PreCursive

  I elbowed my way through the crowd of ihat had gathered in front of the gate to the tral tower. I reached the front just in time to watch as Sylvia k in front of the heavy padlo it and take out her lockpig kit.

  Odd.

  Venix was the first to notice my approad aowledged me with a nod. I retur, as I sidled up to Grey atg his daughter work with crossed arms. He 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 uo find one. I believe that these guards were not meant to ehe 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 pce.”

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

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

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

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

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

  “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 suspis are correct, then we o 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 o stay sharp. “You…could take them though, right?”

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

  I turo look, to see that Grey was right. Sylvia had finished pig the lo the door to the tower and had removed it from the door. However, she refrained from opening it just yet, iurning to g 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 ao their visible disappoi. “The corridors of the tower are muarrower than those in the rest of the prison. There simply isn’t enough room inside for so many. Instead, I will be venturing ih my team. However,” He narrowed his eyes at the crowd. “Mr. McGill, step forward.”

  McGill did as Grey anded, 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 I do for ye, Headmaster?” He asked, only slightly mogly.

  Grey was unphased. “You will be apanying 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 sed your back is turned?”

  To be ho…

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

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

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

  McGill held up his hands i, stepping up to stao the rest of us. He stopped o me, giving me a crooked grin. I didn’t react, instead drawing my dagger and holding it loosely. I wao be prepared.

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

  Nothing.

  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 rge stoaircase 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 hem, with how isoted 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 smmed shut behind us.

  ……………………………………..

  Grey led us over to the stairs and upward. As we asded them, there tio be no visible light sources. After a few moments of climbing, we came to a nding. 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 rge corridors in the rest of the prison. If I had to guess, this part of the prison was meant to have a much denser popution of prisoners.

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

  Uhe first floor, this floor was actually lighted. Instead of having torches or something, there were these mps 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 iweehe cells themselves were smaller even thainy 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 te in age from around seven all the 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 oher 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 sve masters ba Addersfield had treated the younger sves this badly. Fod’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 siheir capture.

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

  After a moment, I forcibly tamped down on my emotions with my middle ring. I stepped off of the nding 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 unfortable with the evil on dispy.

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

  “Headmaster Grey?” I heard in a raspy toepping out of the darkness of the cell er 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 turo 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 ditions.”

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

  “Well,” Richard sighed tiredly. “You were mistaken. Some of us mao catch the sdrels i 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 ging to his raggedy pants. “At the very least, I provide some measure of fort to these poor little ones.” He looked back up at Grey. “Headmaster, have you e to…” He trailed off, choking before he could even say the word.

  “I have. We have,” Grey reached through the cell to y a f hand on Richard’s shoulder. “I and my patriots have e 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, uo keep speaking.

  Grey let out a heavy breath before tinuing. “Richard, I’m sorry, but I have to know. Do you know if two specific prisoners are bei in this tower?” When Richard mao calm down enough to look Grey in the eye again, Grey smiled at him. “A Sculpted named Woodrick, ay 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 tinued hurriedly. “I have heard the guards say that there are only two prisoners oop 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 shh. “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 panions.

  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, lit up.” With o f 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 thten up almost involuntarily. “You two stay on this floor, and work to free the children here. The rest of us will asd the tower and tio 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 y on the far side of the hall.

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

  We asded.