As Haelerin dropped Althea, none too gently, the archer forced back the threatening tears, trying to focus instead on letting her eyes adjust to the dim cell. Only a small amount of daylight filtered in from a crack in the ceiling of the tunnel, but it was enough that she could make out the unmoving figure of Harper on the ground next to her. "Harper!" she whispered urgently, rolling herself onto her knees and straining against the ropes on her wrists. Unfortunately, the drow was right, they were bound well enough that she did not think she'd be able to shed the bonds without assistance. She stopped as she could just make out the outline of another figure lying against the back wall of the cell. "Zed! Are you okay?" She whispered, assuming the shape was her companion.

--

Haelerin followed Laele back and saw that Rhyldaer was escorting Straw back toward the entrance of the tunnel. "Are you pleased? These three should fetch a fair price, plus whatever the old dwarf brings."

"Yes, it was great to do business with you again Straw." Laele said to Straw before the old man was out of earshot. Although she wasn't always fond of working with people and wished that they could do work without having to rely on someone delivering the captives, Straw wasn't too bad of person to deal with.

As she reached the male, she saw that he was starting to wake up just as the older woman was. "Don't even think that you can escape." Laele said as she gave the man a swift kick as he tried to roll over. A muffled groan escaped the man's lips as he tried to hold back his reaction of being kicked and looked towards the two drows.

"Where are the others?" Zed asked as he looked around and saw that Straw, Harper and Althea wasn't there. "What did you do to them?"

"Nothing, yet. You better listen to us or we will kill off the others and the old man will be the first to go." Laele said with a chuckle, knowing that the man would listen to her threat for the sake of his job he thought he was assigned to as well as for the two females. Crouching down, Laele gave a hard gaze towards the man as she waited for him to nod in reply. "Good, now get up." Laele said as she helped the man to his feet. Gripping tightly to the man's arm and her dagger in her other hand, Laele nodded for Haelerin to follow close in case the man decided to bolt. "There's nowhere to run and nowhere to escape." Laele said as she gave the man a slight push to motion for him to walk.

~.~.~

"Quit your yelling, the drows will be back again and we don't want any unneeded trouble." A calm voice said, as the old dwarf kept still. Orin was surprised to see that the drows were taking two trips to bring all of the here. If he could free the woman that was awake and wake up the other, they might have a chance to escape. However he knew that it was futile, besides a small sharp stone he found that could cut the ropes, there was nothing they could use to defend themselves and fight off the drows. There would be a time for escape but it wasn't time yet. "Once things calm down I'll release you all but until then you might as well get comfy and stay quiet until we get a chance to talk."

As Straw exited the tunnel, he took the lantern with him, and the underground passageway again darkened. Haelerin took pleasure in knowing this would only help to increase any fear the human male was already feeling. His thin lips curled themselves into a smile as he fell into step behind Zed. He leaned forward enough for the wind of his breath to tickle Zed's ear and said in a tone barely above a whisper, "Of course, rothe, I'd be more than pleased to make the young one beg for her life if you care to test us..."

Rhyldaer followed behind, rolling his eyes slightly as Haelerin attempted to get a reaction from the bound man. Not that Rhlydaer held any compassion for the captives, they were nothing more to him than the gold they'd bring at auction, but Haelerin's constant provocation wore on even the calm Rhyldaer. Tormenting the merchandise was something Haelerin took great pleasure in, claiming that it increased the market value of the slave if some of the breaking process was already done.

--

Back in the cell, Althea shut her mouth, even though she hadn't been yelling at all, as the unfamiliar voice answered her. She considered for a few moments bombarding the figure with questions, but took his advise to remain silent, especially when she heard the sound of the drow approaching again.

"You leave her out of this." Zed protested angrily as he jutted his elbow back, aiming for the male drow. However before he could land a blow a strong push came from the female drown, causing him to stumble forwards.

"Keep moving." Laele said giving nothing more than a raised eyebrow to the male's response. It was good to know that the male was protective towards the others in the group. It would make the male more responsive towards them and she assumed easier than using physical means of forcing him to listen to them. Laele was glad to see that the male didn't make another advance towards them or anything else for the rest of their walk. As the group made their way to the cell, Laele was surprised to see that the older female was silent. She was expecting more of a reaction from her seeing how she acted when she was taken to the cell as she wondered if the woman exhausted herself out from the day's events. With the cell door opened, Laele gave the male a hard shove into the cell before closing the door behind him. Things were looking good for the three of them, she could almost feel the gold in her hands.

~.~.~

A small sigh escaped Orin's lips as the cell became quiet. It has been a long time since he came across another being besides the drow and even though he was glad that there would be others to aid him in his plan to escape, he wasn't looking forwards to the loss of the silence that came when he was alone. Even the whispering that came from the woman seemed out of place after a long time in solitude, knowing that he spoke a little harsher towards the woman than was needed. Looking towards the younger female, he could see that she was starting to wake up. He only hoped that she would do so after the final prisoner was brought to the cell, hoping that she wouldn't cause a ruckus when they came. He was glad to see that she didn't wake up as the cell door opened and the male was shoved to his knees on the cell floor.

"Are you guys hurt?" The man asked looking towards the three figures, not noticing that the third figure was not Straw.

"Bruised, but okay," Althea answered, still whispering. She felt a mix of emotion at seeing Zed dumped into the cell with them. Part of her was relieved to see her companion still alive, but an equal part wished he had been able to escape, offering them some small hope that he would be able to rescue them. "Okay as I can be for being stabbed in the back by that greasy boil-brained clotpole," she spat, her initial shock turning to anger at Straw's betrayal. "May the gods grant him a thousand slow and painful deaths."

--

As the cell door closed, Haelerin took up a place just outside to keep guard over their merchandise. Rhyldaer looked to Laele, deferring to her best judgement, "Do you wish to depart for the city tonight? Or would you prefer to wait until the moon is waning?"

"If you're thinking about hunting Straw down, you best wait in line missy. I've already sworn to him that I'll be tracking him down to bring my vengeance onto him lest his dying breath comes beforehand." The dwarf said with a venomous tone as he thought about the old man. Crouching down besides the closest person of the three, the dwarf began to free the young female from her from the ropes that bound her.

Zed was glad to hear that Althea was doing well but looked at the woman a little confused as she spoke angrily about being stabbed in the back but as the figure he thought was Straw began to talk, everything made sense to him. He could feel a wave of anger rise as he thought about being tricked by Straw. He should have known better than this, he should have seen all the signs but instead here he was trapped by drows and uncertain what their fate would bring. As his eyes became more adjusted to the dark, Zed saw that the figure was a dwarf and probably had been locked up for some time by his appearance. "Who are you?" Zed asked the old dwarf

"Orin. You guys?" The dwarf said as he moved from the unconscious girl to the older woman and began to untie her binds on her hands.

"Zed." The man said looking towards the Harper as he wondered if she was okay.

Stirring awake, Harper opened her eyes. A wave of panic swept through her as he sat up quickly and as she tried to make sense of her surroundings. Something attacked her and now here she was on the ground with sore wrists. "Guys?" Harper said with a hint of concern as she looked around in the dark, unaccustomed to the dark.

~.~.~

Mulling over the decision, Laele wondered what would be the best between the two choices. If they left tonight, they could take the advantage of the prisoners still being disorientated and would be able to sell them sooner. However if they waited, it would give the merchandise time to rest after their travels and possibly make them worth more being rested but that could be troublesome if they worked together in trying to resist them. "Let's wait. If they rest, they'll look stronger and be worth more."

"Of course," the ever-calm Rhyldaer responded as they walked back toward their temporary living quarters under the ancient ruins. "I'm sure Haelerin will be pleased to spend more time with our guests before we depart."

--

"And Althea," the archer added in response to the dwarf's query, trying to position herself to make Orin's efforts to unbind her hands easier. "Thanks," she said as the rope came loose. She brought her hands in front of her and rubbed them together to bring back circulation to her cold fingers.

As Harper started to regain consciousness, Althea felt some relief that the girl was not too badly injured. "We're here, Harper," she said in a tone that was meant to be comforting, even though she was still fighting to stay calm herself.

Unaware that Haelerin was right outside the cell door, using his keen ears to eavesdrop on their conversation, Althea squinted her eyes, trying to get a good look at the dwarf. "How many of the drow are there? And do you know what they want with us?" she asked, already fearing that she knew the answer. Rumors of drow taking other races as slaves made them feared and reviled throughout the civilized world.

"At least he'll keep a watchful eye on them." Laele said as she followed Rhyldaer. As long as the merchandise wasn't injured to the point that they would lose value in the market, she wasn't too concerned on how they were treated. She was more than happy to let Haelerin stand guard since she wouldn't have the dull task of watching the prisoners as often as she might have done so with another drow other than Haelerin.

~.~

"From what I've seen, there's three of those monsters out there." Orin said with disgust in his voice as he moved to Zed and worked on untying him. "Do your kind not have stories about drows?" He was a little surprised that the woman was asking about the drows. To him it seemed to be something that should be common knowledge, even to those from a different race. "Even as a child, I heard stories of drows and their tendency to gather slaves, even from lying old men as it appears to be."

"So wait, the stories are true?" Harper asked. Hearing Althea's voice comforted the girl, knowing that she wasn't alone in the dark and as her eyes became adjusted to the dark, she listened to the Althea and a dwarf talk to each other. The situation they were in seemed dire. A few nights around the campfire she heard a few of her companions tell stories of their travels. Some true while others told for fun to see if Harper would fall for their tall tales and although she never admitted it to her old companions, she was never too sure what to believe.

"Yes, very true and probably much more seeing that we've only heard the stories from those that escaped and lived to tell the tales." Orin said as he made his way back to his makeshift bed and sat down.

"Well, don't worry. We'll be one of those that will add to the tale." Zed said with determination in his voice. There has to be a weakness of some sort that we can take advantage of. We'll just have to find it."

Haelerin's thin lips spread into a slow smile as the prisoners spoke of forming a plan to escape and Zed's plan to find their weakness. It was always the same, of course, with fresh merchandise that had yet to be broken. All confident that they would be able to find a way to escape and all slowly losing that hope along their journey to the drow city. Spit and fire replaced, little by little, with each becoming resigned to their fate.

--

Althea felt somewhat cheered at Zed's confidence. "Then perhaps Orin will allow us to aid him in his pursuit of Straw."

Eyes adjusted somewhat to the dim light and now free from the ropes, the archer stood up and ran her fingers over the stone and mortar that made up the walls of their prison. She looked up at the daylight filtering in from the crack in the ceiling, wondering if it was a weak spot in the ceiling. "Think we could reach that?" she asked, pointing up.

"Aye, you a part of this as much as I am." Orin said with a nod as Althea spoke about Straw. "We'd have to see if we can stop him before more are brought to the same fate as us."

Standing up and stretching her legs, Harper looked towards the light that Althea was pointing at. "Maybe. We might be able to reach if we lift someone up." Harper said as she tried to judge the height of the ceiling. It seemed like a long shot but maybe it would be able to provide an exit for the group.

"Do you know of anything that could be of use to loosen the mortar above and maybe open up a hole?" Zed asked Orin as he tried to look around the dim room.

"I do have a stone with one end slightly sharpened. It might not be sharp enough but should be strong enough." Orin said as he fished for the stone besides him before he handed it to Althea. "Don't let the drows find that. Even if it doesn't work, the stone might be a valuable tool or weapon later on."