“That way,” said his brother, pointing to the rear of the keep.

“Why that way?”

“Would you rather try to walk in the main entrance?”

“Point taken,” conceded the Demon Master, and the two elves hunkered down and moved toward the rear of the keep.

Reaching a tower, they moved around its base, until they were looking at a large rear yard, half the size of the marshaling yard. Laromendis whispered, “I see steps leading down to a basement door, and a broad flight of steps leading up beyond that.”

“Down,” said Gulamendis. “Let’s sneak in through the basement.”

“Have you wondered why there are no guards?”

“I presume they’re all too busy obliterating other demons on wherever it was we were before we came through the portal to here.”

“One can hope, but I still find it odd we only saw that one lone demon and those two small patrols,” Laromendis observed.

“Count it a blessing and move on!” hissed his brother.

They made a dash for the steps leading down and found themselves before two large doors. The latch was unsecured, and Laromendis gently pulled the nearest door open just enough to peer through. “It’s a long, dark stairway,” Laromendis whispered.

“Is there anyone there?”

“Not that I can see.” The Conjurer slipped through the door, his brother following.

“This is the height of madness,” said the Demon Master.

“If I push you back to the wall, do not move. I’m going to make us look like part of the stones.”

As plans went, it didn’t seem a particularly brilliant one, but Gulamendis didn’t have a better one so he said nothing.

They moved down a very long tunnel that took them deep into the basement of the keep. When it finally ended, in a large chamber, Gulamendis judged they were at least three stories below the surface. The chamber had four doors, the open one through which they had just stepped, two other open doorways with stairs leading up, and a barred, heavy wooden one across from them.

“That one,” whispered Laromendis.

His brother gave him a tiny push from behind signaling agreement and they quickly crossed the open room. The door had a small, barred window, and they peered through it. “It’s a dungeon!” said Gulamendis.

Through the small window they could see a long hallway, with cells on the right with floor-to-ceiling bars. On the other side three large heavy wooden doors, like the one through which they peeked, were evenly spaced.

In the barred cells they could see a dozen captives, humans, dwarves, and elves. The last were lesser kin to the Taredhel, being of similar stature to the two brothers. “What is this?” whispered Laromendis.

“Demons don’t take prisoners,” whispered Gulamendis back.

“What now?”

“I have no idea.”