Lando felt a bit lost as he knelt on the cold stone floor, hearing a voice emanating from the cell in front of him. "Hey buddy, I heard you are searching for your mother?" the voice called out. "Just a few hours ago, a woman was taken away from here. She had been here for a while, maybe just a few hours. Could that have been her?"
Lando perked up in newfound hope at the man's words. If someone had indeed taken his mother, he needed to know who and why. He stood up, peered through the still-open window, and demanded firmly, "Tell me everything you know!"
The man in the cell replied, "I have just one condition," raising his index finger. "You have to get me out of here, obviously" he continued.
Lando saw no issue with releasing the man and promptly responded, "No problem, but I need the information first."
The man chuckled in his face. "Come on, at least unlock my collar first. I couldn't harm you anyways, as my powers would be depleted."
Though Lando didn't fully trust the man, he went over to the body of the head guard to retrieve the keys for the cells. Within moments, he had opened the man's cell and stepped inside.
"Wow, you look like shit. Are you sure you can make it out of here?" the man chuckled upon seeing Lando's battered state.
Lando remained silent, materializing his dagger from his spatial ring and placing it against the man's throat. With a determined glare, he spoke sternly, "Give me the information about my mother first, or you won't have the time to rot away in this cell, alive."
The man raised his hands as a sign of surrender. "Alright, alright, no need to get physical here. Your best shot at getting out of here is by freeing all the inmates as a distraction and that most probably means my release anyway, so I'll show you some goodwill and tell you."
Lando really had initially planned to release as many magicians as possible to create chaos for his escape since he couldn't phase his mother through the earth. However, the man in the cell didn't need to know that Lando had another way out of the prison now that he didn't have to secure an escape route for his mother.
Lowering his dagger, Lando listened as the man gave him the information he sought. "Alright. All I saw was that a guy in the uniform of the space-time council took her away just a few hours ago. I don't know where they brought her, that’s all I got," the blonde man said.
Lando stood there, thinking to himself, 'Damn! They could have teleported her anywhere. That just means she exchanged one torture chamber for another. Ahh, damn it, I have to get out of here before the guards upstairs notice anything. I'll have to figure something out later.'
As Lando had his own way out, he did not really care about the other inmates here anymore. Thus, he unlocked the collar of the prisoner in front of him.
"Ah, thanks, mate. My name is Anthony, by the way," Anthony exclaimed, gathering a small spark between his index finger and thumb smiling at his returned powers.
Lando looked at the tall man, his lean appearance and excited expression, and threw him the bundle of keys for this floor and the floor above. He said, "Do your thing! For your Information, I also eliminated all the guards on the floor above, so you have free reign here.”
Anthony's ocean blue eyes sparkled at Lando's statement as he took the two key bundles.
Lando simply turned around and said to the man with short, unruly, curly hair, "I'm making my leave now. Just wait until I've gone up the stairs. I don't want anyone to recognize my face if they get caught again."
Anthony looked a bit confused by the statement, unaware that Lando could make his exit on the floor above. He nodded and said, "Maybe we'll see each other in the future. I owe you one, that's for sure."
Lando ignored the man and limped his way to the upper floor. Along the way, he discreetly disposed of the dead bodies and stored them in his spatial ring like the others to eliminate any evidence, except for Anthony, who would serve as a useful distraction and Lando had no problem with that.
Upon reaching the floor above, he found everything silent, just as he had hoped. Taking the time to change his clothes into a simple white long shirt and black pants to not appear half-naked on the surface, Lando entered the corridor where he had initially arrived and took a deep breath. His mana reserves were still low, and it would be a close call to phase this far, but he had to try anyway as the guard above could come down here at any time.
As he started phasing through the earth, Lando's normal senses were blocked out, and the pressure intensified as he strained his dwindling mana reserves. With a rising sense of panic, he pushed forward, feeling as if he were diving for an extended period and desperately needing a breath. He was pushing past his limits but continued on, knowing the alternative would be materializing with rocks inside his body, the pyramid like prison structure above him feeling like diving under a frozen lake. Dizziness consumed him, and he was moments away from losing consciousness, the pressure around him increasing as he felt as though he were swimming hundreds of meters beneath the surface of the sea. Suddenly, the darkness turned to blinding white, and Lando couldn't be sure if he had died or reached his destination. With no mana left to power his magic, it ceased to function.
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After a three-minute journey that felt like a direct route to hell, Lando lay facedown on a cobblestone street, immobile and breathing heavily, unsure if he had survived or if he had entered purgatory.
Determined not to lose consciousness until he knew the answer, he remained there for five long minutes until his vision returned and his breathing calmed down.
Finally realizing that he was still alive, he made a promise to himself: "Note to self, never phase long distances with low mana reserves."
It was already the beginning of the day, with the first rays of the sun visible on the horizon. Lando summoned his pocket watch and saw that it was only a few minutes until 6 am. He let out a sigh of relief, as this would mark the end of the curfew. Given his current condition, he didn't have the strength to evade the guards any longer.
Lando wasted no time, slowly pushing himself up and hobbling away from the nearby prison and guard headquarters. He knew chaos would soon erupt, and he didn't want to get involved in any of it.
After half an hour, he arrived in front of an inn called the "Green Wanderer" and caught a glimpse of his appearance reflected in one of the windows. His face still bore visible burn marks, and he had heavy bags under his eyes. It had been a long day indeed.
So far, he didn't hear any commotion coming from the center district, but it was only a matter of time before the prison director would be unable to contain a full-scale prison break.
However, all Lando cared about now was getting some much-needed rest. He entered the inn and approached the empty counter.
There was nobody behind the counter, as guests typically didn't arrive this early in the morning. Lando rang the bell, and before long, a man emerged from one of the doors leading to the back. The man was dressed in a uniform bearing the name of the inn. He looked at Lando, not too concerned about his burned and tired face, and commented, "And here I thought I could complain about being woken up so early in the morning, but it appears you've had a rough night and would not show much sympathy anyway."
Lando just stared at the man as he continued, "Alright. It's 2 silvers per night, including breakfast. How long do you plan to stay, sir?"
Lando wasn't entirely sure how long he intended to stay, but he was too exhausted to think about it at the moment. He replied, "I'm not certain, but I suppose a week for now will do," and dropped 20 silvers on the counter.
"Very well. Welcome to the Green Wanderer. By the way, my name is Ralph," the man said as he put the silver coins in the register. He retrieved a key from the back and motioned for Lando to follow him to his room.
Lando nodded once again, and they soon arrived at his room on the second floor. He took the keys, locked the door behind him, and without bothering to explore the room or change his clothes, he went straight to sleep.
***
While Lando slept, Anthony had managed to free all the prisoners on the two lowest floors. However, they were all low on mana as the collars they wore dissipated any mana they produced into the air before they could absorb it und thus all agreed to wait a while before they would make their exit to recharge their batteries.
After an hour, they decided it was time to proceed with their escape before the next shift of guards arrived and complicated their plans. With roughly 100 mages in their group, they were determined to escape no matter what. The only person who could potentially stop them was the solid stage metal mage known for his ruthlessness among the inmates.
Anthony gathered with two women and three men, all of whom were members of the same mercenary team. Originally, they had four more companions, but three had been killed during their capture, and one had either died or become a slave, as he was no longer in the prison.
The group had been captured over a week ago during a mission to assassinate a member of a local noble family. They had managed to carry out the assassination, but due to unfortunate circumstances, they were detected and eventually captured or killed.
As they stood a bit apart from the rest, they reviewed their escape plan. Anthony, as the leader, reiterated the most crucial aspects, "Remember, we will escape in the second wave. The first group will engage with the prison guards, and there are enough hot-headed individuals here who would enjoy getting their revenge on some of them. As the second group, we will be the first to leave the prison, catching the nearby guard camp off guard. If we delay too much, the camp will already be alerted and in action. We don't want to engage them in a chaotic battle, especially considering we've already lost too many people on our previous mission, and Stan is missing, we have to assume he is dead as well. Our priority is to flee and avoid confrontation. We will move in a tight formation and strike together with full force against anyone who stands in our way. The longer we stay in a fight, the smaller our chances of success. If anything goes wrong, we will regroup at our inn. Any questions?" Anthony looked each member of his team in the eyes to ensure they understood the plan.
His gaze lingered a bit longer on a beautiful woman with emerald eyes and flowing green hair. As she, along with everyone else, nodded in confirmation, they prepared themselves for action. They didn't have to wait long, as the first few mages had already recharged their mana cores and were eager to seek revenge for their torture.
As the first group of eight mages made their way upstairs, the group of mercenaries followed closely behind.
***
This prison break would go down in Goldton's history as "The Freedom Frenzy," as nearly all of the inmates were able to gain their freedom on this day. Unfortunately, for most, their newfound freedom would be short-lived as they were either struck down by the prison guards or apprehended by the city guards from the nearby headquarters.
With over one hundred mages and even more lower-level magicians storming out of the prison in rapid succession, the nearby city guards mobilized their entire regiment to try and capture as many fugitives as possible. However, they had little chance of apprehending them all, as the majority focused on fleeing as far away as they could.
The destruction caused by such a large-scale battle was extensive, with fugitives being pursued throughout the entire city, leaving behind a trail of devastation in their wake.
***
Lando slept soundly throughout the night, completely unaware of the destruction that had unfolded, mostly because of him. His exhaustion had prevented him from waking up even once.
Early the next morning, Lando woke up and immediately recalled the unpleasant events from the previous day. Despite his achievements, he felt like he had failed in his mission, as his mother was still missing, taken away by the space-time council.
As he thought about the likely reason for his mother's abduction, Lando glanced down at the black ring on his hand.
"Well, I suppose it's time to uncover why you are so important to the council," he murmured, speaking to the ring but mostly to himself.