Taris pulled Aera’s limp form against him, slowly lowering to the ground. He could feel how weak her heart was, and gently held her against him. The shadow elf took the manacles around her wrists into his hand and concentrated. The metal glowed and cracked before crumbling into powder. By the Lady, she was in bad shape. The assassin reached deep, calling as much magic as he could muster. There was a pulse, and he sent a wave of healing magic through her.

Hadhen approached cautiously, watching her broken wrist set and the blood stop flowing from her wounds. “Will she be better, now?” he asked the elf. Taris shook his head, “Not entirely, I only had enough power to stop the bleeding, I can’t help her any more.” He coughed and hacked spitting ash on the ground beside him, continuing weakly, “That tapped out the last of my magic. If I use anything else, my soul will ignite, and burn my body with it.”

He lifted her form in his arms, and Envy stepped up to steady him. Taris gave a thankful nod, and looked pointedly towards the exit, “Let’s get going, Envy, I killed a couple dozen, maybe a little more, but they’ll be coming soon.” Hadhen wrapped the blanket around him and Aera, and the small group began moving.

Out of the caves the late morning sun glared fierce, and Taris gave a grunt of discomfort. He set into a smooth jog, conserving as much energy as he could despite wanting to move quickly. His wounds were still bleeding, and he was sure Drugan’s kick had cracked a rib. Still he set the pace, Envy keeping up with his long legs, the human thieves working not to fall behind. Envy jogged up next to Taris, “I could get us at least part of the way back home, through the Shadow Realm. But with her mind like it is… I think it would be safer for the children if we took her one of my safe-houses or yours.”

The assassin nodded, “I agree, it would be better to keep her somewhere else.” He coughed, “And we need to talk later about what she did to your sister. But I can’t enter the shadows right now. Where is the nearest town?”
“I can open the portal Tar…”
“NO!” Taris nearly shouted, if he’d had the strength to spare. He breathed in, and began in a gentler tone, “It’s nothing to do with opening the portal, Envy. The Shadow Realm is the Wolf’s domain, he’s strongest there. And right now, that means he’d be stronger than me. I wouldn’t survive it. My body would, but only the Wolf would occupy it. Where is the nearest town?”

Envy continued in silence for a moment before answering, “About 5 hours at this pace, about a third of the way back home. Town called Morliss, why?”

“I have a house there that we can use until we get a carriage or I can use the shadows again,” the smaller elf said weakly. He was wheezing only slightly, but the larger elf cast a sidelong glance at him anyway. But somehow he managed to keep on for most of the way to the town. They were passing through a stand of trees when he finally slowed and sagged against a tree. Envy called a halt and the group found a patch of shade to get out of the sun. Aera’s breathing was still shallow, but steady, and she slept against Taris’ chest. Envy left to find a nearby stream and came back with a full waterskin. He passed to Taris first, “We’ll rest here for an hour, before moving on.”

The rest nodded, grateful, and the assassin stroked Aera’s hair and leaned his head against a tree trunk. It seemed too short before he stood again, shaking his head when Envy and the others offered to carry the Moon Elf for a while. They made their way to the town a bit slower, the thieves managing to distract the guards at the gate long enough for the assassin to slip in unseen with Aera. Taris led them to a large house just inside the outer edge of town. “Where’s the key?” asked Russel.

“No key,” Taris replied. Instead he reached an arm into the shadows and pulled out a stone. As he did a phantasmal wolf’s head appeared and snapped its jaws on his arm, making him wince. The assassin leaned against the wall and handed the stone to Envy. “This will get you past the traps,” he said weakly, “shadow walk inside, unlock the doors.”

The Kartaian nodded and vanished into the shadow. A moment later the door opened and Taris hurried inside, barely placing Aera on a couch before collapsing unconscious.