"Don’t thank your luck, Lyra. Thank us," Kaedros said with an arrogant tilt.
Lyra snorted. "You won’t let me hear the rest of it, will you?"
He shrugged. "We did save you from this prison. Don’t forget that."
"Only because you have something to ask me," Lyra pointed out, though her tone wasn’t serious. Her freedom from the prison was a sweet thing, after so long, she was finally free of the constant stink of confinement.
Even though the smell clinging to her was no less foul... and was that why her "saviors" were giving her space? She knew she should feel offended, but in truth, she didn’t care.
"Well?" Kaedros tried to keep the impatience out of his voice, but that only made it come out as an order.
Lyra rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright..."
What happened was just like Thalso had said. The Joint Accord had broken into the prison, something that should have been impossible, yet they had done it.
The Castle had sent its own soldiers, and the three-headed monster had been their captain. But when the jailbreak succeeded, the captain had slaughtered his own subordinates in a fit of rage.
The Castle’s rage, Kaedros thought.
Before all that, the monsters brought by Joint Accord and the Castle’s soldiers had clashed. Even the freed prisoners had joined in.
That led to the absolute slaughter of the prisoners, because Joint Accord had only used them as a diversion, to free Collector.
"How many Joint Accord came?" Rauk asked. They were all sitting now, listening to Lyra.
Lyra shot him an irritated look and turned away, whispering to the other prisoners like an owner to her dogs.
"Here." The back of Taria’s hand flared with light, and she reached into her space, pulling out several of Chef’s fruit. She tossed them to Lyra, who grabbed them hungrily. It didn’t take long for her to finish three before giving one each to the prisoners tugging at her clothes.
"I’m not a dog to be given a treat to obey you!" Lyra snapped, licking her hand clean of juice.
They didn’t reply. With a huff, she eventually settled back down and answered Rauk’s question. "How many Joint Accord? Only one! He appeared in our prison with the sound of glass shattering and a blue portal behind him!"
"Glass shatters?" Kaedros leaned forward. He didn’t recognize the ability, but it sounded like a teleportation technique and a very powerful one.
But the woman was smarter than he gave her credit for, because she shook her head and pointed at the door. "Get me out of here first." And when she saw Kaedros’s narrowed eyes, she hesitated before squaring her shoulders. "Just let us outside first. You can’t understand how horrible it is inside here. It’s not like we can run away."
Kaedros frowned slightly, he now had a problem. Should he just smash the door? The Castle might react badly to that, even though the state of the prison reflected the Castle’s wish. Or had Throne of Ruinlight simply lost control of this prison?
"How do you get the food that sometimes comes?" Kaedros asked.
The woman gave him a strange look but spoke. "It floated down, of course. How else do we get food down here?"
The Castle hadn’t lost total control of the prison, but it wouldn’t do to just smash the door open like that.
Kaedros rested his right hand on the prison bar and closed his eyes. He imagined Throne of Ruinlight the first time he saw it, gleaming out of the fog and darkness.
"Can I open the door?" he asked with his mind, picturing the prison’s door and reaching out to the Castle.
Nothing happened at first. Then the Castle leaped at him like an overgrown puppy, the force hit his mind and sent Kaedros stumbling back. That was the impression he got, as if a giant hound was standing in front of him.
Kaedros stiffened his panic. Was the Castle going to attack him? Pounce on him? But the Castle’s mentality stood in front of him like a loyal puppy.
When he was sure he wasn’t going to be attacked, he asked a question in pictures. Can I open the prison? He felt... not emotions exactly, but an impression, sadness at the broken Dream prison, regret at the way it had reacted to the prison break.
Then, approval to remove the prisoners and transport them to another place. Before Kaedros could send his thanks, Throne of Ruinlight had already left his mind.
Kaedros breathed shakily from the experience and opened his eyes to see all of them looking at him. Taria looked worried and Gold was raising his brows in question. Only Rauk was facing away from him.
"What are you doing?" the woman snorted.
Kaedros ignored her and looked at Taria. "I’m fine. I just had a little conversation."
"Stand back," Kaedros ordered.
With that, Kaedros himself stepped back and spoke to Rauk. He asked him to cut open the prison’s door. The request had left them all stunned, and they demanded to know why. Didn’t he fear the Castle’s retaliation?
He calmly explained to them that he had asked for permission, which sparked another round of questions until he explained what and how it had happened.
Only then did Rauk take position in front of the prison’s door and ask the prisoners to stand back even more until they were packed into a corner.
Then he materialized his formation, and his sword darkened with grey arcane energy. He slashed four times, creating a door with the sword, and finished with a kick that sent the cut bars crashing inside.
"Thank you, Rauk," Kaedros said, then gestured for the prisoners to follow him.
Kaedros and his companions returned to the room proper, standing in the middle of the room and waiting for the prisoners.
He didn’t know how long they were in there, but what came out was a pathetic lot. They were gaunt and thin, with more bones than flesh.
"I can almost hear their bones," Taria said, remembering how she had looked before Kael found her but not this thin! These people had been so underfed.
Their red eyes were the only large things on their bodies and heads. Lyra was the only one who walked normally, the others walked with a hunch, and one even walked on four limbs.
Lyra stretched. "So I can leave this place? I can still have a lucky day, I guess."