96
It takes Tarquin only seconds to cross the arena, although you and Dorian need a minute or two longer to finish off the last of the remaining Venatori, who don’t put up much of a fight now that their dragon and most of their companions are out of the picture.
By the time you reach Ashur, he’s already starting to come around. Miraculously, his hat—although distinctly askew—hasn’t even come off.
“You’re lucky your head’s so damn hard,” Tarquin says as though he was never concerned at all, but he can’t hide the relief in his voice.
Now that nobody is trying to take your face off with blasts of fire and ice, you can take a moment to pull the gag out of Neve’s mouth and undo the knots binding her hands and feet to the chair. You’ve never been so ready to leave a place.
As you head for the exit, Neve steps gingerly over a Venatori corpse. “Dorian,” she says, “can you please hurry up and deal with Minrathous’ blood mage problem?”
Dorian shoots her a wry smile. “That’s what we have you for,” he says.
“In that case,” Neve says wearily, “you can put me on the Shadow Dragons’ payroll.”