As Bedreigh and Vaciana crawled out from under the canvas, suddenly, a guard hurried towards them. He pointed a spear at them.

"Now get up very carefully and put your hands in the air," the guard said.

Bedreigh and Vaciana looked at each other. They obeyed.

"Look out!" Vaciana called out. "That eagle is going to attack you!"

The guard looked at her. "You didn't actually think that was going to work, did you?" he asked, laughing.

Bedreigh smiled. The guard's attention was now focused on Vaciana and he took advantage of the opportunity to trip him. The guard grunted as his back hit the ground. In surprise, he lost grip on his spear and it fell on the ground.

Bedreigh quickly bent over to pick up the weapon and said to the guard, "We didn't. But in the end, you did get distracted, didn't you?"

He grabbed Vaciana by the arm and they ran into the forest, disappearing behind the trees. They heard the noise of guards coming after them, but they were already out of sight.

———————————————————————-

"What's happening outside?" Enorwin wondered aloud. Earlier, he had heard a rumbling, thundering noise, and now all he heard were panicked people and Servants barking orders at others.

"Chaos," Carlard said. "I don't know what caused it and I don't like to speculate."

"I hope one of the others will manage to escape," Enorwin said. "Bedreigh, perhaps. At least he's loyal."

"You have an interesting definition of loyalty, Sir Enorwin," Carlard said. "The boy betrayed me."

"Because you forced him to do things he couldn't do," Enorwin said accusingly. "His conscience told him not to kill us, and he rightfully held his conscience before you."

"Lord Darfith has little need for consciences," Carlard said. "He requires obedience."

"The same obedience you were in the end unable to provide him with," Enorwin said. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be imprisoned now."

"That was because someone else failed to complete the assignment I'd given them," Carlard said.

"Oh?" Enorwin asked, suddenly curious. "What kind of assignment?"

"That's none of your business," Carlard said.

At that moment, Enorwin heard a rustling sound as someone crawled into the tent from behind. He tried to look over his shoulder past the pole, but it did not go as well as he had hoped. He caught sight of a hint of dark blonde hair.

"Sir Enorwin?" Bedreigh's voice asked.

"Bedreigh!" Enorwin said, surprised. "How did you escape?"

"Vaciana and I made the tent collapse," Bedreigh said. "We reached this tent using the forest as a cover. We took a pretty large detour." He knelt down beside the pole and began to untie the ropes with which Enorwin had been tied up.

In the meantime, someone else – probably Vaciana – had entered. And it was then that Carlard said, "I see that you have also thrown in your lot with prince Enorwin, Vaciana?"

"I was never loyal to you in the first place, Carlard," Vaciana said.

"Loyal?" Enorwin asked, and repeated, more angrily this time, "Loyal?"

"Did she not tell you she was originally asked by me to track you down?" Carlard asked. "Vaciana, Vaciana, why the secrecy?"

"I did not intend to go through with it," Vaciana defended herself.

"And that's why you deemed it completely unnecessary to tell us that you had originally been tasked to hunt us, I presume?" Enorwin felt genuinely angry now. He had put up with Arwund's mockery for days on end, he had ignored Maréin's gross insubordination many times and he had patiently tolerated the fact that his companions even refused to address him with the proper title. But now the others had crossed a border.

Bedreigh had untied him in the meantime, so he got up and looked Vaciana in the eye. "I want to have a word with all of you when we're out of here. Understood?"

"Of course, my lord," Vaciana said. "It's such a great way to thank us for rescuing you."

"Rescuing me after giving up on killing me, yes!" Enorwin yelled.

Carlard, who remained tied to the pole, cleared his throat. "Might I suggest you finish this conversation elsewhere? Those guards may not be extremely disciplined or well-organised, but they'll go look for you eventually."

Enorwin grunted, but realised he had a point. "Let's go," he said.

"Wait," Bedreigh said, nodding in Carlard's direction. "What about him?"

"We'll leave him here, of course!" Enorwin said. "The man tried to kill us!"

"But... Darfith will kill him!" Bedreigh said, shocked.

"He deserves it," Enorwin said. "Let's go."

Bedreigh looked from Carlard to Enorwin and back to the former, his expression helpless. "Carlard took me in when I had no-one," he whispered.

"Bedreigh, we don't have time for this!" Enorwin said, annoyed.

"Exactly. So I have to decide now," Bedreigh said, kneeling down and untying Carlard's ropes. The pale draconic human got up, rubbing his painful wrists.

"Bedreigh? Even you defy me?" Enorwin asked, stunned.

"I didn't want to defy you," Bedreigh said, "but I didn't want to defy my conscience either. I am sorry, my lord."

Bedreigh seemed sincere; Enorwin had to admit that. He would think it through later. Again, he said, "Let's go."

The others followed him out.

———————————————————————-

"Come on, Joandrey, we have to do something!" Arwund said. He had been tied to a pole in the middle of a tent, and a while ago, Joandrey had been tied to it as well, so that they now sat back to back. "I don't know about you, but I'm not gonna wait till they come and kill us."

"What plan do you have?" Joandrey asked.

"I don't know," Arwund said. "Can't you burn the tent or something?"

"I can't reach the canvas," Joandrey said. "Too little energy."

"Neither can I," Arwund said. "We have to think!"

"Look, I don't see any opportunities," Joandrey said. "Unless the others manage to escape somehow, we can't get out."

"Can we burn the rope?" Arwund asked.

"First of all we'd have to turn our necks in an impossible way to reach them with our breath," Joandrey said. "Second of all, I'm not as resistant to fire as most breathers myself."

"Great," Arwund sighed. He looked at the entrance of the tent. "What's happening out there?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know," Joandrey snapped.

Arwund had to admit he felt panicked. He saw no opportunity to escape and with every passing minute, it became more and more certain that he would be turned over to Darfith soon. He could only guess at what Darfith would do to him. He was quite the visual thinker and the images that his mind was coming up with appalled him.

Suddenly, he heard a tearing sound as someone cut open the canvas from behind. Bedreigh came in, carrying a spear.

"Bedreigh!" Arwund called out in surprise. "You escaped!"

"Long story," the young man said, while crouching down and untying the ropes. He picked up his spear again and got up. "There's not much time," he said. "Follow me!"

Arwund and Joandrey got up and hurried out of the tent. The others began to run away, but Arwund suddenly turned around. "Wait," he said. "Let's see if I can distract them for a while."

"Arwund!" Enorwin shouted. "We don't have time for this!"

Arwund didn't listen. He inhaled, and then he breathed a small flame that immediately set fire to the canvas of the tent. Then he turned around and joined the others.

"Before they've figured out that we weren't inside the tent anymore, we'll be long gone," he said triumphantly.

"Clever," Bedreigh said.

"There'll be plenty of time for compliments when we get out of here!" Enorwin said, as he began to run. The others quickly followed suit.

———————————————————————-

"I can't smell them anymore," Vaciana said after a while. "I suppose that if we're careful, we can stop running now."

Enorwin, panting heavily, came to a halt. "Agreed," he said. "Let's take cover among the trees."

"If they get closer, they'll smell us anyway," Arwund said after he had also stopped running. He bent his back, his hands resting on his knees. "We should continue on this path and make sure to be quicker than their search party."

"We need horses," Maréin said. "Are there any villages nearby, Arwund?"

The rogue frowned. "The closest may be a town called Nehrfelt," he said. "I believe it's in the same direction we were heading before they captured us."

"How far?" Enorwin asked.

"One mile, maybe one and a half, I think," Arwund said.

"Then maybe we should run," Enorwin said. "Just to make sure the gap between them and us doesn't close any further."

Arwund sighed. "Not again?" he asked almost desperately.

"Should I carry you, Arwund?" Joandrey asked mockingly.

Arwund grinned. "If you want to, sure."

"Save the jokes for Nehrfelt!" Enorwin ordered. "Come!"

The prince began to run again. Arwund shook his head in despair and followed him, ignoring the pain in his chest and the dryness of his throat.

They ran for what felt like two hours, but was probably a lot shorter in reality, before finally reaching Nehrfelt. They wanted to enter the town, when a middle-aged man ran up to them and stopped them.

"You had better leave as fast as possible," he said in Northern. "We have an outbreak of dragon's fever here."

Arwund gasped. So the disease had spread. All the precautions the people of Stehnburg had taken had been in vain.

Enorwin looked at Arwund. "What is he saying?"

"Dragon's fever," the rogue said. "It's reached this town, too. We should leave."

Maréin walked up to the man and addressed him in Northern. "We only need horses," the wanderer said. "Can you arrange that?"

The man scratched his head. "There are many farms nearby," he said. "Maybe the farmers can help you. I'm sorry; there's really not much more I can do for you." He swallowed hard. "My wife needs me. She's ill – terribly so. I'm afraid... I'm afraid she's going to die." Tears welled up in his eyes.

Maréin laid a hand on his shoulder, compassion in his eyes. "Stay strong, my friend. Do not give up hope."

"Hope is all I have left," the man said. He smiled weakly. "Thank you, good sir. Few people have shown concern for my wife and me, and I don't blame them. They all have their own relatives to mourn, their own friends and family to care for."

Maréin nodded. "You're very welcome."

"What do we do now?" Enorwin asked impatiently.

Maréin turned around, his face completely serious and a hint of annoyance in his eyes. "According to this man," the wanderer said in the language of the Middle Lands, "there are farms close by. I suggest we visit them to look for horses."

"Let's go, then," Enorwin said, before walking away. Arwund followed him and saw Maréin throw a last, concerned look over his shoulder at the man who had helped them, before joining the others.

"There's not much more you could do for him, Maréin," Arwund said, touching the wanderer's arm.

"I know," Maréin answered quietly. "I just wish it were different."

Arwund looked away. For the first time in a long while, he found that he agreed. He had become used to ignoring other people's troubles, believing that he could not do anything to end those problems anyway; because of that, concern for others' lives was pointless. But now, he found that he shared Maréin's wish for change, that he sincerely cared. If only, he thought to himself, if only this country were a better place.