When Orion walked through a stone wall, Damselfly thought she was seeing things. A slight blurring of the object revealed signs of magic and the princess hurried through, worried about being trapped on the other side. Buttontail reluctantly brought up the rear. His ears flicked anxiously, trying to pick up the first sound of danger. The duo found themselves atop a narrow staircase that was clearly rarely taken, the passage was dark and patrolled by spiders.
“I hate spiders,” Buttontail whispered.
“They won’t hurt you,” Damselfly reassured.
“All those scuttling legs and watchful eyes,” Buttontail muttered.
“We both have to be brave, Buttons,” Damselfly stated.
“I can be brave.”
The skittish rabbit stood tall on his hind legs, stuck out his chin and took the lead in front of Damselfly as they continued to descend the spiral staircase. A high screeching noise reached them from below, and instantly Buttontail flung himself into Damselfly’s arms.
“What was that noise?” he stuttered.
“It sounded like an old door opening,” Damselfly whispered.
“Of course,” Buttontail replied, returning to his own two feet. “Just an old door, nothing to worry about.”
Despite the rabbit’s words, Damselfly took the lead as they went deeper into the castle. Realising they must be close to the foundations, they discovered what had made the chilling squeal. An old rusted gate barred their path and it was locked with magic.
“Oh well, we tried,” Buttontail surrendered.
Before the frightened rabbit could flee, Damselfly grabbed his hand and looked him directly in the eye.
“Orion will have to return this way. When he does, you stop the door from closing.”
“Me?” Buttontail gulped.
“You’re small and fast, perfect for this job,” the princess assured.
“Yeah, exactly.” Buttontail nodded. “Made for it I am.”
“Are you going to try and run away?” Damselfly asked.
“Maybe,” Buttontail admitted.
“Fine, I’ll do it,” Damselfly relinquished. “You keep watch.”
They did not have to wait long before Orion reappeared although he did not arrive alone. A dishevelled figure was being dragged in his wake and the individual was talking away to himself obliviously.
“My mistress will punish you.”
Orion led the babbling man back up the stairs. Once the sorcerer had gone, Buttontail rejoined Damselfly who had successfully stopped the gate from shutting.
“Where are we?” Buttons asked.
“I think it is the dungeons,” Damselfly replied.
The princess had not been aware the castle had dungeons before now. It was clear there were a great many things she had been kept in the dark about.
“What are we doing here?” Buttons questioned.
“I want to see who else Orion is keeping locked up down here.”
There was a prevailing darkness that made it difficult to find their way. Damselfly kept one hand on the stone wall to orient them although she discovered it was damp, meaning they must be closer to the castle foundations than she thought. A single torch burned slowly to light the entire block; it offered little illumination and cast moving shadows that had Buttontail shivering with fear. They came across several cells although all of them were empty. Damselfly guessed the original tenants had been sent to the Evergarden.
As they travelled deeper into the dungeons, Damselfly became concerned they would not find any evidence to help them save her mother, and then up ahead they saw a pair of flashing red eyes.
“Yagh,” Buttontail screamed at the monster.
“It is only Trigger,” Damselfly laughed, fussing over the Dalmatian who seemed especially pleased to see her.
“That’s the brute who bit off my tail,” Buttontail reminded.
“He’s very sorry about that, aren’t you, boy?” Damselfly continued to lavish attention on the excited hound. “Why are you down here? What have they got you protecting?” Damselfly’s curiosity brought her to the final cage where a silhouette moved amongst the suffocating darkness.
“Buttons, go and retrieve the torch so we can see,” Damselfly ordered.
“Hello,” the princess spoke into the darkness.
The echo of her words had long since died when a response returned, too low for Damselfly to understand them.
“Buttons, where is that light?” she demanded.
“I cannot reach it,” Buttontail replied.
Damselfly went to help her companion. Before she could leave, a strong hand reached out of the cage and grabbed hold of her. In that moment the princess glimpsed a young woman’s face, attractive underneath the grime and desperation.
“Who are you?” Damselfly asked.
Trigger began barking at the perceived threat, and the prisoner’s hand retracted back inside the prison cell.
“It’s all right, boy, she doesn’t mean us any harm,” Damselfly calmed Trigger who remained with his hackles raised.
Buttontail finally arrived with the torch, which he quickly handed over to Damselfly.
“I do not like fire,” he confessed, smelling slightly of singed fur.
Damselfly lifted the burning torch high overhead so they could see into the cage. A frightened young woman stared back at them, dressed in rags.
“Who are you?” Damselfly repeated.
“She’s clearly a criminal and we could get in a lot of trouble for being down here,” Buttontail fretted.
“My name is Damselfly. What is yours?”
“The princess?”
“That’s right, this is Trigger and Buttons.” Damselfly completed the introductions.
“My name is Uriel,” the captive revealed.
Damselfly carefully placed the torch against the cell so they could see one another. She stopped the curious Trigger from getting too close and had him sit beside her. “Why are you here?” she enquired.
“It is a long story, your grace,” Uriel answered formally.
“I want to know. Maybe I can help,” Damselfly encouraged.
“I don’t think so,” Uriel replied sadly.
“Orion may come back at any time. You don’t want to end up in the Evergarden, do you?”
“That
