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



They checked carefully before they left the torture room behind. No spies, author or mage were in the nearby halls, but light splashes of water sounded. Thankfully, this seemed to alarm no one, but they examined every path before going down or crossing it. Fortunately, they didn't have too far to go to reach the storage room. She just hoped that there was food in those crates.



Coming up to the room, Tarhuinn cracked open the door slightly and peeked inside. He closed it silently afterwards. Two of his fingers were held up. She listened closely and heard two quiet voices on the other side of the door. "Could you see what they were doing?" she whispered as she backed away from the door a little bit.



"They're only talking."



"Well, we need to deal with them quickly. There's a dead kelremm hidden in there."



"You're becoming quite the fighter, (f/n). I'm impressed."



She couldn't help but smile some. "Looks like I didn't need your training after all," she remarked, her smile forming into a smirk.



"We'll see about that later." She wondered if that meant that he would teach her how to fight even better when they returned home. Or, was there some other message behind his words? (F/n) pushed the thought aside for now as Tarhuinn was about to open the door. His hand reached out, and his fingers went to grab the handle, but it was pulled back from him. They both stood face to face with two spies.



Immediately, weapons were unsheathed, and metal clashed. She could barely hold against the one spy; his strength outnumbering her own. His short sword was coming closer to her neck, and, in turn, it was pushing her own dagger nearer to her throat. Tarhuinn, noting this, managed to trip the other spy and slash their neck in the process.



Realizing that their partner had been killed, the second spy kicked (f/n) back. Her breath got caught in her throat, and the spy turned to face her husband. The spy had been too slow, and they had injured her. Tarhuinn wasted no time in defeating the male, but he didn't give him a slow death either. She looked away as metal met the spy's midsection, and she covered her ears to dull the sounds of the grisly death. His cries of anguish were dulled most likely by Tarhuinn covering his mouth, but she didn't peer over to check.



A loud splash signaled that it was over. She uncovered her ears and faced Tarhuinn again. Refusing to look down, she moved the first spy and ignored the second. He dragged the other one into the room, and they stored them behind the crates like the other one. "Someone might notice the blood flowing out of here," she commented, quite worried at an alarm being sounded.



"Yes, we don't have much time to eat something." With that in mind, they washed their hands of the blood by using a nearby, small waterfall in the room. Once done, they began to open crates. Some stored daggers and knifes while other contained spare linens and bath supplies. Beneficially, there were also crates filled with food.



Partaking of some dried fish and fresh fruit, they hurried along so that they could get to better ground. Someone could easily walk in on them and alert another before they could stop them. Amtoma and Rocean were no longer issues, but the mage could subdue them in a heartbeat. They would be wrapped in water bounds and would have to face a terrible fate if they couldn't escape again, and (f/n) had no desire in visiting Alpontus's room again unless it was to end him.



Finished with replenishing their stomachs, they left the room as quietly and carefully as they had exited the torture room. Tarhuinn shut the door behind them and had to follow behind (f/n) as she knew the way through this part of the tunnels. That wasn't to say that he didn't walk right on her tail. He nearly stepped on her several times due to this, but he wouldn't let her go too far. Any distance between them could be begging the enemy for more to be created.



Before they made the last turn, (f/n) looked to see if the two guards from before were still there. They were. She could try moving along the wall again, but the guards probably would spot them since they weren't chatting with each other nor did they have a distraction. As she thought, she didn't notice that Tarhuinn had already headed out into their line of sight. (F/n) couldn't do anything; he took off and dealt with them swiftly. Her eyes weren't able to keep up with Tarhuinn's fast strikes. The other two had no chance against him, and they were killed moments later.



It was near frightening how efficient he could be when attacking, and she noted that the authors should've trained better spies, but the authors' arrogance in their abilities was serving to aid Tarhuinn and her. They had made past mistakes, and they couldn't be fixed now. Two had already paid the price, and three more would follow.



Going into the hallway, he stepped beside her, and they reached the entrance to the main room shortly after. There was still no one in the space, but they could spot spies back in the high space of the area. Both of them hid behind some rocks jutting out from the wall. "Should we come back in the other way and take them out like the previous ones?" she questioned in a hushed voice.



"We might ..."



"Or, you might want to check your surroundings better." Both of them spun around, only to be ripped back from their hiding spots. They were thrown into the main room. (F/n) slid through the water, and the same happened to Tarhuinn. Water splashed all around, and a door could be heard opening behind them. "I'm curious how you, kelremm, managed to escape Byda. And, what about my father? He was going to check up on her. Then, there's the human. How did you get past those guards and trap my minion?"



Coughing up water, (f/n) went to pick herself up, but water forced her back down. Her head was above it, but she was pinned. She glanced Tarhuinn's way to find him in a similar condition. "Do explain these things to me; I want to know." His tone was commanding and growing lower. It was clear that he was becoming furious.



"They can tell us both, Icniss, but it might be faster for you to go to the torture room. Please restrain them to two of the chairs first. I'd like to have a small chat with them while you go there." A grumble escaped him, but he did as asked. Roughly, the mage lifted them out of the water, removed their weapons and placed them each on a chair. Water wrapped around their wrists and ankles before the mage stormed off back down the hallway.



Alpontus took a seat at the head of the table. His indigo eyes glanced between the two of them, and a smirk formed on his lips. He intertwined his fingers before he leaned back in his seat. "I must say that I'm astounded by your ability to reach your husband, human. It simply was unexpected, but I do wonder if you were here when I told your husband of my plans for you. Were you?"



Noting the expression of hate and disgust on her countenance, he nodded. "So, you were. Good, that saves me the time of explaining myself again." He chuckled in amusement. "And, you seem to already be acclimating to your fate. I do wish, though, that you hadn't ruined my clothes, but they do look nice on you. Of course, after today, you won't be getting to wear my clothes again until I feel like you've earned the right to do so. No, I have much better attire in store for you."



(F/n) struggled in her seat, and a sharp cry was heard. The water burned her skin, but her scream caused Tarhuinn to completely lose it. He had already been fading back into that pure-killer state of his during Alpontus's words. Now, he wore a murderous grin. "You'll not lay a hand on her, but I'll lay a hand on you!" he laughed out. Immediately, he went to wrench himself free, but a deafening screech was the result.



"Tarhuinn!" She had forgotten about the water's effects and went to run over to him, but a shriek exited from her.



Entertained, Alpontus shook his head. "Do you really think that Icniss wouldn't make the bounds stronger after your last display? I'll not have you biting into my shoulder again." His gaze directed itself over to her, and a heavy glare set on her face. "You, on the other hand ..."



"I'd rather bite off your tongue!" she yelled, cutting him off.



"That would imply that you would have to kiss me. Whether I should give you that luxury or not is another matter. This is a punishment for you after all, but I do wish for it to be pleasurable for me in more ways than one. As you know, you'll be my first partner in quite some time. Why ..." Again, he was cut off, but this time by Icniss.



"They murdered them! They're hanging by the chains, dead!"