Minos PoV [https://i.imgur.com/fzVIqRZ.jpeg]

Since the young nobleman was thrown inside the dungeon, the same gaoler only checked on them four times. It wasn’t the horned-man, Minos figured he was too high on the totem-pole to do such a menial task. It wasn’t the shade-creature as well, his abilities were better suited elsewhere.

No, there was only one person watching over the two prisoners. A single unnamed person who delivers their meals and shushes them to silence. The same person who would eventually collect and empty their pee buckets. One unlucky person, who was about to die from Minos’ hands. He tried not to feel bad for wanting to murder the lowly gaoler. However, the young nobleman really has no other choice because it was his life or the gaoler’s. And Minos loves living.

His plan was to lure the guard inside the cell and stab him in the neck with Rikhart’s shiv. A bloody and messy death, but instant and quick. No pain and suffering. The question then, is how.

When delivering their meals, the gaoler simply slips two plates of food under the cell door. He then collects the dirty dishes using a long pole. It would probably be the same pole he would use to collect their pee bucket; Minos could only assume because he only used the bucket once when he peed on it that early morning. And he felt so lucky that the bucket was empty.

He would be extremely lucky if he could manage to escape before feeling the need to take a shit. He had no plans of pressing his ass checks against the cold metal lip of a piss-stained bucket. So, unless he intended to fill it up with urine and wait for the gaoler to collect it, he had to come up with another way.

And he just thought of one. And it involved blood.

The gaoler lazily checked up on them after hearing the hapless protestations of the older prisoner. He found Minos on top of Rikhart, his palms pressed over the latter’s face, who was struggling to get free from his grapple. The gaoler moved his torch to get a clearer look and found blood on the floor underneath them. “Hey, stop that!” He shouted at him.

Minos ignored the guard and continued on his assault. He was far stronger and far more adamant than Rikhart for the latter to offer any kind of resistance. And if the gaoler himself doesn’t come in to stop him with his own hands, then the older prisoner will definitely be dead in a minute.

“Hey asshole, I said let him go!” the gaoler shouted again.

Minos pretended not to hear him.

“Cut that off, you crazy son of a bitch!”

The young nobleman could almost feel the heat of the torch touching his cheeks. If only he could see his own face in the mirror, he would be shitting in his pants realizing how crazy his eyes look right now.

The gaoler hung the torch on a sconce by the hallway, leaving the light on. But instead of opening the dungeon door, he stepped out of view. Minos didn’t expect that. Still, he pressed on, literally.

The young nobleman counted the seconds, trying to listen to the gaoler’s footsteps. It would be unlucky if he calls for help and returns with a companion, another gaoler, or maybe their boss or the horned man. But no, he came back alone still, but now holding a crossbow. Which was also not what Minos expected.

“I’m not gonna say it again!” the gaoler shouted again. This time, with the bolt of his crossbow dead set on Minos’ head.

Now, Minos had two options: heed the gaoler’s order and let go of Rikhart or keep doing what he was doing. One of those options offers a chance for him to escape. That same option could also lead to his instant death. And he loves living.

But he would rather die than spend another day in that dungeon and be forced to take a shit on that piss bucket.

So, he kept his hand over Rikhart’s face, and closed his eyes. He imagined himself dying, one crossbow bolt to his beloved, most precious brain. That would be pretty ironic. He then recited a silent prayer to Moira. If he was going to die, might as well be while uttering the name of his goddess. Who knows, it might even earn him some plus points to the beyond.

He didn’t try pressing harder on Rikhart’s face. He just waited to hear the click on the gaoler’s crossbow trigger. But he didn’t feel anything. He did hear something, however. It was the sound of the crossbow bolt hitting the wall to his left. He turned to look at it, no, he studied its position, and realized that it flew just above his head. The gaoler missed him by a hair, literally.

He turned again to look at his frustrated executioner. He could hear him cursing under his breath as he went to load another projectile onto his little murder machine. Minos could swear he saw a divine light surrounding the ugly gaoler, like the hands of Moira guiding, or rather, misguiding the hands that were trying to execute him. Minos had never felt more blessed.

He could see the jailer panicking, not knowing what to do. The poor man alternated between trying to span his crossbow and trying to open the lock to their cell. He succeeded in doing the latter.

He stepped inside, just as he secured the bolt into its clip. He raised his head up, but Minos was already on his heels, racing towards him. The young nobleman weaved to the side, trying to avoid the aim of his crossbow, then lunged to grab the gaoler's shooting arm.

Minos pushed the gaoler’s elbow up, right in time for him to pull the lever on his crossbow. The bolt fired and planted into the ceiling above them. He then drew out Rikhart’s shiv hidden under his sleeves and stabbed the gaoler through his throat.

Blood rained on the floor as the man knelt down, gasping for air, pressing his hand over where the young nobleman stabbed him. It didn’t look as painless as what Minos supposed earlier, and he felt a splinter of guilt pierce him through his chest. He yanked the crossbow off the gaoler’s hand and took a piece from his bolt quiver.

He spanned the weapon, loaded the projectile, and aimed it at the dying man’s temple. He pulled the lever without another thought and the gaoler’s dead body fell, slumping by his feet.

“What did you do?” asked Rikhart.

Mercy. Minos didn’t answer and started checking the gaoler’s pocket.

“You never said you were gonna kill him…” Rikhart continued.

“If I did, would you stop me?”

Rikhart rose up from where he was lying down. He looked completely fine, as fine as he could be. The blood on the floor wasn’t from him, it was from the cut Minos made with his palm. Despite that, his screams of helplessness and despair were genuine, and the young nobleman could still see the fear his eyes.

The prisoner approached the dead body and went down on one knee. “His name was Edd,” he said. “He was just doing his job…”

“Well, his job involves keeping people against their will. Not exactly innocent,” Minos rebutted.

“And I use hexes on people against their will. My life is not worth more than him.”

“Mine does,” the young nobleman proclaimed. He spanned the gaoler’s crossbow again and loaded another bolt on it. He then wiggled a ring of keys he found in the dead man’s pocket. He regarded Rikhart one more time, just as he was beginning to pray over the dead body. Minos shook his head.

He carefully stepped out of the cell and turned to the end of the hallway; it was empty. He prudently closed the door behind him and called for his prison companion.

“I’ll head out and clear the way. Look, I’m gonna leave this open, you can come out anytime you’re… done…” he trailed off his sentence and punctuated it with a sigh. Rikhart was already busy reciting the Last Rites for Edd, he might as well be talking to the walls. Minos, understanding the sanctity of a holy prayer, took a step back and turned around. He clenched his jaw and quietly stepped away.

The room adjacent to the cell was also barred by a door. He checked it to make sure it was secured and locked. He then looked around to see if there was anything else that would be useful for him. He found a small dagger by the table and a short sword hanging on a rack. Finally, he ripped a length of cloth from his sleeve and bandaged the wound on his left palm. He stretched his arms and legs and after taking a deep breath.

Moving to the other side of the door, Minos saw that his theory was right; the place was a cistern. He could see the several support columns on a mathematical alignment, holding the ceiling of the chamber some twenty feet high above his head. An ornate chandelier hung from the center, looking out of place against the drab walls. Minos could feel the cold and damp concrete floor under his bare feet as he took a few steps and hid behind one of the pillar’s shadows.

He sat still on his heels and listened for any sound. He could hear somebody breathing, as well as something that sounded metallic. He rounded the column crouching, while his eyes moved left to right, alert for any sudden movement. He took a few more paces towards the next pillar where he repeated the same motions.

He peered at what was behind the column, and what he saw drained away the blood from his cheeks.

The first one was the lifeless body of a young girl sprawled on the floor. Her arms and legs were bound by metal cuffs, and her body was covered only by cloth rags. He tried to move near to give her a closer inspection, but he felt something rub against his skin. A shimmer of light suddenly flashed on his fingertips, it was warm and tingly at first, until it became painful the more his hand hovered above her.

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He yanked his arm away once the sensation became intense. He looked at his fingers and it turned red and warm, as if he had just patted a kettle of boiling water. He studied it closely and he could tell that whatever it was that he touched was surrounding the girl’s whole body akin to an invisible armor.

He stepped aside and moved on to the next horrific object he saw. Above a broken column, there floated a mass of bulbous flesh, round and veiny, and about two feet in diameter. As he took a step closer, he noticed indentations on the floor that seemed to form several uninterrupted lines reaching down to the dead body. These recesses of miniscule trenches all lead up to the half-pillar underneath the mass.

He took another step and as he angled his head, he could see the rest of its features. He felt his stomach churn as soon as he beheld a pair of extremities protruding from one side of the spheroid mass. Minos examined it and his initial assumptions were correct: those were human legs, slight and bony. He could clearly identify its parts; from the feet to the knee and to the fleshy slit in between them, covered by thinning yellow hairs.

The young nobleman stepped back as he began to realize what he was seeing. He moved around the object to see the rest of its body. Just above the rounded flesh, he saw a pair of breasts hanging swollen and limp. Next to it were its shoulders, each connected to an arm and a hand, as thin and bony as the legs. And then finally, he saw the head. The creature’s eyes were closed, but its mouth was slightly open. It had little patches of dry blonde hair attached to its swollen scalp. He felt an instinct to check for its breathing, but that was when he heard someone.

“Minos!” It was Robb, he recognized the voice. He turned around and found the boy, sitting on the floor. His arms and feet were tied in chains, and he was wearing the same rag clothes as the dead girl.

“Robb!” he gasped. The young nobleman quickly moved to the boy to check on him. “How are you? Did they do anything to you? Are you hurt?”

“No,” the boy shook his head. His face gave a reassuring look that made Minos feel at ease. However, he could tell that the boy was averting his eyes from the horror that was hanging behind him.

“We’ll get you out of here,” Minos whispered. He grabbed the ring of keys he looted from the guard and tried them on the cuffs of Robb’s chains. None of them worked. His guilt-ridden eyes turned back at the boy. He couldn’t bear to tell him that he couldn’t unlock his chains.

“Did they say what they’re gonna do with you?” he asked instead, as he tried another round with the keys.

Robb nodded his head. “They said I was gonna be next…”

“Next to what?”

The young boy pointed his index finger at the dead girl across the room. “Her name is Lisa. We still talked when they tied me here. Then I woke up and she wasn’t answering anymore…” Robb’s voice started to break even before he could finish talking. “Minos, I think she’s dead.”

The well of tears behind his eyes quickly burst, washing away the mask of bravery he was wearing just a minute ago. “I don’t wanna die…” he sobbed.

Minos dropped what he was doing and gave the boy a hug. “I wanna go home. I shouldn’t have joined you and Cassana… I should’ve stayed in the village,” Robb continued.

The young nobleman rubbed the boy’s back and patted his head. “We’re gonna get out here…” he said. Once Robb calmed down, he pulled away and grabbed the ring of keys again. “I’ll find a way to open these cuffs, don’t worry.

“You can’t open it?” the boy asked.

“Probably a different key. But it’s just here somewhere, I’m sure of it.”

Robb wiped the snot and tears away. “Okay. I’ll just stay here,” he said without thinking.

“Of course you will,” Minos mocked and grinned while pointing to the chains around Robb’s feet, “where else are you gonna go?”

Robb snickered and another bubble of snot blew out of his nose. Minos shared his laughter, and gave his head another rub. His hair had now grown to where his bangs could almost reach his eyebrows. Gone was the tickly feeling it gave Minos’ palms when he used to brush it a week ago.

He stood up trying his best to ignore the macabre sight behind him. He walked towards a table filled with an assortment of torture and detention paraphernalia to search for the keys he was looking for. When he couldn’t find any, he moved on to the next exit he found.

The following room was similar to his cell, having partition walls to separate it from the rest of the chamber. Unlike his cell, however, this one didn’t have a door. It appeared to be a storage room, having crates and boxes scattered around in disorderly fashion. There was no way a key would be kept there, not by a reasonable person at least, so he turned back. But then he noticed a small beam of light out of the corner of his eye.

He took a step to follow where it was coming from and he saw a vertical shaft above along the ceiling, and what seemed like the end of a ladder protruding out of it. This could be our way out, he thought to himself. It wasn’t the overflow pipe he was hoping for, but it will do. He arranged a few boxes and crates into makeshift staircase going up until he could finally reach the ladder. He grabbed the rusty metal rig and started climbing up.

Unfortunately, a wooden panel was blocking the rest of the shaft, but he could see a thumb-sized slit where the beam of light passed through. He took a peek to see what was behind and saw sunlight. Minos paused to think for a minute. He figured that the vertical shaft was a well, which makes sense: during the time that the cistern was in-use, people needed a way to easily access its contents. After falling into the disuse, they blocked the mouth of the well to prevent any accident.

Nevertheless, Minos and Robb now had a definite way out, all he needed to do was clear the panel that was blocking the well. He first gave the wooden board a push, but it wouldn’t budge. He then tried to slam his shoulder against it, but he couldn’t get enough momentum to pry it open, considering his awkward position. Minos spread his leg apart, as he put a foot over a brick jutting out of the weathered masonry. He then heaved downward and rammed his back against the batten as hard as he could.

It took him five attempts before he ran out of breath. With the last one, his foot slipped and he almost fell down, but managed to grab onto the ladder with his hands. He took a minute to take a rest, hanging in a very uncomfortable position. That was when he heard voices.

It came from the other side of the hatch. He carefully pressed his ear against the wooden panel to get a clearer faculty.

“... and what, we’re just gonna leave him there?” Minos recognized the voice of the horned man. It came from a distance and grew louder over time. He was walking across above them, talking with somebody.

“There is nothing we could do. Not for now, at least.” It was a raspy voice, masculine but with a slightly higher register.

“Is it The Guild?” the horned man asked.

“No. As far as I know, they have no connection with The Guild,” answered the other man.

“What of the mercenary then?”

“He lied.”

“So, can I kill him now?”

“Go, do what you like, just get rid of the body afterwards.”

The voices trailed off, as the two men walked away from the mouth of the well.

“We need to get out of here now.” Minos blurted out. He hurriedly stepped down from the shaft and ran back to where Robb was.

“Did you find a key?” The boy asked.

Minos ignored him. He moved towards the end of the chain where it was anchored on the floor. He tried to pull it off, but it was bolted solidly. He used the handle of the crossbow to smack one of the iron links, but gave up after a few tries. He then remembered noticing a metal saw from the table of tools earlier, and a horrendous thought entered his mind.

“I’m sorry Robb…” he whispered to the young boy. He tried to stand up, but tripped. The very idea of cutting off the boy’s limbs just so they could escape was nauseating, but he was running out of options, as well as time.

“What are you doing?” Minos’ heart jumped out of his chest as soon as he heard the voice. Luckily, it wasn’t the horned man, it was Rikhart. He turned around and saw his fellow prisoner standing by the entrance.

“We need to get out here..” pleaded the young nobleman. “Please, they’re coming, and they’re gonna kill me. Do you know where they’re keeping his keys, please, tell me!” His voice was trembling in desperation as he stepped forward towards him, revealing Robb slumped on the floor behind him.

Rikhart’s eyes widened, his face froze solid in horror and his mouth shot wide agape. Robb spoke behind Minos, and it took a second before the young boy’s soft, innocent voice registered in his mind.

“Papa?”

He turned around. Robb was looking at Rikhart, sharing the same wide open eyes.

“Papa!” Robb repeated. Louder and clearer.

“Robb… Robin?”

Robb stood on his feet as Rikhart walked closer to him, his arms reaching forward. Minos took a step back, trying to understand what was happening.

Rikhart knelt down and gave Robb a tight, yearning hug. He pulled away and stared at the boy’s face, pressing his hands against his cheeks.

“What are you doing here?” asked Rikhart.

“I was looking for you and Mama,” Robb answered.

“You were… you were looking for us?” repeated Rikhart.

Robb nodded.

“Oh, you brave, brave boy.” Rikhart praised his son and kissed him on the forehead. “Mama’s here, and we will come back. I promise, we will come back.” He rose up and stood straight. Minos noticed the change in his demeanor. He was actually taller than him now. The prisoner’s bewildered face turned resolute as he moved towards one of the columns.

Minos was still struggling to find the words to say, while the Rikhart continued. “But first, you must go home,” he did something to the column and a latch opened. He pulled a key from inside and quickly used it to release the fetters on Robb’s arms and legs. That was when the words came to the young nobleman.

“Come with us!”

Rikhart looked at him in bewilderment.

“Mama too!” Robb added.

“I can’t… we can’t right now, I’m sorry, oh, my son, my little Robin, I’m sorry…”

“Look, whatever your situation is here, I can help you…” Minos affirmed. “My companions, they can…” and then he remembered the people he was with. “Cassana! Cassana and Ashvell, people from the village, they’re with us. You know them, right?”

Rikhart reacted at the mention of the redhead’s name. “Cassana? Canae’s daughter Cassana?” Minos and Robb nodded in unison.

The prisoner trudged back to the column with the hidden compartment. He pulled a heavy tome and a fist-sized pouch and were about to walk back towards Minos and Robb when they all heard a noise. “They’re here…” he murmured.

“Time, we don’t have time.” Rikhart faced Robb and went down on his haunches. “Give this to Cassana… it’s from her father. Tell her to tell him that I am grateful for his help. And that I am sorry.”

Robb received the item but didn’t know how to respond.

“They’re coming,” the prisoner repeated. The noise was getting louder and louder, and Minos was sure it was the sound of footsteps and muffled voices.

Rikhart motioned for the two to follow him and he went to a corner of the chamber that was out of reach from the chandelier’s light. He pulled the content of the pouch he was holding and Minos immediately recognized what it was: a focusing stone.

The prisoner raised his hand holding the stone and recited an incantation. The stone glowed, and so did a portion of the masonry in front of him. Suddenly, the bricks moved and shifted about, revealing two-feet hole fifteen feet from the ground: the overflow pipe. Rikhart continued his spell and several bricks below the hole shifted as well, creating convenient handholds for climbing.

“Quick, climb up,” he finally ordered the two.

Minos dragged the boy hurried to the wall to study it. Rikhart returned the focusing stone inside its pouch and handed it to Robb. “Tullius asked me to synthesize this stone. Sadly, I didn’t get to finish it in time. I want you to give this to him as well, this is his gift to Cassana, for her Ranking Exam. Please ask him to forgive my tardiness.”

Minos grabbed Rikhart’s shoulder, “you can still give these to them by yourself. You should escape with us.”

“No. I need to be here, for Nissa…”

Rikhart placed the pouch over Minos’ hand. He then gave his son another kiss before urging him to climb up.

“But…” Robb wanted to object, but his father was already pushing him up the handholds.

“When they get here, they’ll be looking for you both, I have to buy you time. Go!”

Minos wanted to hesitate, but he also understood the urgency of the situation. He clutched the pouch between his teeth and started climbing behind Robb.

“Just head straight, and it should lead you to the sewers. Then, just follow the water and it should lead you to the sea.” Rikhart explained. “Be careful.” He waved at Robb before he disappeared into the shaft.

It was Minos’ turn to squeeze his body into the hole, and he could already hear the voices entering the chamber.

“What’s going on here?” he heard the horned man ask. “Why are you outside?”

“Edd let me out, he wanted me to check the body…” A part of Minos wanted to stay for a minute to listen to their conversation, but he didn’t want to waste their chance. He looked up ahead to where Robb was crawling, and he pushed his elbow forward to follow him.