When the time came to leave, Gallus had composed himself and no longer showed obvious traces of weeping. Regardless, he wasted no time in stashing away Dar-tzesa's head and heading out of the door with the others.

Gallus stopped when Ri'vashi put her hand on his shoulder. He looked back up at her and sighed through his nose despondently. She had not heard what was said, but Gallus was at least grateful for the sympathy. He frowned, nodded with determination, and brought his own hand up to his shoulder, before moving on.

Meesei's last minute briefing was nothing that Gallus was unaware of, but it helped him to focus. He responded with a stronger voice than before. "I have already thought about a cover story. If the guards act well, there should be no problem."

As they moved to the dungeons at a brisk pace, Gallus spoke of nothing unless it was further clarifying the plan. After final wishes of good luck, they separated at the entrance to the cell corridor.

For Hiritus, Gallus' entrance to his cell started off the same as usual. The door slammed open and his captor stomped in with a rush in his feet. However, it wasn't a boot to his side that forced Hiritus to awaken this time. It was a feathered head landing on his middle.

"You'd better be ready, jester," Gallus said, not sparing the usual disdain in his voice, "We've not much time." Gallus was apparently allowing Hiritus to inspect the head, but Gallus was already tying a gag cloth around his head. No doubt manacles and a blindfold would follow.

Hiritus was not certain what was happening at first, as he was asleep when Gallus first entered the room. He was just starting to come to consciousness when Gallus threw down the head in front of him. As he leaned his head forward towards it, his eyes widened with pure, genuine shock. "What in Oblivion?"

As soon as one of his hands was unshackled from his chains, he pulled down his gag briefly. "You...actually did it? It's her, it's actually her. And here I thought you were a liar. It seemed like such an obvious trick, but there she is. I have to be dreaming."

Hiritus did not resist as he was being re-bound, and did not expect to be able to talk for much longer. Evidently, Hiritus had not completely bought into Gallus' earlier deception, but seeing Meesei's face on the head was easily enough for him. The quality of La'tahne's work was enough that any inconsistent details were small enough to be undetectable to anyone that did not know Meesei well.

"Take it with us. We'll need proof of the deed. But...how'd you pull that off?" Hiritus asked.

As soon as Hiritus was back in manacles, Gallus pulled the gag securely back around his mouth, grabbed Dar-tzesa's head by the feathers to stuff it back in its bag, and then pull Hiritus suddenly to his feet. The shocked expression on Dar-tzesa's face was still present, much to Gallus' discomfort.

"She was sleeping. I got the ring, too," Gallus explained impatiently. He looked to Hiritus with a deadly serious glare. "Now here's how this is going to go: You say nothing and you do nothing unless I push you to move. No sounds, no looking up from the ground." Gallus didn't even ask for confirmation before he tied the blindfold over Hiritus' eyes and pulled his hair to be angle his head forward. "Let's go, jester."

With one hand on Hiritus' manacles and another hand giving intermittent rough shoves, Gallus lead Hiritus out of the cell and towards the exit of the dungeons. They would come across the first guard soon. Hopefully Hiritus was convinced enough to go along with the plan.

Once out of the cell, Hiritus followed Gallus' commands without question. Granted, with his blindfold and gag, it was not possible to determine what kind of emotions he might be experiencing. Even with Gallus' encouragement, he was moving slowly, and with considerable difficulty. He had not walked on his own in over a week, and he had been beaten enough in that time that he was not in good condition overall. Nevertheless, he moved along wherever Gallus directed him without protest.

The first set of guards they encountered was a pair of Ohmes-raht, who were speaking casually to one another as they approached. Their conversation died down as Gallus and Hiritus drew closer, as one might expect when something of note happened on a guard's watch. One of the men held up his hand at Gallus, and moved to stand in front of him and block his path. Since Hiritus was blindfolded, it was not entirely necessary to give the right visual cues to sell the deception to the prisoner, but the guards seemed to be cautious enough to do so anyway.

"Hey, what are you doing with this prisoner?" The guard asked before giving an intentional pause. He looked closely at Gallus' face, and even widened his eyes slightly as if he had realized something. "Um...sir." He added uncomfortably.

Gallus did not stop moving until he was near to the guards. He continued his image of an impatient officer as he responded. "This wretch asked for a bath, so I'm heading down to see how long he can hold his breath," Janius said abrasively. Janius lifted his hand and with it the head sack as he pointed a finger to the guard. "See to it that you know who you are addressing before speaking so rashly next time," he chided.

It was perhaps not the best cover story that Gallus had ever come up with. There was likely a trough that could have been brought to the dungeon and filled with water to serve the same purpose. However, Hiritus would hopefully not see that as a better solution. Although, the minimum would be that Hiritus would believe the guards not seeing that as a better solution.

In any case, Gallus wanted to be over this stage as quickly as possible. He would use the same excuse for further guards no matter where the baths actually were. His intention was to disorient Hiritus with the route they was taking to the tunnel.

The guard physically straightened up his posture, followed shortly by the other. He spoke up quickly, though still with nervousness in his tone. "Right, of course. Sorry sir. This one was...just following his orders. He did not know that any of the prisoners were meant to go anywhere."

There was some hesitation from the pair of guards, after which they shuffled to the side just loudly enough that the prisoner would be able to hear them. However, the guard did not yet allow them to pass without comment, as he did not want to make it seem that they had been able to pass them too easily. "Do you...want an additional escort, sir? To help watch the prisoner?" He asked.

Throughout the encounter, Hiritus followed Gallus' instructions to the letter and remained perfectly silent. He kept his head lowered towards the ground, except when Gallus forcefully lifted it up, and focused solely on keeping his footing. It was actually taking him noticeable effort to remain standing, due to his general weakness.

"Next time, you will have more notice." Gallus explained with enough authority that it did not count as an apology. "This is instance cannot wait."

As for the suggestion given to him, Gallus glared at the guard for his insistence on staying in the way and responded slowly and carefully. "If that were necessary, I would have been the one to ask you," he said in a low, menacing tone.

With Hiritus beginning to sway in place, Gallus caught him by the shoulder to steady him and decided to move on. He placed a hand onto the guard's chest and began to push him out of the way. "Do not pester me further, soldier."

Once they passed the guards, Gallus walked a few paces, and then turned his upper body around to look to the guards again. He gave them a thumbs up and a wink behind Hiritus' back as he pushed forward. They had done a convincing enough job.

Now they would have to get through a number of other groups of guards and possibly some early morning risers if they were too curious. The guards would all get the same explanations and the others would just have to be brushed off. The sense of urgency in Gallus' footsteps increased as they got closer and closer to the tunnel, despite the fact that Hiritus could not walk any faster. After a while, Gallus considered carrying Hiritus or dragging him along the ground.

The pair continued through the stronghold along the planned path, encountering a few more of the guards. Some were more convincing than others, but none were overtly obvious about the deception that was taking place. Ri'vashi had specifically selected the guards they were passing for their confidence and speaking ability, so there were no obviously bad actors among them. A few had nervous expressions that might have betrayed their thoughts, but with Hiritus blindfolded, it was irrelevant.

Eventually, Gallus managed to bring Hiritus past the last set of guards they planned to encounter, and beyond the parts of the stronghold that people normally frequented. They had encountered a few early-risers on the way and received a few strange looks, but none of them were going to attempt to interfere with anything that one of the Champion's companions was doing. They were not far from the escape tunnel at this point and would be able to make their exit without any difficulty.

So far, there was not so much of a hint that Meesei, or anyone else, was following them. It was exactly as they planned, though that also meant that Gallus would have no confirmation that his reinforcements were still following at any point during or after the escape. He would simply have to trust that they were able to keep up with him successfully.

Once past all the guards they had planned to encounter, Gallus stopped at nothing to get to the escape tunnel. He made no eye contact with passers-by, he kept Hiritus going at a steady march, and he anticipated that the most sensitive part of the ruse was close to passing.

When they reached the tunnel, only then did Gallus stop to look behind him for any followers. He couldn't detect anyone, but that was just as well. He didn't want anyone following him until they exited the tunnel ahead. Even then, Meesei's trailing party would have to keep their distance. Gallus proceeded through the gate of the tunnel with Hiritus in tow and locked the gate behind himself.

The journey through the tunnel was noticeably quieter and darker than their trip through the clan home. The only thing they could hear was their echoing footsteps through the manufactured corridor and the only thing that Gallus could see was rough outlines of the masonry. There were torch sconces that could have been lit, but Gallus wanted to waste no time. His night-eye would do for now.

The tunnel seemed to stretch on for a long while. It was surprisingly damp smelling in places, though a long while in a cool, sunless environment would allow for such things. The end of the tunnel came around eventually, with Gallus and Hiritus emerging to be blasted by the hot desert air. Gallus had Hiritus stop for a short while so he could replace the boulder before leading him a short distance away and untying his blindfold and gag. Gallus didn't give Hiritus any warning against the bright morning sun.

"Well, that's the first part done," Gallus said, stuffing the cloths for the gag and blindfold in a pocket. He looked around to the rocks around them to look out for any strangers. There seemed to be nothing but the wind for now. "We should cover as much distance as we can. They would have found Meesei's body by now."

As soon as Hiritus' blindfold was off, he immediately covered his eyes, then lowered his head to allow his eyes to adjust at a somewhat reasonable pace. Eventually, he was able to look out over the landscape to get a sense of where they actually were. "Right, cover distance. I would say we need to head straight to Orcrest, but there's no way we can outrun those flying beasts of theirs. We'll have to take an indirect route to the city to keep out of their sight. I hope you thought ahead enough to bring some supplies."

The gradient of the hill immediately beneath the escape tunnel was too steep to simply walk down, so Hiritis had to carefully sit himself down, then slide down the hill to the point where he could walk again. Although, his walking was just as shaky as it had been when he first left his cell. He moved slowly at first, but Gallus quickly and easily overtook him. He tried to speed up his pace to keep up, but within only a few seconds, he lost his footing and tripped over a rock onto his hands and knees.

"Ah...you know, you really didn't make this easy for me with all that 'entertainment' you had with me over the last week. Don't suppose you've got a healing potion in any of those bags?" Hiritus asked.

Gallus didn't help Hiritus up, but he stopped and waited for him to get back on his feet.

"I hid a sack with more supplies in it nearby, including a healing potion," Gallus stated blandly, "It'll help your wounds, but getting your legs strong again will just take time and exercise." Gallus beckoned Hiritus up, "Come on, don't expect me to carry you, jester."

It only took another few minutes for Gallus to come across the dead drop he had left between a couple of rocks the day before. It was mostly food and water, but also a map of local oases and a few other tools for survival.

Gallus handed a flask of familiar red liquid from the bag to Hiritus' hands. He decided to let him take the moment to have a quick break.

"So, you know our heading?" Gallus asked, crossing his arms, "Who are we going to be meeting with?"

Hiritus gladly downed the potion once he stood back to his feet. He leaned over with his hands on his knees, panting as if exhausted. He needed rest, but the need to at least get out of sight of the stronghold pressed him to start walking at a minimum. The potion had not yet taken effect, but his condition would start improving the longer they walked.

"Well, I haven't exactly been able to arrange a meeting from my cell in the past week, so we'll just have to head to the safehouse and see who's there. It's in a farmhouse just outside the city, to the north. The owner is one of ours, and we've expanded his basement to be a more useful hideout. Like I said, though, we can't go directly to Orcrest if we want to throw off any pursuers. Hopefully, this wind will cover our tracks before they find them." Hiritus explained.

Orcrest was to the northeast, but as they were taking an indirect route, Hiritus started to guide them due north. He was gritting his teeth in pain as he walked, but if nothing else, he could not be faulted for a lack of dedication. Despite the pain, and his overall weakness, he was putting every bit of effort he had into escaping the clan.

Gallus readjusted the sack of supplies over his shoulder and followed behind Hiritus as they walked. "The wind..." Gallus realised something, looking to the ground as he pondered. He responded quickly and seriously, "We're heading upwind. We should turn our heading north-west for a while, otherwise they'll just sniff us out." If he was really on the run, Gallus would have offered the same advice as well. He had no doubt that Meesei was doing a good job of keeping track of them anyway, but he hoped that the point would solidify Hiritus' trust.

During their journeying, Gallus was not content staying silent. He continued to ask questions under the guise of conversation. "So, jester. What have we got to look forward to when we find your...cell, as you call it? Will it matter that your previous mission was interrupted?" Gallus began to sound contemplative, "Unless, somehow, you knew Meesei was coming and killing her was your mission all along. In that case, having a Meesei look-alike wouldn't make an awful lot of sense."

Hiritus followed Gallus' direction regarding the wind, trusting him to know more about lycans' tracking capabilities than even himself. Though, as they were walking, he laughed at Gallus' comments regarding his plan. "Ha, do you really think we would throw together such a haphazard plan as that? Especially considering how difficult it was to find someone who both looked something like your Champion, and was willing to accept a deal from Vile. Maybe your former master might have tried some idiotic tactic like that, but we prefer our plans to make some semblance of sense. No, it was some sour luck that she and her entourage showed up that day. We were close too. We were meant to pull most of their forces out of that stronghold, take them halfway across Elsweyr to exhaust them for an ambush, then follow up with a clean sweep of that place. Obviously, you ruined that plan. We can finally report back on the location of their hideout, but that's not going to be an easy siege. That escape tunnel you took us through will be useful, but if they figure out we took it, they'll probably reinforce it."

Shaking his head slightly, HIritus gave a huff before continuing. "Anyway, that would normally be a big problem for us, but in this case, we're coming away with something that might be even better. Taking out an enemy stronghold is important, sure, but that lizard has been a thorn in our side for too long, since she took out our previous General. She has had some success in fighting us, so her successor might not be as effective. If they can even get a successor. I'm sure there are plenty of ambitious, power-hungry lycans out there just waiting for an excuse to try to claim that mantle, and without the ring to act as a symbol of power...I'm hoping there will be blood. Of course, even if they do get another good leader, it won't matter. From what I understand, General Do'rhajul plan will pretty much be a guaranteed victory. Even moreso now."

There were a number of points of inquiry that Gallus wanted to pursue with Hiritus' words. He wished he could just line up his questions clearly and upfront, but the challenge of hiding his true intentions was ever-present.

"Huh, I thought so," Gallus commented, "A similar thing was tried up at Bruma, if I remember correctly. It was a bit more rushed, though. Didn't work out too well."

After a quick pause, Gallus decided to pursue what was probably the most important point. "But this general, Do'rhajul. He's the one people are saying are a lycan, right? You make it sound like he has some kind of secret weapon or gambit to take the clan home. Is it that gas they used down south?"

Hiritus shrugged his shoulders. "I can honestly say I have no idea. I haven't heard anything about a gas, so you probably know more about that than me. If you're going to be joining us, one thing you should probably know is that we have compartmentalized information. Everyone knows only what they need to know. If someone is captured and ends up breaking, they can't do that much damage. I personally don't know much of anything about what's going on down south. Of course, there's always general information and rumors going around about our efforts across Tamriel. It's pretty easy to piece together that something big is coming. We've been hunting for people, specific people, from all over. People who aren't lycans, and don't seem to be involved with them at all. Not to mention, Do'rhajul himself specified where exactly we should take your warriors once we tricked them to follow us, which is strange seeing as he normally doesn't directly manage our forces up in Orcrest. He has his subordinates for that."

By this point, the pair were well out of sight of the stronghold, and Hiritus' initial resolve to escape was wearing down now that they were in less danger. In between two of the dunes, he suddenly stopped and dropped down to his knees, then turned around to sit down. "I...need a minute. Ah, these legs are sore. Say, could I get some of that water you brought along?"

"Well, the events down south were rather bloody. In fact it was the reason that the champion came south in the first place." Gallus recalled for the sake of sounding like he wasn't secretly interrogating. "A large force descended upon a clan in the Tenmar forest near to Senchal with this gas that forced lycans to transform back out of their beast forms. Most of the clan was killed or captured, with a minority scattered." Gallus decided not to go too in depth, especially since he was interrupted by Hiritus stopping and sitting.

"Wet your mouth, only take a sip," Gallus said as he stopped and handed Hiritus a waterskin, "With the pace we're going, the last thing we need is to run out of water. You've got five minutes to catch your breath."

While Hiritus drank, Gallus stayed standing and surveyed their surroundings. There were still no signs of backup. Regardless, even though it made sense for Hiritus' knowledge to be limited regarding the plans of the enemy, Gallus was most curious about this grand plan. "You said specific people? That seems a bit odd. What do you mean by specific? Do they share something in common?"

Hiritus shook his head at Gallus. "You're pretty new to the desert, aren't you? Out here, you don't just take a sip. You drink what you need, when you need it. More efficient that way. Don't be wasteful, obviously, but don't catch yourself trying to ration too much. There are people who end up dehydrating while still having water with them. And while we're sitting here, cut the attitude. We're not trying to fool your friends anymore, and I'm the one that's gonna be making sure you have a place to go after all that, got it?"

Returning to his waterskin, Hiritus looked out over the sands as he continued. "Anyway, like I was saying, I don't really know the details. All I know are the people I was directly involved in finding. Two alchemists, and a shipping clerk, of all people. That last one was confusing to pretty much everyone involved. He seemed to be just some regular clerk, and a bit of a coward. I just have to assume there was a reason for it. I know that other teams have sought out other people, but nothing more than that. What about your people? Or, former people. You were close to the Champion, so I'm guessing you've picked up on some useful information. Granted, once they learn that you defected, a lot of those plans will probably change, but is there anything we could take advantage of right now?"

Gallus simply lifted his upper lip on one side and let out a distainful breath. He intended to continue his persona as consistently as possible, attitude included.

As for the people Hiritus mentioned, there wasn't much that Gallus could immediately interpret from the information. He remembered hearing about Sabine having a sister who was also an alchemist, but that was all the way in Black Marsh from what he understood. The shipping clerk and the other alchemist had Gallus drawing blanks. Perhaps Meesei would know more?

"The clan is still planning to mobilise its forces, but not without caution and not for the destination they were originally headed, necessarily." Gallus said. Hiritus was going to die anyway, so he wasn't too reluctant to share. "They'll be marching within a few days, depending on the the reports of scouts they sent out. They are going to be marching on the stronghold near to Corinthe. They believe it is a headquarters of sorts and intend to besiege and assault it." Gallus bowed his head and exhaled with frustration, "The plan was not very thorough. I was not happy with such a rash decision. Of course, there might be further delay now that the champion is dead."

Perhaps a little abruptly, Gallus tried to shift the conversation back to Hiritus' side. "What's this Do'rhajul character like, anyway? Is it true that he's a lycan himself?"

Hiritus raised his brow at Gallus curiously. "Hmm, so you actually know about that place? Well, that had to come eventually. It wasn't really meant to be a secret hideout forever. That place is a fortress, no question. Granted, a lot of its soldiers are probably preparing for the ambush we were supposed to set up, but since we've probably delayed their attack by killing the Champion, that won't be a problem. Probably wouldn't be a problem anyway, with Do'rhajul heading the defense."

After he had his fill of water, Hiritus stood back up, a bit less shakily than before. The healing potion was steadily giving him strength, and was making it easier for him to keep up a quicker pace. He was still slow for the moment, but he was willing to motion for Gallus to keep moving. "The General is a Cathay-raht, and if the reputation is accurate, he is actually a werewolf. I don't know how long he's been a lycan, though. Some among our organization will infect themselves to better be able to complete their missions. Cures are very difficult to make or obtain, even for us, but they do exist. I've seen people get cured myself. Personally, the last thing I want to do is corrupt my blood with that infection. I just take on the scent, which works well enough. A few of my partners on this mission became beasts; I know Dar-tzesa didn't even hesitate when asked. She'd do anything for that son of hers, which I can understand. Apparently, he has some disease that's making his muscles deteriorate; can't even stand anymore. It's a shame those savages are probably going to kill her, especially after this escape."