It was dark, the whole surroundings seemed completely devoid of light, and he felt like he was lying on a very rough material.

Ashley slowly woke up, he was cold, and his head hurt a lot. Actually, it felt like he had the headache of the century. He growled as he tried to sit, and opened his eyes, trying to understand the situation.

"You're finally awake." He heard coming from in front of him.

The blurriness of his vision started to fade away and he was able to make out multiple shapes around him. There was only little light coming inside the room, being that there were only a few small openings. There was also something in front of him. No- someone, and they were staring at him.

He passed his hand over his face, trying to gain some composure.

"Urgh... What happened ?" He said in a tired voice.

"Now don't move too much, you've hurt your head quite hard and have been knocked for a few hours." The same voice replied. "You're really lucky the wall got more damage than you."

Ashley blinked multiple times before figuring out who was talking, it was a woman, with dark hair and deep eyes. She was sitting in front of him, a curious look on her face. She gave him a concerned glaze as he tried to stand up, but only managed to sit a bit more comfortably.

"My name's Rowan by the way." The woman tried to sound a bit more reassuring, not knowing what to expect.

"I'm- huh... I'm Ashley."

Rowan stood up, allowing him to inspect a bit more the room he was in. There were four other people, another woman and three men. Two of them seemed to be busy looking at something he couldn't quite make out. One was just lying against a wall with an empty glaze, the last one was sitting a few meters away and staring at him.

"How are we supposed to open this thing ?" He heard coming from the other side of the room. One of the two occupied persons was trying to figure out how to open what seemed to be Ashley's bag, the other one was a woman and was watching the man.

Instinctively, Ashley moved his hand to his back, trying to feel his bag pack, but only felt his clothes.

"Hey ! That's mine !"

The shout made the two jump, and everyone who wasn't already looking at Ashley turned their head towards him.

Rowan finally talked again and pointed to the man who was precedingly trying to open the backpack. "This is Arbutus." She pointed at the woman next to him. "Cramberry." She pointed to the man who was previously looking at Ashley. "And this is Cardinal."

"Alright, well- hello everyone but... where are we ?" Ashley asked in an uncertain voice. More worried about the situation than people peeking into his stuff.

Cardinal took a step forward. "We've been captured by those Sky Dragons while looking for a friend, but what about you ? Did they kill the others from your group ?"

"My group ? What do you mean ? I was alone when they captured me." Ashley replied.

"Now that's stupid, what were you trying to do ? Kill yourself ?" Arbutus asked with an expression approaching suspicion.

Oh damn, I should have lied, shouldn't I. I need to make up a cohesive story fast, quick, and think about something, hugh that hurts my brain.

"I- huh... Yeah, that was pretty much the idea I think." Ashley tried.

Arbutus raised an eyebrow, looking concerned.

Ashley panicked. "No no no ! I mean- not my idea."

That seemed to catch the attention of all 4 people, Ashley swore to himself and sat down more comfortably. He took a glance around and noticed a fifth person, a man, standing against a wall and looking annoyed. He seemed busy in his mind and wasn't attentive to the group's discussion.

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Ashley got back to his story and scratched his head.

"So, huh... basically, I've been sent outside to die. It wasn't worded that way of course but that was definitely the intention."

Yeah, that sounds good to me. He thought to himself.

Cramberry took a step forward. "What did you do for someone to want you dead that way ?"

"Well they pretty much didn't like my brain, my way of thinking couldn't match theirs and I happened to make stuff, which annoyed them, I think."

"Make stuff ? Like an inventor ?" The woman asked.

"Yeah pretty much." Ashley answered. "And I'd rather have you not touch it honestly." He showed his bag.

"Yeah, sorry." Arbutus said, not looking very fazed, he pushed Ashley's bag to him. "Here, no idea of what's inside if you wanted to know. Couldn't figure out how to open it."

Ashley grabbed his backpack. "Probably nothing useful for our situation anyway." He grumbled, well, it wasn't completely true, but it was at least half true.

"So, what's the plan ?" He asked.

The four people took awkward glances at each other.

"Nothing ?" He reiterated.

"Well..." Cardinal started. "I'm pretty sure what's next for us is either the kitchen or that sort of arena they have."

"But how do we get out ?"

"Hum-"

"You don't." A voice cut from the other side, the man that was standing alone before had now turned his attention to them.

"There is no point in struggling, even if you manage to get out, they will catch you again, no one ever came back from here."

"Oh stop with your pessimism you ! Your comments are not making it easier !" Cramberry responded angrily.

"I'm just being realistic." The man said in a flatter tone.

"I can't stay here." Ashley stated, he stood up and grabbed his bag.

I need to find a way home.

He staggered towards the locked door while the others started to argue, studying it in the dark, it was slightly loose but sealed from the outside, and there was a sort of small barred window that only let a bit of light come through, but you could manage to slip your arm through it.

Arbutus joined him. "I think there's a sort of plank that locks the door, I tried to remove it but my arms aren't long enough, and it seems heavy."

Ashley looked through the window. "Maybe I can try. I don't see any dragon."

"Sure go on."

Ashley reached between the bars with his arm and tried to figure out the other side of the door. The tip of his fingers touched the wooden bar on the other side slightly. He stretched a bit more, trying to grab it from under.

As they heard loud steps coming closer, Ashley quickly stuck back his arm inside, looking worried. The whole cell quickly fell silent, and it wouldn't be long before a big red dragon stopped in front of the door. Everyone turned to see a massive yellow eyeball looking at them through the door's window.

Time seemed to stop for a moment, until a voice raised from behind the newcomer.

"What are you looking at, scared they manage to escape ?"

Every human in the room jumped except Ashley, and the yellow eye moved away.

"Certainly not, there's no way scavengers are smart enough for this. And even if they were, they would get very far."

"Are they here for us ?" Rowan asked, glancing around.

"Of course they are here for us ! Why do you think they keep us inside !" The unknown man shouted.

"I don't think so, they just look curious." Ashley said, walking to the door once more.

One dragon took a look at him. "Well look who's here, one of those is at the door."

"Grmf, I don't like their looks, their eyes look too much like ours if you ask me."

"Yeah, what a shame. And those seem pretty boring, I've seen more 'exciting' ones. Hopefully, they'll do the trick and we won't have to pay for their incompetence."

"Right..."

The two dragons walked away, and Ashley took a breath, noticing only now he was holding it. The room stayed quiet for a while, everyone trying to hear if there were still dragons roaming around, but all they heard was wind running in the hallways.

"I guess you were right." Cardinal said, relieved.

It chained a reaction into Ashley's brain and he finally moved again.

"Doesn't mean I'm staying any more time here though." He tried to reach for the back of the door with his arm again, franticly grabbing the wooden plank.

His grip slipped more than once, but he eventually got a grab of it, he tried to lift it, but it was heavy. Arbutus jumped in to help him, once they managed to raise it enough, they both got their hands on it and completely rotated it to the side.

Ashley pushed the door, and it opened slightly. He peeked a glance outside and got his eyes struck by a ray of light.

"Holy wow, you're tall." Arbutus worded.

Ashley wasn't particularly tall, even if he wasn't small either, he guessed people here were probably smaller like in medieval times. Well, it made sense to him.

"If you say so." He answered, disinterested. He equipped his backpack.

"That's amazing, we might have a chance to actually get out." Cardinal whispered.

Cramberry approached. "We should move before any other dragon comes around."

"Yes, you're right." Cardinal pushed Ashley. "Move on, let's get going."

"Urmpf, I guess we can still try." The last man grumbled.

Thus, they all started to slowly and silently make their way into the palace, staying aware of any sound they could hear. The group of six humans, while only a few of them knew each other, walked with order, unified by the same fears, with Cardinal leading them.