"This way." Partially hunched, as though it helped conceal him, when it did no such thing, Bennie stole out of hiding. He urged Savaran and Traven to do the same. From behind the corner where they had taken refuge, the passage beyond was now clear as Karis's goons rushed past and while the three remaining members of the Inglorious Brotherhood remained unnoticed.

After a few steps, he straightened.

The prince was the last to emerge. "Don't you think it was little reckless to go back for that sword and this bow." Traven held on to the collapsed weapon previously used by Daria while motioning to the weapon Savaran once more held.

Savaran's grip on the hilt of the sword he'd confiscated during their raid on the bandit camp was so tight that his knuckles glowed white. "It's a good sword," he said, only loosely justifying his indulgence. "As for the bow, it's one of a kind. And I'm not going to let Karis keep it as a trophy. Or any of these other unsavory sorry sacks."

After escaping the pit of rabid gnolls, they quickly picked their way through the compound and back to where they had last seen Karis at the top of the old well that had been transformed into an arena for his pleasure. He was gone, of course. As it was, that was their luck. But he fled in such a hurry that he'd left behind the items he'd taken from them.

Most of them, that was, except for the valuable writs for the bank. Savaran cursed silently. He'd considered that large sum of money lost to them.

Now they were doing little more than bumbling along; hoping for any sign of their nemesis. All while trying to keep a low profile and not have to fight more than they had to.

"Karis might not even be here anymore," Bennie reiterated a statement he'd already issued twice before. "He probably used one of the escape tunnels to get out of town. And likely is now plotting how to regain control of the city while the chaos of his departure ensues."

While Bennie was yammering, a bold thief from one of the guilds, Savaran didn't know which, jumped out from around a shadowed corner and tried to get the jump on them. Unphased, having already caught wind that the ne'er-do-well had been lurking and laying in wait for them to pass by, Savaran planted the back of his elbow into the miscreant's nose and felled him while ending the minor threat to their safety.

The crack of the bone and the cartilage giving way was all Savaran needed to recognize that he had landed a clean blow without even so much as a look. Even as Bennie and Traven were startled by the attack, Savaran maintained his determined focus on his ever-growing reasons for wanting revenge. And his the purposeful stride to his steps reflected that.

"We'll sweep the entire catacombs if need be," he announced. "Go hall to hall. Room to room. I want Karis's head to plant as flag signaling the consequences of crossing, The Scourge of the High March—General Drugard."

"I appreciate that," Traven concurred. "Believe me, I do. Because getting Karis means I'm a step closer back to the throne. But if Karis has fled, aren't we only wasting our time mulling around in these passages?"

"We need to make sure." Savaran's march through the compound intensified in its pace. "I'll spell his name out with the dead corpses of his fellow thieves and murderers to get his attention if I have to. Then I'm going to shove this sword," the veteran of many battles held the blade up for emphasis. "Right up through his anus and fuck him hard with the steel as he dies."

Traven's face twisting in disgust. "That's a visual I didn't need." He tried not to think about it too much.

"Don't worry, I'll let you take a turn." The mere thought of the bloody rampage he was proposing gave Savaran a little perk in his pants.

The ex-prince, however, shied away from the offer. "Yeah, well, thanks but no thanks. Just remember, we need him to clear our names and implicate my sister. So, don't kill him outright. I'll just hack his head off once you're done having your little orgy of violence and after we've been exonerated. If it's all the same with you."

"Hey, whatever floats your boat, Prince the Third."

With the insult levied, Traven stopped and raised an eyebrow. Even as Savaran continued on. "You all right?"

"Never better."

The party stumbled upon a pair of goons lucklessly wondering the same passage as they were. Their foreheads were marked with tattoos of a falcon with wing tips sprouting from temple to temple. They seemed about as startled as those they had bumped into.

Savaran didn't know whose side they would be on, so he didn't take any chances. Without any assistance from Traven or Bennie, he sent them to meet their maker with two efficient strokes of his blade and in quick succession.

"Those were Shadaw's men," Bennie noted once it was too late to mean anything.

"And?"

"Well, they probably would have helped us." Bennie shrugged. "Not that it matters now."

Savaran halted his march. Then sighed. "Guess this really isn't solving our problem."

"Like I said, Savaran, Karis is probably already gone and out of the city."

Savaran's blood starting calming enough that he could think of things other than Daria dying in his arms. He allowed the information he had been repeatedly told to finally sink in.

He recognized he was acting on unbridled emotion and not reason. Still, he was having trouble bringing his mind to grip the plight as it was. Frustrated with himself more than the situation, he decided to take a new approach. "Ok. Bennie, where would Karis be?"

"Well, he's got two safe houses that I'm aware of."

"Ok."

"The problem is, I don't know where either is. He never told me."

Savaran's annoyance grew just as it was starting to ebb and he massaged his temples. "That's not helpful, Bennie."

"But I did tell Lenore to follow him if she saw him fleeing The Manor."

His rubbing grew more vigorous. "You know, Bennie, we need to work on your directness. You take far too long to get to the important bits of information. That's what you should have told me to begin with."

"Sorry, Savaran."

The general sighed. "It's OK, Bennie."

"You know I'm not the sharpest knife in the belt."

"You're sharp enough, Bennie. You're sharp enough."

"We need to get topside," Traven said. "And find that bird of yours. Hopefully she did what you asked her to."

"Lenore always follows orders," Bennie said. "She's loyal."

It was at that moment that Savaran finally gave in to reality. His muscles went slack, relaxing and releasing the pent up energy that was stored within them. "All right, Bennie. You saved our bacon once already. What's the plan?"

"Well?" Bennie scratched his chin. Then adjusted his hat. "First order of business would be to get out of this slimy mud hole. Then get some horses. Either ours or someone else's. I'd highly suggest someone else's. Getting back to the stables for ours would probably be difficult. And I think I know just where to get them."

"I assume they're the sort of folks we won't mind beating up a bit if they resist?"

"Oh, yeah. Real Class-A jerks."

"Karis's men?"

"Yep. And, I owe them a little bit of money too. But they cheated to get it, I swear."

"Hey, I'm not going to ask you to prove your case like this is a court of law. Besides, I'm not ready to be done kicking ass yet. I'm just getting warmed up."

The gallop of hooves from three steeds confiscated at sword point careened through the countryside surrounding Shon. Blood from the fool who had protested the mounts being taken without pay was still on Savaran's sword. "Anyone seen Lenore?" he called out.

"There!" Bennie replied, pointing from the back of his own mount and catching sight of the bird of prey through the overhead leaves as dawn was breaking. She banked, and he yelled directions to the others, "Turn left!"

Savaran did so with a hard pull on his reins.

Traven followed. Although the fallen prince still had a lot of work to do on his skills as an equestrian, he was keeping up better than when they had fled Gim and their first run in with Constable Ivanstone. Thankfully, however, the mount he had come into possession of was quite independent of a thinker and very intuitive. It made up for his lack of talent.

The general wove between the trees, like a serpent between rocks. He kept his sights on the sky and the faint form of wings flickering into view above them through gaps in the leaves. Riding hard, Savaran almost didn't notice when the forest opened up and spit him out.

Pulling up, mount and rider skidded while the hooved feet of Savaran's horse kicked a steady rain of pebbles over the edge of a sheer cliff as it stopped mere inches from disaster. The world dropped off into a rushing river filled with chop and rocks one hundred feet straight down.

If Savaran had been scared, he showed no signs.

Traven and Bennie, not moving quite as fast, arrested their steeds with much more room to spare while Lenore circled about a hundred yards to the south. She dove into the chasm carved by the river and then soared back up, dipping back down and then rising up once more before entering into a circling pattern.

"Must be a cliff side entrance down there." Bennie read his falcon's non-verbal clues and translated them for his companions.

Savaran dismounted. He tore a coil of rope from the saddle as though fate had put it there and started heading towards the bird on foot. Turning the loop over and over in his hands, he mentally considering if there would be enough length.

The other members of the Inglorious Brotherhood left their saddles and followed.

"You think he knows we're coming?" Traven asked.

"Karis? He'd be a fool not to," Savaran said. "Just to clarify, you've never been to this place, right Bennie?"

"No, Savaran."

"So nothing you can tell us?"

"Well, you know how Karis is. It'll probably be booby-trapped to the hilt."

The mere mention of such hidden dangers got Savaran's mind working. Now he remembered somewhat more clearly what had happened back in Karis's lair in Shon. How everything started to fall apart.

After Bennie had vanished, and Traven was causing a panic, there had been a concussive flash that disoriented the former general and his companions. After being blinded and rocked, there had been a sharp blow to the back of his skull that sent the lights out until he came to in Karis's presence.

One of the booby traps, and an ambush Karis was famous for, as Bennie had pointed out.

"Everyone," Savaran had a warning to issue. "Stay sharp. We're down a man. A damn good soldier, too. I don't want any more surprises. I fear we've pressed our luck far enough as of late. Bennie?"

"Yeah, boss?"

"You're the expert on these sorts of things. So once inside, you're on point."

"Me?" Bennie squeaked.

"Yeah, you," Savaran confirmed. "So you'd better be on your toes. Wouldn't want some fancy and lethal trap, like Karis enjoys constructing, taking that head off your shoulders. Time to earn your status as an Inglorious Brother. No more free ride, buddy."

Savaran gazed over the edge and down the drop, seeing what looked to be a narrow ledge about forty feet down. A stump clinging precariously but firmly to the lip of the chasm became the anchor for his line. He fashioned a loop in the rope and snugged it up before dropping the other end over the side. It just barely reached.

Then he stepped back and gave Bennie a bow and motioned as if to imply, "you first".

Bennie checked out where he was being asked to go. Not only go, but lead. "What if Karis is waiting?" he croaked.

"Can get to be known as inglorious without breaking a few eggs," Savaran quipped.

Traven shook his head upon hearing the utterance. "That doesn't even make any sense. Isn't that saying about omelets?"

"Hey! Who's in charge of this operation? First Rule — Never question your leader."

"Great," moaned the ex-prince. "Now we're back to that 'first rules' bullshit again?"

"He pulls that on you too?" Bennie chuckled.

"Yep."

"You know, we used to have a saying about Savaran's 'First Rules'." Bennie took a pair of gloves from his belt, snugged them on, and then placed a firm grip on the rope as he started over the edge. "Used to say, those that follow Drugard's first rules are always the first to die."

Savaran crossed his arms and scowled. "Are you done bitching, Bennie?"

"Heh," Bennie gave his hesitant laugh. "Tell the boy it ain't true, General."

"How about I plant my foot in your ass for insubordination?" Savaran made a mock kicking motion. "Now get down there. We're going to be right behind you."