"Over here," Rath gasped, turning left where the narrow tunnel opened up into a wide cavern. Char ran after him, followed by a spray of golden lights and an ominous rumbling from the tunnel. "Over here," Rath repeated, stopping and turning to face the tunnel opening. His chest was heaving as he caught his breath. "That's about to go. Get down!"

Char ducked down to the ground as an icy wind tore through the cavern. Rath loomed over him in dragon form, curling his tail and neck around Char and Iris, raising his wings to complete the shield he made with his own body. A crash echoed through the air as the tunnel caved in. Rath growled and grumbled with each boulder hitting his side. Char panted for breath and clutched Iris tightly to his chest, heart pounding, fingers trembling as he felt her neck for a pulse.

"Come on, Iris," he muttered. Her skin was ice cold, but she wasn't shivering. "Come on..." He closed his eyes, waiting, and then he felt it. One beat, weak and faint. His breath caught in his throat. He kept his finger on her neck and loosened his grip on her body so he could watch for a breath. It felt like an eternity until he saw it: a slight, almost imperceptible rising and falling of her chest, coinciding with another faint beat under his finger. A wave of relief washed over him. He pulled her tightly against him again, burying his face in her sweaty hair. The crashing and rumbling of the cave-in gradually died down, and Rath pulled away, another icy blast of wind blowing through the cavern as he transformed again.

"Ow," he complained, trying to rub his side. "Darn armor." He tore off each piece, tossing them to the ground with a series of resounding clangs. "Ah, that's better." He collapsed to the ground beside Char, leaning back against the stone wall and closing his eyes. "She's still alive?"

"Yeah, but she's really cold."

"That armor probably isn't helping anything. Here." Rath opened his tired blue eyes and reached over for her. "I'll take her for a minute."

Char carefully passed her over to Rath and stood up to strip off his own set of armor. He was too exhausted to bother setting the pieces of metal down quietly, instead discarding them as loudly as Rath had just down. The sweat trapped beneath the heavy armor was starting to dry. He sat down and took Iris back, annoyed by the involuntary shiver that shook his body.

"You weren't kidding about her being cold," Rath said, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the cave wall. "When was the last time we slept?"

"Three nights ago," Char replied. Another shiver ran through him. "Great. Just what I need when I'm trying to warm her up."

"Maybe it will help," Rath mumbled. He was sitting close enough to feel Char shivering, and he was starting to shiver, too. "Where are the fairies?"

Char frowned and scanned the massive cavern. It was easily big enough for them both to transform and walk around comfortably, and several smaller tunnels split off from it in different directions. A pile of rubble marked what remained of the tunnel they just barely escaped in time. There were no fairies anywhere.

"I don't know."

Rath yawned. "Wonder what they're up to. Well, I hope we didn't wake anything nasty up with all that noise, because I've got to get some sleep, and so do you."

"I'll keep watch," Char replied, tucking his knees up to bring Iris closer to him.

"Mm. Fine, if you can stay awake." Rath yawned again. "I won't blame you if you can't."

Char didn't reply, and Rath's breathing slowed within the minute. Sleep was tugging at Char, too, making his eyes heavy and hard to keep open. He brushed Iris' hair back behind her ear. It was chestnut brown again. He didn't know when that happened. The hectic race against the cave-in hadn't given him much time to check on her. He and Rath wouldn't have cut it so close if it weren't for the armor weighing them down, but they wouldn't have been able to infiltrate the castle so easily without it. He sighed and kissed her unnaturally pale forehead. She was still alive, and that was all that mattered right now.

Rath's groan beside him woke him up several hours later. He was warm but stiff, having fallen asleep with his head bent over Iris'. His neck and shoulders protested when he lifted his head. There was a thick blanket tucked around them, leaving just their heads exposed. She hadn't moved. Her cheek rested against his chest, and she was still pale. He felt for her pulse and found it easier this time, though it was still weak and slower than it should have been.

"Where did these come from?" Rath muttered, emerging from his own blanket to stand up and stretch. "Ow. I could use a hot bath right now. Something to loosen up." He stretched his hands high over his head and then dropped them to his sides, looking down at Char and Iris. "Hey, her hair's back to normal."

"It was before we fell asleep," Char replied, straightening his legs in front of him. They, too, protested being kept in one awkward position for too long. "The fairies must have brought these blankets."

"Yeah, but where are they?" Rath asked, looking around the cavern.

"Found them." Char pushed the blanket back to reveal the little golden orbs of light resting along Iris' frame. "Seems like they did the trick. She's warmer now, and her pulse is a little better." He straightened Rath's blanket and tucked his around Iris, carefully setting her on Rath's blanket so he could stand up and stretch. "Now, how do we get out of here?"

"The fairies had to get the blankets from somewhere," Rath mused. "Maybe there's a family of dwarves down here."

"This far south?"

Rath shrugged. "It's that, or we have to pick a random tunnel and start exploring. We're going to need food and water pretty soon. Hey, fairies," he called. "I only need one of you."

One golden orb wriggled its way out of the blankets to hover in front of Rath and Char.

"Can you show us where you found the blankets?" Rath asked.

It shot straight up and down.

"That's a yes," Char translated. "I'll get Iris."

"You sure? I can take her if you need a break," Rath offered.

Char shook his head. "I'm fine. She's not that heavy, anyway." He scooped her up with the blankets and turned back to see Rath pulling the swords out of the pile of armor.

"Just in case," he said lightly, strapping one about his waist. "I might still get to stab something. Lead on, fairy."

The fairy darted ahead to the tunnel directly opposite the one they escaped. Char and Rath trudged after it wearily. The few hours of sleep they got before aches and pains woke them weren't nearly enough.

"Did she say why she took off like that?" Rath asked.

"She said she was following the crystal," Char replied.

"Hm. I wonder."

"Me, too."

Rath glanced down at her pale face and then returned his gaze to the golden light up ahead. "At least he's dead now."

"Yeah."

Rath blew his breath out. "It was kind of fun watching her wrecking him, but I feel like she could have done that a long time ago."

"She probably could have, but she didn't realize it before. He hadn't made her angry enough yet."

"Yeah. Well. He sure did it this time."

Char's jaw tightened. "If we'd gotten to her a little earlier..." he muttered, his voice low, his green eyes flashing angrily.

"We got there as fast as we could," Rath reminded him. "Every move was quick and efficient. Grabbing a couple of soldiers about our size in the chaos after she put that wall up. Knocking them out and stashing them in a cellar so we could change into their uniforms and armor and join the rest of the army. We couldn't do anything else until the wall came down in the morning, and then we had to find out where Micah's tower was and sneak away from the group to get there, and we did it all as quickly as possible. It was textbook for a covert operation. Kelnor would've been proud of us."

"We were still too late."

"Which wasn't your fault, so there's no reason to keep beating yourself up about it. Look, there's a door up ahead. That's got to be dwarven."

Char fell silent, though his darkened expression told Rath he was still angry. Rath sighed and pulled ahead of him to reach the old, round wooden door first. He knocked, and it swung open on its hinges.

"Hello?" he called, poking his head inside. He motioned to Char to wait and moved his hand to the hilt of his sword before he stepped over the threshold. Char shifted Iris in his aching arms and looked down at her still face. He couldn't get the image of her torn dress on the floor out of his head. And the blood on the sheets...

"All clear," Rath called. "Somebody left in a hurry, and pretty recently, too."

Char followed him through the door, which Rath shut and latched behind him. The entryway was cut from stone, like dragon caves, but the square edges and low ceiling were telltale signs of dwarven carving. A row of brass hooks hung from the wall on Char's left, all empty except for a single pair of shoes and one coat. The same moss that grew across dragon cave ceilings lit the room here, too. Rath led him through to the living room, again, all square edges, with a huge cobblestone fireplace as the centerpiece and a pile of wood stacked next to the hearth. Char laid Iris on the sofa and started stacking the wood in the fireplace.

"There's still some food in the cabinets," Rath called from another room, presumably the kitchen. He came back into the living room. "Enough to last us for a couple of days. We can rest up here and head out once she's on her feet. There's got to be an above ground outlet pretty close."

Char blew the fire into existence and stood up. "Wonder why they left."

Rath shrugged. "Hopefully, we won't find out. I'm going to take a bath. Probably best to let the fairies handle the cooking, right?" He grinned and disappeared into another room.

Char sighed and went to the sofa, lifting Iris' head and easing himself underneath her. He let her head rest on his lap and brushed her hair back from her face.

"Iris, I don't know if you can hear me, but I need you to fight this and come back to me. I'm ready to stop dreaming about the future and start living it, and I need you in it."