Draco took the lead in the darkness, his head, tail, and the tips of his wings lighted by fireflies so that the others could readily follow him. He brought them to the base of Goblin Mountain, at the east fringe of the Element of Earth. They landed safely in nearby forest, avoiding the treacherous swamp where the loan sharks lurked. It was about midnight.

Then fireflies brought a report: Prince Dolph, Princess Nada, and Electra were camped nearby. They were coming in for a rendezvous.

Soon Cheiron and Chex saw the huge sphinx loom out of the darkness. The girls dismounted, and Dolph resumed human form. There were satisfied greetings all around.

Now at last they were able to get the full story. There had indeed been a deal, and it had been necessary to save Che. The surprise was the part the elf had played: her magic talent was singing in such a way that anyone within hearing range but who was not paying attention got caught up in a communal daydream in the mind of the elf and lost interest in other things until that dream was interrupted or someone jogged he listener's attention back to reality. It was a bit like the hypnogourd, only more pleasant and less compulsive, and difficult to get into deliberately. So the elf had made the goblins pause long enough to enable the captives to escape. That was two favors the elf had done for Che.

"But where is that elf?" Chex asked.

"She went with Che," Electra explained. "She said he was her friend, and she wanted to stay with him. So she went, with Sammy."

"Who?"

"Her cat. He—"

"Oh, yes," Chex said. "He finds things."

"He sure does!" Prince Dolph said. "He found their party for me, so I could carry them away before the horde got them again. Otherwise it could have taken me too long, because that complaint Metria was bugging me."

"That what?" Cheiron asked.

"Carp, fuss, gripe—"

"Oh, you mean bi—"

"Wolfmate," Chex said, knocking his fore hoof with one of her own. He realized that Dolph was still below the age of consent, so was not supposed to know the proper term.

"Whatever," Dolph said, evidently disgruntled. "I couldn't be sure when she was telling the truth."

"Agreed," Cheiron said. "Metria came to tell me about your deal with the goblins of the mountain. But I had a way to verify her accuracy." He turned to Chex. "I think we owe even more to that elf than we thought. She helped Che in three ways, counting the activity of her cat, and chose to remain with him in captivity. That is one more way. We shall have to rescue her too."

"Of course," Chex said. "And that cat."

"So they will become part of the package," he said. "The ultimatum will cover the three of them."

That decided, they settled down to sleep for the remainder of the night.