I elbowed my way through the crowd of inmates that had gathered in front of the gate to the central tower. I reached the front just in time to watch as Sylvia knelt in front of the heavy padlock on it and take out her lockpicking kit.

Odd.

Venix was the first to notice my approach and acknowledged me with a nod. I returned it, as I sidled up to Grey who was watching his daughter work with crossed arms. He nodded at me as well.

“Is that really necessary?” I asked him, gesturing to Sylvia. “Wouldn’t one of the guards have a key on them?”

Grey tsked. “You would think so, wouldn’t you? However, we searched the bodies and were unable to find one. I believe that these guards were not meant to enter the tower at all. Rather, they were meant to prevent groups such as ours. Perhaps they were even supposed to prevent potential escapes, as well. There must be an officer somewhere else in the prison that has the actual key. Perhaps the Warden?”

I gave Grey a side-eye. “Wouldn’t you know? I thought you built this place.”

“Hah,” Grey fake laughed. “I designed Caer Drarrow, and was involved in some of its construction, as evidenced by my backdoor. However, I’ve never been involved in the actual running of the place, which fell to the Kingdom to manage. I have no idea about their actual operating procedures, nor have I ever. After all, it’s been centuries since it was constructed. There’s no way of knowing how the staff have developed over the years.”

I nodded quietly to show I understood. “Then…do you know who the Warden is?”

Grey grew quiet for a moment. Eventually, he spoke again. “I do not, nor does anyone. The position is a secretive one on purpose. Nobody knows who the Warden of Caer Drarrow is at any one time in order to protect whatever family they have on the mainland. However, to those in the know, there is a very short list of individuals that it could be. The position is only granted to those that are sufficiently powerful, and loyal, enough to control both the inmates and guard forces.”

“You have a suspicion,” I said, narrowing my eyes slightly at Grey.

Grey winced but nodded. “Yes, I do. Said suspicion only manifested when our theory that the Loyalists are controlling monsters arose. There is…an individual that I dearly hope is not the current Warden who has some capabilities in that direction.”

“Who?”

Grey shook his head in immediate denial and leaned in closer. “I do not wish to cast aspersions, nor do I want to give rise to a sense of despair among the others,” He whispered to me. “Suffice to say, if my suspicions are correct, then we need to be quick. We must make all possible haste and precaution to avoid their notice.”

I felt dread begin to pool in my stomach before I cut it off with my middle ring. I needed to stay sharp. “You…could take them though, right?”

“Possibly,” Grey said in a low, unsure tone. “However, I have no wish to do so, especially in my still weakened state. Regardless,” He said, raising his voice and straightening up. “Sylvia appears to be finished with the gate. We should proceed.”

I turned to look, to see that Grey was right. Sylvia had finished picking the lock on the door to the tower and had removed it from the door. However, she refrained from opening it just yet, instead turning to glance at her Father.

Grey nodded sharply at her regard and turned himself to address the bloodthirsty crowd of inmates. “You will be staying here, in order to guard the entrance.” He commanded, to their visible disappointment. “The corridors of the tower are much narrower than those in the rest of the prison. There simply isn’t enough room inside for so many. Instead, I will be venturing inside with my team. However,” He narrowed his eyes at the crowd. “Mr. McGill, step forward.”

McGill did as Grey commanded, striding out of the crowd as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He opened his arms wide when he did so. “What can I do for ye, Headmaster?” He asked, only slightly mockingly.

Grey was unphased. “You will be accompanying us inside,” He said simply, in an unyielding tone. He wasn’t asking.

Grey was demanding.

McGill snorted, unintimidated. “Oh, aye? Are ye afeared I’ll scamper off the second your back is turned?”

To be honest…

Bella snorted herself, stepping up to stand next to Grey. “I know ye would, ye scoundrel. Ye’d run with yer tail between yer legs at the first sign of trouble.”

McGill smiled disarmingly at Bella, placing his right hand over his heart dramatically. “Bella, ye wound me. Ye really do.”

“Now, if you please,” Grey said impatiently, interrupting the byplay. “We must hurry.”

McGill held up his hands in defeat, stepping up to stand next to the rest of us. He stopped next to me, giving me a crooked grin. I didn’t react, instead drawing my dagger and holding it loosely. I wanted to be prepared.

At Grey’s gesture, Sylvia opened the door to the tower. Inside I could see…

Nothing.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

It was dark in there as if the bottom floor of the tower had no light sources. Grey stepped forward, calling forth a familiar silver orb of light. Said light revealed that the bottom floor of the tower was deserted. There wasn’t anything in there but a large stone staircase leading upwards on the far wall. No crates, no supplies, nothing.

There certainly weren’t any guards in here. Weird. Maybe they just didn’t need them, with how isolated the tower was?

Grey crept into the tower, wary, with the rest of our party following closely behind him. Well, us plus the untrustworthy McGill.

The gate to the tower slammed shut behind us.

……………………………………..

Grey led us over to the stairs and upward. As we ascended them, there continued to be no visible light sources. After a few moments of climbing, we came to a landing. It looked to me that we had reached the first floor of the tower where they were keeping prisoners.

The hall that we exited into was much smaller and shorter than the large corridors in the rest of the prison. If I had to guess, this part of the prison was meant to have a much denser population of prisoners.

Because there sure a hell were a ton more in here.

Unlike the first floor, this floor was actually lighted. Instead of having torches or something, there were these lamps that seemed to have faintly glowing stones of some sort inside. In the dim yellow light that they cast, I could see the cells. Rather than the wooden doors that I had seen earlier, these cells were blocked off by almost stereotypical iron bars with minimal gaps in between them. The cells themselves were smaller even than the tiny rooms from the rest of the prison.

These cells were packed with children.

There seemed to be two of them per cell, and they were filthy. Covered in dirt, sweat, and a blood-pressure spiking amount of refuse, they were silent and fearful. I could see the wariness in their eyes, reflected from the low light. To me, the children appeared to range in age from around seven all the way up to around Walter’s age. They were also distressingly thin, and dressed in tattered rags.

On this floor alone, I could see eight cells. Four on either side.

Sixteen possible mistreated children on this floor alone…

Whatever sympathy I might have had for the prison guards we’d killed so far evaporated into thin air. Not even the slave masters back in Addersfield had treated the younger slaves this badly. For God’s sake, they at least let them bathe. I don’t know how long these kids had been locked up in these cages, but I’m not sure that had ever stepped foot outside of them since their capture.

For the first time since I’d acquired Ringed Mind, all three levels of my consciousness were drowned in rage.

After a moment, I forcibly tamped down on my emotions with my middle ring. I stepped off of the landing and into the hallway of the first floor slowly, halting when my movement caused the children near me to flinch. When I didn’t see anyone else step forward with me, I turned around.

It looked like everyone else was, in a word, dissatisfied. Even the pirates looked uncomfortable with the evil on display.

With a deep breath to settle the blatant fury I could see on his aged features, Grey stepped up next to me. Before we could go any further, we were interrupted by a surprisingly mature voice echoing out of the cell directly to our right.

“Headmaster Greycton?” I heard in a raspy tone. Stepping out of the darkness of the cell corner where I couldn’t see, a much older man appeared. With a hushed gesture to the fearful child he was sharing a cell with, he approached the light. This man seemed to be in his sixties or seventies perhaps, with long steel grey hair hanging freely over his brown eyes. He had a hopeful expression on his wrinkled features. “Could that possibly be you?”

Grey turned to stare at the old man for a moment. I saw his brow wrinkle for a moment before realization stole across it. “Lord Everfield?” He breathed.

‘Lord Everfield’ gave Grey a weak smile. “Richard, please. I find it hard,” He stopped, succumbing to a coughing fit before speaking again. “Hard to think of myself as a noble in these conditions.”

“I…wasn’t aware that you had been captured as well, Richard,” Grey said in a confused tone, stepping towards the cell. “I thought it had just been the…children.”

“Well,” Richard sighed tiredly. “You were mistaken. Some of us managed to catch the scoundrels in the act when they came for the children and protested most vigorously. We were taken as well, as punishment I suppose. I believe there is at least one adult on each floor. Still,” He took the time to smile wearily down at the frightened child clinging to his raggedy pants. “At the very least, I can provide some measure of comfort to these poor little ones.” He looked back up at Grey. “Headmaster, have you come to…” He trailed off, choking before he could even say the word.

“I have. We have,” Grey reached through the cell to lay a comforting hand on Richard’s shoulder. “I and my compatriots have come to rescue all here.”

Richard shuddered, and I could see tears begin to stream down the crevices on his face. “Thank you, Headmaster. Thank you….I…” He sobbed, unable to keep speaking.

Grey let out a heavy breath before continuing. “Richard, I’m sorry, but I have to know. Do you know if two specific prisoners are being kept in this tower?” When Richard managed to calm down enough to look Grey in the eye again, Grey smiled at him. “A Sculpted named Woodrick, and Deputy Headmistress Honoka?”

Richard’s mouth opened slightly in shock. “Lady Honoka was captured as well? I-I’m sorry, Headmaster, I don’t know. We haven’t been allowed out of these cells since our capture.”

“I see,” Grey said heavily.

“B-But!” Richard continued hurriedly. “I have heard the guards say that there are only two prisoners on the top floor. I’ve even heard one of them refer to a prisoner up there as the, well,” He covered the child’s ears. “The ‘Bitch’.”

Grey’s eyes lit up, and he huffed out a short laugh. “Yes, that sounds like her,” His smile faded, and he spoke more seriously. “Are there any guards in this tower, Richard?”

I almost hoped there were. And I don’t think I was the only one, judging by the eager tensing I could see happening among my companions.

Sadly, Richard shook his head. “No, they don’t bother with posting anyone in here. The guards only visit us in order to deliver food and water once a day.”

“Good, good,” Grey murmured. “In that case, we can split up.” With one last comforting smile to Richard and the child in the cell, Grey turned back to us with an intense look. “Azarus and McGill!” He barked, causing the dwarf and the pirated to straighten up almost involuntarily. “You two stay on this floor, and work to free the children here. The rest of us will ascend the tower and continue to free the others. Azarus, keep an eye on him.”

Azarus snorted, casting an unimpressed look at the pirate standing to his left. “Ain’t got to tell me twice.”

McGill held his hands up with a wounded look on his roguish features. It faltered though, when he looked out across the imprisoned children.

I guess even a murderous pirate had qualms about treating children like this.

As for the rest of us, we followed Grey as he began walking to the staircase that lay on the far side of the hall.

Behind us, I heard Azarus start to bust locks with his warhammer.

We ascended.