The sun slowly descended and began to remove what little color painted the cramped and deteriorating dungeon cells. The cold night air blew a frozen kiss against Strom's cheeks confirming the perfect time for his escape.
Quietly standing up from the wall in the back of his cell, Strom stretched his frozen joints and attempted to warm himself up through different movements to increase circulation. As he did this, he also began to rub his hands together quickly while muffling the noise he made to an absolute minimum.
Electricity sparked between his fingertips as his hands inched apart from each other.
'Now, let's go see what these government officials are up to.'
As much as Strom wished he could race after the supposed Aaron, he knew that the mission came first. Now that he had the intel he needed from the Zephyr military, all that was left was political information.
Even Strom could understand the importance of not only military intel but also political. With such diverse intel it would make it much easier to decipher the Romans' next course of action in order to finally finish this war. And right now, the second part of Strom's infiltration needed to be completed in order for this to come to fruition.
Muffled crackling pops of static electricity resonated around Strom's body as he walked over to the old metal bars of his cell. Clasping two bars that were adjacent to each other in each of his hands, Strom began to transfer the static electricity into the metal while shaking them.
A low drumming sound echoed in the silent dungeon amongst the sound of dripping water impaling the stone floor. As Strom continued to strum the cell bars like the strings of an instrument, he could slowly feel the bars beginning to become loose at their two oppositely attached ends in the floor and ceiling.
After a few more minutes of replicating this same procedure, Strom removed his hands from the two bars with satisfaction. Feeling that he had weakened the foundation of the bars enough through the intense vibrations, he took a few steps back in his cell and studied his dark surroundings to make sure none of the guards were still present.
'Looks like I won't be seeing any guards until I escape into the main corridors.'
Although only a day had passed since his incarceration, Strom had meticulously studied the shifts and patterns of the guards that were in the vicinity. By quietly listening to the footsteps in the small barracks and noting the rooms he passed while being taken in for interrogation, Strom had a rough idea of the building's layout and what rooms those footsteps were coming from. Currently, there should be at least two to three guards in the mess hall leaving one to remain guarding the door at the corridor to the dungeon cells.
The only real threat that was posed for Strom would be the commander of the guards or head jailor. However, after hearing some earlier complaints from some of the loudly drunk guards in the mess hall, which was relatively close to his cell, he knew that the commander himself was probably passed out in his quarters from his usual drinking habits.
'This kingdom really is filled with slobs... And they actually believed they could withstand the Empire in this state... What a load of bullshit.'
Gathering up all his strength in his legs, Strom kicked off from the back of his cell and lowered his shoulder to embrace the impact when he collided with the two cell bars. Due to his previous preparations, the two bars bent a little from the initial assault before easily giving way to the momentum provided by Strom.
The bent bars rattled on the stone floor and rocked like two misshaped cradles before falling to their sides to rest. Strom stood up from the floor next to the broken bars outside of his cell and patted the grime from the dungeon floor off of himself.
Then, without sparing anymore time in recollecting himself, he rushed over beside the old wooden and metal door leading out into the corridor from the dungeon.
'Huh... I thought the guard would have become alerted by that commotion by now.'
No sooner had this thought crossed his mind, the creaking hinges of the wooden door beside him fixed his attention.
"What's with all this racket in here!" Complained the fat guard who entered from behind the opened door. The poor spear used more like a cane scraped against the stone floor as the fat guard hobbled into the dungeon.
The guard's eyes widened behind an overweight and scrunched nose as they landed on the bent bars on the floor at the end of the cells.
"What the fuc-"
His initial alarm was ended as two arms wrapped around his large neck from behind the other side of the opened door and locked together in a death grip.
"Y-You Ba-"
The small struggle finished in the matter of seconds as the broken sound of the guard's tubby neck silenced the dungeon followed by a loud thud on the cold stone floor. Strom's soldier like figure emerged from behind the fallen man as he bent down and retrieved the unfortunate spear from the dead man's grasp.
"Looks like you will finally be seeing some action today my friend."
With a weapon now in his hands, Strom exited the cold damp dungeon and crept towards the light illuminating the floor of the long corridor in front of him. Farther down the hall to the right, he could still faintly make out the drunken clamor from the remaining guards, but seeing as it was now dying down, Strom figured it would not be much of an issue.
As he crept closer and closer to the illuminated doorway of the mess hall the drunken noise from within began to increase again.
"Hahaha! Did you guys see that foreign broad that came in earlier? Damn, what I would give for a special one on one interrogation with her!"
"Hehehe, come on Derek we all know that if any of us were to have a chance it would be Marco over here."
"Ah shut up Simone! With all the dirt and grime your tongue lathers up from the commander's boots I'm surprised you still have any taste left for Marco's!"
"What was that you slimy bastard!"
"Come on guys, you saw the treatment that rat from the slums gets. I really don't know what Amira sees in that piece of trash but one thing is for certain."
"Ha and what's that Marco?"
"With him out of the picture no one could stand a chance against my charms!"
"Wow I didn't realize a comedian was on shift tonight!"
"Watch it Derek! Or do you want to end up like that rat from earlier, or better yet, that disgusting Roman dog?"
"Yeah yeah... What's going to happen to that bastard anyways?"
"Well from what I know from the new decrees passed down by the king, any captured Romans, after questioning of course, is to be executed by the end of the week."
"Serves those dirty bastards right!"
"And if all goes to plan, that little slum rat will be following along with those roman dogs as well."
The drunken provocations and laughter grew as the grip around the spear in Strom's hands tightened.
'Looks like that kid really does have some big problems growing here...'
Strom carefully inched closer to the doorway of the mess hall and slowly peered around its frame.
Just as he had assumed and heard from the intoxicated conversation earlier there were three guards slumped in their seats around a small wooden table.
An absurd amount of alcohol resided around them next to cards scattered about the wooden table. Two of the guards leaned back in their chairs with spears similar to the one in Strom's hands propped up beside them, while the largest man in the group adorned a longsword at his waist.
'This might have been slightly tricky but thanks to that liquid poison their senses should be quite dull already...'
Just because the guards were already putting themselves in a disadvantage did not mean Strom could rest his guard completely but it surely made the whole ordeal much easier.
Silently slinking over towards the wooden counter next to the open doorway, Strom made sure to stay alert and keep his unwavering attention focused on the drunken guards' stupor. While ducking behind the two-to-three foot counter, he carefully rummaged around his surroundings for any other viable weapons.
After sinking his back slowly against the counter while avoiding knocking over any of the other bottles around him, Strom looked at the few useful items he had gathered. On the floor in front of him were various mixed items he determined could be of use and widen his advantage when confronting the guards. Some thin but relatively durable string that banded some of the liquor boxes, a few shards of glass from some discarded bottles, and dull metal knives from utensils he had found laying around would be added to his arsenal.
After arranging his ragged assortment of gear Strom slowly peeked his head back up from behind the counter.
His targets in question were now beginning to die down from their previously heated discussion with the most rowdy amongst them passed out.
"It's been awhile since we last heard from Hugo..."
"Ah that fat bastard is probably drunkenly beating up the prisoners again since Amira put him through the works earlier. I wouldn't worry about his sorry ass."
"I know but the shift change should've been like five minutes ago."
"Man, that Roman dog is probably really going through now! Hahaha!"
As the laughing guard bellowed and leaned back in his chair, exposing the unguarded portion of his neck between his armor, the sparkle from a shining shard of light, reflecting the torches on the walls, whistled through the air and embedded itself deep into his flesh.
The loud bellows turned into a shocked choking plea for life as blood silenced his laughter before the chair he was sitting on fell backwards with a thud.
The concerned guard next to him widened his eyes with shock before flipping the wooden table and diving behind it. The passed out guard who had been resting his head on the table groaned as his head smacked the floor after having its wooden support pulled out from underneath.
"Whaaaa..."
Still in a daze from the drinking, the lazy guard stood up in anger as he glared at his colleague slouching behind the moved table.
"What was that f-"
Another glittering piece of glass found its way into chinks of exposed flesh.
"Aaaaarrrggghhh! What the fuck is going on!"
Shrieked the confused guard while grasping the side of his neck.
"We're under attack you fool! I think he's hiding over there behind the counter!" Yelled the guard from behind the safety of the table after seeing the direction from which the projectile was thrown this time.
"Damn... Looks like I missed a vital this time..." Murmured Strom disappointedly as he stood from his revealed location with a smirk.