The prison dungeons were worse than the adventurer’s dungeons. One would think the tter would be worse, as the former was built by people and cared for by them. The truth couldn’t be further from this common perception. Amyra was no different.

  The soldiers came for her like Aedan said they would. She did not resist when they seized her and took away her weapons and gear. She let them put the heavy and bulky cuffs on her wrists. They were there to bind her movements and to suppress her magic. She was devoid of every means to defend herself. And she let them.

  His Grace had a pn, and she believed in him. She went with the soldiers without any rebuttal. She even kept her mouth shut when the soldiers made some unsavoury and inappropriate remarks regarding her and her faith. She knew where she was being brought to. She prepared herself. However, she did not prepare herself enough for the absolutely horrendous state of the prison.

  The prison dungeon stank worse than a sewer. The floors were more uneven and annoying to walk on than the untended wilderness. The walls were filthier than a valley that housed thousands of corpses. The ceilings were leaking and dripping water everywhere. No matter where they were in the dungeon, there was always water dripping in sight.

  The cells were even worse. The floor tiles had long since been ruined. Puddles were formed in the corners. There were no beds or chairs. There were chains on the wall, but even those were not in any shape or form to hold anyone.

  The inmates were faring no better than the state of this god forsaken pce. There seemed to be some kind of constant physical torture as the prisoners were all in rough shape, not just because they were worn out by time. They were all dressed in rags, but they were not prison garments, Amyra noticed. They were the prisoners’ own garbs, as each of the rags differed between individuals. They stripped them of their defences, but not their garbs. The guards were confident that the prisoners would not be able to escape the dungeon.

  Reaching the end of a corridor, the soldiers simply threw Amyra into a cell and were done with it. They didn’t even unlock the cuffs on her. They locked the doors and disappeared down the end of the corridor, leaving her to her own devices. Amyra looked at the iron bars that comprised her cell. They looked delicate and old. She approached the grill door and flicked at one of the bars. The bar came right off, flying from the door and hitting the wall on the other side.

  “This can’t be that easy,” Amyra mused. Even with the heavy cuffs on, it would be easy for her to simply force her way through simply with her strength.

  “It isn’t.”

  Amyra raised an eyebrow and gnced behind. There was a feeble man on the floor, leaning against the wall with a worn smile. He was in a state simir to the other prisoners she saw along the way. His clothes were ragged and murkier than the walls. He had no cuffs on him or any sort of binding instruments. Most probably because it was needless. He was missing a leg and half his face. Something had torn half of his face out. It’s a wonder that he was still alive and smiling. “What’s the trick here?” she asked.

  The feeble man chuckled with a worn smile. “Did you see any guards along the way when they were bringing you here?”

  “Come to think of it, I don’t think I saw any guards at all.”

  “Exactly.”

  Amyra narrowed her gaze. “Is there a spell in pce here?”

  “No spell. Just a single monster.”

  “What kind of monster?”

  “...You won’t believe me even if I tell you.”

  “I’m an adventurer. Try me.”

  “So was I, dy. But even so, I didn’t believe the story. The night after I was thrown into this pce, we tried to escape.”

  “We?”

  “My companions. We didn’t make it far. Hell, we didn’t even know how far we went or if we even went the right way. This pce is a maze, and that’s not the end of our plight. The monster came. It’s… It’s an abomination. It’s like… a man fucked a beast, or a beast fucked a woman, and gave birth to the monster.”

  “So, it’s a half-man, half-beast, kind of monster?”

  “It’s more than that. Look here, dy. Even if you lost the will to live, don’t try to escape. The monster is a sadist. It seeks pleasure in hurting the prisoners. It doesn’t kill its victims. It tortures them. You’ll be lucky if it kills you. So, just stay in your cell. For some reason, it doesn’t enter the cells. I think it can’t. Perhaps there is some spell in pce. And the monster doesn’t attack the guards. In fact, it retreats into its burrow whenever the guards are here.”

  “I gather your face and your leg are the work of the monster?”

  The man nodded. “It is.”

  “How are you still alive? This pce is filthy. Your wounds would have been infected, and you would have long died from a painful fever.”

  “The monster secretes some kind of… fluids from its body. It heals wounds pretty quickly. It kept us alive, just so it could torture us more.”

  “...How is such a thing allowed?”

  “Who’s going to tell the nobles ‘no’? The guards know. The nobles know. The king knows. No one said anything. No one cares if a prisoner dies here. When you’re thrown into this pce, you are practically dead to the world.”

  “It’ll take more than this to kill me,” Amyra retorted.

  The man ughed dryly. “You’re not the first person with that kind of optimism. Even if you managed to escape the dungeon, you would still have to go through the guards above ground.”

  “They are not a problem,” Amyra said and took a seat on the floor, the part that was dryer than any other parts. She made sure not to lean against the wall. All sides of the walls were stained with god knows what.

  “Well, what did they get you for? Must have done something really bad for you to be thrown into this pce.”

  “You could say that,” Amyra responded dryly.

  “My companions and I were fucked over by a noble. We did something for him, and he refused to pay for our service. When we demanded our money, he framed us for a murder we didn’t commit. That was how we ended up here. What about you? Prejudice?”

  Amyra kept silent.

  “Come on. I told you so much about this pce. The least you can do is to entertain this old and weary bone. It’s only fair, won’t you say?”

  “Fair?” Amyra scoffed. “I wasn’t aware you were making a transaction. I’m the kind of person who honours a transaction. However, you did not make clear that this was supposed to be a transaction. Therefore, I am not obligated to tell you anything.”

  The man chuckled inwardly. “Fine then. Don’t tell me. But I can guess what you’re in for. With that tongue, I wager you offended some powerful people.”

  Amyra said nothing and closed her eyes. She had no time to be conversing with a stranger. There was much to do. She wouldn’t be in this pce for long. She needed to conserve her energy until the time to act. The man continued to talk, but she had long shut him out of her mind. She was no stranger to meditation. It was something she learned by necessity. It was dangerous to sleep in a conventional manner in the wild and in the dungeons. Danger was afoot at every turn and corner. She needed to be in a position where she could rest and also take action in a split second should the need arise.

  The man talked for hours, and Amyra let him be. There was no point in interacting with the man other than to stave off boredom. She was not bored. She was restless. She waited patiently for her master’s signal. There was no window here as they were underground. It was difficult to keep track of time, but she had years of practice to keep track of time without seeing the sun or the sky.

  It was an hour before dusk when a guard came before her cell, bringing with him a tray of food, two pieces of stale bread and two bowls of murky water.

  “Hey, ss, if you don’t mind, can you pass me at least half of a single piece of bread? You can have the rest.”

  Something caught Amyra’s eyes. Something was sticking out from one of the breads. She picked up the bread and delicately pulled out the curious thing. It was a rolled-up parchment. She took the parchment and pushed the tray to the man.

  “Oh? You’re giving me everything? You sure you don’t need anything from this tray?”

  Amyra gave no response to the man. She was focusing on unrolling the parchment. There was only one word written on the parchment.

  Now.

  Amyra smiled. “That was quick, Your Grace.” She crumpled the parchment and tossed it into one of the many puddles in the cell. She rose to her feet.

  The man was hastily gnawing and devouring the bread, and he stopped when Amyra stood up. He gulped down whatever he was chewing and spat out his question. “Lady. Don’t tell me you’re thinking of escaping this pce.”

  Amyra continued to ignore the man’s words and presence. She walked up to the cell door and simply yanked it off its hinges, which crumbled into rusty bits afterwards.

  “Damn it, you crazy Augur! Did you not hear what I said? Are you in a rush to get tortured by that monster?”

  Amyra made no attempt to be subtle and silent. She cast the door aside, letting it crumble into scraps and parts, while the noises bounced across the floors, walls, and ceiling.

  “What are you doing?! Are you trying to announce to the monster that you’re escaping!? Have you truly gone insane? Maybe you can take on the monster if your hands are not bound and you are free to cast your spells. But you can’t! The cuffs suppress your magic! Do you not know that?!”

  Amyra lifted her arms above her and bent her knee slightly. Then, she swung her hands down and her knee shot up. The cuffs and her knee cshed. She winced as the cuffs broke into pieces. The noise reverberated throughout the corridor.

  An eerie growl returned from the depths.

  “Oh, fuck! Oh, fuck! The monster… It’s coming! It’s coming!” The man dropped the tray that he pced on his p as he scrambled into the corner of the cell as if to hide himself from the monster. “Shit! Shit! Shit! The door’s gone. The cell’s wide open… What if the monster comes in and…” He trailed off in terror.

  The man wasn’t the only one musing in horror and fear. The prisoners in the other cells were also cmouring in fright and in silence. All of them had some experience with the monster, and none of them was pleasant. Whatever the monsters had done to them, it had been etched into their minds, hearts, and souls. The mere growl sent them cowering. Their fearful gazes followed Amyra as she strode through the corridor with a steady and firm gait.

  The corridor gradually widened as it went on, until it could fit three individuals walking side by side without feeling cramped. It was then that the monster emerged from the turn at the end of the corridor.

  “Eew… Why, hello there,” Amyra greeted with disgust and also fascination.

  The monster was humanoid, and it had some human features. True to what her short-term cellmate’s expnation, it was as if a human had fucked a beast, and gave birth to this abomination. The monster’s entire body was crooked, as were its limbs and neck. It looked like it could barely walk. It was limping with every step. However, it limped as fast as a person jogs.

  “What the fuck are you?” Amyra muttered.

  The monster cocked its head to the voice and saw Amyra. It’s physically distorted face brightened with curiosity and excitement. It scampered towards Amyra like a roach scuttling into the darkness from the lights.

  “Oh, fuck!” Amyra cried as she hurriedly prepared to retaliate.