"No guards?" Selar repeated. "Ya must be kidding."

"I don't know for how long," Meroch replied, "but I'd say this is the moment we've been waiting for."

Kayr stood up. "Let's not waste more time waiting, then! We're taking the east wall exit!"

They suddenly got in a hurry. Kayr lit a torch, after which Grey put out the fire and had darkness fill the room. The others had stood up in some sort of half circle around Kayr, and just for a moment, their faces were visible in the shade. Not grim, not evil, but childishly excited.

"Follow me," Kayr needlessly whispered.

He simultaneously turned around and walked out the right corridor. Ayra followed him closely. Behind her, she heard Selar and Sheya whisper excitedly in a language she didn't know. She felt the heavy breaths of Grey in her neck.

"Kayr," Ayra whispered, "where is this place anyway?"

"Inside the fourth ring," Kayr replied. "Believe it or not, but we're in the base of the wall, not too far from the keep. The twins' great-great-great-grandfather was one of the architects that designed this city. This space under here was his creation, and it has been a well-kept family secret for ages."

Suddenly, the walls leaped back and made space for another round room, similar to the one the fireplace was in. Ayra suspected they were now standing under a watchtower. This room was filled with weapons and tools, and all gang members around Ayra picked one.

Ayra watched the light of the torch reflect on the steel. What would be her best option? A spear, a sword, a bow?

"Take a shield," Grey whispered in her ear, and he pushed a wooden shield into Ayra's hands. "If you're clumsy, you better just defend yourself."

Ayra mumbled a "thanks" and reclaimed her position right behind Kayr. She let her hand glide over the side of the shield. It was thick and triangular-shaped, with brutal iron spikes coming out the front. The shield was heavy, actually a bit too heavy for Ayra, but she didn't want to admit that. She simply wrapped her hand tightly around the grip and waited.

Finally, they all continued their way through the dark corridors, until Kayr's torch enlightened a wall in front of him. However, when he pushed against it, it turned out to be a door, and not a wall, and it led to the inside of a gatehouse.

Outside it was already dark, and it was raining just a little. Kayr flew up to the ceiling and touched it with his hands, apparently searching for a hole to fly through, so that they could get out of the gatehouse.

"Kayr," Ayra called softly, "the murder holes are too small to let pe-"

"Don't you think I know that?" it sounded from above. Kayr had opened a secret hatch in the roof. He let himself fall back to the ground and asked: "How strong are you, Ayra?"

"Me?" Ayra chuckled nervously. "Not too strong, I'm afraid."

"Then you carry Athon," Kayr decided. "He's the lightest."

He then wrapped his arms around Meroch and flew up again. Meroch curled himself half up, making himself as small and easy to carry as possible, but you could see that he was still heavy to Kayr.

"Can't Meroch fly?" Ayra wondered out loud.

"Half-elfs can never fly," Sheya replied.

The twins then worked together, and with some weird acrobatics, they got Grey airborne.

"Your turn, Ayra," Athon said. He smiled, but it was barely visible in the dark.

Ayra wrapped her arms tightly around Athon's slim waist. She tried to prepare for the heavy weight of the tall elf and the heavy shield in her hand, and started flapping her wings- but she was up in one wing-stroke.

"You're light, hey," she mumbled, and carefully rose through the hatch.

"Where'd you come from?" Athon asked. "All elfs are light."

"Swamp village," Grey replied before Ayra could.

"Quiet!" Kayr hissed. "We're going for the balcony. Don't make noise. Ayra, you go first with Athon."

Ayra squinted, but she couldn't see the balcony. "Where is it?"

"There," Athon whispered, and pointed at a darker spot on the wall. His sharp elf eyes had already seen the opening.

Ayra followed Athon's finger and carefully landed in front of a wooden door. She pointlessly tried it, knowing that it was locked. It was simply too easy to invade the castle if the balcony doors didn't have locks- for eminns, that is. They were the only people that could fly. Of course there were dragons, but nobody had tamed a dragon- well, except Ayra. The thought brought a proud smile to Ayra's face.

"C'mon," Selar said, as he and his sister landed behind her, "slam that door with yar shield!"

"There are people sleeping in there," Ayra and Athon said simultaneously, after which Athon asked: "Did you hear them too?"

"No," Ayra replied, "but it's logical."

Grey sighed. "If you're gonna be cowards, I'll open the damn thing."

His hands slithered over the sides of the door until they found grip, and then pushed the door upwards. The door got lifted out of its hooks and turned open by the lock.

"Dwarfs are strong," Ayra mumbled to herself, and sneaked into the castle.

She entered what turned out to be the bedroom of the royal family. There was a huge bed, in which five people slept. On the left side laid a strong, muscled man, the king, and next to him his gorgeous queen. On the right side of the bed slept two little princesses and one prince. The latter woke up from the cold breeze that entered through the door.

"Daddy! Wake up!" he called out. "There's a ghost in the room!"

The burglars barely dared to breathe. Kayr stood frozen with his hand on the door knob.

The king now woke up too. "Ghosts don't exist, boy," he whispered. "Go back to sleep."

"They do! They do!" The little boy's high-pitched voice echoed through the room. "I felt him pass over me!"

Kayr had finally managed to soundlessly move the door sort-of closed. That's why the king didn't notice what had awoken his son when he walked over to his side of the bed and told prince Igbor to be quiet, or the whole castle would wake up. Fourteen feet tiptoed out of the bedroom as quietly as they could.