{Warning: Rexlius Harus (student) has been taken}
[System update: 1/2 students saved. Timer: 42:22:18 remaining.]
Rexlius... taken... Rex... taken...
42:20:54... 42:20:53... 42:22:52...
My eyes darted to particular words on the messages that displayed before me. Rex... taken... someone took Rex and there's only forty two hours left. I looked around to get my bearings. I couldn't see much as the whole camp was blanketed over in a sea of darkness as all the fire pits were out.
The only light that shone was the moonlight. I looked up to see the moon was in full and was about to set which meant it was passed midnight. I got up from my spot and looked around in a panic. I checked all my students and counted them in my head just to make sure. Every time I counted, there was always one number less. Nineteen students... one is missing. I looked at all the sleeping faces and Rex wasn't among them. I pinched myself in hopes I was dreaming but to my dismay, I wasn't.
Wait... wasn't there supposed to be a night watch keeping watch? I tried looking around for her. I slowly crept to the other fire pits, to the spot where I waved to the young girl and she wasn't there. I knelt down to one of the girls and inspected her. After a minute of prodding, I soon realized that she was out cold. They all were. I rushed back to my students and they too were out cold.
Wait... then why am I awake? I walked over to the fire pit and inspected the pot that had the stew and immediately smelt something was off. The stew itself with its rich aroma must've masked this drug's smell but now that the content was gone, the stench of the drug fumed in the pot creating a musky stench inside. Whoever placed the drug into the stew, must've done it during our training session where Garret was no where near it.
I looked myself over and blew a breath into my hand and smelt it. Along with my sleep breath, I could smell a hint of the drug yet I'm still awake. At this point I tried to piece some of the information I gathered together to see if there was a picture forming.
The uneasy feeling I felt during the demonstration with Garret and Rex, the girl that was supposed to be on night watch is missing, the drug that was mixed into the stew and the fact that I'm awake. Beside me being awake as something akin to me and not the actual case, the other three puzzle pieces formed a plan.
I felt my heart palpitating as I pieced the clue together and racing against the clock to save Rex. Every second Rex was missing was every second I was slowly losing him. He could be anywhere and if I don't find him, then by tomorrow he would be lost forever.
The king's guards must've been the ones I was feeling uneasy about, though I couldn't see them, from the story the guard told, it was definitely them. The girl who was supposed to be on night watch was no where to be seen which suggest that she's an accomplice. The king's guards must've poured the contents of the drug into the stew whilst we trained.
The female knight must've been a spy that kept tabs on the silver hawks for the king. Relaying important sensitive information to the king about the company's loyalty to him. From my memories of the silver hawks in my previous life, they would never side with the king.
Beads of sweat dripped down as I constantly watched as the timer ticked down.
42:08:47... 42:08:35... 42:07:55...
Shit. I had little to go off in finding the whereabouts of Rex and I wouldn't be surprised if the people who took Rex had outside help. I desperately looked for any clue or trail the perpetrators had left to hopefully lead me to them. Unfortunately, it was too dark so I couldn't see anything below my waistline.
As time ticked on, my anxiety increased and that was when a image popped up showing the king's guards dragging Rex away. Rex was a big kid so it took multiple people to try and move him. The image then showed them dragging Rex towards the direction of the palace and that's where I needed to go.
I took off, skirting around all the female knights in hopes of not waking them and sprinted towards the palace as fast as I could. I was not a runner by any stretch but the adrenaline and fear pushed me forward. I followed the image down some stairs to an underground passageway into what's looked like the dungeons.
The dungeons were one of the few places in the palace that we were forbidden to enter. The dungeons I've read in books at the library housed the most dangerous criminals within the kingdom and the ones that kept watch over them were the king's guards...
As things slowly fell into place and became clearer, I could finally see how convoluted the system was within the palace walls. There were no stories of the dungeons written in the historical books but I knew deep down the reason why they forbid us.
Though without solid proof, I suspected that the dungeons were used as a torturing place to break down people for either information or cooperation. Because down in the depths, who could hear your screams for help.
My heart raced as I quietly rushed down the stairs to the bowels of hell. The first thing that hits me down there was the stench. The fowl stench of rotting flesh, old blood, fecal matter and some kind of dampened, murky wet smell which made my lungs swell and I went down into a coughing frenzy. The stench was so strong, I could feel it burning the hairs in my nostrils.
If the guards conducted their business here, how in the earth did they survive the smell? If Rex was really down here, I needed to get him out of here fast. The smell itself was torturous enough, let alone anything else. I pressed my mouth and nose into the crook of my arm in an attempt to block the smell as I ran down as quickly as I could to the bottom. There was a door at the bottom of the stairs, locked.
I tried pulling and pushing against the door in hopes that the dry rot had made an impact on the wood. To my surprise, even though the door was not affected by dry rot, the hinges that connected the door to the wall was completely rusted. As I pushed onto the door, the hinges creaked. I applied as much pressure I could onto the door and the hinges just broke apart.
The door fell down with a thump as I landed with it. I took in a couple of deep breaths in hopes to regulate my breathing again, as the g-force knocked most of it out, when I landed onto the floor with the door. I had another fit of coughs when I realized that I breathed in the air and this time the full force of the stench hits me as if the door was acting as the barrier keeping the smell in. The smell was so overwhelming that it caused me to dry heave as the contents of the stew I had a few hours ago wanted to resurface as vomit.
Thankfully that didn't happen though it did leave a fowl taste in my mouth. I picked myself up and cautiously enter the dungeon. At first I hobbled along trying to shake of the pain before I went into a jog. I ran straight through the corridor and it felt like I was running through a sewer tunnel. The corridor felt icky and humid and the stone walls looked like it was coved in grease or slime. It looked oily and I centered myself as I ran hoping I don't bump into the walls. It was still quite dark as I ran down but my eyes was adjusting... that's good.
I ran down until I reached the end and the corridor forked off into two direction, left and right. Both of the new corridors were shrouded in darkness, so I couldn't see where the corridors led to but thankfully, the image that was helping me find my way, showed them dragging Rex through the left one.
I ran down the the left corridor until I heard a faint voice in the distance. I couldn't tell what the contents of voice said but as I got closer, words started to form.
"Join... You should forg... em..." Though the voice was still distant, I could feel the frustration in the tone.
"I... ver.. ion you!" Replied another voice which I recognized as Rex.
I picked up my pace as I felt my heart thumped in my chest only for me to slow down into a crawl. I was going to rush into an area filled with the king's guards without a single plan. I needed to think logically or this would end, not only for me but for Rex too. I needed to come up with a plan quick before...
"Ah!" I heard Rex's voice echoed down the corridor. Shit! It's happening, they're going to torture him until he breaks.
"Ah!" This time his voice was louder as if he was screaming at the top of his lungs.
I quickly speed walked the rest of the corridor until I saw lights at the exit. I didn't leave the darkness of the corridor though, as the darkness kept myself hidden from the watchful gaze of the guards a few feet ahead. I counted two guards ahead of me as they stood in front of a door. Since the guards where right there in a dimly lit area facing towards the corridor I was currently hiding in, I knew they would spot me as soon as I tried to sneak out.
{Partial 'Mastermind skill' unlocked.}
{Partial 'Mastermind skill' activated (A helping skill: mirror image(James))}
My eye nearly bulged from my eye sockets, that's James's stealth skill...