Any trace of sleepiness disappeared when the man spoke. Eyes wide, she took in the room, and the man sitting across from her. He was the fattest man she’d seen since coming to this world, with dozens of rolls where a neck should be. His skin was red and blotchy, and the only hair visible was a missed patch of stubble on his second chin. His robes were an eye-watering mix of yellow and green, stained in several places with food and sweat.

  Two large men wearing black stained leather armour stood guard near the door, arms folded and eyes focused on her. Reginald was nowhere to be seen. “Where is Reginald?” She demanded.

  “The Draconic? He’s waiting for us downstairs. You really should drink that, you know. Its the best hangover cure I’ve ever found.” Yurnash said in a conversational tone. His voice was smooth and cultured, with a slightly higher pitch than Triss would have expected from him.

  Triss threw the glass bottle at the wizard, missing his head by inches. The glass shattered against the far wall, splashing it’s dark contents over the wall and showering glass down onto the bed. “I’m not taking something from you.” She hissed. “I know who you are. Where’s the traitor?”

  “Traitor? Oh, you mean Wizard Naiela. She’s waiting for us as well. I was quite surprised you didn’t wake up when we took her. She was quite…vociferous.” He grinned. “Now then. I believe you are already dressed, so if you would be so kind as to follow me? I believe it’s time to join your companions.” He stood from the bed, and walked out of the room without another word. The two guards stepped forward, arms reaching for her. She tried to back up, but she was already against the wall. The men each grabbed an arm with strong hands and pulled her out of the bed, standing her up. She tried to struggle, but the two men completely ignored her vain attempts and dragged her to the door.

  “Let go of me!” She shouted, twisting in their grip hard enough to hurt her own arms. The two men glanced at each other over her head, then they both released her at the same time. She collapsed to the floor, her feet having been behind her. Before she could try to scramble back up, one man leaned down and snaked an arm around her waist. He stood and threw her over his shoulder like she was a small child, and then turned and strode out of the room and down the stairs, heedless of her protests or the blows she rained down on his back. When they reached the common room, he dropped her to the floor like a sack of flour. The breath was knocked out of her momentarily as she landed hard against the wooden floorboards.

  “I would strongly suggest you be more gentle.” Reginald said coldly. Triss sat up and saw her friend and Naiela were standing only a few feet away, their hands were bound in front of them with thick hempen ropes. A thin silver band encircled Reginald’s neck, glinting in the faint light that pushed in weakly through the soot-stained windows. Naiela had the same collar, she noticed. What was that?

  A control collar. It blocks their ability to use magic. Grounth supplied.

  Before she could ask more of the spirit in her head she was pulled up and stood in front of Yurnash. The fat man was sitting on a chair, his face more flushed than it had been before. "Do we have a collar for this one?" He asked the towering brute who'd stood her up.

  "No, we only brought two. I'm sorry, Wizard Yurnash. We didn't expect trouble with that one." Triss couldn't see where the man behind her was indicating, but it quickly became apparent when Yurnash turned to Naiela. Triss realized then there was a cloth stuffed into Naiela's mouth. Yurnash motioned to one of the guards and the cloth was quickly pulled out.

  "Are we calm enough to have a civilized conversation?" Yurnash asked the freshly ungagged wizard.

  "The ancient gods damn you." Naiela spat. "How dare you interfere with my mission!"

  "Your mission was to deliver these two to me. You should have come straight to the keep upon your arrival. I have a message book too, you know."

  Naiela shook her head. "The dark wizard I am pursuing has obviously corrupted someone at the council. I cannot trust my message book. You shouldn't either."

  Yurnash laughed, his belly vibrating in rolling waves. "You think that someone on the council is corrupted? My dear, these orders are not from the regular council. They come directly from the high council. Are you seriously suggesting the high council is corrupted?" He leaned forward, closer to Naiela. "I would choose your next words carefully." He warned in a low tone.

  "Obviously I'm not saying the high council is corrupted. Someone must be pretending to send orders from them. There's no other explanation. The council would not let a dangerous dark wizard live."

  "And you are capable of taking a dark wizard down all by yourself?" Yurnash laughed again. "An apprentice assassin? Please." He shook his head. "The council will deal with this wizard as they please. If I were you, I would be much more concerned with your own fate."

  "What is that supposed to mean?"

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  "You deliberately disobeyed council orders. You travel in the company of a dark wizard's familiar. And you disparaged the council itself." He smiled, a cold smile that didn't reach his eyes as he leered at her, eyes roaming up and down her. "Perhaps they will give you to me to deal with. It's been so long since I've had a spirited plaything like you."

  Revulsion briefly colored Naiela's expression before she steadied herself and gave the fat wizard a withering glare. "The council would never allow such a thing. You could be charged for even suggesting something so vile."

  "Ah, to be young and foolish again." Yurnash remarked. Then he turned in his chair to face Triss. "And what is the story with this one, hmm? Spirited, for sure, but weak. An apprentice? Yes, an apprentice." He motioned to one of the guards behind her. "We'll be fine without a collar on this one. Bind her hands, and that should suffice." The guard obeyed quickly, grabbing Triss's arms and pulling them behind her back. She tried to pull away, but the man's grip was like steel. Rough thick ropes were wrapped around her wrists and pulled so tight she gasped in pain. Yurnash's smile grew, and his tongue flicked out to lick his lips like a reptile. “I think it’s time we get them back to the keep. Put this one in my private cell. I believe I will begin with her.”

  “Go fuck yourself.” Triss said, tone much calmer than she felt.

  “Oh, I do love a spirited one. I love the look in their eyes when they finally break.” Yurnash’s grin turned dark and menacing. He stood, having to puff for breath at the exertion. “Bring them.” He said to the guards as he waddled towards the door. The guard shoved Triss forward and she stumbled into Naiela. Rough hands grabbed them both and pushed them towards the door.

  "Don't touch me!" Naiela screamed at the guards, twisting away from their grasp. One grabbed her hair in a big meaty fist and begand to drag her towards the door. Another pushed Triss again, and she moved only to stop from falling. Reginald was the odd one out of their violent procession, walking calmly ahead of the guards with his head held high as though he were the one leading them. This apparently annoyed one of the guards, who shoved Reginald hard in the back. The shove only made Reginald take a larger step to keep his balance. The guard's face turned red with rage and he tried to shove Reginald again. The draconic seemed to sense the push coming from behind and took a quick step forward, causing the guard to lose his balance and collapse face first on the floor. The other guards burst into laughter as the fallen guard scrambled to his feet.

  "Clever little worm. You'll pay for that later." The guard sneered right in Reginald's face. The barest of smirks crossed Reginald's scaly lips. He moved faster than a blink. One second the guard was in his face, the next he was scrambling backwards, hands coming up to cover his face. He fell on his ass, continuing to push back as a burbling scream escaped his lips. Blood poured between his hands and down his face, soaking the front of his leather armor. Reginald spat something round and flesh colored on the floor, then grinned wide, exposing sharp bloody teeth. Another guard shoved him hard, but he still managed to stay on his feet.

  "My node! You bit my node!" The guard screamed. Another guard ran to the back as everyone stood stunned. He returned seconds later with a stained white cloth, kneeling and pressing it to the wounded guard's mangled face. The cloth quickly turned a bright red as it filled with blood. Triss would have covered her mouth in horror at the sight if she’d had the use of her arms. As it was, she looked away before she gagged. She noticed Naiela didn’t look away, watching the scene with one eyebrow raised and a slight smile on her face.

  "Hort, you help Gohn to the healers." One guard barked. "Let's get these prisoners moving. And be careful with that one!" He pointed at Reginald, who smiled back and winked.

  It took a few moments for the guards to force Naiela and Triss outside, since they didn't stop struggling. A large black coach pulled by two massive horses was just pulling away, and a number of passersby had to jump out of the way to avoid being run over. Reginald began walking after the coach, setting a slow pace. Triss could see the lead guard was obviously frustrated with how slow Reginald was walking, but made no attempt to speed him up.

  Triss fell into step behind Reginald, mind racing, trying to think of a way out of this. Could they just try running? That probably wouldn’t work, especially with their hands bound. It would be awkward and slow to run with hands bound. Maybe a spell? She needed her hands for that. Actually, she amended, there’s one spell I don’t need to guide with my hands.

  Took you long enough to figure out. Grounth said.

  Yeah, yeah. Any suggestions for a target?

  I haven’t seen anything yet. Keep an eye open.

  Triss did, trying to look around without being too obvious. Up ahead she saw two large animals standing in front of a parked cart. They had dark grey skin that reminded her of either an elephant or rhinoceros, and their four long legs were round and flat on the bottom. Their heads were bird like, with a long neck, green beak and small black eyes. Her head would probably only come up to the creature’s shoulders. What are those? She thought at Grounth.

  Olotina.

  Triss rolled her eyes. Why do I have to drag every piece of information out of you?

  I told you what they were. I’m not your personal bestiary.

  Triss took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. When she felt she was calm enough, she continued. I only need to know one thing, jackass. Are they scared of fire?

  Well, you pile of olotina excrement, they - like most living creatures - are flammable.

  Triss ignored the jibe and focused on the cart. She used her mind to cast her firestarter spell on the cart. Then, reconsidering slightly, she cast it on several more flammable things in view. Then she looked back and cast it on a guard’s boots. “Eyes forward!” The guard yelled. She turned completely around, walking backwards for a second and stuck her tongue out at him. She quickly cast the spell on each guard in turn, then jumped backwards before the guard could hit her.

  “Be ready to run.” Triss whispered as quietly as she could, knowing that Reginald would be able to hear her. He nodded almost imperceptibly.

  Triss wondered how long it would take for things to kick off. There was already a steady streamer from the cart ahead. Maybe another min-

  The cart suddenly exploded into a giant ball of fire.