Chapter 26 - The secret door

Stephan gazed at the scenery outside from his window. He wasn't taken back to the others but he was given a special room next to the head of the bandits. According to him, it was a privilege for entertaining him and making him laugh. However, it was more of a plan to keep the lad under his eyes. He knew too much to be kept in the cells.

There was a large statue then the gallows. Its feet were rammed into the ground far below. It was a thousand feet tall; all around it there was devastation aura and a sense of destruction. It looked like a giant tiger with an open maw screaming for dominion. Then, there was a glimmer of something on its neck.

"Shit! They took the pendant from the knights. I should have kept it; that what I get when I let some half-assets take my belongings. I don't have a trump card now."

He noted the pre-dawn sky, an angry red smear on the horizon. The statue was there for a reason, for a strange reason he didn't want to think about right now. He got to get away before they got to the tomb. It wasn't the best time to be there right now. It was dangerous for him and he wasn't confident he would come out of there alive.

He looked around the room; it was luxurious. He had the feeling he finally bought another coffee from Starbucks. There was no weapon around, which was expected. At least, he wasn't back in the cell with the others. They'd have to survive on their own momentarily. They have to jump the obstacles and try to bargain with the witch keeping the castle the way it was.

If he recalled the way Legend of the Past worked, he had to be in Valtrar now, looking for weapons and armours. Everything changed from the normal course of action. He was in the bandits den; a castle he remembered as the propriety of an ancient vampire who fell into madness and murdered his own family. He was supposed to be killed later in the game. It was supposed to be a haunted castle. The reason why the bandits didn't reach some parts of the castle… There was something sinister deep within in.

Stephan had never killed anyone before, even when he came to Masmoenia. He wasn't confident he would kill the two bandits guarding his doors or the ones patrolling the surroundings area. He knew a couple of spells but he had to get a sceptre to try them. He was in a tough situation and he had to think fast.

"What to do?" he bit his nails thinking. "He will probably leave me here until the day of the tomb raid. If I remember the way-out of the castle and they didn't temper with anything, I will find one in the old chamber of the ghost child. Still, I prefer to not go to the extreme and try my luck," he looked at his luck attribute and stopped biting his nails. "Maybe, it could work. Certainly, she gave me so many luck points. Maybe, I can survive danger even this time."

Well, he would never know if he never tried. Stephan felt there was more to that priestess than she showed. He had the impression she covered for him. If she was a real priestess, she would have known he was Maddock in person not another one. She simply acted all lovey-dovey with the bear man then looked at his with curiosity. Certainly, she must have known something.

There were a couple of rooms in the castle the head of bandits would never touch. It was safe for him from bandits but not the insiders. He opened the door wide and saw the pair of four eyes looking at him with surprise. "Can I get something to eat? I believe your master asked you to give me full attention. I admit I am flattered but there is no need to make so much of it."

"Then return to your room, baby Maddock. The boss isn't here to listen to your stories."

"I am really hungry. Your master wouldn't have asked you by chance to starve me. I am fifty shades tired of your lack of engagement. I shall ask the master himself when he would summon me," he slammed the door behind his dramatically.

The bandits outside taken by fear, one of them dropped his position and moved to the kitchens to ask for a meal for a mighty prisoner. In the meantime, Stephan was calculating how much time it would take the man to come back. He looked around the room remembering an old secret tunnel for escaping purposes. He went by all the bricks pushing each one of them. The bandit returned with a plate of meal; it was leftovers of potatoes and chicken breast. He thanked the man then pushed him outside.

"You understand you aren't in need anymore so keep watch over that door. You don't want your master to be angry."

The bandit looked at the spoon that was still in his hands and refused to give it to Stephan. He believed it would help him escape. "So what am I supposed to eat with?"

"Your toes. You would like it since you are such a funny boy. Aren't performers supposed to know how to use any part of their bodies to entertain? Now, use your toes."

Stephan shrugged then closed his doors. He resumed his activity of looking for the piece that would open the secret door but there was nothing by the walls.

"What are you looking at?" he sneered at a deer's head. It was on top of the chimney they didn't even bother to light.

He considered the ceiling but, who would place a mechanic switch on the ceiling?

"I just wonder if all this happened because I didn't forward that cursed message on my WeChat," he looked back at the deer again, pissed off because the frozen head was staring at him. He pulled a chair and stood on top of it. His hands attempted to take down the horns.

Click!

Something opened behind him. A door appeared in the middle of the chamber.