Naidele was torn. Should she run to safety with her sister and leave Khienro, Orindil, and Aeryn to defend themselves. How could she? They were even more defenseless against Okandar's foul servants than were she and Nakaida.... But if she stayed, she risked dying and losing all hope for victory. She bit her lip in indecision.

"I can't," she said finally. She drew herself up, trying to seem larger although she was a very petite woman. "I won't leave you to fight this." She gave him her most determined look. "I'm not a coward. I will fight whatever comes." She was stubborn to the end, and she knew she could not run from this.

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I'm back!

Outwardly, Khienro was dissapointed, but deep inside, he knew he was somwhat glad she didn't leave. That way, he wouldn't constanly worry about her, he'd keep and eye on her, and only worry half the time. Putting it upon himself to guard her, he nodded but leaned over to whisper in her ear,

"Alright, but so help me if you die or get captured..... I will never forgive myself." That said, he stood back up straight, trying to look strong, even though he had a broken wrist. "We need.... We need some sort of..." Khienro shook his head slightly, trying to think of a good term. "Backup plan. We can't out run, out jump, or fight any of these demons. But... Mabye - just mabye - we can out smart them."

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Nakaida shook her head mutely and stumbled into the cage, shoved by leering demons. "No..." she whispered. "There's nowhere to run."

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"This is our backup plan," Orindil hissed at Khienro. The blacksmith's nobility was commendable, but the elf didn't think much of his pragmatism. "The Keepers are Okandar's only concern. The only reason they've kept us alive is for the sole purpose of their entertainment. Do you wish to jeopardize that? And do you truly believe you can outsmart a fire demon, the most powerful creature in Okandar's arsenal?" He laid the words with blunt force, coercing the others to face the raw truth.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but it was then that the demons shoved them all into the flaming cage. He coughed, experiencing the fleeting sensation of being burned alive.

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"I won't let them kill you," Nakaida rasped. "I'll die first! I could never forgive myself -" she broke off, coughing as smoke wafted around her and tears started to her eyes. "Oh, Goddess help us all..."

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Now repenting his harsh words, Orindil's stoic mask melted away to reveal a gentleness he usually kept to himself. How could he completely steal their last vestiges of hope? He leaned forward and murmured, "Once we are inside Okandar's citadel, we escape. That saves us the trouble of having to sneak in besides."

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Nakaida raised her blue eyes, the fire reflecting to make them oddly purple, to Orindil's face. "Saves us the trouble!" she gasped, with a strained sound that could possibly have resembled a laugh. "Somehow I might rather have it!"

Her gaze followed the pacing fire demon for a moment before returning to meet his. "Though perhaps that sentiment is more born out of fear than anything else," Nakaida added softly, hating herself for her weakness.

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Naidele gasped as they were shoved through the cage of fire. The pain was almost unbearable. Fire being her Element, she could usually withstand extremely hot temperatures, but this was more than she had ever experienced.

Once inside she turned looking for the others and was relieved to find that they had all made it through the fiery cage. She listened to Orindil and Nakaida speaking. "Escape?" she asked them, "But how?" She immediately berated herself for being so negative, but she couldn't help her feelings.

She looked around, frightened, wondering when they would have to come face to face with Okandar.

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I'm back!

The fire demon picked up a pair of impossibly huge chains secured to one end of the cage. Bellowing, it spread its crimson wings and began flapping. If anything, the wind only increased the billowing smoke. At length the demon caught altitude and they were airborne, rising above the trees and in tow by a fell fire demon.

Can the situation get any worse... Orindil took one glance at the rapidly moving ground a thousand feet below them and quickly averted his gaze.

"Is everyone all right?" he asked, if only to break the ominous rhythm of their captor's steadily beating wings.

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Naidele squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't do well with heights. She clutched her stomach and took deep breaths, trying to remain calm. She told herself over and over that this wasn't the worst that could happen. At least they were all alive.

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I'm back!

Nakaida, air being her element, was not overly bothered by the height. She was silent at Orindil's query, however - her arm felt like lead, a dead weight attached to her shoulder, and she couldn't really say in all truthfulness that she was all right.

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Khienro tried his best to keep calm when he was shoved harshly into the cage, and he emedietly started sweating. It was beyond hot in here. He didn't say anything, not knowing anything to say, and he was already having a hard time breathing. As he looked about the cage, he felt as if he was being choked. Not only was there flames everywhere, but he was getting quite claustraphobic in here. His breathing became more and more labored, until he half sat, half fell to the gorund.

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You may (or may not) know me elsewhere as Elfpen

Furrowing his brow, Orindil thought for a moment before reaching into his belt pouch and extracting four white-tinged leaves. He passed three around, then nibbled on his own. "They'll help with the breathing," he explained with a shrug.

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Nakaida, unexpectedly, smiled as she took the offered leaf. "Do you habitually carry around remedies for circumstances such as this?"

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"I dabble in the clerical arts," Orindil replied with another shrug and an infinitesimal smile to match hers. He fell quiet, then spoke up a few minutes later to again break the awkward silence. "Your training... was it difficult?"

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"Only if you weren't used to it," said Nakaida, with a shake of her head. "I had nothing to compare it to, so I never found it overtly hard. Besides, most of it was training ourselves to use our element anyway." Her smile faded. "Perhaps it should have been more difficult."

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