"Must you be in the chambers?" John asked.

Rainbow nodded earnestly. "It is the only way to stop this."

"Then I will go with you." John declared firmly. "Darmae will be up there, and you will not stand a chance against her. I will kill her-"

A gnome landed at their feet, sprawling lifelessly across the floor. "I'll hit you with the next one," Hunter threatened from the rafters. "Darmae is mine. You stay here to fight these pathetic targets."

Caleb shook his head frantically. "I don't care who comes, but we need to go now!"

The door banged open as soldiers marched into the tree, neatly lined up. At the front marched poor little Jake, his face pale and his body held stiff and rigidly. Behind him was a soldier with his fingers entwined through the boy's hair and a blade at the boy's throat. "No one moves." He demanded in a sharp tone of voice.

John felt his heart go cold as he stared at his nephew. Jake was trying to look so strong and brave, but even from across the room John could see the tears that threatened to spill, and the razor thin line of blood from when the blade had accidentally bit his flesh. He had no doubts he could kill the man from where he stood, but could he kill all of them before one got a blade in Jake? His fingers twitched against his blade as a million possibilities flashed into his mind. He needed to act, and he needed to act now.

~~~~

Edward's sides heaved as he galloped through the streets. He hadn't wanted to leave Jake, but the two of them had not been strong enough to fight the entire army. The only thing he could think to do was to follow Jake's high, terrified order. 'Get Grandma'. Sara would know what to do. Sara would save Jake.

Edward skidded on a loose cobblestone, but managed to keep his balance as he careened around a corner. A woman shouted at him for his carelessness, and a dog was barking from somewhere nearby. All he could think to do was go for help. He started down the street as the barking got louder. Tears blinded him as he surged forward.

Ribbon barked again.

Edward drew up short, his sides heaving as the friendly pup leaped around his legs and barked again. "Mister Roger!" Speaking strained his lungs, but he knew he needed to get his message out to someone. And Roger was much closer than Sara. "Jake has been captured! They're heading inside the tree with him to go kill Caleb!"

~~~~

Hazel squirmed in Sara's grip, desperately trying to wrench her wrist free. The older woman laughed, enjoying the control she had. She adjusted her grip and pressed hard until she heard Hazel squeal in pain. The younger woman's jerked her shoulders as she unsuccessfully tried to free her hand. Sara twirled her knife lazily between her fingers.

"This will only get worse for you if you fight back," Sara warned her in a tone that was almost mistakable for friendly. Gently she set the blade against Hazel's arm. "Now, why don't you start by answering my question, yes?"

"I'll answer nothing," Hazel's voice was tight from hiding her pain. Sara's blade bit into her flesh. Hazel drew in a sharp breath and held it. Slowly Sara ran the knife down the back of Hazel's arm, peeling a thin strip of flesh off with it. A high pitched whine escaped Hazel's throat as she held back a scream. Her knees buckled in relief as the knife finally reached the end of it's path.

Sara flicked the blade away, speckling her expensive rugs with blood. "That was the wrong answer. Let us try again, shall we?" She set the knife against Hazel's arm, beside the first track. "What do you know about this gnome John has sold himself to?"

Hazel turned her head away from Sara. Long ago she had sewn a small pill into both shoulders of this shirt. Having feared an attack while guarding Kayden, she had come prepared. She just had not thought that she would need to take such precautions from John's own family. She bit down on the hidden pocket and ripped the weak stitches out easily as she extracted the pill and the swatch of fabric that had hidden it. Sara spotted her chewing and grabbed her chin, yanking her face back around so they met each other's eyes.

"Poison?" The older woman demanded, disgust evident in her voice. Though, she was honestly a little impressed with just how loyal Hazel was to her son. "You would rather kill yourself than talk?"

Hazel laughed, but no sound came out. And none would. The pill was not a deadly mixture, but one of her own device. No, she would be rendered speechless until she drank the antidote, a special formula she would need to brew herself. She would not utter a word to anyone about anything until she was able to make herself the counter. She never kept any premade, so that no one could force her to drink it and ruin the silence. All of John's men had been given a pill to take in the event of capture. Torture would do no good when one could not even scream, so much as speak their secrets. Sara could skin her alive and Hazel would never make a sound.