“It sounds like I’m not the only one who left her behind,” Malark choked accusingly as he struggled to pull Siril’s hand from his throat. “I’m a thief… not a hero… if she’s your sister then she’s your responsibility, not mine!” “I thought she was dead,” Siril growled, but retreated from her aggressive stance, thoughts of the horrors her innocent little sister must have endured since being captured flooding into her mind and threatening to drown her in sorrow and shame, then she looked back to him in rage and spat accusingly; “It doesn’t matter who she is, you left a helpless woman in the hands of the drow knowing what they must be doing to her.” “And getting caught by them myself would’ve improved her situation how?” he snapped back indignantly. “Alright… both of you take a breath,” Coran intervened with a strong calming tone. “If it weren’t for him you wouldn’t know that your sister is still alive… assuming that’s who it is. She could be any moon elf-maid taken when the drow overran the Court. But you are right that it doesn’t mattering who she is… we have to rescue her.” “I have to rescue her,” Siril asserted with a determined sigh. “I’m sure it’s Ryllae… she’s my little sister and I left her behind… the Seldarine knows what they have done to her.” “You can’t do this alone,” Kara injected in a firm but reassuring tone. “If you try, you’ll just get captured or killed and that’s not going to help Ryllae… so let us help you.” “Well, if you’re planning to raid their compound, I’m coming with you,” Malark demanded. “There was a lot of good loot that I had to leave behind.” “No!” Siril snarled venomously. “You’re not stealing anything else from my home.” “It isn’t your home anymore is it?” he shot back. “Is it really better to leave everything to the drow, who would use what they can against the dales? I saw what looked like a stash of spell books, scrolls and possibly magic items that I didn’t have time to investigate… It’s not wise to disturb such things in haste.” “My father was a skilled wizard,” Siril admitted, with a resigned sigh as she realized that, as appalled as she was by the thought of him taking her family’s treasures, it was worse to leave them in drow hands. “He may be of help,” Coran observed with a calming tone. “He’s seen the layout of their encampment and how its defended.” Then he turned to fix the self-professed thief with a hard stare that made it clear he wouldn’t tolerate any objection and added; “But understand… this is a rescue. We are going to free Ryllae from the drow, not to loot the manor… If you jeopardize that goal, being captured by the drow will be the least of your concerns!” “Alright… but first I want to see everything you’ve already stolen… and I get to decide what you keep,” she insisted with a disgusted glare. “What you call ‘loot’ is all I have of my family’s legacy.” Recognizing that he had little alternative but to comply, Malark capitulated and emptied the pouch of his recently acquired prizes onto their table, allowing the moon elf to pick through them and select a few items of personal significance while he took a moment to finally appreciate her nearly unnatural beauty; every bit as alluringly enticing as the younger version he had seen in the manor, realizing that she must indeed be her sister. Then, turning his eyes toward the equally gorgeous druid, he ideally wondered about the dynamics of the odd trio and what possibilities there may be for him to profit from the association in non-monitory ways.