“DO YOU HAVE SILENCERS?” I asked Nasilain. Sneaking in meant we needed at least some way of keeping the noise to the minimum in case we needed to shoot someone on the way to Lord Dralik’s room.

“Yes, but they won’t stifle all of the noise.” Nasilain handed me three silencers. “We usually use compound bows if we have to keep quiet.”

Bows wouldn’t cut it. “It’ll be enough.”

Nasilain looked hesitant for a moment before she turned to a shelf with a roll of foam. She took her knife out and cut a few strips off, then squeezed them in her hand, making them glow bright blue.

“This should help some. Keep one next to the gun and one on each shoe. The magic will multiply the sound absorbing qualities of the foam.”

She tied two of the strips around her ankles and one on the wrist of her right hand, then gave Vinsor a few as well. I followed suit. If she could split atoms, I had no reason to question something as small as magic soundproof foam.

“Any tricks for invisibility?” I asked just in case.

“I have some control over people's minds,” Vinsor said. “As long as they are at least somewhat distracted, I can help direct more of their attention to it. It’ll have to be enough.”

We looked as ready as could be. It was surreal to be going on a mission like this, without my team and with magic. First time for everything. Nasilain must’ve been more used to it, but instead of her usual relaxed and excited demeanor, she had been tense ever since we ran into those fairies.

“Could we have a minute?” I asked.

Vinsor gave me a short nod and left us alone in the armory. Nasilain took out a pair of night vision goggles for me, her face still serious.

“It’ll be dark in the castle. They have very few windows to minimize the amount of vulnerable areas.”

“Nasilain, we’ll be fine. I’ve done these kinds of things for years, except without the magic, but we got you here for that, right? You can do this.” I tucked back a strand of copper-brown hair that had come out of her ponytail.

“You can call me Nasi if you like. I prefer it.”

I could one up her on that. “How about I call you beautiful?” I didn’t let her answer, giving her a short kiss instead. “Now, you wanna tell me what’s bugging you?”

She shook her head, then gave me a tiny smile. “There are a lot of memories in that castle. I never thought I’d be going back there.”

“We can redecorate.” I guided her out the door. “We’ll cut little flowers and butterflies out of construction paper and cover the walls with them. Maybe we can even paint the whole castle pink. It’ll look cute.”

She laughed. Damn, I had missed the sound. Hopefully, we could relax a little after today, and some of that curious, bubbly girl could come back.

We got to the horses that waited for us along with the rest of our army. Nasilain and I rode together on Rocinante about halfway to the spot where we were supposed to enter the cave. One of the dwarf soldiers took the steed from us, and we continued on foot in order to minimize the chances of being detected.

We didn’t have the kind of gear I was used to, but the camo pants and hoodies were better than nothing. At least we could blend in while we walked through the more open areas.

At the mouth of the cave, Nasilain stopped us, threw her hands forward and made tiny strands of light dance in the air.

“Careful not to touch them. I can’t break the feeler spell without warning their sorceress about us coming, but we can avoid this one.” Nasilain looked calm and focused as she took the first steps ahead, always making sure her feet stayed clean of the red and blue wisps that covered the floor of the cave.

Vinsor went next, and I closed up the rear. After a few minutes of tip-toeing over the security lines, Nasilain stopped again and created a glittery field around us. The going went faster from there until finally, light came from the opposite side, showing us the exit.

Vinsor pressed his amulet to tell the other team to attack.

An explosion rocked the ground. These damn caves better not collapse.

We went in. The dim corridor hid us from curious eyes. With the magic traps behind us, Vinsor took the lead, following the many twists and turns of the massive structure. A dwarf servant girl came out. She hadn’t noticed us yet, and I didn’t want to have to shoot her. Vinsor lifted his glasses and looked at her until she frowned at the noise outside and ran off in the other direction. Why couldn’t we have these abilities back home?

Finally, we stopped in front of a hardwood door. Vinsor mouthed to me that it was open. I burst in. The man standing by the window whirled around but didn’t say a word as I pointed a gun at him.

“Lord Dralik,” Vinsor said in a cool, collected voice, as if he just met his buddy at a bar.

“Vinsor, old friend,” Lord Dralik answered, then turned to a kid huddled in the corner. “Nikorik, why don’t you show our guests why they shouldn’t come into my castle uninvited.”

“Nikorik, I order you to go into the kitchen and stay there until I come for you,” Nasilain said calmly, then turned her eyes back to Dralik. “You don’t know a thing about demons, do you?”

The kid ran out the door as if a pack of wolves was chasing him. Whatever the deal with demons was, we apparently had that part under control.

“What do you want?” Lord Dralik asked. “I assume you’re not here to pay me a visit.”

“We want the castle,” I answered, one eye on the door, one eye on the man in front of me.

“I see. Then I can allow you to stay here if you wish.” He returned to his calm and collected self, but the slight tremble of his left hand gave him away.

Vinsor took out a zip tie, shoved Dralik’s face into the wall, then bound his hands. First part of the plan finished. Now we needed to convince the soldiers on the walls to stand down.