There was no time to lose. After snatching the keys from the hook on the wall, Theiden had unlocked the room that held Nevitas Eltwen. He had explained the situation as briefly as he could to the half-conscious bookkeeper before helping the man stand and hurrying out the door. Theiden did his best to ignore the despairing moans that came from within the other locked rooms in the hallway – there was no time, and there was no assurance that whoever was within them wasn't already Turned and would kill him as soon as he opened the door, anyway.

Though Mr. Eltwen's glasses had been destroyed and he was bleeding from a gash on his head, Theiden still sensed the man's apprehension at seeing the prone form of Colverne lying in the stairwell. The arm around Theiden's shoulders drew back, and the bookkeeper's steps faltered.

"That – " Mr. Eltwen began.

"Someone will be here to help him soon," Theiden interrupted. "There's no time – we must leave."

Mr. Eltwen gave a troubled sigh, but nodded and let Theiden help him up the steps. The man was limping, and it was especially tricky to maneuver around the body blocking half the stairwell. It seemed to take forever, but finally, somehow, they managed.

"Hurry," Theiden urged, though the warning was hardly necessary. Theiden pulled Mr. Eltwen's arm around his shoulders once more and practically dragged the older man up the rest of the stairs. Heran could return any second, and then it would be over for both of them.

It seemed a miracle, but they stumbled out of the establishment's headquarters without incident—perhaps it was because most of the city was attending the Midsummer festival, or due to Colverne's hubris in not appointing someone to temporarily guard the entrance while he made his rounds, but it didn't matter much to Theiden, as long as they were safe.

Still, the ordeal wasn't over yet. Kivirra had told Theiden where they needed to be that evening, and Mr. Eltwen's pace was slow.

"My bookshop is that way..." the older man began, a frown appearing on his face as Theiden steered them towards the center of town instead.

"We need to go to the central plaza," Theiden explained, his gaze darting from left to right as he scanned the street for Heran or any others who might see them. "And we need to get away from this building quickly, before anyone sees us. How much weight can you put on that leg?"

He nodded at the bookkeeper's injury, and the man shrugged, seemingly having recovered his senses a bit since leaving his cell. "I've had worse," he replied, testing his weight on the leg and wincing when it became too much. "The center of the city, you said? Let's go, then."

With Theiden leading the way and Mr. Eltwen hobbling as fast has he could by his side, the two of them made their way closer to the shouts of merriment at the center of the city, making sure to keep in the shadows. Not for the first time, Theiden cursed the city's hilly landscape, which slowed their progress when they started to head uphill.

Both the sounds and lights had gotten brighter at their approach to the plaza, and notes from a flute could now be heard merrily streaming through the air.

"And why are we coming here?" Mr. Eltwen finally asked, huffing after they had scaled another set of stairs. "It's not that I distrust you – after what you've rescued me from, I'd follow you to the ends of the earth – but I do wonder if this might be able to wait another day?"

Theiden pressed his lips into a line. Kivirra had been vague, saying he would know what to do when it happened, but it didn't seem right to tell the bookkeeper such a flimsy explanation.

"There have been more encounters with witches as of late," Theiden explained. "Decliteur wants to hunt and capture more of them, and we need to find a way to stop him."

Mr. Eltwen squinted at him, trying to make do with his lack of glasses. "You have a plan?"

"Uh, an outline of one," Theiden began. "Though if you have any concrete ideas, I'm more than ready to listen."

Theiden was surprised to see the man actually smile at the less-than-promising response. "I've read lots of books," he said. "I'm sure I can hatch some sort of plot."

A loud cheering erupted from the archways ahead, and the pair of them turned to join the crowds of the central plaza.

"Thank you, thank you!" Theiden heard someone shout over the voices, and he felt a chill as he recognized it as Decliteur's voice. Sure enough, once he and Mr. Eltwen had joined the throngs clustered by the fountain of Ayries Arcstrong, Theiden could see the head witch hunter clearly, strutting back and forth across the temporary wooden stage set up for the midsummer festivities. There were a few scorch marks left on the platform from the bonfire explosion the night before, but otherwise no indication that anything of the sort had happened. The crowds were just as full and passionate as ever.

"Now," Decliteur continued after the crowd had quieted. "Yesterday was a solemn reminder of the dangers beyond our border."

Theiden exchanged glances with the bookkeeper, who shook his head sadly. Apparently, the witch hunters had kept him updated on the wrongdoings of his daughter's kind.

"Time and time again they attack us in our homes, on our streets," Decliteur declared. "But I say, no more!"

Again, his words were met with cheers, and Theiden caught sight of other witch hunters waiting off to the side of the stage, grinning at each other and nodding their heads. Each was armed with a crossbow, as well as blades of varying sizes.

Theiden ducked lower in the crowd when he caught sight of Tareth among the witch hunters. It would not go well if the man noticed him out here when he was supposed to still be with Colverne at the headquarters.

"And now, the time has come," Decliteur again spoke. "For fortune has favored us at last, and given us the tool with which to wipe out these vile creatures!"

Theiden watched in horror as the man reached into his pocket and drew out a familiar red-and-gold teacup and thrust it into the air.

A murmur swept through the crowd as revelers turned to each other, confused eyes gleaming from beneath hoods and behind masks, as they tried to figure out the significance of the object.

Decliteur strode to the side of the stage nearest the fountain and dipped the cup beneath the falling water until it was filled to the brim. Then, he held out the crystal that Theiden had seen him use when facing off against the faun and the mirage witch.

"Show us where the witches are, so that we may strike them all down!" Decliteur declared, circling the crystal once over the teacup before raising it aloft.

There was only a second of stunned silence from the crowd before an unearthly growling and gurgling filled the air—Theiden immediately recognized the sound as Gil's voice, and gritted his teeth as the sound grew in intensity, sounding tormented and fearful.

The crowd took a few steps back as a cloud began to grow over the plaza, dimming the torches and lengthening the shadows that flickered across the stones. A few people cried out, and mutters of uncertainty joined in with the noises from the teacup.

Then, strangely, a light rose from the cup of water. Theiden squinted as shapes and colors took form, and his eyes widened in shock. No, not a light – a projection, cast onto the shadowy clouds above. It was the vision in the teacup.

The images on the cloud grew clearer as Decliteur continued to hold the crystal and teacup aloft. Visions of green-needled trees were the first recognizable forms, and then the vision sharpened to show a black-eyed faun sheltering beneath their branches. Then the view changed to a woman in a scarlet cloak leading a silvery-haired company of at least twenty people through the forest. Theiden's gasp was drowned out by the reactions from the rest of the crowd. It was Kivirra, leading what seemed to be a pack of witches straight to the city. Was that what she had been up to, while he had been helping Mr. Eltwen escape?

Before he could dwell much on the thought, however, the images again shifted. This time, the view was of the city streets themselves, and Theiden was startled to recognize his own daughter face-to-face with a woman in a brown cloak. The woman's back was to the crowd, but Theiden recognized the scarred hand stretched into the air, green magic sparking at her fingertips.

It was Lenesa, but what was she doing?

Theiden's thoughts raced as he watched the witch slowly lower her hand and take a step back from his daughter. His eyes went to Em's face as it changed from frightened to thoughtful, and felt his pulse slow down a bit. Though he couldn't see Lenesa's face, he hoped that Em's reactions meant that Gil had just captured the situation at a bad time.

"So there you have it!" Decliteur boomed, and the cloud dissolved before the scene had concluded.

"No—Em!" Theiden started forward again, wishing to see his daughter safe for sure, but Mr. Eltwen's hand on his shoulder held him back. Theiden looked back, and the bookkeeper shook his head sadly.

"They'll be all right," the man whispered. "They must be."

The rest of the crowd still had their attention fixed on the stage, where the head witch hunter was continuing to pace.

"This ends tonight," Decliteur announced, before turning to the witch hunters beside him. "Men! Gather your courage. Tonight, there will be blood!"

The crowd cheered, fists in the air, as Decliteur tossed the water out of the teacup and shoved it in his pocket before descending the stage.

Some members of the crowd followed the witch hunters, leaving the plaza and heading off towards the city gates. But Theiden took note of the hesitant glances exchanged between the other festival-goers, and the uneasy semi-silence that lingered after the witch hunters had left.

A light tap on his shoulder had him again turning to Mr. Eltwen, who wore a grim smile on his face.

"Earlier, you were asking me about a plan to stop the witch hunters," the bookkeeper began.

Theiden nodded, and the man continued.

"Well, it's not foolproof, but I do have something," he said. "Come with me—we'll need to act quickly."

~~~~~

Yes, yes, feel free to play The Mob Song here.  I know you were thinking about it.  :)