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"Burn it, actually," Chesnet replied. "Pack your things, get ready to go, and get rid of it. We have to get out of here, for good now, and if those papers are discovered it will mean two hundred years' work gone to waste. Bloody useless to us now anyways, but they'll give the General leverage to kill hundreds of people who don't deserve it."

Lancaeriel had been translating for Wren all the while, and now Wren stepped forward with an idea. "Lin, what if once we have all our things together, you teleport us all upstairs?" she suggested. "I don't relish the idea of waiting here, especially if we're going to be burning papers down here."

"Then let's hurry and get our things put away," said Lancaeriel solemnly. "Lin, maybe you could start with Iadrim and the boys first. We'll pack while you're doing that."

Above them came the sudden sound of rapid footsteps, loud enough to sound like someone running. For a moment, Lancaeriel tensed, but then she heard Dae'er's frantic voice: "Iadrim! Janos! Ruaven! Hamir! Are you all right?"

A second later, the woman appeared at the top of the ladder next to Chesnet.

Upon seeing her mother there, Iadrim burst into tears. "Mama!" she bawled, holding her arms up in her direction.

By the time Lin had the four children up in the cabin above them, everything had been packed up. It helped that they hadn't had time to unpack much. Then it was a matter of setting the papers on fire and moving the rest of them up.

The cabin was a thorough mess. Some things had simply been thrown around, but most of it had been destroyed. There was broken glass and pottery everywhere; the furniture was overturned and in some cases chairs and tables were missing their legs; and pillows and cushions had been slashed.

"They certainly didn't," Chesnet sighed. "Come on, we're supposed to meet the others outside. Kyrie and Mari went to find Matthias and Arphenion."

"Arphenion?" Lancaeriel questioned.

"Dae'er's husband." Chesnet shoved his hands into his pockets. "Dae'er and her family went back to their house to pack what they can. Their place doesn't look much different from ours now. Thankfully Kyrie took care of the soldiers before they found the tunnel entrance there, or we'd be searching for them for hours."

Chesnet's forehead creased and he ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know," he admitted. "We've been safe here for over two hundred years. I wouldn't know where else to go."

He led the way outside. There, next to the garden, Mari, Kyrie and Mathias were waiting, talking together in a huddle. Uruloki and Kasal were on either side of the clearing, both of them somewhat large - half Uruloki's full size, but still more than large enough to frighten anyone who might be approaching the area.

"Nana," Andarien spoke up quietly once they reached the outdoors, "I don't feel good ..."

He dropped his chest and put his hands to his stomach. His face was a pasty white and covered with a light sweat.

"I don't know," he murmured. "I just ... don't feel good."

"Maybe we should get Kyrie to look at him," Chesnet suggested uneasily. "There was a lot of weird stuff going on back there ..."

He would be the first to admit that he didn't know anything about illnesses of any sort. He could bandage a wound, but that was about his limit.

Since Andarien wasn't feeling well, and the others were all carrying things, Chesnet carried Andarien's chest for him. As they approached the three, who seemed to be in a deep discussion, Mari, who was more or less facing the group, pointed towards them and put her other hand on Kyrie's shoulder. Kyrie turned, and when she saw Andarien she came to meet the group.

"First fight?" she asked grimly in the Common Tongue, since she knew it was the language the group was most comfortable with.