As day turned to night, the party below the eyries swelled to an all-out riot. Benedikt lay down beside Grielle. He made no movement other than the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed in the balmy cave air.

While Grielle shivered beside him, he focused solely on escape. From their nest, he could see the dark, cloudless sky and the flicker of stars through one of the cavern's openings. Something small and dark passed over the opening and Benedikt's pulse quickened. He sat up to get a better look, causing the nest to sway slightly.

Grielle whimpered and clutched the wooden beams with white knuckles. "No moving. No thinking. We are just going to wait here until the pirates come back and take us to solid ground," she hissed through gritted teeth.

"Did you see that?" He pointed to the opening above them.

Grielle sat up slowly. Still pale with fear, she scanned the sky. Her mouth parted softly. She drew a slender hand to her lips and whistled between her fingers. High above the raucous party, it wouldn't have been heard by any pirates. "Kai," she said. "He knows his master's call anywhere."

Benedikt held his breath as the shadow dipped in the sky and glided silently through the opening in the ceiling. The falcon landed on the edge of nest and gave Grielle a little squawk.

She caught sight of something wrapped around Kai's leg and clicked her tongue. Kai hopped across the nest and onto her waiting arm. He drew himself up and stuck out his leg for her to detach his parcel — a small piece of parchment and a thin stick of charcoal.

She scrawled something on the paper and passed it to Benedikt.

Send Instruction, the note read. We need a distraction, she'd scrawled on the reverse side. Benedikt nodded in support.

"They'll know just what to do. We've used such tactics often," Grielle said.

She tied the paper to Kai's leg and stroked his neck. At another click of her tongue, Kai took off into the night to deliver their reply. The rest was just a waiting game. In the darkest hours before dawn, the pirates eventually succumbed to the effects of copious drink and most fell into a heavy sleep below.

"So what is this terrible plan you have?" Grielle whispered.

"We should probably give it a try while we wait for the distraction." Benedikt crawled to one of the three ropes that held the nest aloft. It was a strong and sturdy rope but slick with moisture from the damp cavern. He gave Grielle an apologetic look before putting his weight on the rope causing the nest to swing slowly. Once the nest had swung back away from the wall, he pushed on the rope again. They swung even closer this time.

Grielle looked like she was going to be sick; her hands gripped the beams of their prison so hard, Benedikt thought her fingers might bleed. Still, with every part of her body trembling, she released her grip on the nest eased herself over to the rope opposite of Benedikt.

"If I fall to my death I'm going to kill you," she snarled.

She applied her weight to the rope when the nest reached its highest point. It didn't take long for them to get their prison to swing within reach of the cliffs edge. Benedikt nodded at Grielle as she registered with a scowl what he wanted her to do. She reached a shaky arm out towards the outcropping and when she came close, her fingers brushed the edge.

"You can reach it. You can do this," Benedikt reassured her.

They swung back and forth again, and with greater confidence, Grielle reached out for the ledge with one hand still on the rope. She grasped the cliff but the walls were slick and the uneven weight between her and the nest caused it to start spinning. Benedikt watched in horror as she lost her grip. She struggled to pull herself back onto their prison, but her body pitched forward with the momentum of the spinning and her feet slipped off the edge. Her right hand kept its vice grip on the rope, but it slipped down to where the rope was tethered to the eyrie.

Benedikt leaped for where her other hand grappled for a solid grip on the side. He dropped to his knees and hoisted her back into the nest. Without thinking, he wrapped her in his arms. Grielle's hands shook as she grasped fistfuls of his shirt and buried her face in his neck. Benedikt held her as still as possible while she gasped for air in shallow breaths. His own heart thundered in his chest, his mind fuzzy as he tried to figure out if she'd ever forgive him for this.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered into her hair. "I'm sorry," he repeated again and again until Grielle's breathing slowed along with the swinging.

When the nest slowed to a stop, she released her vice grip on his shirt front, her hands lingering on his chest. Benedikt's mouth went dry as her fingers grazed the thin fabric of his shirt. The warmth of her touch seeped through the material and into his skin. Grielle seemed to realize what she was doing just as he did, and she quickly backed away. Benedikt was almost sure he'd seen her cheeks flush in the dim light, but she turned her back to him before he could be certain.

Several thoughts clamored for his attention. First, he felt a strong desire to draw Captain Grielle into his arms again, to have her hands touch his chest. Second, he wanted to remember the lavender and sea spray smell of her hair that lingered in the air.

"It was a terrible idea," he said. "I won't make you do that again."

Grielle didn't look at him. She simply nodded and tucked her hair back into her braid.

They passed the rest of the night on opposite sides of the nest.

~

As morning light stirred the boozy pirate horde below, Grielle eagerly awaited the anticipated diversion. After spending an entire night suspended far above solid ground, the acute awareness of how much space separated her from the cave floor had eased. Her muscles had ceased trembling, and her stomach finally felt steady.

But she still couldn't look at Benedikt.

"During the diversion, you get to do the jumping," she said, her eyes on her feet.

"Fine," he said.

Grielle could only hope the pirates wouldn't look up as all this happened. By some stroke of good luck, hazy clouds had rolled in overnight and remained. They would prevent the swinging cage from casting shadows below.

Once safely onto the cliff, they would escape through the tunnels, and out to the Stalvart ship that would be ready to take them away. The plan involved a lot of speculation where a lot could go wrong. It would require keen instinct with minimal opportunity for coordination and maximum likelihood of improvisation. This would be Benedikt's first test of skill in working with the Liberators.

"This will work," he said as if his thoughts had been the same as hers.

"We've done this before," she replied. "Just follow our lead and if you get a chance, make a run for the dock."

Benedikt nodded and looked out over the pirates who had just begun to mill about below them.

Grielle ignored any embarrassment caused by her display of weakness the night before and joined him at the eyrie's edge. His presence seemed to have a calming effect on her now — his arms had too, but she couldn't allow herself to hold onto such thoughts.

Most of the pirates seemed to be asleep, but some slinked about, looking for remnants of drink to abate their pounding heads. Several seemed to arm themselves and a few began to head up ladders and stone steps and settle themselves into lookout posts in the cliff sides. She cursed under her breath as a lookout climbed all the way to the top of the main hall of the pirate court. The groggy sea dog checked to make sure they were still secured in the eyrie, and then settled himself against the wall for his shift.

Grielle cleared her throat and caught Benedikt's attention. She jerked her head toward the lounging guard, who didn't appear to enjoy being on duty so early in the morning. Benedikt gave her a solitary nod of comprehension. A slight hiccup but nothing too problematic. They watched him nod off to sleep a couple of times, but he never seemed to stay under long. Like the others, he appeared to be nursing a severe hangover with a small flask at his side.

Several hours of pained quiet passed before a loud commotion echoed below. Grielle crawled to the side of the eyrie and peered over its edge. Benedikt followed.

The pirates swarmed into the main cavern from all the cracks and offshoots of the cave system like insects from an upturned hive. The grating scrape of metal on metal echoed from far away, until a group of intruders burst into the room. The infiltrators fought their way into the center of the room with relative ease, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the sheer number of pirates that poured in around them.

"What is the meaning of this?" The unmistakable voice of Captain De Soto boomed over the fray. "Who dares step into the Pirate Court of Osgarden?"

The fighting slowed to a dead halt. A figure stepped forth from the mass of intruders. Even from high above, Grielle immediately recognized Moose, though he wore an entirely different ensemble. Dressed in the full regalia of a Stalvart noble, he stepped forth with all the authority of one. "I am King Sander of Stalvart." Moose puffed out his chest as he spoke, putting on an indignant air. "You dare to kidnap my son and you don't even know who I am? You have made a grave mistake, my friend."

Moose could easily pass for a citizen of Stalvart considering his height and muscular build. Grielle smiled to herself at the ingenuity before she rushed to one of the ropes. After ensuring that the guard on prison duty was sound asleep, undisturbed by the commotion, she pulled the rope. Benedikt saw at once what she was doing, and he rushed for the ropes.

They began to apply their body weights to the ropes, and quickly perfected the swinging motion that brought Benedikt within arm's reach of the ledge. One more swing back and forth, then Benedikt took a running leap and grabbed the ledge. His legs swung free of the nest, leaving him dangling from the cave wall by his hands.

~

Benedikt laboriously hoisted himself onto the ledge, then paused to gain his bearings. There only appeared to be a bit of yelling between Moose and Captain De Soto. Once sure they hadn't been detected, he turned to help Grielle out of their prison, but she pointed behind him, eyes wide with panic.

He spun around to see the pirate on guard stirring from his nap. The guard gave Benedikt a confused look and clumsily lifted himself to his feet. Before he could take a wary step away from the wall, Benedikt charged the glassy-eyed pirate and drove him back. With a strong elbow under the guard's chin, Benedikt drove his adversary into the stone wall. The pirate's head snapped backward and bounced off the wall with a dull thud. He fell to the ground, his sword clattering on the stone steps.

Benedikt ran to the system of levers that held the nest-like prisons aloft, and turned the crank that raised their cell. It squeaked terribly, but he worked quickly. Grielle stumbled from the eyrie and put as much distance as possible between herself and the ledge. As she clutched the cave wall, a look of intense relief washed over her face.

Benedikt relieved the collapsed pirate of his dirk and tossed it to Grielle. He grabbed the fallen rogue's cutlass for himself.

Grielle smiled at him and he finally felt like he could take a breath. Escape was within reach. He returned the smile, but his heart skipped a beat as a sharp whistle echoed throughout the cavern.

A lookout across the cavern had spotted them and alerted the pirates below. "The prisoners are escaping!"

An angry yell arose from the pirate horde as Liberators and Stalvart sailors charged back into the fray. Benedikt grabbed Grielle's hand and together they flew down the rough-hewn stone steps. The steep path led right into the throes of the fighting, but Benedikt spied a small opening halfway down. They took it before any of the pirates could corner them on the narrow stairway. Stumbling along in dark and unfamiliar corridors, Benedikt hoped to find a way to the port. Instead they reached a fork in the path with no clear way to go.

"This way," Grielle whispered as the sound of pounding feet on wet stone grew louder. She veered to the right.

Benedikt paused. Turning right felt like they were headed away from the bay — and his sense of direction was usually correct. "I think we should go left—"

"No." Grielle cut him off and pulled him toward the right fork.

Benedikt wanted to argue, but he didn't want to linger. A skirmish in the tunnels would lead to nothing but disaster, so he followed after Grielle.

Her steps quickened as light bloomed ahead. "See! We're almost to the docks," she called over her shoulder.

They ran for the light, but skidded to a halt as soon as they broke out of the gloomy tunnel. Instead of seeing the port and their means of escape, they watched in horror as a mass of heads turned to look in their direction. Despite the chaos, their arrival brought a temporary pause to the melee raging in the great hall of the Pirate King. Benedikt and Grielle found themselves in the middle of the fray they had sought to escape.

~

Thank you all so much for reading! I hope you guys enjoyed this latest chapter! Make sure to give it a vote and share your thoughts in the comments!