How are you doing, Srot? Kelnor asked, breaking the silence an hour or so into their flight. Srot's wing strokes had been getting noticeably slower and more labored over the past few minutes.

To tell the truth, I'm beat, Srot replied reluctantly. Any chance we can stop somewhere and rest for a bit?

I think we could all use a break. May as well call it for today. Char, Rath, don't you two have a hideout somewhere around here? Kelnor asked.

Uh, no, Rath said unconvincingly.

Char sighed. Yes, we do, but the mage may know about it. It's where we found Iris.

He's probably too worn out from that fight to give us any trouble tonight. Lead the way, Kelnor ordered.

Char pulled up out of Thrak's slipstream and overtook Thrak and Kelnor with a few hard flaps to settle into the lead position. He was tired, too, but not anywhere near what Srot had to be feeling after struggling against the mage's noose around his neck for several minutes. It wouldn't matter if they made it home tonight or not. Iris had used a lot of magic over the last few days, enough to knock her out yesterday and again today. She wasn't waking up anytime soon.

Just so we're clear, we've never used this place to hide out from work, Rath lied.

Thrak laughed. Yeah right.

It's too late, Rath. He already knows about it, Char said.

But it's really new. It hasn't seen much use yet.

Can it, Kelnor said, but his voice wasn't as harsh as Char expected. It was your father's hideout first. I just forgot where it was.

Srot laughed and dipped lower to the ground.

Need a little help, Srot? Char asked, looking back over his shoulder at the struggling purple dragon.

I'll be fine as long as it's not too much further, he replied wearily.

It's not. See that lake? It's behind the waterfall.

Behind the waterfall, Kelnor repeated. Knew he hid it really well. You said that's where you found Iris?

Yeah. Char left it at that and tucked his wings to his sides as he dove toward the waterfall, the wind whistling across his scales. He spread his wings at the last second to slow his descent, tucking them closed again to penetrate the roaring water. His talons scraped across the stone, crunching the charred remains of Iris' fire, already spread across the floor by their hasty exit a few days ago. Refracted sunlight cast shimmering, watery shadows across the cavern walls. Ice tore through his veins, and he was in human form again, stepping out of the way just as Kelnor made his entrance. An icy wind blew Char's hair back as Kelnor transformed into his human form. His red eyes scanned the cavern entrance as he stepped back to make way for Thrak.

"She made it this far by herself?" Kelnor asked incredulously.

Char nodded, his hair blown back again by Thrak's transformation. "Rath and I came here after the battle. I told him we were lying low to avoid you, and then I went out looking for her the next day. Never found a trace of her, but I brought a deer back, so there's plenty of food for everyone."

"Good. I'm starving!" Thrak said enthusiastically as Srot burst through the waterfall. He landed clumsily, and when the burst of icy wind cleared, his face was haggard.

"Can't say I'm a fan of being a conduit," he said, dragging his hands through his dirty blonde hair.

"I don't know why he needed you. He already had a direct connection to Iris from when she healed you," Char said, frowning.

Srot stepped back just before Rath whizzed by at full speed. "Unfortunately, there was more to it than the rest of you heard, and I got to hear it all," Srot replied, his purple eyes darkening. "She was still unconscious. He figured she'd wake up if she felt me in pain."

"Wait, what?" Rath asked, jogging back to them. His brow was furrowed into a scowl. "What else did you hear?"

"Let's go inside first," Kelnor interjected. "Rath, you lead the way. Char, stay here with me. We'll catch up to the rest of you."

"Uh oh, somebody's in trouble," Rath teased in a sing-song voice.

"Get moving before one of us ends up carrying Srot," Kelnor barked.

"I'm not that bad off," Srot grumbled, following Rath deeper into the cave.

"And get dinner going," Kelnor added. "Thrak's cooking."

Char stuck his hands in his pockets, waiting. The sounds of the others gradually faded away, and finally Kelnor turned his red eyes back on Char.

"Start at the beginning. Everything you already said, everything you left out," Kelnor said quietly.

Char knew this was coming. He took a deep breath and began with the marketplace, his first day in town and his first encounter with Iris. The story wasn't new to Kelnor, but the way Char told it was. He'd tailored it for Rath and Kelnor the same way, to make it seem like he viewed Iris only as a potentially worthwhile asset in the war effort. That had never been the case. He liked her, and when he found out the mage was after her, he realized she was in greater danger than just being caught up in the battle.

"I talked to the priest on Saturday," Char confessed, dropping his gaze guiltily. "I had what we needed, and I knew I shouldn't say anything, but it didn't sit right with me to leave without at least giving him a chance to get the orphans somewhere safe before the battle."

"You told him about us," Kelnor said darkly.

"Yes, I did, but he wouldn't leave. He said war creates orphans, the church had survived hundreds of years and several wars, and he was staying put. But Iris promised the youngest girl that they'd go to the river on Sunday, and the priest told me he'd see to it that they were gone when we attacked."

"He knew more than he told you," Kelnor mused.

Char nodded. "I wasn't going to press a priest for information, though. So I decided to stick around a bit longer that night, and some drunken soldiers started messing with Iris, which triggered a bar fight with the regulars. I did not get involved in the fight," he said quickly, seeing Kelnor's raised eyebrow, "but I did pull her out of it and took her out back before the mage showed up. He cast a spell to stop the fight and send his soldiers packing, and she sensed it was coming before he even did anything." He took another deep breath. "I found out what time she was planning on being at the river, and I delayed our attack until then. My plan was to sneak off during battle, snatch her and Kayla up, and hide them here until I could figure out something better."

Kelnor sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "What about the amulet?"

"The priest gave it to her before he let her go on Sunday. He told her it was left with her when she was a baby."

"You and your brother are going to drive me to an early grave," Kelnor muttered. "And then you found her here."

"Right there, actually," Char said, pointing to the spot where she appeared out of thin air. "I gave up looking for her early that day, and she must have slipped in right after I got back. Rath talked me into going home that night, and we found the remnants of a fire when we were leaving. We must have nearly stepped on her. The amulet made her invisible until she moved." And Char only knew she was near because he saw a single white magical snowflake, her signature, all that remained of her shields on the battlefield after she fled.

"Alright, I think I have all the information I need," Kelnor said, sighing heavily. "Let's go inside."

Kelnor started walking, and Char glanced back at the spot where he found Iris. She had been sitting up against the wall, her knees pulled up to her chest, holding the amulet tightly in her right hand, her frightened brown eyes scanning what would have been a pitch black cave to her. There were scratches on her face and arms, tears in the already patched fabric of her dress, cuts and scrapes on her bare feet. She had rested her chin on her knees, staring at a single glowing ember for a moment, her eyes troubled, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders to touch the cave floor, and he had been frozen in place, watching her. Not a sign of her for two days, and there she was, right in front of him. He hadn't known what to do. Not until she cautiously stood up and headed toward the waterfall - toward Rath, who hated human mages with a passion and would almost surely kill her on sight. Char grabbed her before she got too far, covering her mouth with one hand to keep her from screaming, pulling her back against him with an arm around her waist to hold her still. She fought much harder than he'd expected. He hadn't wanted to get rough with her, but letting her go meant letting Rath get his hands on her.

"Come on," Kelnor called back over his shoulder.

They walked in silence down the length of the cavern to the spiral staircase. A mixture of smells hit them near the top: rotting two-day-old food, whatever Thrak was supposedly cooking, and alcohol. Srot and Rath were sitting around the kitchen table, drinking, while Thrak stood over the stove, also drinking. A few stray flies buzzed around the garbage chute. Char went toward it and sent a poof of flame down to kill the smell.

"You can do that in human form?" Thrak asked incredulously.

"He's always been the magical one in the family," Rath answered for Char, kicking his feet onto the table and tilting his chair back dangerously on two legs. "Me, I just leave it at transformation."

"What else can you do?" Srot asked curiously.

"I'm no mage," Char replied, pouring another two glasses from the open bottle on the counter and handing one to Kelnor. "But I can recognize a real mage when I come across one, read their magic, that sort of thing."

"Like Iris," Rath said. "Much as I hate to admit it, she's not bad for a human mage," he admitted reluctantly.

Srot shoved Rath's shoulder, sending him toppling backwards onto the floor with a surprised shout. "A little respect for the lady who saved my life twice, please."

"Okay, okay, I get it," Rath grumbled, climbing to his feet and setting the chair upright again. Fortunately, his glass had been safely on the table. "Why did you let me be such a jerk to her, Char?"

"Let you?" Thrak asked, laughing. "He probably couldn't stop you."

"You've got a nice set-up here," Kelnor commented, sipping his drink and looking around the kitchen.

"We didn't steal anything, if that's what you're thinking," Rath said quickly. "I'll confess to skipping out on work from time to time, but we're not thieves."

"Except for that once," Thrak said meaningfully.

"That doesn't count. I was only borrowing it," Rath said dismissively.

"You took it without asking and never returned it. Pretty sure that's stealing," Thrak replied.

"Wait," Kelnor interrupted, holding up a hand to stop Rath from retorting. "I don't want to hear this. Are there enough beds for everybody?"

"Two beds, one sofa," Char replied.

"You and Rath bunk together, Srot and Thrak take the other bed, I get the sofa," Kelnor said. "Starting now."

He left the kitchen with his drink, leaving the other four to continue talking. Char's contributions to the conversation were minimal, but at least the others avoided the sensitive subject of Iris. Nobody seemed to want to ruin the mood by talking about what happened on the battlefield - if you could even call it that. Char tried to put it out of his mind and pay attention to the lighthearted banter as Thrak ruined the food. His cooking skills turned out to be only marginally better than Char's. The meal was edible, though, and Char choked it down and went to bed, hoping Rath would stay up later and leave him alone. No such luck.

"So," Rath said, climbing into bed, "what are we going to do about her?"

"We?"

"Yes, we. That mage was flaunting what he's going to do to her. You're not just going to let that happen, are you?"

Char sighed. "We can't break her out of the magic school, Rath."

"Why not? Could be fun," Rath said casually.

"The mage can track her wherever she is," Char reminded him.

"So we keep moving."

"We can't fly with her."

Rath groaned. "You're making it sound impossible."

"It is impossible," Char said gloomily.

Rath was silent for a moment, and then he said, "Wonder what Kelnor's going to tell the powers that be. He made you tell him everything, right?"

"Yes."

Rath yawned. "You'll have to tell me tomorrow when we go to see Mother."

"I doubt she wants to hear it."

"She deserves to know before we turn into hardened criminals on the lam."

Char shoved Rath's shoulder. "Shut up and go to sleep."

"Yeah, yeah. Stop thinking logically. Crazy works better for us. Good night."

"Good night."