"Of Light" - 19+20/45

[rissy_james]

Title:  Of Light
Author:  Rissy James
Rating:  M (overall)
Pairing:  Cain/DG, eventual Jeb/Az
Summary:  The Emerald must be returned to its guardian, and DG is left behind.  When a generations-old threat resurfaces, she must gather more than her courage to save her sister, and to find Wyatt Cain.
Extras: "Of Light" trailer on youtube; Cast Pictures on Livejournal


Of Light

Chapter Nineteen

Wyatt Cain lay on his cot in the dark, so still he might have been asleep. His eyes were closed, but his ears were attuned to the sounds of the complex. The scuff of the guards as they walked slow circles around the block of cells. The guards spoke amongst themselves. Cain learned they were eager to head over the mountains. Humans under the employment of the Commander, the one that ran everything, the very reason he was locked in this dismal little cell, away from the light of the double suns. Cruel, to find freedom again and to lose it again so quickly.

The guards spoke of the impending release of the prisoners, of knocking them unconscious and dumping them in the woods, and if they were lucky, perhaps they would wake before wild animals found them. They joked as if it were their will, and not their leader's, that held the prisoners there, and the guards spoke of them derisively, as they might speak of the slaves who did the work around them.

Cain was tired of the jabber of these idiots. But he listened intently nonetheless. One guard had a heavier step, the other spoke too fast. Neither seemed to be the guard Cain had had a run in with the night before.

The night before... DG and her slippery nightgown riding up to her hips as she straddled his lap. Cain folded his arms behind his head, trying to get comfortable, trying to banish DG from his head. Her warmth, the way she pressed against him so willingly, weren't easy thoughts to push away.

He'd known this was coming, as inevitable as the suns rising in the West. The day she left the embassy, to return to palatial life with her parents, she'd found him tucked into a secluded corner on the second floor. He was watching through a window as the vehicles were being loaded on the street below.

“Keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious?” she'd asked in a teasing voice. He looked at her, turning his head slightly. He'd heard her coming, known she would seek him out wherever he was, on this, the last day.

“Just tryin' to avoid all the fanfare,” he said, and nodded out the window. DG moved closer, her shoulder brushing his chest as she leaned over to take a look. A crowd was already amassing, people milling around, some with cameras, waiting for the royal family to exit.

DG rolled her eyes. “Someone save me, please. I'd rather go a round with some Longcoats than go out there.”

Cain had chuckled low. He found himself watching her as she peered down into the street with a pouty look on her face. Despite her complaints, and to everyone's surprise, she wasn't doing half-bad pretending to be a princess. An entire country was under the belief that the dear young princess - believed dead for so many annuals - had actually been spirited away to the Other Side, to live a life with wealth, that she was comfortable and secure.

Yes, she'd been comfortable and secure. But, as he understood it, she'd been in trouble every other day, and could dismantle an engine better than she could pick up a teacup. Hardly befitting a princess of the realms. So DG's quirks were hidden from the public.

When she had looked at him again, he'd noticed sadness in her eyes. He knew she was upset with him for not coming with her, for not being willing to escort her to Finaqua at the very least.

“I guess we all got our work cut out for us,” Cain said softly, wanting to try his best to take that sorrowful look out of her eyes. DG had sighed deeply, leaned her head against the window, watching the people below. The girl had stormed an enemy fortress, faced and defeated a dark, magical power, and had come out with everything in the world. And here she was, worried about facing the cameras.

“You'll do okay,” he had reassured her. She looked at him, and he thought he got a glimpse of a smile.

“Well,” she had said, “I have to go. Mother wants me to change my clothes.” She gestured down at the slacks she wore, the loose tunic that was overly large, not hers.

“Make sure you take care of yourself,” he said, trying his best not to look into her blue eyes. Why was she making him feel like he was abandoning her? “Make sure they don't put the headcase's brain in backwards.”

DG smiled at him, a real smile. “You should stop calling him 'the headcase'.”

Cain smiled back at her. “Never.”

She had hugged him then, a movement so fluid and instant that he didn't have time to recover before she was wrapping one arm around his neck. The other snaked over his shoulder, grabbed his collar, and she pulled herself as close as it was possible for them to be (No, not true, not as close as it was possible to be, Cain thought now). She pressed her forehead against his neck, and he noticed she was shaking. His arms fell around her waist, pulling her close, and he allowed himself to lean his head against hers, and just held her.

It was in that moment that he'd known the princess was more of a danger to him that he could have imagined. No, not a danger, per se, but at the same time... he was a widower, with a grown son, and a broken life laying behind him. The last thing he'd needed to be doing was holding a sweet armful of princess that clung to him like he was her hero.

Now, laying in the dark, the memory of the scent of her hair, the feel of her warm, supple body... He tried to rationalize with himself. It was just the fear, the tension... fear and tension had been present the entire week before the Eclipse, why hadn't they fallen into each other's arms then? Why after? After she felt safe, warm, protected...

With me?

A series of strange sounds outside his door brought Cain out of his reverie. Sitting up on the cot, he strained his ears. A shout, and a curse, and then a series of unfriendly-sounding thuds. He was on his feet when he heard someone fumbling with the lock. It took a few tries to get the door open, and when it did, and the light from the corridor flooded his cell, he found himself facing the old caretaker, Jowan.

“Bit early for supper, isn't it, Old Man?” Cain asked, incredulous. Behind the old man wheezing in the doorway of his cell, a set of legs, belonging to an unconscious guard, could be seen. Cain felt a chuckle rising up in his throat, but he swallowed it down, stared hard at his liberator.

“Get a move on, Boy!” Jowan snapped at him, looking impatient. In his hand, he held the rifle he'd acquired from the guard. He waved it at Cain. “Hurry!”

“My men,” Cain said, but Jowan was already climbing over the body on the floor, heading for the other doors with the ring of keys in his hand.

“Their command room is at the end of the hall. Turn right! There'll be a supply closet, find something to restrain that guard before he wakes up!” Jowan called to him. “The other one is around the corner, he'll need to be tied, too.” The old man was already opening the next cell.

The command room was small, and it wasn't hard to find his way around. He found a set of ancient, rusted shackles, just as Pvt. Burrows burst in. Cain pointed him in the direction of the restraints. “The guards need to be locked up, drag them into one of the cells and chain them to the pipes on the ceilin'.”

Burrows nodded, eying the chains wearily. “Those look pretty old, Captain. Are you sure they'll do?”

“Well enough,” Cain grunted. Suddenly a smile crossed his face. Behind the door was a weapon's locker. As his men reported to him, he began to hand out firearms. Corporal Hass helped Burrows drag the bodies of the guards into Cain's abandoned cell, and the sounds of the chains scraping the pipes reverberated down the hallway to the command room.

The old caretaker was out of breath, leaning against the wall. Cain secured a holster to his belt, sheathed a handgun after checking the clip. “Why're you doin' this?” Cain asked him, keeping his voice low. His men were scrambling to ready themselves; out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jeb strapping a holster to his ankle.

“I serve the royal family,” the old man said.  Eying him cautiously, Cain wondered if even the old man's exhaustion was feinted.

“We'll get you out of here,” Cain said after a moment. Despite the obvious hindrance the old man would be, there wasn't a single part of Cain that considered leaving him down there. But Jowan just shook his head. He was standing straighter than he normally did, reminding Cain of the night before, and the episode in the hallway, his previous impromptu escape attempt. “Why're you helping us?” he asked again.

“I do not help you, to help you, sir, or your men. I help you only because the ladies would not be able to free you themselves. I help you because you will be the one to return the ladies safely home. You must take them to Central City.” Jowan's voice was quiet, and he was staring down the hallway towards the stairs. Keeping watch.

“Captain, sir,” Jeb said, nudging his father on the arm. “We're ready to move.”

Cain ignored him, keeping his attention firmly on the caretaker. “Central City? Why would we go to Central City? Its further than Finaqua is.”

“Which is why the Outlanders would try to cut us off in that direction,” Jeb said, seeing things before his father did.

The old caretaker nodded, impressed with the boy. “We are far into the Northwest. This is the first time this base has been occupied since the days of Pastor's rule. If you head south you will reach the Nwyn River. Barely an hour's journey.”

“Do you know what happened to our horses?” Jeb asked him. Jowan shook his head.

Cain looked to Private McLauren, who was shifting nervously, eying the old man with suspicion. “McLauren, go watch the door.” Cain nodded his head in the direction of the stairs. The private acknowledged the command with a slight nod, and walked down the hallway, quietly and carefully.

“You must head upstairs. Remember: the river. Maybe you'll be lucky enough to find a town along that way. Then you'll be able to breathe easy,” Jowan said. “Now if you'll excuse me Captain, I think its best I found another place to be.”

Jeb stepped up next to his father as they watched the old man shuffle down the hallway, once again hunched and crooked. Jowan used a key off the ring to unlock a door, and when he opened it, Cain could see another hallway. Jowan locked the door once again, tossed the keyring to the floor; it slid a few feet in Cain's direction. With a wink, and a cough, Jowan closed the door behind him and disappeared.

“Would have been nice if he'd told us the way out,” Jeb said.

“Lots of things would be nice,” Cain said shortly. “Lets get out of here.”

“I can get us to the second level, where Azkadellia is being kept.”

Cain looked oddly at his son. “How do you know where Azkadellia is?”

Jeb shook his head. “No time, Father. Lets just go.”

The five men walked swiftly to the stairwell. When they cracked the door open, Cain could hear someone coming down the metal stairs, fast. He rolled his eyes, growled low in his throat. Just perfect, can't even get out of here without running into guards.

The men looked rattled, unsure, and for the first time, Cain wondered if they would all make it out alive. Shaking the thought off, he looked through the tiny line of door that was open. Through the grated stairs, he saw a pair of bare feet, and behind it a pair of heeled boots that were finding difficult purchase on the stairs.

“Slaves,” he whispered to the men. With a jerk of his head, he ordered Hass forward. “Open it,” he said, nodding his head once more towards the door. Unbuttoning the holster, heart pounding, Cain watched as Hass slowly opened the door, directing his gun at the two bodies coming down the stairs.

It happened very quickly; in a very confusing moment, with a sound like the gusting of wind, Hass was thrown backwards to the wall. He hit the cement with a grunt, and slid to the floor. Eyes wide, Cain risked a peek around the corner, only to see DG and her sister descending.

“DG!” Cain called out. Jeb was helping Hass to his feet.

“Oh thank God,” DG said as she saw him. Her face brightened, though she was pale and scared-looking. A sudden realization spread across her features. “Az! We attacked our own soldiers! Is he okay?” She looked from Cain, to the corporal, to Cain again.

“He's alive,” Jeb said. Hass, hauled to his feet by his companions, was holding his head in one hand, looking dazed.

To Cain's surprise, DG didn't throw herself at him. She looked in control of herself, but only barely. Her eyes were a bit frantic, her expression kept shifting from frightened to resolute to a blankness that unnerved him. Casting a glance at Azkadellia, he saw unfaltering bravery, tinged perhaps with worry for her sister. Az leaned against the wall, removing the boots from her feet.

Jeb was looking at her with interest. She smiled faintly at him, something Cain had yet to see grace her lips in the time he'd known her. “I can't climb all those stairs in these. I barely made it down here without breaking my neck,” she said, holding up the boots now grasped firmly in her hand. She handed a white card to Cain.

He turned it over in his hands. “What's this?”

“Its an access card,” Jeb said, looking at it. “It'll get us to the higher levels. But we've got to move, now.”

The company of seven quickly climbed the stairs. Cain took the rear, his eyes constantly searching for their next obstacle, but they didn't hit it. “Do I even want to know what you and your sister did?” he asked DG, who was lagging behind near him.

DG shook her head. “You really don't. Do I want to know what you did to get that uniform?”

Cain smirked. “We had a little help.”

On the second level landing, Cain handed the card to Jeb. Jeb kneeled down, examining the side of the keypad attached to the door. After a few seconds, he found a slot. Keeping a finger on it, he looked at his father.

“Do you have a plan yet?”

“Don't get caught.”

Jeb nodded. “Works for me. Do we split up?”

Cain thought for a moment. The idea of splitting up was one he didn't like. But the seven of them were going to attract attention in the corridors, especially with the two princesses sticking out like sore thumbs. After a moment of silence, Azkadellia spoke up.

“Captain,” she said slowly. “If you take DG to go find my mother, and if I can find the access door to the first level, I can send DG directions.”

Cain shook his head, confused. “Send directions. How?”

DG shook her head. “Just never mind,” she told him. “It'll work, its a good plan. Its our only plan.”

Cain didn't like it. “Jeb, go with the princess. Burrows, Hass, go with them. McLauren will come with DG and I.”

Jeb inserted the card into the lock. With a beep and a series of clicks, the door disengaged. Jeb pulled it open cautiously, Pvt. Burrows peeking his head out to watch the hallway. “Its clear,” the private said after a moment.

“The rooms were I was kept are down the passage to the right. Try looking there,” Az said to her sister. They embraced quickly, breaking apart unwillingly. With a last wistful look at each other, Az turned away, towards the door. She straightened her shoulders, and from behind her, Cain saw her raise her chin, take a deep breath; she was readying herself for what she was about to do.

“We'll follow,” Cain said, and nodded at his son. The steady, brave look on his son's face made him proud, but the feelings were lost in the tumult of worry and adrenaline. His heart was pounding, and his skin felt warm. He watched as the four left quickly through the door, Jeb taking Azkadellia by the hand to lead her behind him. Cain caught DG watching the simple touch, confused. Pvt. McLauren stepped forward to stop the door closing on them with his boot.

“Lets go find The Queen,” Cain said after a moment. “Looks like they haven't noticed us yet, but there's no knowing how long things are gonna stay quiet. We have to move fast.”

DG was watching him, and she gave a nod of her head, a motion of bare recognition. Cain sighed, stepped down two stairs, and caught her chin in his hand.

“You ready?”

She gave her slight nod again, her eyes searching his. In a move that surprised even himself, he leaned down, captured her lips in a quick kiss. Pvt. McLauren looked away, pretending not to see.

DG took a deep breath when he pulled away, and a smile crossed her face, wide and relieved. She steeled herself as her sister had, though she didn't possess the emboldened spirit of Azkadellia. DG nodded her head at him, signaling she was ready to do what had to be done. “Lets go find my mother.”

Cain nodded. “Lets go.”

McLauren opened the door wider, checked the hallway, his hand hovering over the gun at his hip. “Its clear,” he said after a moment of looking left to right, then right to left, and then back again. DG stepped forward, through the door being held open for her, and Wyatt Cain followed behind her.

Chapter Twenty

His palms were sweating, making it hard to keep a good, firm grip on his gun. They'd found a secluded alcove to tuck into, shadowed and out of the way, where they might take a moment to gather their bearings. When Jeb looked over at his charge, he found her staring blankly at the wall, pale and withdrawn.

“Now, Princess, we stick together,” Jeb told her quietly, standing very close so that he didn't need to speak in more than a whisper for her to hear him.

“Az,” she said quietly. “Just Az.”

Jeb nodded, as if he understood her reasoning, though she baffled him. Why would such a thing matter at a time like this? “All right. Az. We all need to stay together. We get separated, we're as good as dead. Do you understand?”

She nodded.

“We're going to have to move to the other end of this floor. How, without getting noticed, I don't know.”

“Who gave you the militant uniforms?” she asked him, eying his garb with interest.

Jeb watched Pvt. Burrows checking the hallway, gun at the ready. Burrows looked back at him, nodded his head slightly. Still in the clear. Jeb turned back to Azkadellia. “The caretaker on the floor where we were kept. Said you demanded we were treated a little better, so he brought us clean clothes, some other things.”

A ghost of a smile graced her pale lips. “Yes,” she said softly. “But why these uniforms? I didn't tell him to dress you like an outlander.”

“Well, maybe the old man thought it would help,” Corporal Hass spoke up. “I think he had a better idea than most what was going to happen.”

“DG told me that stealing Longcoat uniforms was how Captain Cain and Ambrose infiltrated the Witch's tower,” Az said, back to watching the wall without really seeing it. Which one of the soldiers she was speaking to, it was anyone's guess. Jeb thought it strange, very strange, to hear the woman referring to 'the Witch' as another person. Oh, he knew about the possession, knew the sequence of events that had led to the separation of the Sorceress and Azkadellia. But still... They say she isn't the Witch. Just a princess now... Az.

“Well, we need to figure something out,” Jeb said. The gun was heavy in his hands, and it made him nervous that he didn't know how it would fire. The firearm was not of O.Z. make; it was foreign and he was increasingly uncomfortable with it. “If they find us, uniforms or not, we'll be dragged back like prisoners.”

“We are prisoners,” Burrows said, not turning away from watching the hallway.

“Prisoners,” Az said slowly. Then her eyes widened. “Oh! That's it!” she exclaimed, suddenly. A smile, a real smile, spread across her face, though it quickly disappeared. Ex-evil-Sorceress or not, Jeb had to admit the woman was beautiful when she smiled. Something underneath the dark eyes looked innocent and kind, her cheeks inflamed with color at her sudden burst of inspiration.

“Whats 'it'?” Jeb asked her.

“Prisoners,” she said. “You're not dressed like prisoners. You're dressed like one of their human soldiers. Its so simple. Just... pretend that you're guards, and drag me like a prisoner. We can walk clear across this floor that way.”

Even for all the danger they were in, for the threat on their lives, the sexuality of her statement hit him hard, inappropriate to the point he was a little ashamed of himself for thinking it. You be the guard and I'll be the prisoner. He shook his head, the absurdity of his first thought fading into admiration for the princess.

Hass also looked surprise at Azkadellia's insight. “You know,” he said slowly, “that could work.”

“You'll have to put your shoes back on,” Jeb said, nodding his head to the boots that were in her hand. She nodded, leaning against the wall with one hand as she pulled them on one at a time. Jeb, despite himself, reached out to steady her as she stood on one foot.

“Thank you,” she said quietly when he let go, casting her eyes away from him.

Minutes later, Jeb and Hass had the princess by her arms, and they marched her down the hallway, Burrows following closely behind. Down one hallway and then another, so many corners that he hoped they were going the right way, backtracking would be near impossible.

A slave girl, barely eight annuals, was scrubbing the floor on her hands and knees in front of them. When she saw them coming, she cowered with her face near the floor, not even daring to look up at them. Feeling disgusted with himself, Jeb acted his part, gave her water bucket a kick. It slid towards her, its contents sloshing.

They met no one else. He was just beginning to wonder if they would ever find the stairs when they came across a door that was of a heavier metal, that was secured with the same kind of electronic lock. Examining the side of the device as he had before, he tried the security card. There was a loud beep, a series of clicks, and when he pulled the handle, the door opened easily.

A sigh of relief. “Okay, we're going to have to find a place to hide until the Captain returns with Her Majesty and the princess,” Jeb said. They walked back the way they had come, still holding firmly to the arms of Azkadellia. After a few minutes, they found an out of the way room filled with bits and pieces of furniture.

They entered quickly, and closed the door behind them. While Burrows set about immediately securing the door, Hass let go of Az. Jeb held on, and after a moment, Az jerked her arm away from him.

“You could have tried to not bruise me,” she said, sounding unimpressed. “You were pretending to be a guard. You weren't supposed to be gripping me like I would actually try to run away.” She was angry, glaring at him with dark, unreadable eyes.

Jeb shrugged his shoulders. Az sighed, and moved away into a corner.

He watched her as she leaned against a file cabinet, her skirts obscuring most of it from view. The princess folded her hands in her lap, and then studied them intently, as if the answers to their problems would be written somewhere on her skin. Sighing, already less than thrilled with himself, he walked over to her.

Keeping his distance, he asked “How will you contact your sister?”

Azkadellia looked at him, surprised at the contriteness in his voice, as if he were hoping his words would serve as enough of an apology for manhandling her. “Magic,” she said with a smirk.

Jeb's mouth made a funny little line, and she knew then he had a soldier's attitude towards Light and Dark and power. To most people in the Zone, magic was not something of the every day. Very few people were born with the strange, mysterious force known as magic, something in their blood that allowed them to wield amazing power with their hands, and minds. Too many people, however, had seen the misuse of magic, mostly through the channel of the Sorceress.

Jeb Cain, she knew, was skeptical, and wary, and with good reason.

“Would you like to go try and find them yourself?” she asked after a moment. “I'm sure if you wandered long enough...”

“How do you do it?” he asked her, and she thought she detected an actual interest in hearing her answer.

Az took a deep breath. “Its very subtle. Really simple, once you know how to do it. I can talk to DG in her mind, and she'll be able to follow whatever directions I give her.”

“You can read her mind?” Jeb asked.

“No,” Az said, shaking her head. “I can't read her thoughts. I can only make my voice heard to her, like I would whisper in her ear if I were standing next to her. Thats all.”

“And she can talk back to you?”

Az shook her head again. “No, I don't think she could. Its... its possible, she does possess the ability. But I don't think she'd know how to use it, or how to send her voice to me when she doesn't know where I am. She and I have a connection, and I know how to control my magic to remit myself to her.”

One look at him told her he didn't believe her. It would be easy to show him, he was standing so close. But to have one's head invaded by strange magic was an unpleasant experience to the unprepared, and she didn't want to scare him. If he tensed and tried to shut her out while she was doing it, his mental defense might backfire, damage his thought processes. Not something she wanted to do... for the most part, Wyatt Cain's son wasn't so bad.

“Can you try to contact her now? Tell her we've found the stairs to the first level?”

Az nodded slowly. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath.

DG, she thought, her voice echoing through the space between them. We've found the first level access, and we're hidden in a small room nearby, waiting for you. We're in the northern section of the second level.

When she opened her eyes, Jeb was watching her expectantly. She tried to give a little smile, and a shrug, but she barely managed it. She knew that her sister would have heard her, but now it would be up to DG and Cain to find their way. The thought gave her comfort, that her mother and sister would not be alone.

The second level was designed much like the third where her own room was, so it was easy for DG to find the way to the guest chambers. If the Commander had held her in a lavish suite, she hoped that he had done the same for her mother. Following her whispered directions, Cain led the way. She walked carefully, sandwiched between the two men as McLauren walked behind her, constantly watching the way they'd just come, almost as if he were afraid outlanders would materialize out of the walls around them.

“Tell me again why you don't have any shoes?” Cain asked DG quietly as they navigated one turn and then the next. He didn't look back at her, his eyes constantly forward, scanning the hallway.

DG rolled her eyes. “They were ruined and they hurt my feet.”

“So you're breakin' out of prison in bare feet?”

DG wasn't impressed with how amused he sounded at the fact. “Just get us out of here,” she commanded imperiously. “Let me worry about my feet.”

After a few moments, they came to a hallway of heavy, carved wooden doors. Near the end of the passage, a solitary guard stood outside a particular door. Her mother's chamber.

“Stay here,” Cain told her in a whisper. The seriousness of his gaze told her she'd best do what he said. Staying with her back pressed against the wall, her heart pounding, she heard a scuffle, a muffled shout, a dull thud and a crack. McLauren was watching around the corner, and he gently touched her arm and motioned her forward.

The guard was unconscious on the floor. “Gee, Cain,” DG said with a laugh. “You always make such a good first impression.”

Dubiously, he stared at her. How could she be laughing at such a time? He watched her as she crouched down, unhooked the keys from the guards belt. She stood, and began trying them on the lock. The third key unlocked the door. Throwing it open, impatient, she faced the room. Typical, he thought. This girl is afraid of nothing. An entire army of outlanders could wait on the other side of the door, ready to strike, and she barges in like she owns the place. He found himself close to a smile.

“Mother!” DG exclaimed, louder than she'd meant to. The Queen was sitting on a settee, watching the door. She must have heard the confrontation outside, because she rose to her feet quickly, holding out her arms to embrace the girl that ran straight to her.

“Oh my darling,” The Queen whispered, nestling her face into her daughter's dark hair. “How?” She looked up at Cain.

“I told the Commander I needed Az's help to break her seal,” DG said with a grin. The Queen nodded knowingly, the rest of the story falling into place in her mind quickly.

Cain was dragging the guard from the hallway into the room by the legs. When he dropped the man with a thump, he turned to the two women. McLauren closed the door to the hallway, and stood ready, listening intently for anyone coming down the hallway.

“Your Majesty,” Cain said after a moment. “Are you ready to get out of here?”

The Queen ignored him, staring at her daughter. “Where is the Emerald?”

DG patted her pocket. The Queen nodded, relieved. She walked to the wardrobe and extracted her cloak, studying her daughter.

“DG, where are your shoes?”

“A lost cause,” DG said dismissively. She watched as her mother bent over, rummaging through the bottom of the wardrobe. The Queen extracted a pair of patent leather slippers.

“Put these on, dear,” she said. She tossed the slippers at her daughter, who caught one and dropped the other. Bending over to pick it up, when she straightened herself, DG was shaking her head.

“I'm not wearing someone else's shoes,” she said, but she put her feet into them anyway, knowing being fickle at a moment like this was pure insanity. Cain was right, she wasn't going to walk back to Finaqua through the forest in her bare feet, and she didn't know enough magic to conjure up a nice, comfortable pair of sneakers. For that matter, she didn't even know if her magic could do that. “They're too small,” she muttered so that only her mother could hear her, and she was rewarded with a soft, understanding smile.

“Where is Azkadellia?” The Queen asked.

“She's with the other soldiers, trying to find access to the first level,” Cain said. He was hovering near DG. “Has she called to you, yet?”

“No,” DG said. “Will we wait here until I do?”

Cain sighed. “We're not gonna have much choice. We can't just start wanderin' around, we'll have a better chance of gettin' caught that way. We'll just have to sit tight.”

DG nodded, and sat down on the sofa . Her mother perched next to her, and took her hand.

“The Commander will be after us soon enough,” The Queen said. “This is a foolhardy plan.”

“Its no better than walkin' out into the woods with minimal escort when you know enemies are after you,” Cain said, a bit shortly. DG looked at him, surprised. But Cain's face was a mask of seriousness. He was worried, she could tell as easily as she knew she, herself, was worried. The thought of a worried Cain made her afraid.

“Tell me what happened,” her mother whispered to her. Leaning in close, glad for her mother's touch on her hand, DG relayed the entire story, almost in a single breath. When she ended the tale with Azkadellia hurtling an arm chair down on the head of their captor, her mother smiled.

“Hit with magic like that, there is no knowing how long he will be out of our way,” The Queen said practically. She looked up at Cain, standing behind the sofa with his hand on his holster. “We may meet resistance on the first level. Once he awakens from his stupor, he will have the entire complex on alert.”

“Believe me,” Cain said gruffly, “I've thought of that.”

“Then what do you propose we do, Captain, if we're caught trying to escape?”

Cain's first reaction to the question was simply to shoot their way out. He hadn't thought much past being reunited with his son, getting the women to the surface. What then? Head southeast, to the river. Follow the river, hopefully find a ranch or a homestead. Put those people in danger to help the cause. Yes, the more people involved, the better off they would be. Right.

“Cain?” DG asked him. She was looking at him with fearful blue eyes. Cain swallowed hard.

“I don't know,” he said stiffly. “Lets just take this one step at a time, and our next step is to follow whatever directions your sister has for us.” He'd feel much better once the group was together, with the strength and firepower of five men instead of two, and... as much as it might shame him to admit, the magic of the two sisters. They were a powerful force, and they needed all the help they could get.

She was still looking at him. Her eyes searched his, looking for assurance, for confirmation that they might make it out of this alive. He wished that he had something to give her, something that would make her stop looking lost and scared. When faced with adversity, she was tenacious, all indomitable spirit and grit. But now, faced with nothing but possibility of what was to come, she was humble, timid.

Suddenly, her eyes widened. He looked at her quizzically. DG closed her eyes, turned her head slightly to the side, as if were trying to better hear a far-off sound. When she opened her eyes, she was smiling. “They found the stairs,” she said. “Its at the northern end, they're hiding and waiting for us.”

The Queen was immediately on her feet, walking towards the door. DG hung back, looking at Cain a last time before following.

“We'll have to head back a bit, the way we came. Lets hope we don't run into anyone.”

The Queen's voice was steady as she spoke. “The Commander will be cautious of her now,” she said, nodding at her daughter. “Outlanders have no use for magic, most of them fear it. They are people of substance, of the earth. They are uncertain and afraid of such ethereal things.”

Cain took a deep breath, motioned for McLauren to open the door. “I hope you're right.”

“Remember, darling,” The Queen said to her daughter as the two men walked slowly out of the room, watching the hallway. Cain waved them forward. “Outlanders have no use for magic. You must remember this.”

DG nodded. She felt a tug at the sleeve of her dress, and looked down to see Cain pulling his hand away, allowing the touch for only a moment. “Come on, its time to go.”

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