At that evening, Jack curled himself onto his bundle of hay, futilely trying to get some rest. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable of places to sleep, as the hay was abrasive to his skin and the floor beneath it was cold and hard. Even if it was comfortable enough, he found himself too restless to sleep, fearing for what tomorrow might bring.

During that time, one of the guards came by and handed him a meal tray containing a bowl of what appears to be some type of porridge. He took one bite of it and immediately gave up in trying to eat more. It was so unbelievably bland, it tasted worse than dirt---at least dirt have some flavor to it. Not that he had much of an appetite anyway.

After a while, he overheard one of the guards bringing in another prisoner and placing him in the cell opposite to him.

"Get in there!" the guard said.

"Oi, take it easy there, mate. I'm still a feeling a bit woozy," the prisoner said.

Afterwards, Jack heard the guard shoving the prisoner into the cell and locking the cell door before exiting the room, leaving the two of them alone.

"Honestly, the guards around here got no manners," the prisoner remarked. "Well, at least I have you here to keep me company. Isn't that right, mate?"

Jack was intrigued by the prisoner's accent and started turning around to look. What he saw had taken him completely by surprise.

The prisoner who was locked in the cell right across from him wasn't exactly a human, per se. He looked more like some kind of dog---an anthropomorphic wolf-like dog with white fur standing barely a head taller than Jack himself. In addition, he was wearing a brown leather duster and fingerless gloves, which gave him an overall cool and stylish look. It's like if some furry had made a mod in Fallout and accidentally uploaded it to Skyrim!

And just like Jack, he was also shackled by the same metallic cuffs with the runes engraved on it, which indicated that this prisoner may know magic and had to be restrained accordingly.

"Woah..." Jack's jaw dropped when he saw this prisoner in front of him. "...you're some kind of...dog person."

The prisoner flinched a little, as if feeling slightly offended. "Woah there, mate, that's just plain rude. You've never seen a furrofaun before? What if I start calling you an hairless ape?"

The more Jack looked at him, the more bizarre the interaction felt. "Why do you have an Australian accent? Are you from Australia?"

"Australia? Never heard of that country in my entire life, and I've done quite a bit of traveling myself. Honestly, you sure you didn't made it up?"

"I...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It's just that...I have a pretty terrible day today."

The dog person's face softened up a little bit, almost sympathetic to Jack's predicament. "Eh, it's alright. I mean, I'm pretty much in the same boat as you, so I get how you feel. But hey, at least we got each other company, isn't that right?"

"Yeah, it's nice to have someone to talk to, at least. I'm Jack, by the way. Jack Slater."

"Well, nice to meet you, Jack. The name's Dingo Hwyte, but my friends call me Dingo."

Jack let out a snort. "Wait, did you say your name is Dingo Hwyte? Are you sure you're not Australian?"

Dingo gave him an unamused stare. "Mate, you're starting to get on my nerves."

Jack tried to hold back his chuckle. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"So tell me, Jack. How the heck did you end up in here?"

Jack explained everything to him, of how he was using his magic to save an old man but ended up arrested and betrayed. He also told him of this elven knight in full divinium plate armor interrogating him about the Crimson Flame.

"Wow, that's quite an interesting story," Dingo said. "You had it rough, mate."

"Tell me about it," Jack said. "And this elf jerk pretty much had it in for me. He kept zapping me with lightning until he hears what he wants, which is bullship because I really don't know anything! He just wouldn't believe me!"

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"Sounds like you're in a really tough bind there. But, then again, what else did you expect? You have used magic in public. Not only that, you have used it against a couple of elves. That is pretty much a big no-no under any territory within the Elrinthian dominion. You might as well have told them that you're sleeping with their wives. Sure, you may have used it within understandable circumstances, but these elves don't care.

"And it's not just you humans who had it bad. Us faun had been discriminated against as well. These elves only care about placing their own race above all others and they are corrupt to the bone."

Jack tossed his hands in the air in frustration. "Well, how was I supposed to know?!"

"Sounds like there's a whole lot you don't know, mate. That law had been around for a long time. Pretty much everyone around here knows about it. What sort of rock have you been living under?"

"I'm more of a 'falling from the sky' type of guy. Anyway, let that be a lesson learned. Elves are assholes and people around here would backstab their own kind so long as they get paid a lot of money for it." Jack let out a heavy sigh. "Anyway, enough about me. What's your story? How did you end up in here?"

Dingo chuckled nervously. "Well, uhh, funny story. You see, I was at a bar and had gotten myself in a fight with an elf. Let's just say that I might have used a little bit of magic in that fight."

Jack scoffed at him. "Seriously?! You were chastising me for getting into a fight with elves using magic while you did pretty much the same thing?!"

"To be fair, I was pretty drunk at the time. I'm sure that should at least exempt me from some of the blame."

"Oh sure! Maybe you can tell that to the guards. I'm sure they would simply let you go with a pat on the back and a slap in the ass."

"Woah there, mate, I'm not entirely comfortable with getting my ass slapped by another man. Maybe if it was a beautiful woman, I might reconsider. It also depends on how hard she delivers that slap, you know. Not too hard and not too soft. Just the right amount of force-"

"It was a figure of speech!"

Dingo chuckled. "I know. I was just pulling your leg."

Jack gave him an annoyed glare. "How are you so calm about this?"

"I don't tend to let things worry me too much. I'm just that type of guy."

Jack admired people like Dingo sometimes---people who were able to maintain a positive attitude no matter the circumstances. He found it hard to do it himself most of the time.

"Well...were you able to kick that elf's ass at least?"

"Oh yeah, of course. You're kidding me? That guy was a chump! He thinks just because he's an elf, he has the upper hand against a non-elf like me, which was a huge mistake on his part. People say that elves are on average much better than non-elves at magic, but that tends to be an overexaggeration. Any advantage the elves have with magic can typically be overcome with enough training. The guy I fought was way too overconfident, so I easily kicked his ass, even while drunk!"

"Wow, sounds like you're pretty skilled then."

"Thank you. And from what I heard, you're not so bad yourself."

"Me? Oh please! I would totally have my ass handed to me if those thugs didn't run away."

"Well, you are fighting three against one. I'm surprised you're able to last that long to begin with."

"Yeah, well, we both ended up here, for all the good it did. And let me tell you, I am not looking forward to tomorrow. That elf jerk is probably going to torture the hell out of me for information that I don't have. And I don't even want to think what they are going to do to you. Skin you alive and turn you into a fur coat, maybe?"

"That is a horrifying thought...and a flattering one at that." Jack could see Dingo's eyes gleaming dreamingly as he continued talking. "I've heard that my fur is quite soft, so if it were to be turned into a coat, it will certainly be a comfortable and luxurious one worn by some beautiful noblewoman. Maybe a princess or a duchess. Imagine the praise I would get."

"Seriously, dude, your happy-go-lucky optimism is not helping right now! We are definitively trucked right now! Trucked, with a capital 'F'! We are both stuck in here without any magic and there's no way for us to get out of this! It's hopeless! Completely hopeless!"

Afterwards, there was a pause that settled heavily in the air before Dingo started talking.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's completely hopeless."

Just then, Jack watched as Dingo opened his jaw wide and pulled out a sliver of metal out from under his tongue. It looked almost like some sort of lockpick. Dingo then inserted that lockpick inside the keyhole of his cuffs and wiggled it around before unlocking the cuffs and setting himself free. Jack saw how easily Dingo had freed himself and was completely amazed.

"You know how to lockpick?!" Jack said.

"Hey, what could I say? I've got plenty of tricks up my sleeve and not all of them have to involve magic. It's good to pick up a couple of special skills in order to get out of situations like these, you know."

"Hell yeah! That's awesome! Now, can you unlock me as well?!"

Dingo shushed him, then spoke in a much quieter tone. "Not now."

"What do you mean 'not now'? You aren't going to abandon me, are you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, there are still a bunch of guards outside that we have to contend with. We'll wait until nightfall, where there'll be less security. We'll make our escape then."

Figuring that Dingo had the better idea, Jack nodded in agreement to his plan.