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Scales and Honor: Emerald Secrets

Chapter 12: One Curtain Revealed

Veledar felt Lyyreth come to a complete stop around one hundred feet in front of the large stone walls. Veledar noticed the small cracks within the stone, a clear sign of being produced by magic. Within the wall was a fifteen foot wide, twenty foot tall gate made out of dark brown wood. Veledar spied the same little cracks within the wood as the wall. So this too had been constructed by magic. The little red dragon put a claw to his snout and gave a loud, “hmmmmm"

From the top of the gates came of two guards clad in full plate armor. They shone silver from the sun overhead, and they wore enclosed barbota helmets. One of the guard undid the latch on his helmet and swung it open so Veledar could see his worn face. The grizzled looking man had a large scar over his left eye, and had thick stubble over the lower portion of his face. The man looked like was snarling as he held his energy crossbow with one hand. The other guard just stood their with his cross bow held.

Veledar figured that perhaps the gryphons had seen Arcturus' tabard, and that is why they currently did not have the crossbows pointed at them.

“Lucky dey not shootin at us." Merlia whispered.

“Who goes there?" the guard with his face mask off shouted. Veledar could see spittle fly from the mans mouth. He wrinkled his muzzle in response.

“Arcturus Lund!" Arcturus shouted, “Paladin of Lumara!"

Veledar watched the man look nervously to the armored one, and said something that Veledar could not hear from this distance. The man than turned back and jabbed a finger towards Merlia and Lyndis in turn.

“Who are they then Sir?"

“We're his hired bodyguards!" Lyndis shouted, “Paladin wanted to go through dangerous territory!"

Once again the man turned towards the one with his visor down, whispered something yet again and than turned back to face them.

'Why not arrive by airship than mi lord? It seems like the safest and easiest option!"

“Never trusted them in the first place!" Arcturus replied with a grin. “I prefer the feel of an animal carrying you along the way."

The guard than turned around and waved to something Veledar could not see. He figured it was another person behind the gate.

“So what are you here for sir? It is most strange to see a paladin out this far and unannounced!"

“To burn the fort down" Veledar whispered in a snicker. Arcturus held up a hand and covered his snout, silencing him for a moment.

“Surprise inspection of the facility of course!" Arcturus shot back, and Veledar moved is snout around the hand.

“Inspection?" the man replied, confusion in his voice apparent. “We were not told about any inspection!"

“That's why its a surprise" Veledar whispered again, rolling his eyes.

'That's why its a surprise!" Arcturus shouted.

“Hey that's what I said!" Veledar said, nipping the human on the ear. “If your just going to copy me, I should be the one talking to them!"

“Knock it off Veledar." Arcturus whispered back, grabbing the dragon and pulling him away from his ear.

'Well can you give us a few hours to verify that your supposed to be here sir?" the man yelled, “You understand ri....." he suddenly stopped talking.

Veledar turned to see that Lyndis was slightly holding up her left hand in a cupping motion. Although not so apparent was she doing it that the other guard noticed. She was muttering something under her breath, Veledar figured some sort of spell.

“Well you must have had a long journey, please come in side and relax!" the guard suddenly continued, turning once again give little quick waves to inside the fort. If Veledar had to guess the spell Lyndis had used, he would have bet that it was a charm person spell. Simply because of the sudden reversal of the man's actions. They stood out their for a few minutes longer before a smaller door opened from the gate.

“Aww I was hoping we could start burning things" groaned Veledar.

Although this was certainly safer.

“Just head inside and Bor will lead your horses to the stables." the guard saluted to Arcturus before once again fastening his visor on his helmet. Arcturus returned the salute. Veledar decided of course to join in and offer his own salute with a wing talon.

“Your going to get us caught" Arcturus whispered, as Lyyreth started walking towards the gate.

“Oh hush Arcturus, if things go wrong you have three dragons!"

“That doesn't mean we should not be careful."

“Fine I will try to refrain from doing anything that will ruin this totally made up plan of yours." He replied, giving Arcturus a sly grin. He watched as the human returned it and rolled his eyes.

Veledar turned his snout back towards the doorway that had opened in the large gate. Standing near the door was apparently the guard named Bor. The man balding man was human, with a soiled tabard on that had a stain in the upper right hand corner.

“Your Bor than?" Arcturus asked the man, Veledar watched as the human gave Bor a look up and down, from his soot colored hair to his dirt colored boots.

“That would be so" gulped the man called Bor. “Pardon the appearance sir, we don't get paladins out here often."

“I can see that with my own eyes Bor." Arcturus said, his voice like ice. Veledar started snickering to himself. It was hard to not picture Arcturus as a dragon right now, going in making demands. Heck he even inspired fear in that man just like a dragon might have.

“So I was told you were to take us to the stables, I suggest you take very good care of these horses. They can be quite temperamental at times." Arcturus said patting Lyyreth on his flank, causing the one dragon to give a loud snort.

'Of course I will sir, treat them like they were my own!" Bor replied with another large and audible gulp. Bor than turned and led them through the fort. Veledar observed the man walking at a much quicker pace than was usual for normal humans he had observed. He figured Bor was just trying to get this over with as soon as possible. Veledar decided to look around at the numerous buildings within the fort, all made of dark brown wood, with grey rooves that were shaped like triangles. Hanging from these rooves were of course banners of brown, depicting the golden gryphon of Lumara. Arcturus would whisper out what each building was as they passed it. Veledar was silently thankful for this, having given really no thought onto the human structures beside flammable.

“The barracks" he said, pointing to the first building they had passed. It was much larger than the other ones, clearly meant to hold lots of mortals within. There were several more guards coming and going out of the barracks main door, who gave off quick salutes to Arcturus. Arcturus of course returned them as was expected, and Veledar fought the urge to give one as well. He stayed relatively still on his humans neck.

Best not worry them too much after all. Perhaps they would believe he was a simple familiar after all. Just a small harmless familiar.

He grinned to himself at the thought. They were of course going to have a nasty surprise if things went south.

“Avery" Arcturus whispered out next, pointing to the large structure that housed the gryphons. Veledar looked up to find a grey gryphon lying down on the wooden spires flat top, watching them with his golden beak. The kitty birds green eyes followed them the entire time they were within eye shot of the thing. Veledar tried to pay attention to the next few buildings but only really caught the name of them, as he paid them little mind.

“Armory, recreational hall, latrine..."

Veledar wrinkled his snout at the smell of mortal excrement. He hacked in disgust into Arcturus' gambeson.

“Well that's odd." Arcturus than said in surprise.

“What is dat lad?" Merlia whispered back, finally breaking her silence. Veledar had to had to had to hand it to her, it was practically a record that she had stayed quiet for so long.

“Bor whats that building over there?" Arcturus asked, pointing to a rather drapbuilding that looked like it went into the earth. Veledar would have guessed it was an entrance to a mine. “That typically is not in any of the facilities I have inspected before."

“First time in a facility like this sir?" Bor asked, turning his head to look back to Arcturus, “That's the prison sir, it holds our guests until they can be interrogated."

'Prison?" Arcturus' face once again had the color drained from it. Veledar frowned as he remembered their first conversation about it, and how Lyndis had yelled at him. He could almost feel the paladin's heart sink as that word had been uttered by Bor. Arcturus fell silent after that until they were brought to a rather large stable considering. It had many stalls for the horses, with Veledar spying at least six more of the animals from within. Outside the grey wooden stable was a rather large stack of hay, roughly ten feet across and five feet tall. Arcturus dismounted Lyyreth and led him to a small enclosure at the front of the stables, that already had two white horses within. He patted the horses head and guided him into it.

“Behave" he called to Lyyreth, who only looked at him and snorted.

Arcturus than simple stood there as if he were rooted to the spot. The color on his face had not yet returned and he seemed to be staring out to the horses.

“Whats the matter Arcturus?" Veledar whispered into his ear. He hoped Arcturus was not taking this too hard.

“All these years I've helped set up places like this" Arcturus replied after he looked back to make sure Bor was out of earshot. Which thankfully the man was keeping his distance, Veledar chuckled at the intimidated human.

“Instead of schools, and places of learning, I helped set up interrogation prisons." Arcturus ran his hands through his brown hair and took a deep breath. “I joined the military Veledar to help people, I convinced people to surrender, believing I was doing what was right. Instead the people that surrendered ended up here."

Lyndis brought Cordenth over, and led him into the pen as well. Veledar saw her eyes meet Arcturus. Now Veledar thought she might give him a I told you so look, or maybe rub his face in it, however that never came.

“Well we came here to do a job. Figure it's about time we do it." she said in a whisper.

“You okay sir? She said loudly, “You look like your going to be sick!"

“Just fine Lyndis really. It's just a lot to think about and process all at once." Arcturus sighed, before turning back to Bor. The guard was currently counting something to keep himself occupied.

“So Bor I would like a tour of the facility if you wouldn't mind." Arcturus spoke, straightening his back.

“Is that thing around your neck coming as well sir?" Bor gestured to Veledar, who was still curled around Arcturus' neck like a fashion statement. Veledar had been surprised it took so long for someone to mention something about him. He was honestly a tad disappointed it didn't happen at the gate.

Probably were too busy pissing themselves at being inspected by Arcturus.

“I AM NOT A THING WHELP, I AM A DRAGON!" Veledar roared as loudly as he could back at Bor. The man just gave him a smile and laughed.

“Really it talks? That's adorable!" Bor softened his voice and spoke as if he would to a child, “I think you might be a tad too small for a dragon."

“I am too a dragon! This human here captured me and keeps me as his slave." Veledar pretended to faint on Arcturus' shoulders. “He takes me everywhere with him!"

“Do you mind?" Arcturus asked, “He gets kind of fidgety if left alone around horses."

“Sure" Bor gave Veledar another smile, “He doesn't look like he can get into much trouble anyway. Should show him off around to the men, they will get a kick out of him. Now seriously is he a dragon?"

“Yea but he didn't eat right so he never grew larger than you see here." Lyndis said almost laughing.

“Hey!" Veledar hissed, turning his snout back towards her to bare his teeth. To which Bor just laughed some more. “He things hes intimidating, it's so adorable!"

Veledar squinted his eyes at Lyndis as Arcturus started to follow Bor for the tour. He gave her a look of fury with his eyes, hopefully she got the meaning. She however just smiled and laughed at his little display.

“Hey remember it's not permanent and don't take everything so personally." Arcturus said, patting the dragon on his scales. 'this is only temporary."

'"I know that." Veledar spat out in a groan. He laid his snout onto down on Arcturus' gambeson, “doesn't make me like being smaller than all of you." He than perked his head up, '"I can go inside with you now!"

“Yes, thanks for changing the plan. Hopefully you don't have any more in store for me."

“You think I'm going to let you go into our enemies fortress and get hurt? Your my way into your kings castle!" Veledar exclaimed, playfully smacking Arcturus with his left paw across his cheek. “Shame on you."

Arcturus rolled his eyes, and Veledar watched him fight the urge to scold him. However Veledar knew he was being cute right that second, and the human could not find it within himself to do so.

Bor gestured them to follow as he led them towards the barracks from before. “Figure we show you around the place we stay the most" Bor said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. “Guess the captain will be surprised and all."

“That's the idea" Arcturus replied, not looking at the man.

Bor lead them to the wooden door of the barracks. Upon its rough wooden surface was a crude picture of a gryphon, with barracks spelled out in golden letters. Bor opened the door with a creak. Inside the barracks were bunks that lined the walls, neatly made with off white sheets. Trunks were at the foot of every bed for personal belongings. Bor led them through the area that was relatively spotless except for the stray article of clothing.

“See nothing out of order in here" Bor smiled at Arcturus, showing off that he was missing a few teeth.

“except for the clothes of course" Lyndis added, pointing out the shirt that was tossed on the floor.

“Well except that of course." Bor gulped again, as his face started to turn red. “Which place would you like to inspect next sir?"

Veledar watched Arcturus think for a moment. Placing a hand to his chin. Veledar figured he might choose the armory, and figure out what kind of weapons this place had. Although he figured Arcturus might want to meet this captain of the place, he sounded important. Veledar was not too familiar with the terms the humans were using for people but the man sounded important. He was probably important enough to send a message to the king. Veledar grinned mischievously, as he curled his tail around Arcturus' neck.

“Can you bring us to the captain? I figure it's time I went over my inspection with him..personally."

Veledar watched Bor gulp again at the last word. He was surprised the human did not soil himself that second.

“Of course sir." Bor turned towards the exit, and nearly fell over. Causing Veledar to erupt with hissing laughing, to his disappointment Bor caught himself on the wall. His face once again turned a bright red. He than led them passed the towering aviary, were that same damn gryphon from before was still perched. Once again Veledar found himself watched by those green eyes. He of course stuck his pink tongue out at the gryphon. The gryphon gave no reply to the tongue, only thumping it's grey tail against the wood it laid upon.

Veledar could not help looking to Lyndis and Merlia, who were busy looking to the towers around the fort. They were most likely looking to the energy canons mounted on the towers, probably thinking of a way they could disable them. Course if they were going to do that, they would need an excuse for the two to slip away. Veledar figured of the two Lyndis would be perhaps better at shutting down the cannons, she was trained as a thief after all. He turned back to face Bor as he heard the human stumble yet again, this time on a patch of brown earth. Veledar only snickered for a moment, how they had recruited this clumsy man to guard anything was beyond him. It reminded him of the guard that would not face him from within the airship he had been held captive.

Veledar looked up at the building that Bor had lead them to. It was made of stone which was the first thing Veledar noted to his disappointment. It had the same cracks as before, showing signs of being produced by magical means. It had one window that he could see, although he imagined it had a window at every other wall as well. Bor stood up to the door and opened the door with a loud announcement,

“Got a paladin here for a surprise inspection captain!" Bor than waved for them to come over and enter the building.

Inside Veledar got a good look of this man that was refereed to as the captain. He was sitting at a large wooden desk with stacks of paperwork. He wore a simple off white tunic with a brown tabard. The man had his left hand sweeping his short black hair, as his brown eyes lifted up from the paperwork he was currently signing with a large blue quill. The man raised his head to reveal that he had a large mustache under his nose, that looked more like a large bushy caterpillar had simply decided to take a nap there.

“Do come in ole chaps!" the man said, dropping his quill and standing up to greet them.

It was very apparent he was much shorter than Veledar's companions, in fact he was much shorter than all the mortals he had seen walking around the fort for that matter. Veledar figured he was roughly only half his height when he was in his true form with his head held high. The man raised his hand towards Arcturus, obviously wanting to shake it.

“Always nice to meet a paladin, although a tad bit surprising I must admit!" he continued, as Arcturus grasped his hand firmly and shook it. Veledar saw Arcturus try to remove his hand after a few moments, but the captain seemed to hold firm and extend the handshake for a few more awkward moments.

“Names Captain Bertram Therus! However you probably already knew that I'm sure!"

“Arcturus Lund" Arcturus than pointed towards Merlia and Lyndis, “These are my companions Merlia and Lyndis. I could not have made it here without them."

“And who is this little bugger?" Therus asked, getting his face a little too close for Veledar's liking. So Veledar of course let out a hiss at him.

“Hey mind where you stick your nose!" he barred his teeth, and thrashed his tail against Arcturus' armor with a small ding.

“Oh its simply so cute! Were did you get it? That would do wonders to boost morale I think!" Therus went to touch Veledar with one of his big fingers.

“I will bite your finger human!" Veledar narrowed his eyes

Therus quickly took his finger back, and focused back on Arcturus', “So what will this inspection of yours start my boy? I am sad to say we are not used to inspections out here, we generally get left alone!"

“The usual, covering mostly everything. The reason for the inspection captain is someone of great power has their eye on this facility."

“The King?" Bertram gasped, “Oh how I have wanted a promotion, oh tell me its the king Arcturus!" He clasped his hands on either side of Arcturus' pauldrons.

“I am not at liberty to say of course" Arcturus removed Bertram's hands as if he would something repugnant.

Veledar liked how Arcturus was able to still tell the truth but somehow not do so. See there was his human thinking like a dragon.

“Well I certainly hope we impress! I guess I should show you around eh?" Bertram than looked passed Veledar and the others to no doubt Bor who was still there. “Bor go to the kitchens and have them whip up what we can for our guests!"

“This should not take that long captain" Arcturus held up a hand in protest.

“But you must be weary from the long journey on horseback. Let us get ya a meal for the end of the inspection!" Bertram smiled.

“or at least for ya body guards! I feel like I be dyin of hunger!" Merlia spouted out, “I also haven't had a good drink in a dogs age!"

“Very well than" Arcturus said to the man, although Veledar figured it was just to appease him.

This seemed to work as Bor ran off to the kitchens to relay Bertram's word. The captain on the other hand guided them out of his building and back out into the fort without a word. This time when they started walking around the place they had Bertram as their guide instead of the soiled little guard Bor. Although the man had an interesting mustache Veledar was just a little disappointed he did not trip, stumble, or anything along the way. The entire time Arcturus had the man in conversation and was asking tactically sound questions. Like the defenses of the fort, weapons able to bear, and how many guards were stationed here. Bertram revealed there were forty guards stationed at the fort at any given time, and had rotating shifts to keep it covered at all times. They had three gryphons that lived here to keep the place from having any surprise visitors. Bertram bragged about the four energy cannons, boasting they could probably defend against one of the smaller airships Lumara had if they were forced to. Without skipping a beat he revealed they had enough energy crossbows for all the men stationed there, including some new models that Bertram seemed to be excited about. He promised to put on a demonstration before the day was over.

“How many prisoners do you keep locked down in the actual prison?" Arcturus asked, as they passed the entrance to the place. Veledar watched Bertram's eyes fall upon it, sigh and than instantly turn back to the paladin.

“We have about twenty inmates at any given time,based on who gets sent here. Sometimes its a bit more, sometimes its less. Anyway that would the end of the tour!" Bertram clasped his hands together.

Veledar looked around. It certainly did not seem like it took them that long to inspect the place. He shook his head and figured he must have zoned out while Bertram had prattled on about the place.

“So shall we get that meal I promised you and your companions? You must simply have the quail I had shipped in from Entis. It is absolutely divine paladin, melts in the mouth!"

“You never showed us the detention area!" interrupted Lyndis, pointing to the entrance they had stopped in front of.

“Oh right you are miss Lyndis, but you really wouldn't want to go in there." Bertram brushed his mustache with his left finger, “Its really a pleasant place to be."

“I of course do" Arcturus crossed his arms and said sternly. “I need to inspect everything after all, and you do want me to see everything right captain?" Arcturus raised an eyebrow as Bertram started to squirm.

“Aye paladin, it's just that if you haven't seen it, it can be a bit much at first." Bertram sighed.

“How so?"

“Well paladin, the prisoners are tortured for information after all. It can be a tad......messy at times." Bertram held up his fingers to show a small amount.

Veledar winced slightly at the mention of torture. Now he of course was no stranger to killing someone that had attacked him. Claw, tooth, tail, fire, spell, he had done it all in his life. However it had always been quick, and sometimes painless for his victims. He wrinkled his snout at the idea of someone deliberately inflicting that pain on others.

“Well I do have to be thorough" Veledar watched Arcturus gulp, and felt some of his muscles in his neck tense. Perhaps the human shared his thoughts on torture as well. He shook his head.

Of course Arcturus hates torture, how could he not?

“So what do you do with the ones that are finished being......interrogated?" Arcturus spat out, with disdain in his voice.

“They are brought away by an airship Arcturus. It comes when we request for it. Some mages arrive, clear us out and head down into the prison." Bertram himself seemed to be uncomfortable talking about the subject as he continued, “whatever they do down there must be awful though" Bertram visibly shuttered at the mere thought, “The screams that are let out are awful."

“Wait you don't witness the mages preform whatever it is they are doing?" Lyndis asked, “are you sure they are even taking the people?"

“Well no, they have us wait until they are finished. Surely they must take them with them, there is no body left behind!" Bertram started to fidget, and Veledar could see a bead of sweat on his brow.

Well isn't that certainly odd.

“That's odd isn't it?" Veledar whispered to Arcturus as Bertram started walking over to the prison entrance grumbling to himself.

“Yes Veledar it certainly is, I have never heard or seen of this group of mages." Arcturus whispered back.

“Well if you want to go down and see the prisoners, lets get this over with" grumbled Bertram as he made his way over to the entrance door. “Don't say I didn't warn you of course Arcturus."

Arcturus followed as he mentally prepared himself for what lay ahead. He followed Bertram through the door he opened. It led to a long set of stone stairs, that lead down towards a dark abyss. It seemed the building that the door was on was merely for show, as with a quick glance Arcturus could see no where else they could go but down. He felt Veledar shiver around his neck, the first time he had done that. Bertram grabbed a torch that was on the wall and lit it. The flames casting a dim ominous light down the steps.

“Something feels wrong here" Veledar whispered in his ear as the dragon continued to shiver. “Old magic was here.....dark magic."

Despite what the dragon had said, Arcturus could feel no such difference. Certainly the ominous feeling was there, but nothing like the dragon described. How he wished he had the ability that dragons had to somehow sense magic. It would have come in handy so many times over the years. He followed Bertram down and felt the air get thicker the longer they walked down the stairs, with only the sound of their boots. With each one his mind started to tell him to go back, his mind horrified at what could be possibly going on down here. All in the name of Lumara. The dragon as if could feel his emotions tightened around him. Not painfully but reassuringly, like as if he had clasped a claw on his shoulder.

“Stay strong Arcturus" the dragon said softly into his ear, “I am here."

Bertram stopped in front of yet another door. It had a black frame, and a large copper colored knocker. Bertram grabbed it with his free hand and knocked three times. Each time he did so it rattled the door and echoed up the stairway.

“Well ain't this the most happy place ye could be" Merlia grumbled from behind.

'Well it is a prison" Lyndis said softly.

“Dwarf prisons be better. First off we got more lights, second off it be warmer, third off."

“Shh" Arcturus held a hand to his mouth, cutting off the dwarf.

“Did he just shush me?" Merlia whispered, “Ta bastard shh'd me!"

The black door opened with a thud as wood hit stone of the next room. Arcturus followed inside with Bertram to find four guards sitting around a wooden table playing cards. The small room was lit by two lanterns on opposite walls. The room seemed to be only fifteen feet by fifteen feet, and made out of the same magical stone that the walls had been made from. The guards stood up one by one to greet him, each one snapping off a salute. Arcturus noted that there was an elf, half orc, human, and a gnome.

“As you were." he said quickly, to a thankful sigh from them.

“This lot of course guards the exit of course. They do a smashing job if I say so myself." Bertram chuckled, “Although IF the prisoners escaped they wouldn't have much energy left. Than we would send the gryphons after them."

“Can you show us some of the prisoners?" Arcturus asked calmly, 'I want to see what our resources are being spent on guarding."

“Well right this way then paladin" said the half orc with a gruff voice. He stood up and walked over to the furthest wall. The man picked up a ring of keys before starting to rifle through them. The half orc fumbled for a minute with the keys, trying to find the right one. Although Arcturus did not know why, there seemed to be no other door in this room. Arcturus heard Veledar sigh as the dragon buried his snout into his neck with a groan.

“Found it!" the half orc exclaimed as he lifted up a large brass key. He than took the key and pressed it against a tiny portion of the wall with a grin. Suddenly from the spot the wall seemed to fragment to form the shape of a door. Arcturus gasped as it started opening sideways to the right. When it was finished he could see a typical jail cell area. It was large, much larger than the room they were in now. It had a long hallway that was roughly forty feet, with cells lining the whole way. The bars seemed to be made of cast iron, and once again had the same cracks as the wall. Bertram stepped up first and gestured for them to follow him along the hallway.

The first thing that Arcturus noticed as he stepped into the jail area was the smell. It was an overpowering smell of urine, sweat, and excrement. He felt as though he was going to be knocked down by the mere stench alone.

“Thors beard" Merlia coughed, pulling out a cloth and covering her nose. “That smells worse dan an oxes ass!"

Veledar of course started hacking in response, and tried it seemed to melt into Arcturus' gambeson “Ahhhhhh" the dragon moaned in agony.

“As you can see this place is not exactly fit for one such as yourself paladin." Bertram coughed, and gesturing for Arcturus to come further into this place.

“Carry on, I need to see everything after all." he managed to say, fighting the urge to wretch all over the floor. Although with a grim face he realized it would not be the worst smell within this place.

“Very well." Bertram sighed, “Stand up straight everyone! Let your better get a good look of your wretches!"

Arcturus looked to the people he was talking to in the cells. They were all of different races, sexes, and sizes. However they all wore the same look of defeat.

'Well there we go" Bertram said, as all the prisoners stood up and watched them enter. “Let me remind you paladin, I did warn you at every step to turn back."

Arcturus felt his anger grow as he looked to each tired, worn, scared, bruised, and dried blood covered face. With a horrible thought he realized that even if the Emerald Lady wanted them it would have been better than this. He could not believe his own people were treating others this way, worse than the dragon that had cursed him. Worse than the dragon that held herself above everyone else.

“I am aware of what you have been saying." he finally struggled to say, squashing his growing anger down into his gut. “Now show me this torture room of yours" he scowled.

“So what are their crimes that they deserve to be here?" Lyndis asked, gesturing to the large mass of human suffering.

“Some are thieves, enemy soldiers, and traitors." Bertram walked, pointing to several as he called out each title, “I feel no sympathy for these lot, besides the work we do here keeps the kingdom safe."

“And that lets you sleep at night? Knowing what is right here beneath your feet?" Lyndis asked, nearly shouting at Bertram.

“It does madame! Now paladin tell your underling to watch her tone with me." he snapped, holding a finger pointing at Lyndis.

“LISTEN HERE BERTRAM, HER VOICE IS AS GOOD AS MY OWN! SHE CAN ADDRESS YOU HOWEVER SHE SEES FIT. DO YOU UNDERSTAND? Arcturus bellowed, “DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" he shouted again when Bertram did not answer.

“Yes sir!" Bertram cried, covering his face as if he were about to be hit. Veledar gave out a little laugh before resuming his hacking.

“Hes trying to kill me! I swear to the gods above! Veledar cried between gasps and his constant hacking.

Bertram, who was now shaking, led them over to a far wooden door that had a wooden bar across it. It sat between two other doors that looked exactly like the middle one, just lacking the wooden beam.

“Lady Lyndis!" a half naked man shouted from one of the cells. He held his hands out as far as they could reach, and grasped hold of her.

Arcturus on instinct drew his sword as Veledar gave a little tiny roar, than resumed hacking.

Lyndis' eyes went wide as the man shook her, “He was looking for you Lyndis!" the man cried with a raspy voice.

“Let go!" Bertram shouted, as the half orc came running down the hall with a club. With a loud smack of wood against flesh the man recoiled in pain to his cell. Bertram than turned to them, clasping his hands together.

“Well now that, THAT distraction is over with we can get this over with! I would very much of course love to get to my dinner." Bertram casually turned around and walked towards the door once more.

Lyndis slid up to Arcturus, “I know that man." she whispered, covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

“What ya need is a few dwarven stink clearers!" Merlia shouted, walking towards Bertram. “Cause dis place stinks worse than a trolls backside caked in its own filth!"

With Merlia engaging Bertram in conversation Lyndis raised her voice slightly. “He was one of Gerald's men......right I never mentioned that." Lyndis frowned in realization of that fact. “Anyway he was a friend of mine. You have to trust me when we need to save him."

“What did he do?" asked Arcturus, raising an eyebrow. He looked up to Merlia once pointing to all the prisoners.

“He was a pegasus knight. If he came here......" Lyndis sighed than started to stumble with her words, “t-than my people are in big trouble."

“So plea......"

Arcturus held up a hand to silence her, “come now Lyndis, I trust you. How else would we have made it this far?"

“You really know how to ruin a convincing speech." Lyndis grinned.

“He has a habit of doing that." Veledar groaned.

“So what do you need?"

“I just need a few minutes alone with that man. See what he knows about Gerald's whereabouts. I need to know what happened to my friend."

Arcturus nodded in understanding. He thought back to all the times Gus, Elizabeth, Matilda, and Swift wing had helped him through the worst two years of his life.

“Don't you worry Lyndis, Veledar and I got this handled."

“Excuse me? Lyndis don't believe him, he has told me nothing!" Veledar hissed.

“Excuse me Bertram?" Arcturus asked loudly after clearing his throat. Thankfully he had stopped a conversation about setting the whole cell block on fire to clear it of the stench.

“Yes paladin?" Bertram twitched slightly.

How had this spineless man get in charge of this facility?

“Lyndis here would like a few minutes alone with the prisoner that grabbed her."

“Oh I see." Bertram said with a smile forming on his face. “Going to put a little hurt on him for touching you." he waved to Lyndis, like he was sweeping with his hand.

“Don't worry I get it, I truly do. Although I may need a bit of compensation to turn the other way......" Bertram held his hand out towards Arcturus, clearly expecting a bribe.

Arcturus sighed and took out five gold coins from his pouch, and pressed them roughly into Bertram's hand.

“Thank you good paladin, now my dear which was the one that grabbed you?"

Lyndis pointed to the man from before, who was currently still rubbing his arm were the club had struck him.

“Okay my dear, we must have some ground rules however. There really is only one though, there will be no killing involved. The interrogators need to record his information before he is done away with.

Lyndis nodded in agreement as she cracked her knuckles. 'Don't worry, I don't plan on it. Just gotta show him who he messed with."

Bertram waved the half-orc over again to open the cell, and pull the frightened man out by the scruff of his neck. The man gave a pained yelp as he was thrown into one of the rooms. They all stepped inside as Merlia stayed outside, already starting to chat it up again with the guards and Bertram.

“So wuts it like workin in a shit hole like dis?" he heard Merlia shout.

“Princess Lyndis!" the man cried, as he hugged her tightly. 'I thought we would never find you, after the kingdom surrendered I feared the worst!"

“They surrendered?" Lyndis asked in disbelief.

“I thought you did not care for politics when you left princess?" he asked, confusion in his tired voice.

“I'm not, but surrender? Things must have gotten worse than I thought!" Lyndis gasped.

“Days before your mother and father met with the Lumarian ambassador to discuss a treaty your mother told me to find you. They did not seem to know where in Lumara you were, but Gerald always seemed to have an idea."

“He had a sending stone." Lyndis replied softly, “Do you know where he is?" Arcturus heard the concern in her voice. He must have been really close to her.

“H-he was brought down to the lower chambers several days ago princess. If he survived he will be down there..." the man paused as his eyes widened in fear, “They never come back from down their princess!" the man started hugging himself as he started shivering.

“Thank you " replied Lyndis, hugging the shivering man and patting him on the back gently. “I am so sorry ....." Lyndis turned to Arcturus, “This is Harold. Harold this is Arcturus and the dragon Crimson Sky. Outside stalling the guards is another friend of ours called Merlia.

“A dragon?" gasped Harold, his eyes falling to Veledar around Arcturus' neck. Veledar rose his little head and Arcturus felt his chest swell. “I figured he would need to be a bit bigger to help us princess."

“I get bigger!" Veledar snarled, “I am only like this human so that I may fit in this dungeon!"

“I am sorry Crimson Sky" Harold hung his head. He waited for a moment before turning back towards Lyndis, “What is the plan milady? I presume you are here to free us all? If so what about the cannons on the walls, surely we will not get far!"

“Well we had to improvise" Arcturus said grimly, we also have two more dragons on the surface shape changed as horses."

“T-two more dragons!" Harold gasped, “Than this is really a rescue." he continued, starting to tear up slightly, “I prayed to the gods but I never thought...." Harold hugged Lyndis once again tightly.

“How m-many of your flight are still left?" gasped Lyndis in the tight grip of the man. Only for a moment though as with a quick squirm she freed herself from Harold's grip.

“Only us princess." Harold said, “the others were dragged kicking and screaming down below." Harold's eyes widened as he spoke, almost as if he were watching it happen right in front of him. He than shivered, “I can still hear their screams when I close my eyes."

“Okay, Okay! Times up!" Bertram yelled from the other side of the door.

“Don't worry, I'm done!"yelled Lyndis, giving Harold a quick nod of assurance. “this will be happening soon. Get ready to go."

“I live to serve princess" Harold replied, kneeling before Lyndis.

“Not a word dragon." whispered Lyndis under her breath, as she gave Veledar a look of anger and pointed her finger at him.

The dragon was grinning on his small snout, showing off his white teeth. “What?" he asked, “I like it when you act all royal. It suits you."

“I'm sorry" Lyndis said as she opened the door, and threw Harold to the floor in the main area. He landed with a pained grunt as his knees hit the stone floor.

“And take that you swine!" Lyndis yelled, taking a triumphant step back into the jail area.

“Yes milady, I won't touch you again!" shrieked Harold, as he held his hands up as if Lyndis was going to kick him. The half-orc just grabbed Harold once again by the scruff of his neck and dragged the man back to his cell. Slammed the door, and than once again locked it behind him.

“So now that your guard has got that out of her system, shall we continue?" Bertram gestured to the door leading downstairs.

Arcturus looked back to the guards to find Merlia had joined them playing cards right along side them.

“Ya go on without me lad! I am going to school these chumps at their own game!" she laughed, picking up a pair of cards. She wore a grin on her face as she gave Arcturus a wink. He nodded in return, she was up here just in case things went down south below.

“Yea lets get this over with." Arcturus replied, walking over to the door Bertram was beside.

“Smashing!" Bertram replied, as he opened the door quickly. The hard wood scraped against the stone loudly. He saw Lyndis tighten her grip on her rapiers, he knuckles practically going white. He felt his own heartbeat quicken as he neared the door. Once again Veledar just whispered into his ear, “Stay calm, stay calm." over and over. Arcturus took a step on the steps leading even further down. He took a deep breath and continued to follow Bertram down into this hellhole.

Bertram warned them to turn back one more time as they came to yet another door at the bottom of the steps. He of course told him to open the door, causing Bertram to sigh and open the door. The torch that Bertram still held lit the dark room they were walking into. It cast long shadows, that painted everything dark thing in an ominous light. Arcturus simply had no words for what he saw in the torchlight. It looked more like a butcher had been in this room, just by the amount of dried blood that painted the stone floor in a layer of misery. There were numerous torture devices around them, from one designed to pull your limbs apart one by one, to one that jabbed a very long rod down your finger. Arcturus stumbled for a moment as he saw a seat stained with blood. There were instructions on the wall near it detailing where to cut off limbs, and how to attach them using healing magic. He felt dizzy, and nauseous. He could almost hear the screams that must have echoed within this chamber, no doubt crying for help that never came. Lyndis was silent as her face turned red, she started several times to talk but could not find the words.

“You do this to people." Veledar said in shock, his snout scanning the area. Than wrinkled his snout, and gave Bertram a death glare.

“Not people, traitors, enemies, and criminals. Here is where anyone set on harming Lumara ends up." Bertram replied, Arcturus almost heard pride in his voice. He felt his hand clench up in a fist as he recovered from his nausea. His fury literally making him forget about it.

“It ends today!" he said, the anger dripping from his words.

“Y-You monsters!" Veledar hissed, “You actually do this to one another?"

“Yes, now that you have seen this place sir. We have a dinner to get back to?"

“LYNDIS!" a ragged voice called out from a blood bruised man chained to a wall.

Lyndis gasped and sprinted to the man. Kneeling and embracing him with a firm hug.

“Gerald, I thought you might be...." she said, tears forming in her eyes.

“I had a job to do, promised your mom I'd find you." Gerald replied, wincing in pain from the effort it took to talk.

“Take it easy" she held his head in her hands, “We'll get you out of here. You will not stay like this a second longer."

“Excuse me?" Bertram suddenly shouted, pulling a knife from his pouch “You certainly will not be taking him anywhere!" he turned to Arcturus, “Paladin I think you may have hired a spy by mistake."

Arcturus drew his sword in one motion and let it talk as he held the blade to the man's throat. Veledar jumped off of his shoulders, and changed size to be that of a large dog.

“Drop your dagger," Arcturus snarled, “This horror show ends today."

“Who are you really?" gasped Bertram, as the long swords blade cut him slightly. “Your not a paladin of Lumara."

“True" Arcturus replied with a satisfied grin, “I am ARCTURUS LUND PALADIN OF BAHAMUT!" he kicked the man hard in the chest to the ground. Bertram landed with a pained thud as he hit the floor. Veledar pinned him to the ground instantly, his claws digging enough into Bertram's chest to draw blood.

“We need this scum alive don't we?" the dragon asked, twitching his tail slightly.

“We need someone alive to send a message, might as well be him." Arcturus replied. He looked up to what happened around him, and could not think of a fitting punishment for the man. What would suit a man that would allow this much suffering, and simply not care about it.

“I suggest you stop struggling" Veledar snarled in Bertram's face, letting drool drip onto his face. “Or I might slip and take a chunk out of you."

Bertram gave a grunt of pain as Arcturus saw Veledar dig his claws further into the man's chest.

“Thankfully Arcturus was here to save you." the dragon continued with a hiss as his tail twitched again, “Or I would have killed you for what you have done."

“Understood!" Bertram cried out. His eyes looked towards the stairs leading up, “GUARDS!" he shrieked out. “WE HAVE INTRUDERS THE PALADIN IS A........." those were the only words he got out as Veledar sliced his throat with his left claw. Bertram gave a surprised gurgle as the flesh sliced open with ease, spilling his blood profusely onto the floor. Bertram struggled for a moment as his blood mixed with dried blood of the victims of this room, before he struggles faded and he went limp.

With sword in hand Arcturus turned towards the steps. No time to chastise Veledar over killing the man, it had been a split second decision he was sure. His ears listened for the sound of chain mail, shouts, and boots. However all he got was the breathing of his friends, and the clicking noise of Veledar's claws on the stone as the dragon made his way to him. Lyndis propped Gerald up, his chains were now off. Arcturus figured in all the commotion the rogue had simply picked them. She carried the man to the bottom of the stairs with determination on her face.

“Do you need any help?" Arcturus held out a hand and gestured to the two.

“I'm fine" breathed Gerald, “just physically exhausted."

“I can heal you with but a touch, it will get you back on your feet." Arcturus held up his hand.

“They tried healing magic already. That's what they do, they torture you than heal your wounds." Gerald spit back at the corpse of Bertram. It landed on the dead man's face with a wet splat.

“So save yer healing, it wont do me any good. Best save it for the fight ahead. I hope you brought an army with you Lyndis."

“We have better than than." Lyndis stepped onto the first step with a smile, “We have dragons with us...Even if one of them I sometimes a pain in the arse." She looked back towards Veledar.

“Hey!" Veledar hissed, “Your not so easy to deal with yourself princess." The dragon preceded to hold up his snout and duck behind Arcturus for a moment. When no reprisal happened from the her he emerged once again. Arcturus than took the initiative and started making his way up the stairs, passing Lyndis as he did so. He heard Veledar bound after him, his claws scraping the stairs.

“Oh so ya tink yer tough!" came a shout from above. It was the sound of Merlia, than the smashing of a wooden table. “That what ya call hittin tough? Me mum hits harder den dat!" Arcturus heard the sound of more wood splintering as he bounded up the last few steps towards his friend. He found the dwarf standing over a broken table with her red hair thrown back. She was currently punching the human guard in the face, than let him slump to the ground.

“What took ya so long lads? I had ta mop da floor with dese ones!" Merlia laughed, gesturing to the half orc who apparently had been tossed through the table. “Did this with nothin but me fists. Dese lads never knew what hit him."

“Did you offer them a chance to surrender?" Arcturus asked, as Merlia started rifling through the guards bodies.

“Aye I did, shoulda seen da look on their faces." She then held her hands to her hips, “Why should weh surrenda to you? Yer just a wee dwarf!" Merlia than cracked her knuckles, “So I showed em what a wee dwarf could do!"

“Did anyone of them get out to warn the surface?" Arcturus looked to the unconscious bodies only counting three. The gnome was clearly missing. Veledar strolled over and started rifling through the people's things as well.

“Aye, the gnome bastard decided to run fer it while da odaa two jumped meh." she grumbled, “So we can expect trouble when we git up dere."

'Found the keys!" Veledar exclaimed, as he sliced the leather strap holding the keys to the man's belt. Arcturus stowed his blade, as Lyndis walked over with Gerald and set him down.

“I presume yer Gerald?" Merlia asked, with a smile. “Lyndis wouldn't stop talkin about how pretty ya were!"

“Merlia!" Lyndis shot back, as the dwarf just chuckled. Gerald himself also gave a pained laugh.

Lyndis then went to every cell with the key and opened each cell door, with a thankful cries from the occupants. Once all of them were freed, and every cell was empty did she pull out the stone and hold it so they could see. She explained in detail how to use the stone, and were they were going to end up when they did so.

Arcturus imagined there would be some resistance to the idea that a green dragon wanted them as subjects, however there seemed to be none. They however seemed to be grateful to the Emerald Lady that she had sent them to rescue them. They were just grateful we had gotten their to save them before they went down below, and were never seen again. The prisoners grabbed the stone in groups of five, and did the require activation technique. Arcturus watched as every single one of them was enveloped within a purple magical cloud, before disappearing with an audible pop. Gerald was the last one to grab the stone, and seemed surprised when Lyndis explained she was not going with him yet.

“Why not? You got us all out! Now you can leave Lyndis!" he pleaded, “You might get killed up there, we just found you again."

“We have two friends above Gerald, besides I think we have to burn this place to the ground anyway." She turned back towards Arcturus and the others, “Right?"

Arcturus gave a firm nod, Merlia responded with an “aye", and Veledar just cackled with glee.

“Don't worry about me Gerald. This is literally not the most dangerous thing I have done recently."

Gerald seemed convinced by that statement and preformed what was required to activate the stone. The he to vanished with a popping sound.

“So shall we crush dis place beneath our boots?!" Merlia chuckled, unslinging her oath bow and knocking an arrow.

“I just cant wait to see this place bu...." Veledar stopped to look towards Arcturus, as if wondering if it was okay he finish that statement.

“It's okay Veledar,I want to see it burn as well." he replied, causing Veledar to grin. “Than you have come to the right dragon Arcturus! I specialize in burning horrible, horrible places to the ground." Veledar swelled his chest up as he strutted over towards the door leading to the surface. Arcturus readied his shield as he walked through the doorway after the dragon. He passed Veledar, placed his shield in front of him and walked up the stairs.