We barely led the kids out of the tunnel when General Whitesword ordered me to check the next cottage. Knowing that there could potentially be more hiding underground, I obliged without comment.

And there were.

In two of the tunnels, I ended up finding twenty more children and teenagers, all wearing shapeless smocks. Most had white or nearly white hair. While they hadn't been sealed up in a dirt tomb, they had been hidden away behind a cunningly-crafted series of doors and panels disguised to look like earth. They were eager to see me, rushing forward to run their hands through my thick pelt. I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good—dozens of little hands giving my poor muscles the massage they deserved. My purrs echoed through the earthen chambers.

General Whitesword had to have the soldiers gently pull them away and send them to the triage that had been set up at the farmhouse.

Once the kids were clear, the general had me go in by myself to see if there were any cultists lurking about. By this time, I was able to discern rogue elven scents from those of the general, Crown Prince Kesio and the soldiers. Finding no one, we moved on to the last cottage.

As usual, I went down the ladder in human form. Upon hitting the bottom, I turned around and saw them.

Gasping, I spun around and gripped the handrails of the ladder. "General!" I shouted, voice echoing.

General Whitesword's perturbed face appeared over the hatch. "What is it?"

"Adults! There's a bunch of adults down here!"

"We'll be right down."

I moved away from the ladder and slowly approached the humans. There were about twelve of them, lining both sides of the tunnel: men and women with white, almost translucent hair that fell past hunched shoulders and down their backs. They wore nondescript, earth-toned tunics, baggy pants and no shoes. Some appeared as young as twenty and as old as seventy.

What gave me pause was the lack of reaction to my presence. No one cheered nor so much as blinked an eye. They were completely and utterly subdued.

General Whitesword's boots hit the ground and he came to stand next to me. Hands on hips, he surveyed the silent men and women. I glanced up at his pinched expression; in the short time that I'd been around the man, he wasn't the type to be at a loss for words.

There was movement behind me and a quick check indicated that Kesio was there.

General Whitesword folded his arms. "Who is the leader here?" he asked, surveying the group.

Silence. A couple of the adults turned in his direction and blinked.

"You, there," the general stated, pointing at the elderly woman in the back. "Is it you?"

The woman didn't answer; she merely continued to stare at the floor of the tunnel.

"What do we do, sir?" one of the soldiers asked of the general.

Frowning, the general turned to me. "These are your people," he said. "What should we do?"

How should I know? Before I could formulate a tactful reply, a woman of about forty or so slowly stood up. Keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the floor, she spoke in a hushed, almost childish whisper:

"My lord, Renee hasn't spoken since they drained her two years ago."

Drained. My stomach clenched and I examined these people more closely. Were they younger than I initially believed?

"I see." General Whitesword tugged at his cuffs. "Well, you'll have to do, my lady. Tell your fellows to get up and follow me. You're free."

"They won't do that, my lord," the woman replied softly.

"Why is that?"

"They won't move unless they're told to."

General Whitesword made a scoffing sound deep in his throat. "Then you'll be waiting a long time, my lady. Your captors are all in Crown custody. You'll never see them again."

I'm sure he meant for that to be reassuring, but the general's gruff personality had been gaining strength all night. I didn't blame him. I wanted to get everyone out of here and climb into bed, myself. Honestly, I didn't know what time it was anymore. Watches would also explode if you shifted with them on, so I'd left mine in the suite back at Everfell.

The woman didn't reply; she merely sank back to the floor. General Whitesword muttered something in that Celtic tongue and pivoted.

"You speak with them," he growled, gesturing at the humans.

Me? What could I say that could sway them to move? I had no training in crisis situations, nor did my one botched kidnapping give me any insight into what they experienced. I lifted a finger in protest but the general leveled a stern look at me. Well, that was a futile exercise.

A cold draft blew through the tunnel, goose bumps rising on my skin. Gritting my teeth, I rubbed my hands up and down my arms as I turned to stare at the hunched humans.

"Here," Kesio said, and I felt the weight of his waistcoat being draped over my shoulders. It was lighter than I expected, but warm nevertheless.

"Thanks," I muttered, eyes sliding away. Clutching the coat around my upper body, I walked over to the woman who'd spoken and stared down at the top of her pale, pale head.

"You moved," I said.

She flinched, a movement I barely caught beneath the baggy tunic, and averted her head.

"There's still fire in you," I continued, aware how foolish those words sounded and yet, knowing they needed to be spoken anyway. "I need you to stand up and help me lead these people out of here. We're going to take you home."

Slowly, very slowly, the woman tilted her head up. Tears glistened in her eyes. She lifted her hands, palms up like a supplicant. "And do what?" she whispered through the tears. "I was a witch when they took me. I've nothing left. I'm empty—a shell of a person. I might as well not exist anymore."

I turned to the general. "Can they get their magic back?" I asked. "If we find the crystals?"

General Whitesword sighed and rubbed at his lower jaw. "I do not know," he said after a pause. "That is a mystery for the Mages' Council to untangle."

"I am certain that they will try their very best," Kesio added, more sincere than I'd ever heard him. Still, the woman's hands slid up to cover her face.

My heart fairly broke. I couldn't even begin to understand her pain. I didn't know what I'd do if it was me sitting there, taken far from home and unable to shift again. "Come on," I said, putting as much encouragement into my voice as possible. I reached down and touched her shoulder. "Your folks are waiting for you." God help me if they were dead, but I needed something to motivate her.

Her head lifted a fraction. I saw reddened eyes look up at me through a fringe of white hair. "Mom," she breathed, then said it again, more firmly this time: "Mom." Her hand reached out and I grasped it. Bones as light and fragile as a bird's fluttered between my fingers and I felt her wince as I applied enough pressure to bring her to her feet.

Kesio slipped a hand beneath her elbow and gently guided her towards the ladder. "This way, my lady," he said, passing her over to a soldier.

I watched as she moved, stumbling slightly, towards the soldier. When I turned around, a man was getting to his feet. One by one, the adults began to stand up. Although they kept their eyes downcast, they shuffled towards the ladder and ascended.

In all, I counted twenty-two broken souls. People who had held magic in their hearts and were cruelly stripped of their birthrights. As each one passed me by, I felt a twinge of pain in my soul—as physical as a blow.

The last one to leave was the old woman, Renee.

General Whitesword sighed. "She'll just have to be hauled out of here," he said. "I have no more time to waste."

I was inclined to agree, but Kesio had other plans. The Crown Prince of Summer knelt before the woman and took her hands between his own. "It's time to go, my lady," he said, pitching his voice low.

I blinked. He didn't just have a wild change of heart, did he?

At first, it looked as if we really were going to have to forcibly remove Renee from the tunnel, but at the very last second, she lifted her head. With Kesio's help, she got to her feet. The elven prince personally led her to the ladder and escorted her to the top. I watched him go, clutching his waistcoat firmly around my shoulders. Did this mean I'd have to reevaluate my opinion of him?

As I exited the cottage, I found a mounted soldier waiting for us. "Your Royal Highness," he called out with a bow. "We have the crystals."