Alistor arrived a few minutes after me. He had been as quiet as a mouse and had scared me when he had appeared out of the darkness. The corridor was dimly lit by torches that flickered with their own life. Everyone was in their beds.
"Ready?" he asked,
I nodded. Alistor took the torch by the door before opening it. I followed shutting the door behind us. It was completely dark and the air was filled with a chilling dampness that lingered in the air. At the bottom to the left was another oak door with a barred window at the top. I knocked and after a few moments, a guard looked through the grate before opening the door. Once through, he knocked three times on the cobble stone- the sound echoing down the corridors as the signal before telling us where Aslan was located. When a four knock signal came back, we knew the guards were aware that we were here. The guard then handed me his sword and whispered for me to make some kind of sound to make it seem he was knocked out for our plan to start.
The plan went off without a hitch- three guards feigned being knocked out and we were able to free Aslan. She cringed away as I swung the door open; her eyes up and down my figure as if trying to make sense out of what I was doing and if I was going to hurt her further.
"Why?" she croaked when I undid her manacles on her wrists and ankles.
"I know my kind, the Nephilium, have been torturing you. I can't stand it anymore."
It wasn't really a lie. I found Charm speak to be a dark practice. Maybe, at one time, it had been moral with the first twelve, but the purpose had been altered through the ages.
"Thank you," she said rubbing her right wrist gingerly.
She followed closely trying to hide her fear of being caught. I could tell she was trying to quiet her footfall to be the grace of a cat, but it was hard with her new found freedom to master it in a few minutes.
The main courtyard was lit only by the full moon light, but it was enough for us to still be visible if we weren��t careful. I glanced around to make sure all the guards were busy talking as we stole ourselves through the gate to the upper city. I unclasped my cloak and handed it to her. I didn't want anyone telling the guards of a Halfling leaving the upper city. The news of our mission hadn't been passed through to all the guards as it had been short notice. She put it on and pulled up the hood to cover her ears and tail. Hopefully no one was looking close enough to notice her luminous cat eyes.
Within minutes, we slipped undetected into the Lower City and went straight to the Lonely Dove Tavern where I had found Sasha last night.
It was a warm and as lively as it had been the night before. I saw Sasha sitting near their same booth. We walked towards them having a full on conversation with her brother.
"Sasha," I greeted.
She turned with a smile already on her face before looking quizzically at Alistor and Aslan who was still hid under her hood.
"Eve, who are your two companions?"
"This is Alistor," I said pointing at Alistor. "And this-"
Aslan pulled her hood back smiling friendly at Sasha. How did these two know each other already? How long had Aslan been imprisoned? The timeline seemed to not line up. Perhaps it was a Halfling thing as there seemed to be very little of them inside the walls. Still it perplexed me.
"Aslan?" asked Sasha already standing up to embrace her as a friend.
"Let me go find Quinn," said Aslan. "I'll let you catch up."
I saw Alistor look at me wondering if this was a good idea to let her leave. I gave a small tip of my head in response. It would look really suspicious to tell her she couldn't leave after just freeing her.
As she left, she handed me back my cloak.