Dungeon of Doors

The quiet murmurs of others imprisoned here are punctuated by the rush of rain falling outside. Peering up through the thin barred window reveals the dark streets outside. Water rushes through a gutter carved into the prison exterior, yet some trickles into the cells.

"G-Guard! There's water leaking into my cell!"

The man who just spoke is in the cell across from mine. He's a bespectacled man with a paranoid look in his eyes. His hair is sticking to his sweat slicked skin. One of the guards approaches with a cold look in his eyes. He's not from Daywark--a paladin.

I watch as the other prisoner grips the bars of his cell. He gives the paladin a dower look from behind the lenses of his glasses. The paladin stares down at him wordlessly for a few moments.

"What're you just standing there for, man? Can't you do something?"

Shaking his head, the paladin replies "I'm sorry, but His Excellency told us not to waste any extra resources on prisoners."

The man in glasses scoffs, an indignant expression on his tense pale face. He reaches out through the bars and points at the paladin with an accusing finger. His finger is a pitiful gesture when pressed against the gleaming plate armor the paladin wears.

"I am James Benson, I was sent here by King Geoffrey himself! I demand you treat me with the respect I deserve, lest I lodge a complaint upon my release-"

"Hah!" The paladin laughs in James' face.

"W-What is so funny?"

"You're a dead man, Mister Benson. You and all of the louts in these cells may as well already be dead and buried. I don't give a damn what you say, or who sent you. Dead men tell no tales."

I feel my heart drop at his words. We're all going to die? When the guild was raided they insisted we be imprisoned based on suspicions of us being affiliated with heresy. We couldn't refuse, seeing as they had a small army of paladins headed by inquisitors. No one person goes against the enclave. It would have been suicide to refuse.

But now our fate is sealed, regardless? What did I cooperate with them for?

James looks to be having similar thoughts. He slumps back against the wall of his cell with a forlorn look on his pale face. The trickle of water dripping into his cell seems of little consequence to him now. The paladin he called over leaves with a quiet snort of disdain.

"Psst... Petra."

My ears pick up a familiar voice from a neighboring cell. I scoot close to the bars and do my best to peer out of my cell. I can't make out whoever is beside me. We're separated by a thick stone wall. I decide to answer him with a guess at his identity.

"Lyric? Is that you?"

"Sure is. You heard that bastard in the plate armor, right?"

"I... I heard him. Do you think he was telling the truth?"

"I know so. We've been given the bare minimum, and I've seen them preparing something through the grate in my cell. Looks like they plan to hang us."

Warm tears well up in my eyes as I glance toward the grate in my cell, wherein muted sunlight is visible. They are going to kill us? It is my second time hearing as much, but it stings more so when spoken by Lyric. He's the one who's quick on his feet. He understands people better than I do. If he is saying they are going to execute us, then they will.

"Don't fret, Petra. We can escape."

Lyrics voice brings me out of my doldrums. I wipe my eyes as I reply.

"H-How? We're locked in prison. They took our gear."

"They didn't take everything. I smuggled in a pick."

My eyebrows raise at his declaration. He somehow got a lockpick into the cell? Why hasn't he used it until now? How could the paladins have missed something so crucial when searching him? Lyric answers my unspoken questions with a chuckle.

"Don't worry. I'll get us out, but I do need your help."

"How could I possibly help? You're the clever one, I'm just book smart."

"Tsk, Petra, what I need is your brain. You're plenty clever. What we need is a way past all the paladins. Carter can help us get into the street, but we need some kind of distraction."

We need a distraction. If Lyric lets out Carter then he should be able to overpower at least one paladin, even if he hasn't got any equipment on him. The problem is their numbers. There won't be any time for Carter to put on a bunch of armor, nor can he handle being vastly outnumbered in a fight. Even that man has limits.

Everyone has limits!

While the paladins have extensive equipment and loyalty to their cause, they lack in knowledge. Those men shunned and locked away our dungeon loot like it was poison. The enclave assumes anything coming out of the dungeon is tainted and demonic. We can work with that fear of the unknown. We can take them by surprise.

"I can handle the distraction. Leave it to me."

"I knew I could count on you! We move at dusk."

With a shaky breath, I nod. He can't see the gesture, but I think he somehow gets my meaning. His voice fades into the sound of water falling outside. I slip back into the shadows of my cell, waiting for the sun to set.

~

Getting imprisoned by the church wasn't something I ever imagined happening. But here I am, slumped against the wall of a cell with paladins swarming the city above. All of this just because I was inside the dungeon. Teddy and Will are here somewhere, but we're not in neighboring cells. Bran and his group are nowhere to be seen.

The sun has finally set, so all we have to see by is a few oil burning lamps in the prison. They cast unnaturally long shadows. There's a single paladin reading a book of some kind near the stairs, our current warden. I should get some shut eye-

"Carter. Wake up!"

Quiet whispers spoken with a sharp hiss catch my ear. I scoot closer to the bars of my cell and look around in search of the voice. The culprit makes my jaw drop. There's a thin wiry man hunched outside of someone's cell. He's fiddling with the lock with a pair of metal rods--a lockpick, perhaps? The paladin hasn't noticed his presence.

The sound of someone shuffling in the cell the man is breaking into is a bit too loud for my liking. My eyes dart anxiously from the paladin by the stairs to the man with the lockpick. He manages to jimmy the lock open, and the cell door opens with a quiet creak.

"Huh? Lyric? What're you-"

"Keep your voice down, will you? We're breaking out."

My eyes widen as a tall man with rippling muscles emerges from the cell with the wiry man. Lyric and Carter, I suppose. Carter yawns, raising his arms over his head. Lyric is looking toward the paladin with lethal intent. If only looks could kill, then maybe they would have a chance at escape. Two men are nothing against a well trained and fully equipped paladin.

"So what's the plan?" Carter murmurs.

"Your job is to take out that one. Then we break out everyone else. Petra will take care of the distraction to keep us from getting chased down by these dogs of the church."

Carter cracks his knuckles. The burly man doesn't even bother to be sneaky about his approach, he just starts calmly walking toward the paladin. His bare feet make little sound as he walks. Unfortunately Carter's stature gives him away even without any loud noises. The paladin straightens before suddenly rising from his seat.

I turn to the man outside my cell, Lyric, and plead with him.

"You have to stop him! That paladin will cut him down!"

Lyric smirks to me "Don't worry so much. Carter is a lot tougher than he looks, kid."

The sound of metal boots on stone catches my attention. I turn back to see the paladin approaching Carter with a look of stoic fury on his face. Carter is dressed in linens, with no shoes and no weapon. Somehow, Carter is the one smiling.

"I don't know how you got out of your cell, but you'd best get back in it before I cut you down!"

Carter doesn't grace the paladin with a reply. The man in gleaming gilded armor brandishes his blade, a longsword, and holds it in a threatening stance. Carter spits on the ground at the foot of the paladin. The taunt works, and the paladin lunges at him with his blade aimed for the man's chest.

I expect to see gore, or at least a lot of blood.

Instead I watch in awe as a man ducks past a sword and tackles its wielder to the ground.

My jaw drops at some point during the ensuing scuffle. Carter is like a beast rather than man, as once he has the paladin on the ground he climbs onto him and wraps an arm around the man's neck. The uncomfortable looking position doesn't seem to phase Carter as he chokes the paladin into oblivion, climbing off him and taking the longsword from the ground.

"Told you he's tough, kid."

I watch as Lyric walks leisurely up to Carter. Lyric crouches down and snatches the key ring from the paladin, retrieving my ticket out of this cell. The only problem is this is the church we are talking about. If we flee then we'll be hunted like animals, won't we?

Lyric walks back to the center of the prison's main hall. He clears his throat before speaking to us all, raising his voice just enough so we can all hear him, but not enough to alert anyone of the prison break occuring.

"Listen up, all of you!"

People approach the bars of their cell with curious and confused expressions. Some look more hopeful than others, but we are all dressed in our barest necessities. Some of us are weaker than others due to not being fed quite enough to stay healthy.

"I know you fear the church retaliating, but I also know you fear death."

Many of the other prisoners look nervously to the stairs. Most of us know exactly how dangerous the church can be, with the stories of inquisitions past. Getting on their bad side is a death sentence.

"They plan to execute us all soon. Whether they plan to tomorrow morning or in a month, I cannot say."

The news of this surprises most of the forlorn faces in the cells. Mine included, as I pale at the thought of being killed. They promised us a temporary imprisonment to dissuade any possibility we are heretics working with the dungeon. There was no mention of execution!

"What I can say is that you should flee with us!"

With these words Lyric begins to unlock cells. Carter stands guard by the stairs, looking as tough as the paladin he felled. The prisoners being freed are mostly adventurers I recognize. When they try to run up the stairs Carter stops them, his words parroted from Lyric.

"We go together. Fleeing all at once will give us all better chances."

The group of freed prisoners quickly grows. Each person to step out of their cell joins the growing throng waiting at the stairs to leave. Some hug others who were behind bars. Others quietly murmur to their companions. When it comes my turn to be released, Lyric gives me a wry smile.

"Don't worry too much, kid. We'll get you out of here."

I want to believe him, but doubt gnaws at the back of my mind.

How are we going to escape the army of paladins outside?