"What're we waitin' on?"
"That light there. Once it's gone, so are we."
"Takin' too damned long...my legs'll get numb."
"Shuddup, you'll blow our cover...!"
Niles listened to his two companions bicker while he kept watch on a light flickering through a window in the side of Castle Krakenburg. He and his group had managed to sneak past the first round of guards around the castle's border, but it was no easy task. The castle had little cover to use, even for a single person. When a shrub or tree came into their path, they nearly found themselves fighting over its use. Now the three were tucked uncomfortably inside an open awning right above an entrance into the window beneath. If only the person holding the candle within that window's room would move to a different room long enough for them to slip inside...
"Niles, they still there?"
Niles silently nodded his head, and one of them groaned. He heard a fist connect with the other's arm to shut him up, and the light inside the window began to fade. He held up a hand for their attention, but quickly returned that hand to keeping himself propped up beneath the awning. Despite his strength, keeping his body lifted in such a cramped space took nearly all of his concentration. That, in addition to the focus he gave to keeping watch and keeping silent, was agonizing. But he cherished the burn. It reminded him that he was alive.
The light was gone now. No sound of footsteps or speech, either. Niles mentally counted to ten to make sure their coast was clear, then hissed, "Now! Go!"
The three bandits dropped through the window silently and immediately flanked the door of the chamber on both sides. The smarter of his two companions, a man he had come to know as Biggs, peeked around the chamber door into the hallway. His head quickly emerged from behind the door, and the man whispered a swear.
"Butler moves far to slowly."
"Maybe we can give 'em some help?" suggested the stupider of his two companions.
"Don't be stupid, Wedge. That'll alert more guards."
"Not if we give 'em some coaxing."
"Fine, then, wise guy, you go. Don't get caught, though...!" Wedge was already slipping out into the hallway, and pulling a knife from inside of his cloak. Niles and Biggs watched from the safety of the chamber as Wedge sidled up next to the butler and brandished the knife beneath his chin. The butler gasped, almost dropping his candle, and Wedged gave a comforting "shhh..." before pinning his arms to his waist with his free hand.
"Evenin'," he whispered. "You move awfully slow, don't you? If y'say anything, I'm afraid my knife might just slip. I have a couple questions. I want you to click your tongue once for 'yes,' and twice for 'no,' got it?"
The butler was visibly shaking, but, after a moment of silence, Niles and Biggs heard the man click his tongue once.
"Good man. Now, d'you know where a man like myself can get his hands on some treasure in this side of the castle?" The butler clicked his tongue once. "Ah, great. Why don't you take me there? Remember, not a word...!"
The butler and Wedge began to quietly shuffle down the hall as one. Niles caught a look of skepticism in Biggs' eyes as he and himself slid into the hall and followed. They kept to the walls, glanced behind them often. There existed shadows of maps through connections the bandits shared of the castle's layout, but these maps were created by hearsay, educated guesses, and those lucky enough to have visited or escaped. None of the three actually knew how to navigate these halls, and felt guarded relief that they were able to snag a butler to guide them.
The butler turned down this hall and that. The castle seemed like a labyrinth. Wherever the butler was taking them must have been in the heart of the wing through which they had all entered. But after one final turn through the halls, the butler's attention was brought to something new. Wedge turned pale and swore with enunciation. Niles and Biggs quickly caught sight of Wedge's concern once they had joined up with the other two. The butler had led the three bandits straight to a pair of guards wielding broadswords, and the guards were beginning to make chase. Biggs passed Niles and ran ahead of him with Wedge in the opposite direction. Niles made to catch up, but glanced back at the butler to notice that no harm had come to him. He was sure that Wedge would have cut open the butler's throat out of spite before running, but he hadn't.
The three bandits ran blindly down the halls, trying to find an escape, but it seemed that the butler was no fool. He had led them to a section of the castle without windows as to prevent their escape. The three were able to keep the guards behind them relatively at bay, but they certainly were quick to be adorned in full armor.
A window finally appeared at the end of a long passage, and the three quickened their speed, eager to make their escape. Before they were able to reach this window, however, another guard appeared from inside an alcove in the hall, and reached out to grab them. Wedge shoved Niles into the guard's grasp, and Niles was quickly pinned to the floor.
"Bastards!" he shouted, and was kicked in the side for his outburst by his captor. He watched out of the corner of his good eye as his companions left him. The other two guards continued to give chase, but he knew they would probably escape. The guard above him was binding his wrists as the footfalls of the other two guards continued down the passage. He stopped struggling, which almost seemed to disappoint his captor, as the man jerked him to his feet and shoved him ahead.
The guard guided him at lance-point down more halls still, until they came to a door, and entered. The smell of decay hit him like a frigid gale, and he wretched. He was used to similar smells, but never had he experienced such a powerful smell of degeneration. He was thrust into a prison cell, where he landed on his shoulder. He cried out a sound that made his captor and the jail keep look at each other in disgust. The two of them would have reacted to the fall with agony, but to Niles, the pain was exquisite.
His captor kneeled hesitantly to shackle Niles' ankles to the walls, and closed the barred door behind him. Niles tested his chains once the guard was gone and the jail keep was occupied with another prisoner. He wasn't going to be able to escape this predicament.
Guess this means death, he thought, and allowed a strange sensation to fill his skull. This sensation only occurred when he pondered his own demise. It felt like his subconsciousness was reaching a door with a lock to which he had the key, but he was still unable to open it, somehow. Sometimes he wondered if the sensation was caused by his lack of knowledge for his place after life, but when he found himself close to the end of his life like this, he allowed the feeling to take its course. Soon he was unconscious, and faintly remembered wondering if he would even wake from his sleep before he passed out.