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Beside me, Brilyk is joined by an elf whomst I do not recognize alongside a fresh squad of allies.
“Gavarn, have your men fall in line behind me! We’re close to winning this battle but we still need to find Ellie!”
“Right behind you!” replies the elf named Gavarn.
Brilyk turns to me, a desperate look written across his face.
“Enough time has passed. Where do you think Fohri might have taken Ellie?”
“Let me think.” I run through a mental checklist, contemplating all possible locations.
It’d be somewhere private and unseen by normal eyes, somewhere he could take out his fantasies and frustrations on her… His rooms perhaps? No, that would be too obvious.
I peer down into the gardens, checking each corner and spot hidden by the hedges.
No, there’s too much fighting going on down there. There has to be someplace more concealed… Aha!
I turn back to Brilyk. “The passages! That’s where they must be!”
“What?” he recoils in confusion. “What passages?”
“It’s a hidden area inside the castle that only my brother and I know of.”
“I’ve been sneaking in and out of this manor for years and never knew of any internal passages…”
“They’re invisible to the naked eye. Follow me!”
I lead Brilytk, Gavarn, and the rebels back inside, turning and twisting through the hallways until we come to one that stretches far beyond what we can behold.
“Down here! Quickly!” I command, breaking into a sprint.
We run at full speed for almost a minute, meeting the corridor’s dead end where there hangs a tapestry.
“What the fuck is this?” asks Gavarn in frustration.
“Stand back,” I bark as I grip the tapestry by its edges. I rip it down, exposing the hidden door behind it.
“Well I’ll be damned,” mutters Brilyk.
“No time to lose. Be ready to fight, all of you! Brilyk, stick by my side. Fohri will have his very best men in here with him.”
I kick down the door, and we all run in. Up ahead, I spot Fohri standing over a torture rack with a long knife in his hand. Blood drips from its end as he peers up toward me. Instead of surprise, a sick expression of malice and hunger fills his eyes as his mouth coils into a disgusting smile.
“Just in time to finish the show,” he says. “And you brought target dummies for my men, how wonderful.”
From the shadowed corners of the room, a full squad of elves emerge, growling and snarling beneath their breath as they pull out swords and axes.
“Where is she?” I bark.
“Come on down here and fight like a man!” yells Brilyk.
“Brilyk, Brilyk, Brilyk… I expected better from you. As for the girl, here she is.”
He spins the torture rack around, revealing a horrible sight. Strapped down onto the table is a beaten and bruised Ellie, her clothes ripped and torn, exposing her body. Her blood runs down all of her limbs, pouring out of lacerations etched across her skin.
“Ellie…” cries Brilyk, his voice breaking.
“Brilyk,” I say. “You go get her, have Gavarn and his men take care of the others. Leave Fohri to me…”
