All of a sudden they could hear the echoes of gunfire. It sounded as if bullets were shredding the cottage. Napoleon and Illya looked at each other in alarm and began to move quickly down the dark tunnel.

As the pair moved down the tunnel, their spiritual third chuckled and remarked, 'I have to admit, you certainly thwarted Hastur, even if you hadn't been in love. Napoleon, my friend, taking the lead completely frustrated the dark forces.'

"How so?" asked Illya.

'The spell depended on you being the aggressor, the penetrator -- Ariadne might rule in all other things, but in this she had to defer to her husband. The Dark Gods would never take a position they considered subordinate.'

"But if we've consumated the bond, why are they still after us?" asked Napoleon. "Wasn't a fully consumated bond supposed to fix things for the next century or so, and free you from your Earthbound state?"

'As I understood it, it was. I'm not certain what went wrong, but it may well be the spell requires Illya to be the penetrator. I'm sorry, but you may have to do it all over again tomorrow.'

The two agents exchanged a look, then both rolled their eyes. Illya opened his mouth to reply, but at that moment an explosion occured in the cabin, sending a shockwave of hot, compressed air rushing through the tunnel. It blew out their candles and knocked both men off their feet..

###########################

"What have you *done*!?" Ariadne shrieked. "We need Kuryaikin alive to complete the working!"

"His bond with you has been broken."

"It can be re-established. If the other is killed, the bond with *him* will be broken."

"There is too little time. You have failed, Ariadne."

"No! There is still time. Give me this one last chance! I swear I won't fail again."

"Very well. You have the rest of your original time, unless other circumstances intervene. If you cannot complete your end of the bargain, you *will* pay the forfeit."

"Yes, My Lord."

###########################

'Hmm, well, that gives us a bit of time.'

The two agents picked themselves up and brushed themselves off in the faint light given off by a burning timber which had fallen into the tunnel in the wake of the explosion. Napoleon located the candles, and Illya relit them from the matches he had stuck in his pocket.

"Do they think we're dead?" Napoleon asked.

'They may think you're dead, but Ariadne will know Illya lives still -- there's enough of the bond left for that.'

"What now, then?" Illya looked down the tunnel, as if sensing an unseen foe.

'We'll need to get out of this tunnel. Part of it leads back to the mansion, and she could sent people through it to find you. There's also a side tunnel leading back to the surface near the border of the property. We need to find that tunnel before her people block it.'

They set off, making the best speed they could.

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