I made quick time through the forest reaching the wall with Thorn Cloak active. Hell, it didn’t even take me long to get over the wall as well. I’d had plenty of practice by now. Before long, I’d reached the clearing behind the manor where so much had happened. It didn’t look like anyone had bothered to clear out the clearing after the ‘festivities’ though. Not only were the tents and benches still there, but the pavilion was as well. Trash was strewn all across it too, leaving the clearing difficult to maneuver or stealth through There was another problem, though.

The gate was still open, and I could see guards with their backs turned to me.

I didn’t know if my stealth ability was good enough to sneak by them across the clearing, especially with how cluttered it was. Luckily, I didn’t have to wonder about that for long.

From where I was lurking in the bushes at the edge of the clearing, I was able to hear one of the guards suddenly let out a shout. “What the hells is that!” I heard faintly.

Shortly after, I heard both of the guards leave their posts and start running away from the gate. Taking a guess, I turned to look behind me.

Yup, that looked like a fire.

The glow of flames were visible over the horizon from my position. I guess that Azarus had already lit his fires. Luckily, it seemed like his distraction was working in my favor already. I just needed to take advantage. I hurried my way over to the still-open gate and cautiously peeked my way around the edge to see if anyone was out there.

Nothing.

Well, well. Looked like I wasn’t going to need to go back over the wall after all. I could just make my way to the servant's entrance this way. Getting out of my hiding spot against the wall, I sprinted through the gate to the forest on the other side of the manor that edged the side path. I probably needn't have bothered though, because nobody was either behind the manor or on the other path. It was too late at night for most people to be out here other than guards, I suppose.

After a short period of sleuthing alongside the path, I reached the servant's entrance. Cautiously taking another look up and down the side path and seeing no one, I darted over to the door and tried the handle lightly. Locked, which didn’t surprise me. I still didn’t know any lockpicking, but that didn’t matter. I drew one of my daggers. I didn’t care if anyone found this door broken into. If everything went according to plan, this town would be knee-deep in too many monsters to care shortly.

I jammed the dagger into the gap between the door and frame and wrenched it open sharply. The lock shattered easily. Actually, very easy. I guess it was just flimsy or something. Slowly edging open the door, I entered the kitchen and shut the door behind me,

Only to find my first complication.

The kitchen was filled with slaves.

They weren’t working. All the fires and candles that could have lit the kitchen were doused. Instead, they were all grouped together on the far wall, with thin burlap blankets covering them. I think they were meant to be sleeping, but my forceful entry into the room had very obviously woken them all up.

I stared at them.

They stared at me, with wide, frightened eyes.

I…recognized many of these people from my last infiltration into the manor.

One of them seemed to recognize me as well, even in this low light. Slowly, one of the slaves stood up from their makeshift bed, drawing my gaze.

It was the head kitchen slave that had tried to be kind to me last time.

Hesitantly, he stepped forward. “You…aren’t you…?”

Making a snap decision, I re-sheathed my dagger in its hidden spot on my thigh and raised my hands non-threateningly. “I need to talk to you guys,” I said lowly. “I swear I mean you no harm, but I could use your help.”

The head slave furrowed his brow at me before taking another step forward. He was stopped, however, by one of the other slaves hissing at him. “Frederick! The masters will kill you if you help him!”

I spoke up before ‘Frederick’ could reply. “If all goes well, the ‘masters’ won’t be a problem much longer.”

That definitely got their attention. “What can you do about the masters?” Frederick said disbelievingly. “You’re just a slave.”

I shook my head deliberately, before slowly reaching for a knife on a nearby counter. My movement caused the slaves to tense, but I didn’t stop until it was in my hand. “I’m not really a slave,” I said, lying only slightly. Before anyone could answer, I activated my most important skill.

The Scintillating Blade.

The butter knife in my hand erupted into rainbow fire, clearly the result of a skill. Which meant I very obviously didn’t have a slave bond.

Fredericks's eyes widened before a slight smile stole across his weary face.

………………………………………

I spent a few minutes speaking with the slaves. Apparently, after all the commotion earlier in the day from the pseudo-tournament, the dwarven servants hadn’t let them leave. They weren’t given a reason for why. They’d just been tossed a few sacks to use as blankets and told to sleep in the kitchen.

What I needed out of them, however, were directions on how to find the dungeons. That was where I’d heard Magnus say to take Bleddyn. Luckily, they weren’t far, according to Frederick. On the other side of the manor, across from the door that led to the main hall from the kitchen, there was another door. This one apparently led down to where the dungeons lay under the manor. One of the slaves even confirmed the presence of someone down there. According to him, they’d seen a group of guards carrying a struggling man down the steps during their rounds.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I thanked them for the information, but that wasn’t all I did.

“On the far side of town,” I told the group of attentive slaves. “You’ll find a coach house where some…compatriots of mine are getting ready to evacuate the slaves. Don’t worry about the guards on the way there, they should all be distracted by a fire. When you get there, ask for Azarus or Gren, and tell them Nate sent you. They’ll know what to do.”

A few of them still looked doubtful, and asked about their collars. I just told them not to worry, and very obviously patted the pouch on the small of my back. That seemed to help.

You know, I was finding that playing the mysterious assassin kind of suited me.

Shortly thereafter, I sent them on their way, waving off their thanks. I shut the door with the broken latch behind me and turned around.

I knew where he was now.

It was time to find Bleddyn.

………………………………………

I gradually cracked open the door that led to the main hall. Peeking through, I checked to see if the coast was clear. The main hall seemed to be empty and dark, from what I could see. But the main doors seemed to be left open, for some reason. I thought I could hear low voices coming from it. I’d have to be careful.

Slowly opening the door the rest of the way, I crouched down to lower my profile. Creeping through the open door, I tried to stay as far away from the main doors as I could without edging onto the stairs. As I crept through the atrium of the manor, I kept an eye on the doors to my right and was able to see what was going on.

It looked like a group of dwarven servants and functionaries were standing off to the side of the doors and watching something, most likely the fire. Good for me, I guess. That meant they weren't paying attention to the foyer.

I successfully reached the other side of the hall without being spotted and found the door that Frederick had told me about. Edging this one open as well, I look through the crack. Nothing. The coast was clear. Swiftly slipping through it, I closed the door behind me as softly as I could and let out a quiet relieved sigh.

Turning around, I made my way down the short hallway on the other side. At the end, I found a set of spiral stone stairs that led downwards. I let out a silent hiss at the sight of them. Damn, rough stone like this, especially in such tight confines, echoed way more than the atrium had. I’d have to move even slower down them.

I got to work.

The stairs went down further than I thought, with no stops on the way. I must have been descending for nearly five minutes before I reached the bottom. The stairs opened up into what must be the dungeons. It wasn’t very large, only a short hallway with four large wooden doors on either side with a ninth at the end. The doors seemed to have a metal shutter at around head height for a dwarf, and another hatch near the floor. It was dark in here, with only a single torch burning off to my right, sending long shadows flickering down the hall.

Bleddyn must be in one of these.

Luck seemed to be on my side again because I didn’t see any guards down here. I relaxed slightly, before starting my search. Entering the hallway and grabbing the torch on my way in, I started opening the shutters and looking inside the cells. To a one, they were all bare inside. The only thing that was in them were a set of shackles attached to the walls. But I didn’t find Bleddyn in any of the cells on the right or left.

Which left only the cell at the end of the hall.

Please let him be in there…

Taking a breath, I made my way to the door and opened the shutter. I felt my heart stutter in my chest at what I saw.

Bleddyn was in there, all right. But he wasn’t in good shape.

In the dim light, I could see that he was strung up on the opposite wall, shackled at both his arms and feet. The chains holding him were bolted to the wall, like the other cells. I could see that he was covered in blood and cuts, from some kind of ordeal. He even seemed to be stripped to his waist, leaving my friend in only a pair of bloodstained pants.

For a moment, I couldn’t even tell if he was still alive. But gradually, I was able to make out the extremely slight rise and fall of his chest. I let out a sigh of relief, before fumbling with the bolt on the door to open the cell. Once inside, I was able to get a better look and grimaced at what I found. I tried not to look too closely at the…instruments that were lying discarded along the right wall of the cell. Instead, I hurried to Bleddyn’s side while reaching for the pouch on the small of my back. Laying it down next to me, I hesitated before laying a hand on his blood slick shoulder, trying to ignore what was now coating it.

“Bleddyn,” I said softly, shaking his shoulder slightly. He didn’t respond, so I spoke up again and shook him slightly harder. “Bleddyn. Bleddyn! I need you awake, man. Please wake up.”

Slowly, Bleddyn began to stir. After a moment, he raised his head slightly, letting me see his face. I barely withheld a gasp at what I saw.

His right eye was gone.

In its place was a ruined crater. Whoever had done this to him, most likely Magnus, hadn’t bothered to be clean or precise in their torture. Instead, the entire right side of his face was a mass of tears, rips, and cuts that looked like they had been made by a dull blade. I nearly vomited at the sight, but held it in at the last moment.

“W-who…?” I heard Bleddyn say, weaker than I’d ever heard him.

I focused. Bleddyn needed help right now, not gawking at his suffering. “Hey, man. It’s Nate. I came for you…” I said, trailing off and reaching for the pack. I fumbled through it and pulled out one of the healing potions.

While I was doing that, I saw Bleddyn furrow his ruined brow. “Nate…? W-what are you doing here…” He said, slurring his words. “Yer not supposed to be here…”

I held up the healing potion to his lips, ignoring his words. “Here, Bleddyn. Drink.” I said, tilting the potion up and letting it enter his mouth. At first, Bleddyn nearly choked on the potion, before greedily drinking it down. He must have recognized the taste.

The results were immediate.

Many of the cuts that lay on his body began to close up, even many of the ones that lay on his face. More importantly, it seemed like he became much more aware, as his gaze sharpened.

Bleddyn shook his head like a dog, as if to clear it out. “Fuck.” He breathed out. “Nate, what the bleedin’ hells are ye doing here?”

I let out a short, quiet laugh. “Getting you out of here, moron,” I said, relieved that he seemed to be doing better. I directed my attention to the shackles holding him to the walls. They looked strong. Stronger than the lock had been earlier, at least. Well, I had a solution to that. Drawing my dagger, I called on my skill once again.

The Scintillant Blade.

I confidently swiped my glowing blade at the chain holding him to the wall.

Only for my blade to clang off of the steel chains with no effect at all.

I gaped at the chains in astonishment. It hadn’t worked?

Bleddyn eyed my glowing dagger doubtfully with his remaining eye. “Was that supposed ta do somethin’?”

“I…” I trailed off. Now that I thought about it, I’d never tried The Scintillant Blade on anything that wasn’t flesh. It had cut through some clothes, but that might just be because it was applied to a dagger.

Shit.

The skill was meant for bypassing defenses, I guess. It wasn’t for cutting in general. I should’ve known. The description said ‘Strike the root’ after all. Not, ‘Cut through anything’.

Now what was I going to do?