar. Completely giving up on any pretense of just helping Faun walk to the entrance, I ran to Istan and deposited Faun in a heap on the ground with a quick, “Sorry.”

Katuwarrior

I would like to say that I will do better posting chapters. But life is life. I do have several really close so Editor-sama and I just need to be able to hammer the last bit out.