"Aurora!" Devrim yelled as the Empress slipped effortlessly into the earth. He dove at the spot where she had been, but the gnomes had blocked anyone from following. "Help her!" he yelled at Brinn.

Although his tone was gruff, the elf chose not to take offense. "I have no ground magic. There is no way to follow them."

"Have they buried her alive?" Devrim began to dig at the dirt.

"Her smell is gone. I think they only abducted her." Brinn tried to be comforting.

Devrim dug for a few moments longer before giving up in despair. "What do you mean: 'only abducted her'?"

"They did not kill her. You said in the past they have simply tried to murder her." Brinn pointed out.

"That is true," Nurlan agreed as he helped the boy to stand. He too felt anger and frustration, but Brinn's calm demeanor helped him think more clearly.

The elf continued, "If the gnomes have decided to keep Aurora alive, then they want something. That means we have time to rescue her."

"Do you know where they took her?" Junayd asked hopefully.

"I do not, but I know approximately where an entrance to their underground catacombs should be. We can be there before nightfall."

Devrim was immediately poised with a fire in his eyes. "Lead the way."

——————————

The cell in which the Empress was placed was actually quite spacious. The gnomes had used the natural small caverns to hold prisoners and only added iron bars to seal them off. As the footfalls of the gnomes receded, she took stock of her situation. Aurora knew that she was far below ground. The dungeon seemed slightly higher in elevation than the throne room, but she could sense the pressure of a mountain of earth above her.

The bars of the cell were old. The walls themselves had carvings of past prisoners. Aurora ran her fingers along the edges of a set of marks and realized that the prisoner had been counting the days of their imprisonment. There were more marks than she could count. She was determined not to succumb to the same fate.

A groan made the woman aware that she was not alone. Across from her, someone laying in the dirt of another cell had cried out. "Are you ok?" Aurora asked tentatively. The creature did not respond. Walking to the bars, the Empress reached out her hand toward the sad creature. Aurora was surprised that not only her hand fit between the bars, but even her shoulder could manage the gap. If not for her chest, the slip of a girl could pass between the bars easily. She got an idea.

Turning her body so that her thinnest side ran parallel to the bars, she sized up the gap. Taking off the Guardian's cloak and setting it at the edge of the bars, she stood up as straight as she could. Inhaling deep and then exhaling everything in her lungs, Aurora made herself as thin as she could. She forced herself between the bars. Her body put up resistance, but eventually scraped through the gap. Her heart was exultant until her head caught. "Ah!" She cried out in spite of herself. The creature in the other cell stirred slightly, but nothing else seemed to react.

The Empress reached up and pulled at her hair. She had forgotten that it was tied in a tight bun; this is what had impeded her escape. She pulled at the knot and released her hair, which in turn released her head from its bondage. Now free, she reached back into the cell and retrieved the cloak, wrapping it neatly around her shoulders.

Aurora ran to a wall containing a set of keys and took them to the other creature's cell. After trial and error, she opened the metal door and dropped to hear knees beside the prostrate lady. Rolling her to her side, Aurora could see that the creature was a she-elf. She was emaciated and very pale, seemingly unconscious. "Wake up!" Aurora whispered urgently. "We need to get out of here!"

"Oh she will not answer you. Other than the occasional whine, she mostly just lays there." A voice came from behind her. Aurora jumped at the sound and found there was a centaur in the cell next to hers. She had not seen him because a solid rock wall had separated them.

"But she needs help!" Aurora did not like to see anyone in pain.

"Definitely, but not the kind you can give. She has given up hope." The centaur said sadly. Aurora watched the frail elf shiver. She pulled her blanket from her cloak and laid it across the sleeping figure. The elf settled and her breathing slowed.

"What about you?" Aurora picked up the keys and walked toward the centaur.

He held up his hands to stop her. "Hold your horses there, lass. I do not want any rescuing. There is no way out but past the gnomes, and I have no mind to fight them. Besides, my own kind want me dead…"

"For what?" Aurora raised her eyebrows.

"It is a loooooong story, but let's just say I am better off here watching that poor elf shiver." The centaur jerked his head. "Put those keys back on the wall. They will come round again soon." He warned.

The Empress nodded and placed the keys back on the wall. She reentered the elf's cage and tried once more to wake her, "Come on! We have to escape." The lady gave no reply. Aurora could not lift her, for she was nearly one and a quarter the girl's height, and even being starved she was much heavier.

A door somewhere opened. Someone was coming. Aurora froze. Should she try to return to her cell and hope that they were not coming for her? Should she try to run? Or should she hide and if so, where? The questions were endless but the time was not. Aurora backed to the wall of the elf's cell to push herself into the shadow of the wall. This cell was much smaller, and the Empress realized too late that there were really no shadows in this cavern, only the strange gray light.

What she had mistaken for shadow was actually a small fissure in the rock. It made the wall uneven, with part of the cavern jutting out more than a handbreadth from the rest. The resulting gap was tight, but the Empress shoved her body into the space. It was such a tight fit that Aurora was not sure she could breathe.

She could hear but not see the cell door of the elf close before the gnome sentries could notice. "What was that?" One of them asked. They ran to check all of the cell doors but found each of them secure.

"Wasn't the human girl supposed to be in this one?" The same guard asked.

"I think so," a second replied. "Come out girl! We want to get a look at ya!" There was a brief pause before Aurora's cage was opened and she was confirmed missing. Overlapping exclamations ensued.

"Where did she go?"

"How should I know?!"

"I can still smell her, I think," one of them said. The others sniffed at the air.

Her smell! Alvar had said humans smell very distinct. If they followed her scent they surely were going to find her any moment. Just when she had given up hope, a breeze swirled into the tight space and enveloped her.

"I do not smell anything," another gnome argued. The group bickered about what they did and did not sense.

One spoke above the rest, "All of you, shut up! We need to tell the king."

"I know which way she went," the centaur's voice broke in. "If you give me extra apples, I will tell you." The gnomes readily agreed. "She went up the stairs at the end of the hall and through the door. She was mumbling something about the west passage."

"After her!" one of the guards yelled and the rest fell over each other trying to take the lead. When they were gone, Aurora peeked her head out. The she-elf's head was lifted and looking at her with stunning purple eyes. Her white-blonde hair was still matted about her head, but she was obviously beautiful. The elf's hand, which had been raised slightly to create the breeze, dropped back to the ground.

"Thank you," she said to the elf. She smiled weakly and lowered her head to the ground. "And thank you!" She called to the centaur.

"I hope that will buy you enough time to figure something out," he replied.

Aurora was about to get out of her hiding place when she felt a gentle tug on her hair. Air was still moving in the crevice even though the wind magic had stopped. That could only mean one thing. This was not just a crevice; it was a passage.