Orlain

Joey sighed deeply and wrapped an arm around Damien, pulling her near. Her proximity helped to calm his thoughts a bit. "I'm fine," he mumbled, though he tucked his face against the side of her neck even as he spoke. "M'sorry."

Zakuro glanced at Jack, then ignored him.

Aegon let out a heavy breath. "Fine," he conceded, though he clearly loathed to do so.

"We should depart, then," Kerian said. "Gather your things. We can cover some ground before night falls."

Damien smiled lightly to herself, revealed and thankful all at the same time. She wrapped both her arms around Joey, holding him firmly. "It's alright.... Everything will be okay."

Jack couldn't help be worried, weather he was being a fool or not. He quickly moved out of the room to grab his things like Kerian had ordered.

Rane smiled warmly at Aegon before heading off to grab her things as well.

"This feels different than it was before," Joey said softly, while the others moved off to get their things and Aegon sank down into a chair. "I'm . . . not sure what's going on. I don't know exactly what's going to happen, but I'm sorry in advance."

After another moment, he let go and exhaled sharply. "Well. Let's not hold up everyone else," he said, putting on a brave smile as he went to pack up his belongings as the others had.

Damien released Joey and nodded in agreement before moving off to gather her things as well. The thought of coming up against Rowan scarred her, but the thought of losing Joey again in the process terrified her. She hoped he could be strong. She hoped they all could be.

About ten minutes later, everyone had packed and were ready to depart Aegon's home. Kerian led the way out of the house and to their horses, glancing back at Joey every so often.

Joey wasn't outwardly disturbed, but he clearly wasn't as well as he had been before Aegon's spell. His eyes darted around near constantly, as though he was hearing or seeing things nobody else could. He gripped his cloak tightly around his throat, trying to keep his hands busy, and moved stiffly as he saddled up his horse.

"Are we still going east?" Kerian asked casually. He nodded. He couldn't tell exactly where Rowan was. Just . . . east.

"We'll return as soon as we can," Kerian promised Aegon before taking off down the road with the others.

Jack eyed carefully, unsure of how to act around him. He could tell the boy was having a hard time stuck in his mind. One would think that Jack of all people would be able to understand. But for some reason there was something stopping him from being understanding. He knew it wasn't Joey's fault, but he still felt stiff on how to react. He thought quietly as they saddled up and left. He could dead with it easily if it was Zakuro or Damien, but Joey? Jack couldn't begin to understand what he was feeling toward Joey at the moment.

Damien kept a eye on Joey as well, but more out of worry and the need to help him. She rode next to him, to help make both of them feel better.

The next couple of weeks of travel were quiet as they moved away from the coast and back to the mainland, once again surrounding themselves in cities and civilization. There was an urgent tension hanging over their heads as they moved as quickly as they could, running from the west coast toward the east, not knowing how long Asha had. Joey could determine that she was alive--he couldn't quite explain how, just that he knew Rowan hadn't yet killed her--but there was no way of knowing how long that would last, or even if he was completely correct.

Joey's behavior was unpredictable during the travel. He went from fits of apathy to piques of self-loathing in seconds, coupled with a general hatred of everyone around him. For the majority of the day, he would seem unaffected, only to be hit with a mood swing and usually separating himself from the others until he felt calmer. The warring thoughts in his head quickly took their toll; as they drew closer to Rowan, wherever he may be, Joey spent more nights awake. He would be found pacing, grumbling about how Rowan should be sleeping, too, yet not mentioning why that was significant, and fidgeting out of anxiety and frustration. Purple bags under his eyes and lethargic movements gave away his developing exhaustion, but he said nothing, determined not to complain when his friends already had to deal with the rest of his behavior. Rather, he apologized frequently.

Eventually, they were led toward the foothills of the country's major mountain range--far from where Rowan's estate, and the army, were, Joey mentioned. He had no idea what to expect, and just prayed that he wasn't somehow wrong. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his saddle, rubbing his eyes and swearing under his breath repeatedly until Kerian decided to make camp. There, he stripped his horse's tack, set his things in his designated spot, and went to stand at the edge of a nearby creek, running his hands through his hair.

Taiju was tense as they set camp, frequently putting his hand on his sword as he went. Less than a day's travel kept them from Asha, which meant they were far too close to Rowan for anyone's liking. He also kept an eye on Rane--even though she had long since recovered, thanks to Aegon, he couldn't help a lingering paranoia for her.

Zakuro watched Joey quietly, then went about her own business. There was little she could do, she had realized. She had tried to help before his behavior had worsened in the past few days. He seemed in no danger of running off, at least.

Through the trip Damien did everything she could to try and be there for Joey, even pushing past her fears at times. But at the same time she would try to give him his space. When he separated himself from the group she would sometimes try to fallow, but it was hard to know what she was supposed to do a lot of times. But she was determined to be there for him, to show him how sorry she was and how much she cared. Plus she was really worried about him. And as they grew closer to Rowan her worry only increased, sometimes making her feel sick to her stomach, though she kept it to herself.

Jack soon lost his feeling of wariness around Joey, well the weird part. The unexplained feelings that he couldn't even begin to explain or understand were gone just as quickly as they came on. He assumed Jayce must have been messing with him. He still had a worry for his friend, but FOR Joey and not a worry of what he might do. He was sure they could handle Joey if it came to worst. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to think though.
But Jack was oddly silent during the trip, simply he had nothing to say. He figured Joey was getting enough comfort from the girls, he wasn't going to make a difference. And his mood dimmed significantly so he didn't joke around like he normally would. It wasn't the time for it anyway. As his mood dipped down he felt Jayce awake from the slumber like state he had been in, and took to mumbling to himself at times again, like he had often done. But when asked, he stated that he was fine, wich he felt was the truth.

Rane was a little quiet as well, watching Joey and trying to figure out a way to help him without pestering him. She practiced her new healing technique, taught to her by Aegon, as often as she could. She had a bad feeling about what would happen with Rowan, so she wanted to be ready. She would even read while they rode, letting her horse lead its self, fallowing the other horses. But sometimes slipping to the back of the group. She stuck close to Taiju as she often did, still happy to have time with him.


As they set up camp for the millionth time everyone was on their toes. Rane started to carry her arrows on her back again, something she hadn't done since her arm was injured some ties ago when they visited Winterfell. She had yet to shoot a arrow, but she was pretty confident, and she would need to be in case of a fight.
Silently she wished River was still around as she unsaddled her horse, she always felt safer with him around. She glanced silently at Taiju, but then again, Taiju made her feel just as safe.

Damien quickly finished unpacking and helping set up camp and made her way over to where Joey was standing. She slowed as she came within a couple feet of him, hesitating for a moment.
"Are you nervous?" She asked.
She was nervous. She could feel her heart suddenly race in her chest whenever she thought about facing Rowan, or whenever she wondered what might happen to Joey.

Joey shook his head. He felt a mixture of emotions and he wasn't certain which ones were his--fear, pleasure, excitement, satisfaction, yes. There was a cold prickling at the back of his neck, and something felt like he was constantly being watched even when he was alone, but nothing he would call nervousness.

"No," he said after a moment, sitting down by the water's edge. He tiredly reached out a hand and pushed at the water, halfheartedly moving it back and forth perpendicular to the current, seeming to relax slightly with the use of his powers. "I don't really know how I feel. It's . . . I feel like a mess, that's all I know. And he's probably not going to fucking sleep tonight, so that's not going to help . . ."

Damien carefully sat down next to Joey after a moment, watching him move the water.
"What do you mean he wont sleep? You can tell?" She asked carefully, "is that why you haven't been sleeping very much?"
She pushed some of her silver hair back behind her ear, she was worried about his lack of sleep a lot. But she knew she couldn't force him to sleep.

Joey rested his forehead against his knees, his next words coming out muffled. The water kept moving. "The closer we've been getting, the more I can feel everything," he said. "Now it's like--I'm in his head sometimes, I think. I can tell when he's really happy about something or when he's pissed off, and apparently he doesn't sleep much nowadays. I don't think he knows about it, but I'm not always sure what's what lately."

Once he finished unpacking, Taiju went over to Rane. He smiled as he stopped beside her, hands loose in his pockets. "Have you been shooting lately?" he asked with a glance to the full quiver.

"Oh.." Damien said lightly, taking a moment to think over everything he said. "I can only hope to understand what you are going through," She said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "so I'm not going to say I understand you. But I have a feeling that everything will be alright." She paused for a moment to move close enough to wrap a arm around him.
"I don't think that because we are strong, or have Kerian Taiju and Rane to help us... I don't think that cause Rowan doesn't know we are coming. I think that because I'm starting to believe in this prophecy thing. I mean think about it, and how many times we should have all died by now, but for one reason or another we haven't... I don't mean we should be over confident, but I think that we should be believing in ourselves much more then we do..." Damien spoke softly, but confidently to try and boost Joey's confidence as well. She was convinced that they all were much more powerful then they thought, and given the right time and circumstances it would come out.

Rane shook her head to Taiju, glancing at her bow string over her chest, holding the bow to her. "No I haven't. But I figured it would be something you can't forget, like riding a horse." She smiled.

Joey smiled grimly and leaned his weight into Damien. "I sure as fuck hope so," he said, "because we've been here a year or so and as reluctant as I've ever been to believe in prophecies and whatnot, I'd really like for this one to pull through so we can stop with all this." He laughed weakly and added, "Now you just need some of that confidence for yourself and we'll be set."

"I wouldn't know. I haven't so much as touched a bow in years," Taiju said with a chuckle. "But, if you think your arm's getting better, you should try. Maybe working up to it?"

"I'm confident that I could protect the ones I love," Damien smiled, leaning her own weight into Joey as well. She reached over and kissed his head, "now I just wish you could sleep before we went to face him. It would be good for all of us if you were well rested."

"I suppose I could practice a little," Rane nodded, "I have just been working so hard at my healing that I haven't had time to try shooting again." She pulled her bow off and looked at it. It was made from a dark wood, with elvish engravings in it. "A year ago I would have killed myself if I were so unpracticed."

"Trust me, nobody wishes that more than I do," Joey groaned. "As soon as I'm able, I might just sleep for a week straight."

Taiju tensed slightly. Though it had been weeks since Rane was in any real danger of losing her life, the idea of it still made him more uneasy than usual. He had a feeling he might not ever be desensitized to it--and he didn't expect to be, if he wanted to stay with her.

"Couldn't hurt," he agreed. "Particularly since we're so close to Rowan." He leaned over Rane's shoulder to look at her bow. "Where did you get this one?"

"I could sleep for a week straight with you," Damien laughed lightly, "you stress me out." She was teasing him, but she was very worried for Joey's health and what Rowan might do to him.

Rane looked down at her bow from Taiju's face and gained a softer tone. "This was my mothers bow. It was given to River and I when we were very young. Too young to use it. And when River died and was put into the wolfs body I decided to start training myself so i could be live my mother. Little did I know that I would need it a lot later in life." She smiled softly and traced her fingers along part of the engraving that spelt out a name.

"Sorry," Joey said wearily, cracking a smile in spite of it. "I think I'm stressing everyone out. I'll try to do less of that in the future." And he had been trying, for the last several weeks, but it was a difficult task.

Taiju hummed, draping his arms around Rane's middle. "And it's saved us a few times over," he remarked. "What's it say? I can't read those engravings."

"Don't give yourself another thing to worry about. Just worry about yourself for now," Damien hummed quietly. Joey didn't seem to be having too hard of a time at the moment, which made her happy and made her relax a little. She was really hoping that she could get him to sleep though. He couldn't get into a fight with Rowan when he was sleep deprived.

"It says my mothers name, Shae." Rane said quietly. "I don't remember her since she died when I was so little. But my guardian always told me stories about her... And she always sounded amazing." She touched her hand to the tattoo on the side of her face as she often did when she was thinking about and missing River. The tattoo was the last thing she had that connected herself to him. "But then again, I have no way to be sure. Since my father turned out to be much different then the stories we were told."

Joey mumbled something incoherent and didn't bother repeating himself, too tired to even be certain what he was saying himself. He rested his head against his knees again, his eyes half-open. Rowan was excited about something--no, impatient. Joey couldn't tell why, but it was making him nervous. Rowan had been steadily growing more and more frustrated in the last few days, but why . . .

"Yeah, he was a right bastard, wasn't he," Taiju muttered. He brightened again. "Well, I'm sure your mother was wonderful enough to make up for his lack of redeeming qualities, considering we have you."

Damien sat quietly wish Joey, thinking about what might happen and hoping Asha was still alive, or even well enough to leave. She wondered why Rowan hadn't just killed all of them yet. He sure seemed powerful enough to.

Rane smiled up at Taiju, "I am pretty awesome huh?" She asked in a teasing tone. She pushed herself onto her toes and kissed Taiju briefly before moving away to find a place to practice her archery.

Joey was quiet for several long minutes, feeling exhaustion tug at every muscle in his body and welcoming it. Maybe he could finally drift to sleep in spite of Rowan's antsy thoughts interfering with his own. It didn't matter if he slept in his current, less-than-ideal position if it meant he would finally sleep for more than an hour at a time.

Just as he thought he might drift off, a startling thought seized his mind. His eyes flew open and he sat up immediately, body tense.

"He's going to kill her if we don't get there now," he breathed.

Taiju quietly stood off to the side, watching Rane while occasionally glancing back toward the rest of the camp. It was quiet now, but so close to the mountains and Rowan, anything could happen.

Damien jumped when Joey jumped and her heart immediately started racing.
"We have to tell the others!" She exclaimed as she quickly got up. By this point she knew not to question how Joey knew these things. He had never been wrong before.
She took a second to help Joey up to his feet before jogging back over to the camp.

"Joey said Rowan is going to kill Asha, we need to go!" She said quickly.

Rane hadn't actually got to shoot any arrows yet when Damien and Joey came running back to the camp. She quickly returned her arrow to the quiver and hooked the bow over her chest. To see what all the commotion was about.

Joey jogged after Damien, his pace visibly more strained as he kept up with her.

Kerian looked up from where she sat by the fire, her relaxed expression immediately becoming one of concern. "Are you certain?" she asked, looking to Joey.

He nodded with a grimace. "Tomorrow morning, if she doesn't tell him what he wants," he said. "He's getting impatient. I think we can just get there if we go through the night, but we have to hurry."

Kerian began packing up their things immediately. Joey stood for a moment, feeling woozy. Zakuro put a hand on his shoulder as she got up, and he forced a smile. There was no time to worry about him. They needed to go now.

Taiju couldn't hear what was being said from where they stood, but it was immediately obvious that something was wrong. Everyone was packing up the camp in a frenzy. He cast a glance at Rane before going to see what was happening.

Rane had glanced at Taiju just as he had glanced at her, and then she quickly rushed over to see what the problem was.

Everyone quickly did their part to pack up camp faster then they ever had before. It seemed like they had all just settled down to rest and they were rushing out again.

Within 10 minutes or so everything was packed, the fire was snuffed out and they were on the horses and on the move again. Everyone was worried for Asha even more now.
Damien had less worry for then Joey though, she stuck to close him, constantly hoping and praying that he would be okay after this. he

Unusual for Jack, he decided to take up the rear. He kept his gaze low, on the back of his horses head. He mumbled something to himself and rubbed his face. The closer they got to Rowan, the more awake Jayce became.

Though Joey was close to falling out of the saddle with exhaustion, he took a position at the point with Kerian, leading the way. He rubbed at his eyes and slouched in his seat, forcing himself to keep awake and casting nervous glances at his companions and their surroundings as they drew closer to the mountains. He mouthed words silently to himself at times, giving no clue to what he was thinking or hearing.

Taiju stuck in the middle, trying to watch everyone at once with Rane at his side, the half-possessed boy in front of him, and Jack acting slightly off at the back. He kept one hand on a sword at all times, growing more tense as they came closer to Rowan.

Damien could hear her heart racing as they closed in on Rowan, and all she could think about was calming herself down. She could swear that everyone would hear it and think her a coward... Though she wouldn't blame them for thinking it, she was scared.

Rane could feel that her horse was tired, as was all of the horses. She felt bad for the animals but what else were they to do? They promised to bring Asha back alive. And it meant a lot to her to keep her word to the old healer. She did owe him her life after all. She glanced around at the group, smiling softly at Taiju from time to time to try to keep both of them from worrying too much. She could tell he was tense, and as was she. Jayce was enough to deal with on top of Rowan, though she had a feeling he would be more helpful then harmful, but now they had Joey's actions to worry about. She didn't blame either or the boys, she just wished she could help them.

Jack grit his teeth, willing Jayce to go back to sleep. His other personality was excited for the fight, and Jack was not excited for the pain that they had been experiencing whenever Jayce got too excited. Though this wasn't about him... It was about Asha and Joey and killing Rowan... So he worked even harder to look like he had it under control.

As the night wore on, they slowly approached the mountains, each plodding step bringing them nearer, but not quickly enough. Dawn was a mere two hours away when Joey stopped them at the base of a jagged, rocky uprising.

"Here," he said, his voice rough with exhaustion. He cleared his throat and licked his lips. "It's . . . here, somewhere. The way in." He gestured wearily at a flat expanse of rock, about five feet wide and ten tall. "I don't know how it opens, I just know it's--something. Something here." He shook his head and nearly pitched over in his saddle.

Taiju climbed down from his horse and approached the unmarked stone. He ran his hand over it and tapped it with the hilt of his knife; there was a faint echo, but nothing gave any hint as to how to enter.

Rane remained on her horse, but glanced around at the stoney wall, trying to find anything odd or different to give them a clue as to how to get in.

Damien stopped her horse right next to Joey's and reached over to rub his back lightly, in the best comforting way she could. Though she wasn't sure if it actually helped at all. "Don't push yourself," she said softly, wishing for nothing more then for Joey to feel better.

Jack could feel metal far behind the stone, but the pull of it was weak, so there wasn't anything he could tell besides that Joey was right. But he never thought his friend was wrong. He felt antsy that they were so close to Rowan, and antsy to get Asha back safely, or to even know if she was alive.

"Is there anything at all? Any clues as to how to get in?" Rane asked Joey when she seemed to find nothing. "You are the only one who can do this..."

"I don't know," Joey hissed. He dug the heels of his palms into his eyes as though trying to block out some unwanted image. "Fuck, I can't--I just know it's here but I've never been here before only he has fuck--"

"Joey!" Zakuro said sharply. She reached over and seized him by the arm; after a moment, he went slack, awake but seeming slightly more relaxed.

"Magic," he said after a moment, rubbing his face. "It reacts to magic. Not our abilities, not healing--learned magic."

Taiju pressed his hand flat against the stone wall again as though that would force it to open. "I know nothing of magic," he said after a moment, looking at the others. Four prophecies with non-magic abilities, a healer, and two swordsmen--it was hardly a promising bunch.

Kerian cleared her throat. "Let me see," she said, dismounting and moving to the wall.

Jack narrowed his eyes slightly at Zakuro and Joey as he was on his horse a little behind them. It seemed like Zakuro had done something to Joey... But he wasn't sure what. He couldn't help but feel a little betrayed for being out of the loop. He looked down at his hands that were beginning to shake lightly as Jayce started to take over his emotions. He put his hurt feelings off, thinking it was just Jayce trying to get into his head, but he wasn't so sure.

"I know a little magic, but not enough to be helpful I think," Rane said before Kerian got off her horse and headed to the wall.

"Are you alright?" Damien asked Joey in a hushed tone, wondering what had just happened between Zak and Joey as well.

Joey shook his head sharply. "Fine," he said, although he was anything but. "I'll be better off once we just finish this. I swear to god, if Aegon can't take this fucking spell off when we're done . . ."

"I may be able to . . ." Kerian trailed off as she stood beside Taiju. She stretched out a hand and grazed her fingertips along the wall, then murmured something under her breath. A blue-green glow flashed to life around her hand and seemed to seep into the wall, then dissipate in a small shower of emerald sparks.

Taiju looked startled. "I didn't think you knew magic," he said, turning to look at Kerian.

"Mostly minor cantrips and illusions. Child's play," Kerian said, taking her hand back. "Hardly worth mentioning and nearly useless in battle. I prefer my blade."

A deep grinding sound started to rumble from the empty expanse of rock. Then, with a surprisingly quiet click, the outline of a door appeared, and a rectangular slab of stone settled back and slid neatly to the side.

Damien frowned lightly, she wish Joey would tell her the truth. She could tell that he wasn't okay. But she pushed it off as him just trying to not let her worry too much. But she worried anyway. She nodded in agreement to his want for the spell to be taken off of him. She wanted it gone too.

"That is still amazing Kerian," Rane smiled in awe at her. "I had no idea, you should show me what you know later on when all of this is settles."

"We should leave the horses from here," Jack suggested while petting his stallions neck gently, willing his hands to stop shaking. "They are all tired and it could be too dangerous for them."

"Perhaps," Kerian said to Rane. She nodded in agreement with Jack and moved to take her horse away from the wall. "And agreed. They will likely be more of a hindrance than a help underground, and we will need to move quickly."

Joey slid heavily down from his horse. He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and, once everyone was ready, pulled his cloak tight around himself and started into the tunnel with Kerian to lead the way. Taiju was close behind, one hand on a sword hilt. Zakuro hung near the back, nervous about what they might find.

Jack, Damien and Rane all got off their horses and tied them off to the side with the others. Jack took a extra long moment to pet his horses neck and face to try and calm himself down a bit more before taking up the very back, his hand on his sword hilt as well.

Rane pulled her bow from her back and held it firmly in her hand, ready to grab a arrow out of her quiver if it was needed. She really hoped that she wouldn't be too out of practice.

Damien walked in the line with Zakuro, worried about Joey, but keeping a distance. Her heart raced as they walked down the tunnels, she hated the dark.

The tunnels they walked in were clearly man-made, with smooth, perfectly straight floors and walls that didn't bear so much as a scuff or nick. The tunnels gradually sloped downward, leading the group deeper into the rocky hills and farther underground. Their footsteps echoed back at them from every side, and the air grew cooler, until it was cold enough for them to see their breath fog in front of their faces.

It seemed they were walking for hours before the tunnel suddenly opened up into a wide, square room. The area was devoid of any furniture or decorations, and only seemed to serve as a branching point between two other corridors. Joey stopped and looked between the halls, neither of which seemed to have any defining marks.

"This way," he said after a moment, gesturing for the hall on the left. "We're close. I don't know where Rowan is, but Asha should be down here. He'll probably find us soon, if he doesn't already know we're here one way or another, so be careful."

Damien pulled her cloak up to her neck as the air started to chill. "I feel like we are being watched," she mumbled after Joey said how close they were and how Rowan could already know they were there.

"I am honestly hoping we can grab Asha and sneak back out. Seems unlikely, but one can be hopeful." Rane added, keeping watch down the tunnel that they were traveling down.

"I don't want to miss a chance to spill some of that bastards blood..." Jayce's voice growled from the back of the group. Jack closed his eyes tightly, trying to drown Jayce back down. "S-Sorry.." He mumbled afterward, looking back up at the group.

Damien eyed Jack for a moment, wondering if Jayce would be a problem or a help tonight.

"I wouldn't mind a second chance to," Joey said dryly. "Came close to killing him last time, but not close enough . . ."

"Stop," Zakuro said, elbowing him in the ribs. He grunted in pain, but otherwise didn't respond. Kerian glanced between him and Jack, saying nothing.

The hall eventually widened and came to a dead end, with a row of cells lining the wall on the left. "At the end," Joey said, gesturing to the farthest cell. "She should be down there." He turned back to look the way they came, summoning a flame to his hand in preparation. "Hurry up and get her so we can leave."

Everyone quickly and quietly jogged down toward the last cell to find Asha. Both Damien and Rane were frozen with shock for just a moment when they say the small elf girl.
She was laying on the floor of the cell, toward the back with shackles around her ankles. From what they could see, she looked like she was dead. Pale and skinnier, she was covered in dark and yellowy bruises and cuts or all shapes and sizes. There was blood matted in her hair and clothes and a small bit of bone protruded from her right arm, obviously broken.

Jack grabbed the cell door to open it, but it was locked. He quickly wrapped his hand around the lock on the door and bent the metal back, forcing it to unlock. But he stepped back once it was open, not wanting to get in the way of the ones who could actually help the poor girl. If she was even still alive.

"Asha!" Rane gasped as she entered the cell and quickly knelt down next to the elf girls still body. "Asha..." She spoke again, her voice trembling with fear. She was afraid to even touch her and make it worse. Slowly she pushed on her shoulder, flipping her from her stomach to her back and gasping again. The front of her arms, legs and a bit on her face had burns on them. Her eye lids were dark and she didn't respond to being moved.
Rane gently grabbed her wrist and held it for a moment, feeling for a pulse. After a long second her shoulders relaxed just a little, "she's still alive..."

Joey peeked into the cell to look at Asha. He winced at seeing the obvious wounds. He was right in saying that Rowan would not kill her, but she was not far from death.

"If you can do anything for her now, do so quickly," Kerian said with a look at Rane. "We cannot spend much time here. If you can get her well enough to walk, we'll be able to move much faster."

"I don't know, there is so much," Rane breathed quietly before placing her hands on Asha's forehead and stomach. She closed her eyes to concentrate on healing the girl as fast as she could, using Aegon's methods that were still so new.

Jack grimaced slightly and turned to leave the cell, feeling Jayce creeping back and taking full control. He moved a bit away from the group, just in case.

After just a couple seconds Asha's eyes opened slightly, and she blinked slowly while they adjusted to the dim lightly. She whispered something incoherent and Rane opened her eyes and smiled at her.
"Good, you're awake.." She said softly.
"J.." Asha mumbled, trying to gain back her tired voice, "J-Joey..."
Rane seemed a bit confused and looked back at the boy.

Joey frowned, confused, and stepped closer, into Asha's view. Maybe she had some new information to share about Rowan, or perhaps she had just lost her mind and had no reason for calling his name. Whatever it was, they needed to hurry. His sense of Rowan's presence was erratic and almost painful, but that meant the elf was close.

Taiju drew his blades, growing visibly anxious, and paced outside the cell. They didn't have time for this. They needed to leave, and if they didn't get going in the next few minutes, he would haul Asha out himself just for the sake of expediency.

Asha smiled at Joey when he came into her view, though pain was still on her face. "I knew.. You'd save me.." Before she could speak anymore the elf girl passed out, her heart rate dropping.
Rane frowned, "this is going to take me a while, I can't risk healing her here. We need to just leave. Taiju or Jack, one of you will have to carry her." She turned and glanced back at the group. "Jack, can you-" Before she could finish her sentence the shackles on her ankles broke apart. Jack didn't even turn back to look at the group, his left hand on Jayce's golden blade, hinting that Jack was gone. And Jack wouldn't have been able to bend that small amount of metal from that distance. And Jayce didn't answer about carrying her.

Damien frowned slightly at what Asha said about Joey, they all came to save her... And why did she care so much about Joey? She tried her best to ignore it, feeling more and more uneasy.

"Right, okay then," Joey muttered, shaking his head. Asha's delirium could be dealt with later. For now, they needed to go.

"I'll take her," Taiju said, sheathing his blades and moving past the others to reach the elf girl. He picked her up as carefully as he could and started out.

"Can you tell if Rowan is coming?" Kerian asked, falling into step beside Joey as they headed for the corridor.

He shook his head. "No," he answered. "It's . . . a bit quiet. I don't know. He could be on his way or he could not. I don't think I like it, but we just need to go."

"Then let's hurry and find a safe spot to heal Asha a bit more," Rane nodded, fallowing after Taiju to make sure to stay close to Asha.
As the group moved on, heading toward the exit as quickly and quietly as they could with a injured girl, Jayce didn't move to fallow after them. He hoped that in the hurry of the moment they wouldn't notice him stay behind.

Damien elected to grab Joey's hand, to reassure herself that he could keep up as they hurried out. She didn't notice Jayce stay behind, neither did Rane.

Joey gripped Damien's hand tightly and cast a nervous look around, still on edge despite the silence from Rowan. He just noticed from the corner of his eye that Jayce wasn't following and stopped to turn back. "Jack, come on, we need to go!" he called, making no effort to hide his frustration.

The shout naturally made the others look back as well. "We don't have time for this," Kerian said sternly. "There's nothing else for us here. Let's go!"

Jayce let out a deep agitated sighed, his hot breath bellowing around him before disappearing into the cold air. He knew that now that the group saw him trying to hang back it would be useless to try, no matter how much he wanted to stay and find Rowan. He quickly fallowed after the group, not saying a word, and staying toward the back like he had before.

Damien pulled on Joey to hurry and get moving again once she saw that Jayce was going to fallow. She could only imagine why he wanted to stay there, and she was glad that he didn't argue.

In spite of Joey 's worries, the trip back through the tunnels was completely uneventful. Nothing so much as a mouse attempted to stop them on their way out. The sun was just cresting the horizon when they finally reached the entrance again.

Joey was still unconvinced that they were free, but he still could sense nothing different from Rowan and it was unlike the elf to wait so long. Unless he was planning something else . . .

"We'll need to stop here," Taiju said. "We can't ride with Asha as she is."

"We're hardly safe," Joey pointed out mildly. When Taiju shot him a glare, he gave a flat look back. "I didn't say it could be helped."

"I know it's not safe, but Taiju is right." Rane agreed before motioning for Taiju to set the elf girl down so she could start healing her again. "I will work as fast as I can, but keep your eyes open."

Jayce stood back away from the group, glancing around as if he wasn't worried at all. In fact, he seemed really board. After a minute he leaned back against the stone and folded his arms loosely over his chest.

"How are you doing?" Damien asked Joey, giving his hand a light squeeze. "I can only hope it's getting better."

Rane knelt onto the ground again to begin healing once Taiju had laid Asha down. She worked as quickly as she could to at least get the girl in good enough condition to ride.

Taiju carefully set Asha down on a thicker patch of grass and stood nearby to guard, both hands resting on sword hilts. The rest of the area was silent, save the breeze that was rustling the coarse patches of greenery.

"Not really," Joey sighed, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. "I can still sense him. It's not going to get better until we're farther away, and even then not until Aegon breaks this stupid link. I can't wait to just sleep after all this."

Jayce's gaze wandered around the area before settling on Zakuro. It was a hard stare, as if he held some sort of grudge against her. But he didn't say a word.

Rane worked quietly on their friend, moving both of her hands onto her broken arm. She winced and pushed on the bone with one hand, causing it to bleed again and crunch lightly as the bone was moved back into place. She held it there firmly as she worked to heal it as quickly as possible. Once she was done with her arm she pulled a cloth from her bag, wiping her hands before continuing with her work, moving up to her head.
"To get her into riding condition it will take a little while... Rowan did a number on her, and put her so close to death.." Rane spoke quietly, "any longer and she would have died.."

Damien looked at Asha and felt a sting of guilt. If it weren't for them coming into her life, she wouldn't have ended up this way.
"everything will be okay once we get back to Aegon." She told Joey quietly.