Ashera could feel everyone staring at her, it had been like this all night. Everyone had a million questions about what life was like back before the war, about magic, about the strange, for them, machines down in the building and about what a human was. Ashera was keeping up with them asking just as many questions about where they were, how the other races survived under the elves and if anyone had ever made the journey to the Northern territories. If it hadn't been for Suntiana keeping them away and making Ashera get some sleep, Suntiana was sure they would have spoken until they could no longer speak.

  Ashera noticed how everyone was sombre at breakfast, they were all looking around at one another. Some are not eating at all, instead just sitting there crying. Ashera overheard some of the bearites, as she found they were calling themselves, talking about how it just wasn’t the same without Quades exuberance. Quade must have been the one who didn’t make it. Ashera found herself wondering what had gone wrong with the stasis spell. It should have worked. None of them should have been able to think let alone move like they were. She lost herself thinking about this until she was startled by a hand on her shoulder. It was Artemis.

  “Not to your liking? The rations are new to us so if we didn’t prepare them properly let us know.” Artemis said with a smile on his face. “Don’t think about it too much, it wasn’t your fault. Quade knew the risks of coming down there. You had no control over what you were doing let alone what the others were doing.”

  Ashera smiled at him, “I know it’s not my fault, but I came up with that stasis spell. I wish I knew why it didn’t work properly. Not that it would change anything.”

  Ashera had suggested they move the entire group into the building as they had supplies to last for a few years down there, beds for everyone to sleep in no one would be using the beds and those who could now use magic could train. Everyone agreed this was the best plan.

  “We’ll need to keep going to the surface every couple of days or so to exchange bands for water, and to get our normal rations. We might tip the guards off otherwise. In fact, we should have some of us go up today to do a run,” Suntiana said. “We don’t want the other prisoners thinking we have vacated this place either. We don’t need a fight over it.”

  Ashera stated. “I’m going with you. I would like to get a feel for this island and see if I can find us a way off it.”

  Suntiana looked unsure of this. Ashera didn’t exactly blend in, with her having those strange ears and all. Suntiana looked around seeing what she could do. Over in Artemis’s corner she saw the cloak he had brought with him. That could work to keep her covered and give her one of the bands. They wouldn’t be able to do anything about the brand she was supposed to have but they could deal with that later.

  “Okay, but there are some rules for you to follow. You follow our lead, we’ll let you look around but if we say we need to get out of there you come with us. You keep your head covered with the hood; we can’t have someone asking questions about your ears up there. Don’t get close to the guards if they notice you don't have a brand you’ll be brought to the tower and then it’s all over no one comes back from there the same. If you can keep to these rules you can come with us,” Suntiana explained.

  Suntiana handed Ashera the band and the hood. Ashera noticed Suntiana’s brand matched the symbol on the band. Looking closer at those standing around her she noticed the brand looked the same on everyone, some were in different places. Ashera nodded to herself and figured it wouldn’t be hard to replicate.

  She closed her eyes and muttered some words under her breath that Suntiana didn’t understand. Suntiana figured it was probably English. Suntiana noticed how the dark markings on Ashera’s neck started to move down and under her collar. Next Ashera raised her one arm and as if on command the dark markings moved down to her forearm. They started to duplicate the brand on her skin. Suntiana watched in amazement, she wanted to ask so many questions about it but figured she should wait for Ashera to finish first. As the brand became clearer the markings turned from black to more of a flesh tone and looked more like a scar.

  Ashera looked at her arm, as she compared the scar to its source material, she was happy with how it had turned out. She lowered her arm and looked up to see Suntiana standing there staring at her with wonder in her eyes.

  “It’s a type of tattoo,” Ashera said, gesturing to Rothars arm. “Back in our time we imbued the ink with magic, and it made it so we could manipulate them. We found it very useful for keeping us alive when in the company of Elves. They would put out a bounty on one mark and we would just change it. Elves had a hard time distinguishing one human from another. Hell, they could barely get male and female right.”

  “Can I do that?” Rothar asked, looking at his own tattoos.

  Ashera nodded, “In time you will be able to, with new tattoos of course. Now should we get going?”

  Ashera threw the cloak over her head and put a piece of bone through the front of it to keep it pinned. She picked up a bag of brands and looked back to see who was coming. Suntiana stepped forward, she motioned to Xix, and Seises to come as well. Ashera wasn’t sure how she felt about Xix being there. Xix blamed Ashera for Quades death. As if to say don’t worry about it, Seises threw her arm around Xix’s neck.

  Xix looked at her as if to say get off me, but Seises only hung on tighter. “Play nice now, she might be our ticket out of here.”

  Ashera moved out of the way as Rothar walked past her to the cave entrance. He moved the boulder and let everyone out.

  Once at the surface Ashera could hardly believe she was in the same place. All the buildings she knew were buried, and new more primitive looking ones had been erected, fallen and erected in a new place again. She still couldn’t believe there was a sea here in the middle of her city. Just how much had the elves done to change this world to their views, she wondered. As she looked around the island, she noticed the tops of other buildings sticking out. She went to pull out her map to look at what buildings they were when suddenly Suntiana grabbed her hand. Suntiana shook her head to say not now and motioned to the guard who was eyeing their group.

  Ashera put her necklaces down and noticed that more guards were starting to come out of the city. They all seemed to be fixated on them.

  “Is it me or are we drawing unwanted attention?” Ashera asked, motioning in the direction of the guards. “Did your little group cause any problems?”

  As Suntiana was about to protest this accusation a familiar figure came out in a guard uniform. It was Rivnear. That took the words right out of Suntiana’s mouth. She was so absorbed in how he was alive that she couldn’t voice it aloud.

  “How the fuck?!” Xix exclaimed. “Last I saw he was left for dead. Why is he with the guards now?”

  Ashera was wondering who they were referring to when she locked eyes with Rivnear. He had this look come across his face that seemed to scream “I’ve got you now.” He limped towards the group with a few of the guards in tow. He walked right past Ashera to Xix and Suntiana.

  “Well hello there ladies,” Rivnear said though his toothy smirk. “What brings you up here now? Ah I see you have more arm bands to trade for water. Very good, why don’t you all come into the city, and we’ll get you sorted.”

  The guards all gave a chuckle at that and positioned themselves around the group. Ashera looked to Suntiana as if to say should we fight our way out of this? Suntiana shook her head no and moved along with the guards. They escorted Suntiana and the rest into the city. Ashera was taken back by just how primitive it looked. There were stone buildings, but none were in good shape. They all had bricks falling out from one place or another, some even had holes all the way inside. Electricity was nowhere to be seen in the city, instead the lighting all seemed to come from torches and lamps. The streets, if they could be called that, were dirt paths carved out through repeated use. There was a station for collecting water. There was a funnel on the top of the large cylindrical tower that passed through multiple magic circles before making it into the storage container. At the bottom was a spigot for filling canteens. Ashera discerned that the magic was for purifying the putrid water from around the island.

  The city had basic anti siege weapons, some trebuchets, ballistae and cannons. Ashera was sure most would not withstand being fired once let alone be of any use in a real battle. There were multiple buildings strewn about the inner space, some were barracks, there was one dining hall and there was a very primitive washing up station.

  Ashera noticed there were people who didn’t appear to be wearing armbands moving around freely within the city. As she followed their movements she was drawn towards the tower in the centre of the city. It was the top of the magic research facility, at least that’s what it had been in her time. It appeared to be serving another purpose Now. Ashera had no idea what the elves had repurposed it for, but she knew it couldn’t be good.

  She felt a shove from behind as one of the guards was trying to get her to move faster. Ashera grabbed her hood as she lurched forward to stop it from coming off her head. Ashera caught up with the rest of the group as they were taken into the smaller of the two guard towers on the right side of the gate. Inside they were all placed around a table and seated across from a man who had his back turned looking out the window.

  “You know, I don’t mind your group bringing in more arm bands as it means we get to keep those inmates on the books.” The elf began, still with his back turned to the group. “Where I draw the line is at an execution of prisoners who are working with the guards to keep the rabble in line.”

  The elf turned around as he was saying this. Ashera noticed how Suntiana went white. Ashera assumed they knew each other. As Ashera looked from Suntiana to the elf her face went white. She recognized this man from the war, but that wasn’t possible. Elves don’t live that long. How was someone here who had the face of Venthal. Ashera tucked her head down obscuring more of her face with the hood in case it was him.

  “Now why don’t you tell me why your group didn’t rescue Rivnear and his companion when you stumbled upon them in the forest.” Venthal questioned.

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  Xix spoke up before Suntiana had time to think about a reply. “We didn’t want to risk our own lives to save the life of a beast who had tried to have his way with us earlier that day. Besides it’s not like we were the ones who left him there. That was some other group. Not that I am complaining about that.”

  A fist came down hard on the back of Xixs’ head. She was almost knocked out of her seat. Another one of the guards spat at her. It took all the restraint Xix had not to lash out at these two for their disrespect. Instead, she dug her claws into the table.

  “Quite the mouth on this one Suntiana. You should do better at muzzling your subordinates,” Venthal said, turning his back once again to the group. “Now I know you didn’t put him there, that group has already been dealt with. They are in the tower for some time in solitary. One of them however swore a wolfite was the one who put them up to it. They said he told them Rivnear was hoarding Sunsparks. What do you make of this?”

  Rivnear came up beside Suntiana and whispered in her ear, “You’re all mine now, this is just a formality.”

  Suntiana, repulsed by this idea, pulled away from Rivnear who simply laughed at her reaction. Suntiana knew she had to think up something quick to make it look like Rivnear was manipulating Venthal. It was her only way out of this.

  “That useless sack of shit Artemis left as soon as he saw what Rivnear was trying to do. He abandoned us to our fate. We had no idea he had any involvement in that gang chasing Rivnear. We haven’t seen him since then either. As far as we know he's out there somewhere just trying to keep his head down,” Suntiana explained.

  Venthal turned his head to look at the group and smiled. “I believe part of that is true at the very least. According to some other sources he is in your little hiding hole right now.”

  Venthal approached Suntiana and pulled her from her chair. He twisted her arm behind her back, crushing her wing between the two of them.

  Venthal threw her up against the wall and whispered, “No more lies. I know you’re hiding the Wolfite I have people on the inside of your little group. Did you think there were none in there who worked for me? Especially after that stunt pulled by your right-hand man. Give up the Wolfite or none of you leave here and we will see how solitary helps with your memory. If you agree to help us, you’ll have three days. Then we are coming for your little group as a whole and everyone will be either dead, guard property or in solitary. Do I make myself clear? Or do I need to give you a demonstration right now. I know Rivnear is biting for the chance to get to know you better.”

  Suntiana realizing there was no way out from here for her group if she didn’t agree nodded, a look of complete disgust on her face. Venthal let her arm go and motioned for the others to move away from Suntianas’ group. Everyone backed up except Rivnear he moved closer to Suntiana.

  Looking Venthal straight in the eyes Suntiana said, “If we can get the Wolfite to you I want one thing in exchange. Rivnears head on a plate so I know he won't harm any of my people again. Barring that, I want him placed on duties in the city where he can’t do much harm to them.”

  Venthal laughed and replied, “You think this is a negotiation? You bring me the Wolfite or your group is gone. Try anything and my spies will let me know. You have nothing I want Suntiana. Now go.”

  As they were all leaving the guards handed them 20 rations of water and took the arm bands from them. Once outside the city and close to the cliffs Suntiana collapsed. She vomited everywhere, her nerves finally showing.

  “Please tell me you…” Xix began to say.

  “Shut up Xix what would you have had me do sacrifice everyone for him? We don’t stand a chance against all the guards. Now let's get down into the cave and we can discuss this further,” Suntiana snapped, wiping vomit from her lips.

  “You’re not serious, are you?” Rivnear asked. “I thought we agreed those two would be mine. Now, and you gave them a deal?!”

  Venthal looked at Rivnear and said, “Relax, I intend to disband her little group either way. They will be yours and the rest will be split up. Just as I promised. All I care about is getting that Wolfite into solitary.”

  Venthal didn’t know what Artemis had done to have the Queen personally request his safety, but he wasn’t having it. His sister didn’t control what happened in this place. Venthal would keep Artemis alive, he would torture him day in and day out. Making sure to mend him up in between. The Queen's “orders” would be followed, he would live.

  Once back in the cave Suntiana called Tyrnal, Rothar, Lyna, and Artemis over to explain the situation. After hearing what she had to say everyone looked to Artemis. He remained quiet for some time as he thought over everything he had just heard.

  “Well, this puts me in an unusual situation,” Artemis began, “as I see it you have a couple options firstly you can hand me over and be done with this; though I doubt it will be that simple. Secondly, we can try and fight them but there is an island's worth of them and only a handful of us who can fight. Lastly, we could try hiding in the building with all the supplies. Assuming it could comfortably support our group for an extended period.”

  Ashera felt expectant eyes upon her. She contemplated the situation for a moment before speaking, “That shouldn’t be a problem, we have four more floors like the one where you got all the supplies from. Depending how fast your group goes through the rations we should be good for a few years, if we wanted to wait that long. I might suggest we go even further and collapse the whole cave on itself making it look like we all died in a landslide as the island was retaken by the sea. I have the tools to do that up, er, rather down in the skyscraper. The real problem is what do we do with Venthals spies. We don’t want to keep them with us, but we can’t accuse everyone of working for him either.”

  Suntiana was curious about how they would collapse the cave but her priority for the moment being would have to be the spies. How could they get them to reveal themselves, or better yet just leave all together.

  “I have an idea about that, we get the group together and tell them what happened. Then we tell them we have decided to fight, of course not until after Ashera has set up the cave to look like it collapsed, then we give it a few hours. Anyone who has left is assumed to be one of the spies and we collapse the cave before they can come back in. I know it’s not a perfect plan but it’s the best I have,” Suntiana said hesitantly.

  Everyone agreed this was the best, if not the only option they had. Ashera left right away to get her explosives from their new base. If anyone asked what she was doing, she would just tell them she was installing some lighting to make it easier to see. She told Suntiana she needed at least half a day to get it set up properly. Artemis moved around the cave gathering up unused supplies and moving them into the building explaining to anyone who asked that it was colder down there, and the supplies would keep better. Tyrnal was doing the same but with his books saying the lighting down there was better for his eyes. If asked about the new lights Ashera was installing, he simply stated he didn’t know how long it would take for those to be installed and didn’t want to wait.

  Xix, Seises and Lyna cautiously watched the group to see if anyone was making moves to try and sneak out. Xix was down in the second tunnel used for removing the dirt just sitting there admiring the view. This naturally kept most away as no one wanted to disturb her if she was peaceful. Seises and Lyna took turns moving the new water from the front of the cave to the back and bringing back empty ones and arm bands to the front. This way there was always one at the front of the cave watching the exit and one watching to see if anyone moved towards it.

  After Ashera gave Suntiana the signal she was all done she put the rest of the plan into motion. A few of the men left almost immediately saying they would rather take their chances on the surface. Some others were stealthier in their approach to leave trying to go unnoticed. There were still more who wanted to go on a water run one last time. These were the ones that really concerned Suntiana. They could be going right to the guards. All the while moving people into the building for safety. Some didn’t understand why they were going into the building and refused to leave the cave. Suntiana knew she would have to explain everything to this group but not yet. Not until she was sure they could be trusted. After an hour or so everyone had either left or was in the building all except the last group that refused to leave the cave.

  Seises had been listening to them from the shadows and overheard them talking about their plan.

  “Once we get the information on why we are being moved into that building we make a run for the entrance and use it as a bargaining chip with the guards. That way when they make a mess out of everyone left here, we at least stand a chance.”

  Seises moved silently over to Suntiana and explained what she had heard. Suntiana was furious, what could they do now. If they left them there, they would be murdering people they once considered friends, but she knew there was no way around that. Seises and Suntiana slowly made their way down into the building. Ashera had moved everyone to the far back wall away from the entrance just in case something went wrong.

  One last look around and Suntiana said, “Do it.”

  With that one command Ashera lit the det cord and moved back with everyone else. A few moments passed before the explosions started shaking the building as they went. It was as though there were multiple earthquakes happening one right after the other. A few moments later and a wall of dirt came crashing down through the open wall. The tremors continued for several minutes, causing the power to flicker, turning the lights on and off repeatedly. Everyone was screaming at the top of their lungs terrified.

  ***

  The group of men who wanted to go on the water run made their way as fast as they could to the city. The guards stopped them as they arrived, wanting to make them fight to get into the city. They quickly looked around and saw both Rivnear and Venthal sitting by the gate.

  “Venthal,” One yelled out, “Suntiana is… they’re going to attack the city they would rather go out fighting. Please we want to be on your side! Their mission is a suicide run.”

  Venthal stood up and motioned for the guards to move away from the group. He walked up to them, looking them up and down. He noticed how they were all pale around the eyes and muzzle. They were afraid not only of Venthal and his men but of what would happen if they had stayed with Suntiana’s group.

  “Alright, if it’s a war they want then we’ll give it to them. Rivnear, get a group of guards, it’s time we paid a visit to this little group. We need to remind the prisoners what happens when you stand against the guard.” Venthal ordered.

  Rivnear smiled at this order and ran into the city to get the most blood thirsty group of guards he could find.

  Rivnear thought “finally, Suntiana will be mine and there’s nothing her little group can do about it. That fucking Wolfite will be fun to torture. Maybe I’ll make Suntiana watch.”

  He gathered up the group of guards he had used earlier to convince Suntiana and her group to come to the city. Rivnear led them out to Venthal. While Rothnear had been in the city Venthal had put all the men who had come to warn him in chains.

  “This way if they try to betray us, we can push them all into the sea,” Venthal stated, shoving one of the prisoners forward. “Lead on, take us to….”

  Venthal was cut off by an earth shattering bang, it was followed by a shallow but persistent quake. As some of the guards and prisoners dropped to the ground scared of the quake. Venthal looked over in the direction the group of men had come from to see a cloud of dust coming from around the cliff. The more violently it quaked the more dust was thrown into the air. As the quakes subsided Venthal grabbed one of the men and yanked him to his feet. The others in the chain were pulled in that direction as well. Venthal pushed them towards the edge of the city.

  “Well, what are you waiting for? Lead on,” Venthal said, not giving the group a moment to recover from the quakes.

  The group led them around the city and immediately stopped. Venthal was annoyed that the group had stopped dead in their tracks and were in his way. He drew his sword and beheaded the last guy in line assuming this would get the group moving again. Instead, they just dropped to the ground jabbering about how it was gone. Venthal walked around the group to see what they had been staring at. To his amazement the cliff had given way in the quake, at least 4 meters of cliff had dropped into the sea.

  Rivnear stepped up beside Venthal and said furiously, “this must be some kind of trick. They were my prey! How, when I was about to get what was owed to me?!”

  “We will go and see if the cave survived but I am doubtful it did. At least our problems will be over. We might have a new one with the Queen but only if she finds out,” Venthal replied, in a cold uncaring way. “Right, I Want a status report by the morning! If there are any survivors, I want them executed, unless they are the Wolfite he gets brought to me.”

  “What about the women,” Rivnear protested. “They were to be mine!”

  “Shut up Rivnear,” Venthal snapped. “My orders have changed they die. Now.”

  The guards worked the group of men tirelessly throughout the night. Making a path down to where the cave had been. Once there the group was forced to dig through the rubble to see if they could find anyone there. Rivnear wanted to make sure that this wasn’t some kind of trick.

  One of the men cried out, ran to the edge of the cliff and threw up. Rivnear pushed past the others and looked down. He saw dismembered bodies that had been crushed by the collapse. His anger got the better of him, he walked up behind the one being sick and kicked him off the ledge.

  “Damn it! She was to be mine,” Rivnear howled with anger.

  Rivnear took the guards and threw the remaining group members into he sea. Rivnear shook his head, indicating there were no survivors. Venthal nodded then in a dismissing manner waved his hand at Rivnear motioning for him to go away.

  ***

  Ashera looked around to make sure there was no damage caused by the blast. She checked the wall and supporting structures for cracks. She found there was no visible damage and breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Okay, everyone calm down. It’s over now, we’re safe,” Ashera said assuringly.

  After everyone calmed down, they all looked at Suntiana most of them confused and looking like they wanted answers. None but a select few knew the cave was going to collapse. Suntiana explained to everyone now why this had happened and why only about half of them were in here. There was murmuring in the crowd as they discussed what to do now. Most agreed with her decision to save the group. Some were angry they hadn’t been told but still understood why. Suntiana was pleased it seemed like everyone here was going to accept their new situation.

  Ashera Showed everyone around, taking them to storage to the training rooms, their new quarters, and to some the most importantly the kitchen. She explained how each ration pack was one meal, she also explained what canned goods were and how they could be prepared.

  Ashera gathered everyone around and said, “We can survive here for at least a year before we need to go back to the surface. In that time, I would like to prepare you for the coming war with the guards. Once they get wind, we’re back they will be coming for us. Those of you who can and are willing to fight will be trained. Those of you who want to use magic we will help you learn. Lastly those of you who wish not to fight we will leave here in this building protected.”

  Everyone talked amongst themselves to see if they would fight. More importantly they wanted to know who among them could use magic. None of them had any reason to believe these claims. It was at this point Tyrnal stepped forward and produced his flame. This got audible gasps from the crowd as they all jumped back. Tyrnal didn’t think he would ever get tired of that reaction. He extinguished his flame and nodded at the group as if to say we can win. Suddenly everyone wanted to fight, no one wanted to be left out.

  “Alright then. Let’s get to work,” Ashera said.