Shuttling through the inner palace, Jack hurried through the corridors.
The guards should've been on high alert, but the announcement of a Hell-flame Fox appearing within the city was to scare most witless. Too distracted by the thoughts of imminent death and destruction, the guards in the inner palace weren't too difficult for Jack to pass. As long as Jack was patient enough, he could sneak past without detection.
Eventually, Jack found himself standing in front of a dismal, poorly-lit staircase. The stone floor became more uneven with every step as if those who built it didn't care enough to keep a standard of quality. Jack descended in hopes to find Slivia and other survivors in the dreary lower floor.
A foul odor further embedded itself in Jack's nostrils with every step. It immediately induced a fit of dry heaving, forcing Jack to hold back his gag reflex. The scent of rotting meat and flesh was prevalent throughout the lower floor.
Doing his best to ignore the smell, Jack looked around the dimly lit dungeon. The only light came from small azure clusters in the middle of the ceiling and spread out every seven meters or so, and to Jack's surprise, he didn't find a single guard.
There was enough light for Jack to see the crudely made cells carved into the stone floor beneath the goblin queen's castle. The rooms were blocked off by heavy, wooden slats that crossed each other horizontally like they were crossbeams used as prison bars.
Those cells surround Jack, forcing him to carefully look into each one to not possibly overlook Slivia.
Jack found that most cells in this part of the dungeon were empty, except for a couple rotting corpses that had been there for at least a few weeks. Not finding what he wanted, Jack pressed forward against the wishes of his nose.
The further into the dungeon he went, the more he longed to turn tail and leave. That hideous stench grew stronger with every step forward, almost overwhelming Jack's senses.
Seemingly out of nowhere, a new scent intermingled with that of rotten flesh. It was alchemical and its source was fresher than the rotting flesh, strong enough to singe nose hairs if smelt to vigorously.
Curious about what the source may be and why such a scent was in a dungeon and not a laboratory, Jack pressed forward carefully.
It didn't take him long to pass another half dozen cells with no success. His hopes were dwindling slightly, but Jack stayed levelheaded for the most part. As long as he knew Slivia was still possibly okay, Jack wouldn't stop to blame himself.
Suddenly, Jack heard coughing from a distant cell. Eager to find a living being, Jack ran ahead and quickly removed his invisibility.
The coughing spasm didn't stop, it got much worse the moment Jack appeared in front of the prison cell. Startled by Jack's sudden appearance the figure inside the cell did its best to stop coughing.
Realizing that he probably did more harm than good by suddenly appearing without warning, he spoke quietly, "What is your name?"
There was no response at first, so Jack assumed that the figure might be too weak to do or say anything. "Here, eat this. It'll help." Jack held out a portion of jerky rations through the gaps of the wooden cell bars.
Without hesitation, the miserable figure pounced forward and dove to grab hold of the food presented to it. Like a wild beast, it tore the jerky apart piece by piece with its mouth.
Jack quickly noticed that it was a human female in her twenties contained within the cell, but something was off. She was stripped naked and only wore an iron collar around her neck that was attached to the wall by a heavy chain. Her body was covered in bruises, particularly around her joints as if someone had grabbed hold of her with too much force.
"What's your name?" Jack asked again.
There was no response from the girl, only a piercing gaze asking for more food. When she finished the scraps of dried meat Jack had already held out a second piece, which she snatched from him eagerly.
However, this again brought no response. For a third time, Jack held out a strip of dried meat. The girl lunged for the meat, but Jack pulled it back through the bars in protest. She wasn't mad or startled by not getting her food. Instead, she looked at Jack differently.
Before Jack could understand what that look meant, the girl sensually crawled toward the bars of the cell. She turned her rear toward the wooden slats and pushed herself up against them like this was a normal occurrence for her.
Jack was dumbfounded by what was occurring in front of him. He had never personally seen a naked woman in his life, let alone have one act so daring in front of him. But the sight of this girl appalled him and filled him with disgust.
In her eyes, Jack saw no life or intelligence. It was like he was staring into the eyes of a farm animal waiting to be fed.
"You won't get anywhere with her."
A weak voice came from the next cell over, pulling Jack's attention away from the girl's lifeless eyes. With a few steps, Jack walked over to the next cell and looked carefully inside.
In the back, a figure was propped up against the wall. It moved slightly and coughed to clear its throat before it said, "Who are you?"
"I'm Jack, with the association. Who are you?"
Jack heard the rattling of multiple chains, at least double the amount used to restrain the previous girl. The figure forced itself to its feet, struggling with every step it took forward. As its face came into the light, a clear image of an unshaven face came into view.
"My name's Byron Balt…" He paused, taking a moment to catch his already weak breath. "If you can get me out, then I'll get you anything you ask."
Jack's ugly face returned to a pleasant smile, "Good, you're still alive."
"What?" Byron was taken aback by Jack's weird comment.
"I don't know you, but I know your father. Don't worry, I'll get you out of here," said Jack, glad to see a grin appear on Byron's face. "How do I get you out of there?"
"You'll need the keys, but that's the hardest part," answered Byron. "I've only seen one key and it's currently with the jailer."
"Okay, where can I find the jailer than?"
"You don't understand." Byron's grin disappeared as if it had never existed. "It's hard to believe, but the jailer is a troll."
"Okay, but where is he?" repeated Jack, unfazed by Byron's revelation.
"Umm," caught off guard by Jack's casual tone regarding a troll, Byron took a moment to reply. "He left not too long ago. Not sure why by some goblins came to tell him something and they left together with a second troll following behind."
"How many trolls are there?"
"Down here I've seen a few but only two have been around for the past couple days," answered Byron.
"Are they the ones who caused that?" Jack pointed a finger to the incarcerated girl.
Byron took a deep breath before he answered in a pained voice, "Yes, yes they are. And that's not the worst-case either." His eyes glanced at a few of the surrounding cells, indicating where Jack could find similar or worse cases.
Clenching his fists to the point where he nearly drew blood from with his fingernails, Jack took a few breaths to subside his anger. He looked Byron square in the eyes and said, "Have you seen a female cleric brought down here recently?"
Byron blinked and responded, "Yeah, she's a little further up. She's fairly new here so I don't think they've—"
Jack ran towards further into the dungeon without finishing his conversation with Byron. He didn't want to waste a single second until he knew Slivia was okay.
A few audible grunts and the occasional question would reach Jack's ears, but he wouldn't respond because none of them were Slivia. Carefully yet quickly examining the content of each cell he passed, Jack blew past eight cells before he stopped in his tracks.
There on the floor laid a girl whose blonde hair acted like a beacon. She was stripped like every other prisoner, but she only had a few small bruises and scrapes, most likely from their party's journey and not from torture or anything else.
"Slivia," Jack spoke loudly, trying his best not to shout.
"Hmm…" She tossed and turned as she curled up to try to cover herself up. Slivia glanced up, her facial expression changing from a look of disgust to a look of surprise and relief. "Jack!"
Her lively shout caused Jack to loosen up a bit, finally feeling a little better now that his heart was at ease.