"You're insane!"

The angry shout echoed around the cave walls, startling Iris awake. The fire had long gone out. Only pitch black surrounded her. That, and the footsteps echoing around the cave. She shrank back against the stone wall, but the footsteps were even, unhesitating. Whoever was coming toward her could see, and there wasn't a flicker of torchlight anywhere. She fumbled for the amulet, pulling it from her dress and clutching it tightly as she hugged her knees to her chest. Maybe it would hide her. Maybe not. She had no idea.

"We've gone over this already."

She knew that voice. That was the stranger - the dragon. He sounded tired and exasperated.

"Yeah, well, we're going to keep going over it until you get some sense through your thick skull," the first voice replied.

"Shut up."

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"Someone's here, you idiot."

Iris buried her face in her skirt, trembling all over. There was nowhere to run. She couldn't see, and although she could hear the waterfall, trying to escape that way would probably end up with her slipping in the dark and falling into the lake. There were dragons here in the cave. What else might there be lurking in those dark waters?

"They're not here now," the unknown voice said sullenly. "You're just trying to change the subject."

The footsteps were coming closer. Any second now, they would see her.

"This is recent," the familiar deep voice said, stopping right in front of her. Booted feet scuffed across the stone, and the faint whiff of smoke from the dead fire grew stronger. "It wasn't here last night."

Iris held her breath. They didn't see her. Somehow, they didn't see her.

"The ashes are still warm, too," muttered the other man. His voice was on Iris' level. He had to be squatting down inches from where she sat.

"They can't have gone far."

"We don't have time for this. Thanks to somebody delaying our attack, we're behind schedule."

"Fine. You go. Tell everybody what a mess I made. I'll check this out so our position here isn't compromised," the stranger said, his voice thick with sarcasm.

There was a snort of derision, rising above Iris as the other man stood. "And let you get yourself killed? No way. You've taken enough risks lately. Sooner or later, that luck of yours is going to run out."

"Then come on."

The footsteps faded away. Iris listened, her heart pounding in her ears, louder than the crashing of the waterfall, and couldn't hear their voices anymore. She had to get out of here, but there was nowhere to go. Deeper into the cave, in the pitch black, was some kind of dragon lair. Outside the waterfall were two dragons looking for her. The only thing she could do was sit still, clutching tightly to the amulet, and hope it kept her hidden until - until what? Until the dragons came back and went into their lair? Until daybreak?

She very carefully, very slowly exhaled and lifted her face from the skirt. The faint red glow of a single ember was all that remained of the fire. It wasn't bright enough to illuminate anything in the cave. She rested her chin on her knees, staring at that ember, wishing it could tell her what to do. The amulet had protected her, again, but she didn't have much faith in its ability to continue to do so, especially since she had no idea how to use it. Maybe it wasn't even hiding her anymore. The thought made her stomach lurch. If the dragons came back and saw her, she didn't have a chance. If she could sneak back out to the forest, the thick canopy would hide her from any eyes up above - if she could make it that far without being seen.

There were no good options.

She held the amulet tightly and cautiously stood up, hyper aware of every breath she took. Her bare feet were too loud on the cold stone as she crept toward the waterfall. Just a few more steps, and then she could peek around the curtain of water to the starlit world outside.

A hand clamped over her mouth; an arm snaked around her waist. She struggled and tried to scream, but the man's grip tightened, lifting her feet off the floor and crushing her back against his chest.

"Got you."

She knew that voice. It did not comfort her in the slightest. She released the amulet, which obviously wasn't doing her much good, and tore at the arm around her waist. He grunted and slammed her into the cave wall, pinning her between the cold rock and his body.

"Stop fighting me," he hissed in her ear.

"Nothing I could find," the other man said, his voice emerging from the roar of the waterfall.

Both of them were here. She could barely breathe from the weight of the man at her back pressing her into the stone. His arm was digging into her stomach, further limiting expansion of her lungs; the hand over her mouth and nose was smothering her.

"That's because she never left," the man holding her said with some effort. "If you don't stop, I will hurt you," he said insistently.

"What do you mean, she never left?"

"Stop!" he shouted in her ear.

She was getting lightheaded. A tear slipped down her cheek, but she couldn't fight anymore. There was no point. There never was any point.

"That's better," he muttered as she went limp. He held her there a few more seconds before hesitantly taking a step back and loosening his grip just slightly. "Do not scream. Got it?"

She nodded. His hand left her mouth and nose, and she gasped for air, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead to the cold stone. She was drenched in sweat. His arm was still around her waist, his chest still against her back, but her breathing was unrestricted again.

"What's going on?" the other man demanded.

"She's a mage," the man holding her said flatly. "I recognized her signature, but I couldn't see her until she moved. She's been right here the whole time."

"I'm...not..." she gasped.

He stepped back and grabbed her shoulder, spinning her around and pushing her back against the wall. "Then what's this?" he growled, plucking the amulet from her chest.

Her eyes were wide open again, though they weren't doing her any good. She shook her head. "I...I don't know," she said miserably.

"She's the girl from the battle," the other man said. "How did she get here?"

The amulet fell back against her chest, and a hand grabbed her upper arm. "Come on."

She stumbled after him, pulled along without any explanation. His pace was unforgiving. The other man was silent, his footsteps ever present behind her. But the unseen cave floor was smooth and even. She closed her eyes and gave in, one foot in front of the other, trusting the path was unbroken. It was either that, or drop to her knees and probably be dragged behind him.

"Stairs," he finally said, and she felt his hand jerk up on her arm. She felt with her toe and took a tentative step up. Another, and another.

An irritated sigh sounded behind her. "This is taking too long." Hands gripped her waist, the grip on her arm disappeared, and he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. If she hadn't been so despondent, she probably would have shrieked or protested. But she didn't have the energy left. Whatever was going to happen, would happen, whether she liked it or not. They went up, and up, and then they were on stable ground again, and she was tossed unceremoniously onto something soft.

She opened her eyes, scrambling backwards, as far from the men as possible. To her surprise, she could see. The stone room was brightly lit, and although it was plainly a cave, it was also plainly a living room. She was on a sofa. They were standing over her, two men with black hair, one with sharp green eyes, one with sharp blue eyes, their arms crossed, their expressions hard. She wedged herself between the back of the sofa and the armrest, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging herself tightly.

The blue-eyed man sighed and turned his glare to the green-eyed man. "You have some explaining to do."

She wasn't expecting that. A muscle pulsed in his jaw, and then he said, "Her name is Iris. I delayed the attack because the mage was looking for something, and I thought we should know what it was." He gestured toward her. "She's it."

The blue-eyed man looked back at her appraisingly. "So why didn't you kill her?"

The breath caught in her throat. She looked frantically from one to the other. Both were deadly serious.

"If he can use her, so can we," the green-eyed man replied coolly.

She couldn't take much more of this. Her heart was going to stop any minute now. She buried her face in her skirt, wishing this would all just disappear, that she would wake up in that wretched cave and it was all a horrible nightmare.

Blue-eyes snorted again. "Yeah. Right. That's going to be really useful in a war. I need a drink."

"Bring three glasses," green-eyes called after him. The sofa shifted as he sat next to her. "My name is Char," he said, his voice softening slightly. "The drink will relax you, and we'll figure this out tomorrow."

She didn't respond. He wasn't trustworthy, and she didn't even want to think about what tomorrow may bring. Every day since Sunday had been a new adventure in misery.

"So, where's she going to sleep?" blue-eyes asked. Glasses clinked against each other, a cork popped, and liquid sloshed from a bottle. "We don't exactly have any dungeon cells here."

"Are you really worried she's going anywhere?" Char asked derisively. Cold glass touched her arm. "Here."

She lifted her face reluctantly, wiping her tears on her skirt, and took the glass with trembling fingers. The red liquid within smelled like some kind of wine. She focused on it, refusing to look past it to the two men in the room.

"No, I guess not," blue-eyes said. "You sure the mage was after her? She's just a kid."

She forced the bitter liquid down her throat. It burned going down, but the warmth that settled in her stomach was actually kind of pleasant.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Char said. "Don't chug that," he reprimanded her.

"I'd rather get it over with," she said quietly, handing the empty glass back to him and tucking her face back into her skirt.

"Get what over with?" blue-eyes asked, mystified.

She just shook her head. Anything. All of it.

"This jerk is Rath," Char said sourly.

"Who're you calling a jerk?" Rath retorted.

The warmth in her stomach was pouring into her veins. It was nice. And this sofa was softer than anything she'd ever slept on. She released her knees and lifted her face so she could comfortably yawn, covering her mouth with her hand, and then she rolled over on her side, resting her forehead against the back of the sofa and closing her eyes.

"Hey, you can't sleep there!" Rath exclaimed.

"I don't think she's listening to you," Char said, amused. The sofa shifted up as he left, but instead of stretching her legs out, she tucked them in closer. A blanket settled over top of her.

"Still think I should have killed her?" Char asked, his voice somewhere off in the distance.