The royal guards lead the paladin down two flights of winding stairs, two doors and through a final barred gate that lead into the dungeon. Which was half empty since the justice system was vastly different to other cultures throughout the Realm. It looked like a normal prison except for far end that had separate individual cells specially designed for spell casters. Each of these unique cells were suspended by thick chains from the ceiling. Runes of ancient origin could be seen etched into the walls giving off a faint glow.

The royal guard commander stopped and held up his, "No magic works here. If that was your intent to use it, you will have to find another way to get him to talk."

"That was never my intent," Serna replied, "There is something stronger and more durable than magic, you know, there is reason. I'm going to try to reason with him to get him to talk. Now, since you have the keys, can you please open the door for me?"

The guard opened the door and stepped through while the others remained outside.

Zarathan sat in the lotus position in his cell. Eyes closed and hands folded neatly in his lap. Without opening them he spoke, "Missing the harsh interrogation methods of your homeland, drow? Brutal force and violence will get you killed without remorse in a blink of an eye. We are not barbarians of the Underdark."

"You're worse!" Zesstra quickly surmised, "You are a traitor, a usurper and an attempted kinslayer. And while I cannot interrogate you as my ilk would do back in my homeland, I can however reason with you if--and only if--you are willing to listen to what I have to say. Understand?"

The crown prince inhaled deeply and focused on his meditation much to the dismay of the paladin. He made her wait for his reply and opened his eyes stating, "What could you possibly offer me to keep your attention? Wisdom is lacking and your intelligence is half par."

"My wisdom may be lacking due to my youth but at least I'm not stupid enough to get my butt kicked by my little sister and get dropped into a cell that nullifies my magic." Zesstra quipped, "But this is Tarendil's offer to you: Fully disclose all of your co-conspirators and undue all of the dark magic you have unleashed upon her realm and she will grant you a full pardon for your crimes, a life in permanent exile and the reduction of half of your magical powers. What say you?"

******

In a short and very fast run to the palace, the three of them hit an invisible barrier. Quake barely had enough time to brace herself to keep from rolling over and crushing Serna.

The kurori placed both hands on the barrier, "Oh man. This is old magic. It's pretty powerful. I didn't know the avariel were capable of casting old magic. Even I can't through this. Ideas, anyone?"

"Why try and go through the barrier when we can go under it." Serna chimed in, "Quake, you're an Earth Elemental, right? Tunnel us under it so we can get to the palace."

Quake focused on the ground using her innate earthen ability and found a weak spot. "Well, I got some good news. I found a weak point. The bad news is that its where the bottom of the floating island meets the open air."

"If that's the case, then all you have to do is be mindful of how you dig," Serna replied, "If you dig a hole then come out on the other side, you can plant your feet on the ceiling--I mean the earth above you--and walk upside down until you can dig another hole that will take us upward beyond the barrier. What do you say?"

Quake's jaw dropped lower and lower at Serna's request. If she was in human form, she would of have felt sick to her stomach. So she swallowed, "Umm, you want me to do what now?"

"I want you to make like a worm and burrow your way through the earth and past the magical barrier by crossing beneath it." Serna repeated herself in plain English, "If you can magnetize yourself to the earth beneath you, then walking upside down on a turf of earth should be a piece of cake for you. Right?"

The elemental dragon visibly changes color and becomes a white marbled dragon. The kid had a point and as long as she was touching the ground, the idea might actually work. "Okay. Right. Here goes."

"You can do it, Quake!" Serna encouraged the Draconic Elemental, "I believe in you! And Caliaphy believes in you as well. Right, Caliaphy?"

Quake inhaled and disappeared into the ground. Everything about this idea was crazy and even more so that a human girl convinced her that it was a great idea.

The kurori gave Serna a thumbs up. "Sure."

"You can show a little more enthusiasm, Caliaphy," Serna placed her hands on her hips, "Quake is going to need all the support she can get to pull this one off."

Caliaphy pulled out her tiny triangle and played a little tune of inspiration that sounded like wind chimes. It gave off good vibrations boosting the elemental dragon's confidence.

"That's better!" Serna smiled from ear to ear, "Thanks, Caliaphy!" Looking down into the hole, the Shield Maiden cried out, "Good luck, Quake! You can do it!"

Quake felt like a dwarf having to excavate under a place that she wasn't quite familiar with. Finding the right spot wasn't hard except for the fact that magic of this nature wasn't her area of expertise. ~ All right. Find the weak point. Check. Begin working on a way to undermine it....no. Wait, bad idea. Very bad idea. Oh...hello what do we have here.~ She spied a strange glowing rock.

Serna looked down into the hole that Quake had recently dug, "How's it going Quake? Are you there yet?"

Caliaphy wrinkled her nose and sat down after playing for five minutes, "Ah, Serna. We should worry about them and let Quake work, yeah."

"Worry about who?" Serna turned back to Caliaphy.

The kurori pointed to the strange looking identical copies of the two of them. "Eew! That's gross. There's only one of me, never two."

The Shield Maiden followed the direction to which Caliaphy was pointing and shook her head in disbelief, "What in The Realm?! Caliaphy, is this some fairy magic glamour thing you just whipped up to entertain yourself? Because if it is, it's not funny."

"I'm not doing it, Serna. They just appeared." The kurori took on a defensive stance.

The dark versions of Caliaphy and Serna advance with dark copies of their weapons.

"Who are you?" Serna asked both of their evil opposites, "What are you? Where did you come from? And why are you here?"

The copy of Serna grinned, "Oh, I'm the better version of you. The best version actually. I get what I want no matter the cost."

The copy of Caliaphy stuck out its tongue, "Yeah, you has been wanna be star elf. I'm the most beautiful one. All shall love me and despair!"

****

Quake slowly made her way towards the glowing rock. ~ This should be easy not hard.~ The rock acted like a magnet that was repelling her instead of attracting her. The closer she got the stronger the push back. "HEY!"

****

"Where did you come from? And why are you here?" Serna readied her weapon.

"We were already here, toots. We were waiting for the right time to make an appearance." Said the Serna copy.

"Yeah! What better way to help Zarathan take over Skyfall Aerie than to replace the help!" The shadow version of the kurori said gleefully.

"You made a big mistake coming here if Zarathan sent you!" Serna readied her shield with a look of determination on her face, "Caliaphy, let's take them!"