URBIN LED DOOM through a hidden tunnel winding deep below Alimar’s estate that ended in a dark cavern echoing with the sounds of flowing water. The gromek narrowed his eyes, sniffing the air suspiciously. He startled when Urbin lit a large, oil-filled brazier. The flames brightly illuminated the cavern. Three small dragon skulls rested on altars surrounding a black pool of water in the center of the chamber. Behind it, a flawless black mirror shimmered in the flickering light. “What is this place?” he asked in wariness.

“Some temple,” Urbin replied, tones brusque. “Alimar doesn’t know it is here. Don’t know if whatever gods still protect this place from him discovering it or not. Not that anyone could escape through here anyway. Tunnel’s the only way in or out.”

“What’s it used for?” the gromek wondered, scanning the room nervously.

The woodsman shrugged as he rested a hand on the skull inset with emerald eyes. “We hide things from him down here. Wait until he’s forgotten about it if he noticed it missing at all. Mostly medicines, some food and other supplies he has withheld from us many times.” He gestured towards the stack of crates on the far wall from the entrance and the altar. “Use what you need for her.”

Doom walked over to the raised dais by the pool of water and laid Tiwaz with the utmost care onto the smooth stone floor. “Why do you not use it to hide slaves and help them escape?” he asked in bewilderment.

Urbin sighed. “Because Alimar never forgets a single person he possesses. No matter how lowly or ignored the slave, the moment they try to flee, he somehow knows. And then he sends hunters after them. Not mercenaries, either.” He looked at Doom. “Horrible, nightmarish monsters. We dare not risk this refuge.” He turned his eyes away from the gromek. “We only do it now for her and the fact he likely believes her dead, and you soon to follow her. We suspect this place lies beyond the actual borders of the estate.”

“You think this hole is enough to fulfill my promise to her?” Doom demanded, looming over the man he had always obeyed without question. “This is not freedom! It is no better than our cage!”

The man held up both hands defensively. “It is just until Zuneer can arrange to get you both off Griffin Isle. The wagoner Juran comes to the estate regularly.” He warned, “I don’t know how long it will be until Alimar realizes you’re gone. He might start looking for you anytime now. But until he does, it should be safe enough for you here. Hopefully, it will be long enough to get you somewhere to let you keep your promise to her before she passes.”

His bristling subsided. “Thank you.” He knelt by the woman, caressing her hair gently. “Forgive me for my temper. Her freedom is the only thing I have left to live for. It does not matter what Master…Alimar…does to me once she is gone.” Urbin could only nod, too choked up to speak. The woodsman turned and headed back up the tunnel, the panel in the wall sliding shut once more.

Doom spoke to Tiwaz as though she were conscious to hear him. “I don’t want to leave you, Ti, but I need to get stuff to tend your injuries. I’ll be right back.” He searched through the stacks of crates and took out a couple of thin blankets, several jars of mundane medicinal ointments and a large stack of bandages before he returned to her side.

His yellow eyes reflected his worry for the woman, though he forced himself to project a matter-of-fact confidence. “I have to move you to get this blanket under you. You need to keep warm and the bare rock will steal all your body heat. I’ll try not to hurt you,” he apologized.

Once he had her settled, he turned his attention to her injuries. He folded one of the bandages and dipped it into the water, washing the blood from her. Without any visible signs of life, his periodic checks for her pulse was the only reassurance he had she continued to live.

Once he had tended to the injuries he could find, he caressed her hair tenderly before covering her with another blanket. “My warrior,” he murmured. “My Tiwaz. I know it is cool here for you. I’ll keep you warm, like always.” He lay beside her to share his greater body heat. “Everything will work out, Ti. I promise.” He forced himself to relax and closed his eyes to sleep.

“Why do you fret so much over this one?” a lofty, feminine voice asked, startling Doom awake. The gromek sat upright, reflexively reaching for the staff he normally wore across his back and grabbing air. He looked around in alarm. His sharp eyes immediately noticed the subtle changes in the room. Brighter, cleaner, his eyes were drawn to an emerald-eyed woman who, at first glance, looked like a very tall, willowy human. It soon became obvious she was anything but human. Her gown, flowing around her form like mercury, had ribbons of color that shifted like a film of lamp oils atop water, reflecting timid rainbows. A pair of shell-like combs held hair the color and texture of gunmetal away from her face.

Crouching protectively over Tiwaz, Doom demanded, “Who are you?”

“I asked you a question, Youth,” the woman stated. She stepped away from the mirror with sinuous movements, walking around the altar with a languid air. Reptilian green eyes regarded Tiwaz. “You bring this dying, pink skin girl hovering on the verge of death into this sacred place. You dare touch holy water with your bare, dirty hands, and use it to bathe her. I know you can see she is near death. It is a waste of effort and resources to—” She held up a hand, deflecting the jar he threw at her. It crashed to the floor with a strange sound. Her face registered surprise at his audacity.

“She is my friend. My sister!” He looked at Tiwaz. “She is everything to me. I promised her we would be free.” He glared defiantly at the woman. “I will keep that promise no matter what.”

“You risk a great deal for a promise that is nearly impossible to keep,” the woman observed. “Her balance on the precipice between life and death is very precarious.” Her sinuous stroll around the room forced Doom to keep shifting to keep her in his sight. “Most pray to the gods for help in such an impossible task.” She paused, fixing her inhuman eyes on his. “Why do you not pray to the gods, gromek?”

Doom remained crouched with one hand resting protectively on Tiwaz’s chest. He balanced on his toes in readiness to attack, his other hand clenched into a fist. “Pray to the gods? What gods? I have prayed to them all and none have ever answered! What god allows this?” He held up his fist, brandishing the shackle on his wrist. “Where were the gods when Mas— when Alimar invaded our homelands, killed our peoples, and stole us away? Where were they when he was beating her today? Nowhere! Because they do not exist.” The woman arched a single eyebrow. He added sourly, “And if they do exist? They do not care about the likes of us.”

“Do not be so sure of that,” the woman stated with maddening serenity. “You are too immature to understand the nature of gods, but you could outgrow that in time. All most mortals know of gods is their strength and power, perhaps their domains of greatest influence, but they do not understand their limitations.”

Her hand trailed along the dragon skull with emerald eyes. “You must have faith in the gods to be able to count on them. When faith is shaken, when belief yields to doubt, that is when one cannot rely upon the gods, which only shakes faith more, doubts grow more. Soon, the garden of faith becomes a weed-choked bramble pit and the gods are even further weakened as a result.” She turned her eyes from the tiny skull under her hand to the gromek. “You should have more faith in the gods. They are there. They are listening. Especially now.”

“Why should I have any faith in any gods?” Resigned bitterness heavily colored his tones. “I am not sure what is worse. That they were powerless to protect two children from the horrors we have seen or had the power and simply left us to suffer.” He looked at Tiwaz, touching her cheek with the backs of his fingers gently. “The only person I could ever completely count on was her. I can do no less for her than she did for me.” He looked up with fierceness in his eyes. “She will be free before death claims her.”

“Interesting. Such loyalty as you demonstrate is rare among mortals, even with their own race. She intrigues me, this pink skin girl of yours. I might have to watch her more closely.” She smiled faintly. “I have no doubt you will both live to find freedom with such determination as you hold in your heart. Rest now. You have a long road ahead of you replete with many challenges to overcome.” As she walked closer to him, Doom discovered he was unable to move. Frozen in place, he could only close his eyes as she leaned down to kiss his brow. “Safe journey, Thrahx Vaug.”

With a jerk, Doom opened his eyes and sat up, staring around the room in a panic, then in bewilderment. He saw the assortment of medicinal ointments remained intact; none had been thrown. The floor was still dust covered and bearing only his and Urbin’s footprints, no signs anyone else had been present. He sighed in relief, lowering himself to his elbow so he could look at his friend’s pale features. “It was only…”

His voice drifted off. He picked up a coin by her shoulder. Small in his palm, the plain gold disk measured about two inches in diameter and bore the image of a dragon. Around the stylized dragon’s head were inset tiny chips of ruby, diamond and onyx with an emerald inset in the eye. “…a dream?” Unsure what to think, he clenched the coin in his hand. He hugged Tiwaz as tightly as he dared, as much to protect her as reassure himself.