The Coffee House

Jane glared at Zara. “I thought you said you were going to bring Kyle?”

"That's my ultimate goal," Zarna re-affirmed, as she pulled a few more fake nerves out of the top of Chris's head. "Trouble is, he is being held in the Light Castle, which is under the protection of a formidable shielding charm which I am unable to break by force. I believe the dwarfs can forge me an enchanted sword which will enable me to break through... however, they flatly refuse to create it for me. It is for this reason that I have captured and entombed Cara... they get their girl back as soon as I get my new weapon ..."

"What has been their response to this?" Jane asked impatiently. "You'd almost be better off trading this fake for Kyle..."

"Hah, like they'd negotiate with me," Zarna cackled dismissively. "They won't even let me into the castle to speak to them! And, after last time, there's no way they're going to drop their guard again... no, I need to break in by force and take Kyle for myself..."

"Well...maybe you need to try to get the dwarves attention again...maybe threaten that girl..." Jane suggested.

Suddenly, Jane's son Jake burst in - and proposed another idea.

"Mum, you're forgetting something!" he argued confidently. "I look just like Kyle... so, how about I go there, and trick them into thinking I'm him? Just dress me up as him and give me a fake journal, and I'll run around town crying about wanting to go home and wanting Daddy. They'll take me into the castle and up to Kyle's room - and, by the time they figure out that I'm not him, it'll be too late !"

Jane smirked. “That’s not a bad idea, but how will you get him out?”

"Can't I just blast through the window?" Jake asked. "I mean, the magical shielding stops you from getting in - but it shouldn't stop anyone from getting out."

"It might do," Zarna pointed out. "A lot of these shields work both ways. But, regardless... there is still one vulnerability in their defensive systems. You see, they haven't shielded their drainpipes - because the castle would stink in no time if the shields were blocking sewage from getting in and out! This means the guards have to appoint some poor sod to stand outside the sewer with a clothes peg on his nose, to stop me from getting in that way. But there's nothing to stop people from getting out that way... just shrink yourselves, jump down a drain, crawl out through the sewers, and blast the guard on 'peg duty' while he's not expecting it... it'll be a really awful day for him ..."

“That could work...” Jane looked to Jake. “Okay go ahead and do it. But be careful”

"Thanks," Jake beamed, as he began to prepare some supplies. "I won't disappoint !"

---

Two nights later, Hefwyn and Lydia were taking their usual evening stroll through the market town outside Light Castle. The streets were well-lit by lanterns, whose flames blew lightly in the cool evening breeze. However, they were just as eerily quiet as their counterparts in Kemmelhearth: there were at most half a dozen shoppers wandering the main road. This had been the case every night since Zarna had captured Chris; however, Lydia was adamant that it was all her fault.

Nevertheless, it was not to last. Hefwyn heard the faint echoes crying and wailing in the distance - as a young boy protested that "I want to go home!" and "I want Daddy!"

"Sounds like someone's not happy ," Hefwyn concluded. "Reckon we should go and help?"