As they entered the deep forest, they heard a soft, enchanting, almost ominous piping noise. Tiara glanced at Aenea and Alissa, Hans being asleep in Alissa's pouch on her belt. Auri was in Aenea's arms and they were walking in relative silence.

"Alissa, the piping?" Tiara asked, softly, almost afraid to speak loudly.

"That is the piping of the Centaur," she responded. "It is rarely heard and only when the Centaur wishes to speak to someone within his borders~which would be the edges of the forest."

"Then this Centaur will make some sort of contact with us?"

"He already is making contact with us. We must follow the sound of his piping."

"Who is this Centaur?"

"Not a who, Tiara, a what."

"Huh?"

"A Centaur is half-man half-horse."

Tiara gave her an amused look. "However did that combination come up?"

"You don't want to know," Alissa answered.

"Okay." She bit her lip. "Are we sure this piping is for us?"

"Hardly anyone enters these woods," Aenea said.

"Is he dangerous?"

"Why are we so sure this Centaur is male?" Hanpan asked, poking his head out of Alissa's pouch. "I hear the Centaur fillys are quite, er, beautiful." He coughed slightly.

Alissa glared down at the mouse and he quickly ducked back into her pouch. "I have never met the Centaur. It is said he can be cruel at times. He is what keeps the forest as it is. He likes the balance of Good and Evil. It is his way, or so I've heard."

"Well, then, let's follow this piping."

They began following the noise of the piping. They followed it into a clearing and as they walked toward the stump in the center, they fell through a hole in the ground that had not been visible and everything went black.

Some hours later, Tiara opened her eyes and tried to move. She groaned suddenly and stopped moving. She looked around slowly moving her head. She was shackled to the wall, she finally realized. Large, rusty iron shackles bound her to the wall by way of both her wrists. Luckily her ankles were not bound. The others were nowhere in sight but just an inch or two away from her foot, a large ugly rat was sniffing the ground. She noticed how filthy this dungeon was.

"Where am I?" she muttered, and then shuddered slightly at the rememberance of a time not that long ago past~the last time she had been in a dungeon.

"Ye're where you will die soon, my lady," a sneering voice said.

She looked up. A fat and burly man stood in the doorway, holding another torch. He was filthy and the only thing he wore was the rags of a loin cloth. His ugly face was half torn away. She surpressed the urge to vomit.

"Where are my friends?" she asked.

"Not anywhere where ye can get at them," he said, evilly.

"Tell me now, you filthy bastard," she said, literally growling the words.

He reached out a filthy hand to smack her but his hand went through nothing but a white mist.

"Where are ye, ye filthy little wench?"

From a shadowed corner he heard a growl.

"Ah ha! I don't know how ye did it but ye did, ye wench."

"And I don't know why you insist on insulting a lady of my station in such a manner. If you had not, you would not be dieing in the next instant."

"How can ye kill me without weapon?" he asked, laughing, thinking her nothing but a girl.

"The same way I got out of your pitiful shackles."

And the shadows in the corner were swept aside and a large snow leopard stared at him, gold flecks in her green eyes dancing in the torchlight. As his eyes widened in fear, and he began to back away, she leaped, pushing him down and tearing his throat out. She spat out the blood in distate and walked away, shadows closing in around her once more literally making her invisible.

"Now to find the others, but where am I and where are they?"

Hanpan peeked out of Alissa's pouch. He found them quite alone. He sighed with relief and squirmed out. He took a look at his surroundings. Alissa was unconscious and laying on a table, her legs tied to the bottom and her arms tied above her. He gulped.

"A rack! Oh no, oh no, oh no," he mumbled. "Alissa, wake up, wake up, wake up!!!"

He went to one end of the table and started to gnaw on the rope holding her left leg in place.

"This won't do, this won't do at all," he muttered, but continued to gnaw through the rope.

Auri nudged Aenea, wishing she would wake up. He didn't like this place. Aenea moaned and she slowly sat up, looking around, weakly.

"Where are we, Auri?" she asked.

Suddenly her eyes widened. "No," she whispered. "No magic of any sorts works here. I can't just warp us out of this, can I, Auri?"

She shook her head slightly, sighing deeply. Auri looked at her and she absentmindedly stroked him and sighed again.

"The Centaur led us into a trap. I can't believe that."

"Neither can I," a weak voice muttered from behind her.

She turned, standing up, and upsetting Auri, who had settled on her lap.

"The Centaur!" she exclaimed, her eyes getting wide.

"Yes. I have been trapped here for sometime. I was lured to that hole and found myself here when I awoke. Who are you, child?"

"I am Aenea, this is Auri. What is your name?"

"I am Glabdegook."

"Well, Glabdegook, do you know where we are?"

"In the dungeons of some cruel man's castle. Some Wood Elves work for this man."

She shook her head. "Wood Elves are not good. If they were the Gold Elves or the Silver Elves then maybe we'd be alright, but Wood Elves. Now all we have to do is get out of here and get to Tiara and Alissa."

"Who are they?"

"My friends. Wait! Something's been bothering me. Where is your flute?"

"My flute was taken by that evil man and his elves."

"So that's why we were lured there."

"They were playing MY flute?" the centaur raised up, standing and rearing up on his rear legs, his horse half.

"Yes, Glabdegook."

"They will pay~WITH THEIR LIVES!!!!" he shouted.

In that instant he bolted for the door and burst through it in one hit, Aenea and Auri followed. He bolted up the passage looking for something to kill. Aenea immediately felt relief at being out of that room. Her magic was back. Following the crazed centaur they made their way rather quickly through the passages.

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