Adam massaged his head for a moment. The blow to his forehead had left him with a throbbing lump. He despised headaches, but they seemed to have a fondness for him, never leaving him be.
"No, it can't be," the boy mused, studying the iron bars, searching for any sign of rust or even a crack, but they were all flawless, despite a thick layer of black grime covering them. A few more kicks made it clear to the boy that he wouldn't be able to force his way out. He'd have to use his brain. He could think better if it weren't for that horrible smell that pervaded the room. Something like stale sweat or old corpse. When he wrinkled his nose and looked around for where the dead body was, Asaf burst into laughter.
"If you're looking for the corpse, it's right there, with blond bangs and a leather jumpsuit," the boy laughed, pointing at Arm. The Skunk... it made sense now; the boy's smell was truly unbearable. Curled up in his hole, Arm did nothing but ignore the comment.
Struggling to accept this olfactory decay, Adam thought about how he could reach the hole in the wall. It was big enough for him to fit through, but it was too high and quite far from the bars. If he climbed to the top and jumped, he'd probably be able to grab on and escape that way. There was no other option. Adam planted his hands on the bars near the wall, on Asaf's side of the cell.
"What are you going to do?" Asaf had returned to the corner where he had been sitting earlier. Adam paid him no mind.
The black grime covering the iron bars oozed through his fingers. When he clapped his hands in an attempt to get rid of it, he only managed to spread it further. "What the hell is this?" thought the young man, starting to feel anger coursing through his body. After rubbing his hands on the wall, Adam attempted to climb the bars again, but the grime didn't yield space for a firm grip. More of it clung to his hands.
"What the shit is this?" Rubbing his hands on the wall again, another thick black layer stained the stone. Adam tried to climb the bars a third time, but the same thing happened.
"That there is dirty pig lard. Seems like the more you remove it, the more it comes back. We've tried everything you can think of, knight. Believe me, you won't get out of here unless they want you to."
"How do you know I'm a knight?" Adam finished cleaning his hands on the wall while trying to control his fury.
"Oh, they told us when they threw you in here. Asked us to treat you well." Asaf smiled, showing remarkably white and intact teeth.
"In other words, they don't want us to kill you," Arm turned towards the boys, rising again from the hole.
"Rested enough, Skunk?" Asaf taunted. Arm's discontent was evident in his eyes, but he said nothing. "Anyway, the guard who was at the door ran as soon as you started waking up. I'm surprised they're not here already."
"How does a sheriff from an abandoned citadel have a cell this size?" Adam never expected to get into trouble, let alone be captured. It was true that fights followed him, mostly because of his uncontrollable anger, but a prison like that wasn't made for common criminals. Even the hole where the light streamed in was over a meter thick. Digging through those stones would be impossible, and the iron bars, thin as they were, were numerous and covered in that incessant goo.
"These cells don't belong to the sheriff. This is the royal prison of Ard Jabal," Asaf looked around as if he admired the stone and metal that bound him.