Anna still looked a bit dazed as Andrew tried to pull her out of the vision. Several Wisps had come out to bob around her head, and neither of the brothers wanted to risk startling them by just picking her up. Of course, as the guards got closer and Anna woke up more, Peter decided that it was probably worth the risk. He picked her up and bolted farther back into the cavernous town.

  “What are you doing? There’s no exit that way!” Andrew said as he scrambled after Peter.

  “Yeah?” Peter called back. “By all means, try and force your way past that entire battalion!”

  “Ow!” Anna groaned. Peter was carrying her under his arm, almost like a cat, and she jostled each time he stepped. She was fully awake, now. Her Wisps had flowed back into her bracelet.

  “Sorry for yanking you like that,” Peter said, slowing.

  “Keep going!” Anna said. “You’re way faster than I am.”

  “Not for long if I’ve gotta keep holding you,” Peter said, but he grinned and didn’t set her down. Peter glanced back over his shoulder. The guards had seen them from a decent way off. He’d heard them first and pointed them out to Andrew. When they realized they’d been spotted, they picked up the pace to try and catch up with the trio.

  They managed to make their way into the complex of less ruined buildings, losing sight of their pursuers for a few moments before catching sight of a torch or metal gleaming in the light coming from the entrance. Peter put Anna down here, and the group began to move slower, crouching behind the walls and peeking out as they made their way deeper into the ruins.

  “We’ll have to get around them some way,” Anna said.

  “First we have to lose them,” Peter pointed out.

  “That’s not going to matter,” Andrew said. “There’s only one entrance to the ruins, right? The second we’re out of sight, if they’re smart, they’ll send someone back to it to block our way out.”

  “Actually, there’s at least two other entrances,” Anna said. “But like you said, if they’re smart, they’ve already blocked those off.”

  “Well, maybe they aren’t smart,” Peter said. Where are the other two?”

  Anna looked up to examine the cave ceiling for a moment before pointing to the right. “I know there was a collapse around there, where the ceiling is finished. That’s been made into an entrance that can be accessed from the city. Its mostly used by masons or construction workers who want to avoid causing another collapse.”

  “That would just take us into the city proper,” Andrew said. “Which seems like a pretty bad idea.”

  Anna nodded. “Probably. And it would be the easiest to watch. As for the other entrance,” Anna turned to look back through the ruins. “I don’t know where the other one is,” she said. “I’ve just red that they found one that wound deeper into the plateau and came out the other side.”

  “Sounds promising,” Peter said.

  “If they’re blocking it, we’ll be even more cornered,” Andrew pointed out.

  Peter grinned. “Yeah, but if it’s just a small tunnel, we’ll be able to deal with them essentially one against two,” he said. He patted the gem where his Wisp lived and grinned. “And that is my specialty.”

  “That’s assuming we can find the entrance to the tunnel,” Anna said.

  “Do you want to chance getting surrounded at the other two?” Peter asked.

  “No,” Andrew muttered. He looked back toward the main entrance, then sighed. “Is this tunnel supposed to be hidden?” Andrew asked. Anna shook her head. “Then it’s just a race to see if we can find it before they catch us. Any guesses where it might be?”

  Anna frowned, then nodded her acceptance of the plan. “Right. It should be deeper in. The one mention of it I saw described it as low.”

  “We’ll keep our heads down then,” Peter said. He glanced around the corner and saw the light of torches fanning out as guards moved into the alleys in the back of the cavern. “I’ll keep an eye out behind us.”

  Anna led the way between the buildings. It didn’t take long to reach the very back of the cavern, where buildings had been carved into the rocks of the cave. Peter kept glancing over his shoulder as they went.

  “The road is sloping,” Anna pointed out. “First off to the sides, see. And those stones raised up by the buildings are sloping into the road. It looks kind of like a canal.”

  “For what? Water?” Andrew asked. “It’s not like it rains in here. Are you thinking this exit is a drain way of some sort.”

  Anna nodded. “I think so,” she said. “If it is, then I think these should eventually give way to a canal that leads us to the exit.”

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  “Or we could just find the lowest point,” Andrew pointed out.

  Peter kept looking around corners as they spoke, following the movement of the torchlight. He noticed, peaking back around another corner, a groove running through the paved stones. It was in the open compared to a lot of the alleys, but there no guards near it, and he couldn’t see any torchlight on it, so he turned back to the others.

  “Would that be the canal you’re talking about?”

  Anna looked at it and grinned. “I think it is,” she said.

  “It’s kind of in the open,” Andrew pointed out. “They might spot us.”

  “As long as we reach this drain way first, who cares?” Peter said.

  “Just stay low,” Anna suggested to Andrew. “We’ll keep close to the walls without getting too close to the canal.”

  Andrew didn’t seem entirely convinced. Peter leaned in closer to him and whispered, “The longer we sneak around the less good sneaking will do us. We need to find this exit or get back around to the main one.”

  Andrew took a breath, then nodded. “Fine. But keep an eye on those torches, maybe we can hide in one of the buildings if the guards get close.”

  The others nodded, and they crept along to the groove in the stones and followed it along the back wall of the cavern.

  It only took a few minutes for them to find the grove’s destination. A fork split off from the canal, leading into the most collapsed section of buildings close to the back wall. Unlike most of the other broken buildings, this was true ruble, piled in a chaotic heap and covered with moss. The left side entryway of the building was still intact, though.

  “Did the tunnel out collapse?” Andrew asked.

  “Maybe there’s a way to it through here,” Anna said, gesturing at the door.

  Peter took another look around and frowned. No light from the guard’s torches came anywhere near this spot yet. What he could see through the alleys and off in the distance suggested that they were all over the place. He turned back as Anna approached the door.

  “Here, let me go first,” Peter said, just as she started turning the handle.

  Anna let go, turning back to look at him, just as the door swung wide. “Well, looks like the boss’s plan was good!” said the guard standing in the doorway. He was tall, built like a bear, with a squashed nose. He had a sword strapped to his waist, but judging by the cudgel he held in his right hand, he preferred bludgeoning. Before the Wisp Seekers could respond, he raised his voice and bellowed, “Oi! They’re here at the back!”

  A few answering calls echoed farther off in the cavern. Peter acted without thinking, whipping out his blades to strike. Startled, the man jumped back into the darkness of the ruined room.

  “Come on, Peter, we need to run!” Andrew said.

  Peter shook his head. “We’re going to need to fight either way, now,” Peter said. “Might as well when we’ve got him outnumbered.

  “Hear that? He thinks the three of them have us outnumbered,” sneered the large guard. A few voices answered him from the darkness with chuckles.

  Peter grinned. He gripped the blade with his Wisp a little harder, and he felt her responding to the situation by filling him with strength. “Yep. I think we have got you outnumbered.

  He pounced while the guards were still laughing. He couldn’t see much in the darkness, but their laughter told him where to look for the vague outline of their forms, which was enough for him to launch a flurry blows at in each direction.

  The laughter turned to cries of pain and terror as the guards, unprepared for Peter’s Wisp enhanced speed, didn’t have time to bring their own weapons up for defense. Only the big man even had time to try. He raised his cudgel to block, only for Peter’s blade to slide down and crush one of his fingers inside his gauntlet.

  “Anna, light!” Peter shouted over his shoulder. Even as he did, half a dozen blue Wisps poured out of her wrist, lighting up the room. Peter felt himself grow calm as he surveyed the small group of guards. There were four total. He was grateful that he hadn’t killed any of them. His blades had clanged off of their helmets pretty good, with one of them unconscious because of it. The big guard and the other two were all now shielding their eyes against the sudden light.

  Behind them was a long hall. The exit door had collapsed, so they could see the long tunnel stretching into the darkness behind it.

  “You guys go ahead,” Peter told Anna and Andrew. “I’ll make sure these guys stay put till we’re through.”

  “You’ll never escape us all,” growled the big guard as he groped for his blade with his unbroken hand.

  “Bad idea,” Peter said, and he kicked him in his squashed nose. There was a squelching crunch as the big man fell back. “I’m a lot faster than any of you right now. Especially if your main hand is as broken as it looks.”

  Peter waited, holding his sword at the ready as Anna and Andrew made their way past him and into the tunnel beyond. “Don’t follow us!” Peter called, joining them.

  “Do you really think they’ll listen to that?” Andrew asked.

  “No, but it’s worth a shot.”

  “Just keep going,” Anna said. The Wisps still bobbed around her as she led the way again, lighting up the dark tunnel. The canal ran beside them, much larger than the little gutters inside the cave. The tunnel itself had a low ceiling, and the walkway was thin.

  Anna set their pace as she jogged down. She refused to slow down till she was almost out of breath, and even then she refused to outright stop. “Need me to carry you again?” Peter asked.

  “We’re not making a habit of that,” she replied.

  The tunnel seemed to go on forever. It curved, very slightly, but enough that the exit couldn’t bee seen.

  “Surely their reinforcements at least would be coming after us,” Andrew said, looking over his shoulder.”

  “Not if we’re still managing to be faster than them,” Peter said.

  “I’m more worried they might have sent someone to cut us off on the other side of the tunnel.”

  “I think that was smashed nose’s job,” Peter pointed out.

  “You think Daniel wouldn’t have had a contingency plan?” Andrew asked.

  “We can’t worry about that from here,” Anna said. “We just need to get back to Jarnvaror and get out of here before the guards catch up with us. I just wish we were able to talk with Sol.”

  They fell quiet after that. It was another few minutes of jogging till they finally saw the end of the tunnel ahead. Anna recalled the Wisps, and Peter took point, swords at the ready for whatever might be waiting for them outside.

  They stepped out on a rocky outcrop, close to the base of the plateau. They weren’t quite in the place they’d landed with Jarnvaror, but they were close. It was perhaps just around the next bend. “Should I call for him?” Peter asked the other two. “It doesn’t look like anyone is around.”

  “Perhaps you should check again, Peter,” came a voice from over head.

  All three whirled around and looked up. There, standing on the wall of the cliff with his arms crossed and his red hair tossed by wind, as if it were any other day, was Sol the Archmage.