A/N: As usual, I would recommend putting the video on loop.



Almost as soon as he closed the door, Alpontus reopened it. Grin painting his lips, he announced, "It would seem that his wife has already made it through my room and past Icniss's minion."



Shock and anger covered Icniss's countenance as he burst out, "What?! That's impossible!" To prove his statement further, the head author stepped aside and revealed the tied up fish on his bed. About a dozen curses left the mage's lips. "Where is she, then?!"



Amtoma was more enraged than the mage. Walking over to the younger kelremm, she lifted her hand, but Rocean held her back. "Byda, calm yourself. I do like this side of you, but this information merely means that she'll be coming for her husband. If even one of us stays with him, we'll have her." For once, she didn't retort. Rather, she wrenched her wrist from him and glanced over to Alpontus.



"He's right. We have nothing to worry about. She may have done the impossible so far, but she was dealing with mere spies. We now know that she can handle several of them on her own. I'm not sure how, but all we need to do is give her tougher opponents. We'll be those, and we know that she'll probably try to sneak up on us. If we take that advantage away from her, she'll not win against us," the head author spoke, his indigo eyes scanning over the area.



(F/n) hid herself fully behind the one wall. She calmed herself as best as she could, but he was correct. The authors were no simple kelremm. They had countless years of fighting experience, and Tarhuinn could barely handle Alpontus in one-on-one combat, but her husband's rage might change that as the previous display had demonstrated.



"For now, let us keep to our plan. We have no need to find her; she'll show herself soon enough." Alpontus turned and headed into his room again. The sound of the door closing hit her ears, and she heard splashes of water. Tarhuinn would soon be under even worse conditions, but if he woke up in that state, he could possibly escape on his own. (F/n) wished for that to be the case, but she herself had been frightened by his demonstration.



In that moment, he had looked nothing but a deadly killer. Chills had run up her whole body at the sight. She had to remind herself that he was still her husband and that his particular state then had been caused by Alpontus's statement. He was merely trying to protect her from that awful fate. Just recalling what Alpontus had declared made her sick. Her hands covered her midsection, and she brought her knees to her chest. "I'm not going to let that happen," she mumbled before she bit her bottom lip to calm her growing nerves.



Carefully, she peeked around the corner. Tarhuinn was still unconscious on the ground while Amtoma was sitting at the table. Icniss was gone, and she had noted hearing a few other doors opening and closing a few moments ago. Rocean was lacking from the room as well, but he soon returned with bandages. Amtoma snatched them from him and went about tending to her wound. He seemed to have no problem with her nonexistent gratitude. Rather, he waited for her to finish before he took the leftovers and headed back into his own room.



Glancing towards Tarhuinn, Amtoma stood up and walked over to him. She kicked him in the side to test his unconscious state. When she was satisfied, she grabbed his hair and began to drag him off. That was enough to spring (f/n) into action. (F/n) quietly headed back down the stairs, for she couldn't go back the way that they came into the main room. The water passage would be too much of a risk for her.



Once at the bottom, she peered out from behind the wall and watched Amtoma disappear down another passage. As softly as she could, she traversed into the main room and followed after her. She never did look back; she only listened. Keeping sight on the female author was more important; she couldn't lose her in this unfamiliar territory.



Luckily, she heard no movement behind her, but ahead of her she spotted some spies. The two greeted their master, but Amtoma simply walked past them, not paying them any mind. As the author created distance between the guards and her, (f/n) noted that the guards started laughing quietly, and they began to place bets on how long Tarhuinn would last.



Fists clenched, (f/n) reminded herself that she couldn't storm up to them. Instead, she advanced slowly. There was a hallway off to her right, and she took it. Thankfully, there were no spies down it. Already, she was losing the author, but it looked like she would have to find another way to that room. She could try and take out those guards, but she wished to draw as little attention to herself as possible.



Quietly, she traveled down it and took a left turn. Up ahead, she noted a spy. Their back was turned to her, but she didn't how long that would remain the case. Cautiously, she carried on. She did her best to match her steps with the quick moving spy, but her steps would probably be noticed soon. The spy stopped and stretched. (F/n) slowed her steps immediately, but they gave her away.



Turning, the spy gasped before they leaped into action. That gasp, though, had cost them a blade. (F/n) had utilized that moment to grab one of their daggers. She collided with the spy and crashed against them into the wall. In the process, the spy's stolen dagger plunged into their chest. The noise from the brief encounter had probably caught someone's attention, though.



Spotting a nearby room, (f/n) dragged the body and opened the door. It happened to be a storage area. (F/n) dragged her over to some crates and dumped her body behind them. She grabbed the remaining daggers, went back to the door and peeked out into the hallway. There were no new spies, so she closed the door behind her and continued down the path.



Making another left turn, she immediately took a step back. She pressed herself to the wall and worked on steadying her breathing. Almost, she had walked right into Amtoma, but, thankfully, the author's gaze had been elsewhere. The author neared, and her heartbeat couldn't remain steady. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead, and her hands gripped the stone wall firmly.



Footsteps stopped too close for comfort before they continued. The sound of another door opening and closing soon hit her ears. Rounding the corner, she took another left and made her way softly to the door. She pressed herself to it and listened. Water splashing and metal moving, her mind started to form dreadful scenarios, but it seemed like Tarhuinn wasn't awake yet. More metal sounded loudly. She took the opportunity and opened the door.



Slipping inside, she closed it quietly afterwards. Amtoma took no notice due to the chains that she was moving about. (F/n) hid behind one of the pillars in the room and scanned over her husband's state. His wrists were bound in metal, and he was hung up. Only his toes were in the water, but his ankles were secured as well. His wounds were still healing, but he would lose probably too much blood if he received any more lacerations any time soon.



Securing the chains that were holding him up, Amtoma walked up to him and tapped her left index finger against her lips. Torchlight flickered off of her sharpened nails as she circled him. (F/n) remained hidden and reminded herself that Alpontus had given the order to wait until Tarhuinn's cuts were healed. The author's steps halted, and (f/n) looked out from behind the stone. In front of him, Amtoma rested her hands on his shoulders.



"I know that I shouldn't injure you right now, but you owe me for the hand wound. I want you to cry in agony and call out to your wife. Bring her here and call her your chosen. Then, you can receive your whole punishment," she spoke, her thumbs just below his eyes. She dug her nails into his skin. "Cry for her and make your misery worse."



About to step out, (f/n) froze as his eyes snapped open. They locked onto Amtoma, and that frightening grin rested upon his lips even with his energy evidently depleted. Eyes still mirrors of blue voids, he opened his jaws and snapped at her. Immediately, she pulled her hands back and created some distance. She scoffed at his action, but the fear in her eyes was clear. "You d*mned beast. How can you lower yourself into such a state for a mere human girl?"



No answer was given to her. His eyes moved from her momentarily, though, and, in the process, spotted (f/n). She instantly pressed her right index finger to her lips. As if he hadn't seen her, he fixed his gaze to the author once more. Smile widening, an amused appearance took over him. It was as though he was silently laughing at the female kelremm.



"What's so funny?! I'll not have you laugh at me." She went to raise her hand, but she put it back down. One of his eyebrows rose, and her temper only grew. Furious, she rushed over to a table of tools and picked up a pair of pliers. With them in her grip, she hurried back over to him and lifted them into the air.



During this inflamed display, she hadn't considered the other splashes of water in the room, nor did she notice the figure now standing by the chain roller. Seeing (f/n) too late, Amtoma couldn't react in time to her releasing the device's hold on Tarhuinn. Chain plummeted to the water. Tarhuinn's feet landed fully in the water, and he freed his wrists from the chains. Amtoma swung the pliers at him, but he knocked them aside. This action caused him to lose balance on his bound feet and sent him falling towards the author. Another loud splash was heard, and (f/n) grabbed another pair of pliers and ran over to his feet; however, a sudden, massive amount of crimson began to fill the area around the two kelremm.