"ENOUGH!" Ironhorse's shout made the ceiling tremble. Dirt showered them, and the gremlins skittered back. Ironhorse glared at Lise, swishing his tail against his flanks, then tossed his head at the knights. "TAKE THEM INTO THE TUNNELS," he ordered with a hint of exasperation. "MAKE SURE THEY DO NOT ESCAPE. IF THE STORM DOES NOT ABATE, WE MIGHT BE HERE AWHILE."

The chains binding them to Ironhorse were released. Two knights pulled Ash to his feet and half dragged him away down a tunnel. One of the other knights, the one with Ash's face, took the girls by the arm and led them after his brothers.

Lise reluctantly followed, glaring back at Ironhorse.

Isiea flowers at them.

They paused at a junction where several tunnels merged. Wooden tracks led off into the darkness, and rickety cars half-filled with ore sat off to the sides. Thick wooden beams held up the ceiling, standing along the tracks every few feet. A few lanterns had been nailed into the wood, though most were broken and dark. In the flickering torchlight, glimmering veins of iron snaked across the walls.

They continued down a tunnel that dead-ended in a small room, where three wooden posts stood side by side in the middle of the room. A few crates and an abandoned pickax lay stacked in a corner. The knights pushed Ash against one post, unlocked a cuff, and reattached it behind the beam, securing him in place. The flesh under the metal band was red and burned, and he jerked when they snapped it around his wrist again.

The knight patted Ash on the cheek, chuckling as Ash flinched away from the steel gauntlet. "Feels good, don't it, worm?" he said. This was the first time they'd heard one of them speak. "You oldbloods are completely weak, aren't you? Its high time you moved over. You're obsolete now, ancient. Your time is done."

Ash raised his head and stared the other faery in the eye. "Bold words for someone who stood aside and wrestled a couple of girls while his brothers fought for him."

Lise laughed out loud at that.

Isiea stays silent.

The knight glared at Lise and then backhanded him. The guard holding Isiea and Lise said, "leave him alone, Quintus."

Quintus sneered. "Feeling sorry for him, Tertius? Maybe some brotherly affection for your twin here?"

"We're not supposed to speak to the oldbloods," Tertius replied in the same cool tone. "You know that. Or should I inform Ironhorse?"

Quintus spat on the ground. "You were always weak, Tertius," he snarled. "Too softhearted to be made of iron. You're a disgrace to the brotherhood." He spun on a heel and marched up the tunnel, the other two knights following behind. Their boots rang loudly on the stone floor, then faded into silence.

Lise rolled her eyes and looked over at Ash.

Isiea silently listens, keeping those names in the back of her mind.

The remaining knight, Tertius, unlocked a shackle and wound the chain around the beam, not looking at them. He snapped the cuff around their wrists and stepped away, his eyes darkening to black. So now they were both handcuffed to their own poles.