Chapter III: Trial

oo0O0oo

"Borin?" I asked in disbelief as I stared into the dark cell. "I that you in there?" I only heard a soft grunt in response. I quickly took the bunch of keys I had stolen from the Ra-Kachar and opened the door. I ran inside and kneeled down next to the bed.

My ex-roommate stared at my face for a while, before slowly opening his mouth and whispering: "You got any food?"

I nodded and quickly stood up to run back to the room with all the confiscated items. I took some bread out of the box I had seen, and while running back just made sure the Ra-Kachar was still unconscious.

I brought the bread to his mouth and he started to eat. After swallowing, he coughed and muttered: "Some water would be nice too." I went after some water, and after he drank, he tried to sit up. "And if you would get me out of here, it would be appreciated as well."

I grinned. "I come to rescue you, and you're already commanding me? 'Thank you' would have been nice as well, you know." He hadn't changed one bit. He had always been of the rebellious type. It was actually a miracle he had managed to stay out of the dungeons for sixteen years.

I put his arm around my shoulder and helped him stand up. His legs were weak, and he had to hold on tight if he didn't want to end up on the dirty floor. Come to think of it, the dungeon floor might have been the only dirty floor in all of Noradz.

As we slowly left the cell, I turned my head toward him and said: "It's nice to see you again after all that time."

"Yeah. Wait, how long has it been?"

I counted in my head. "How long do you think it has been?" I replied when I lost count at three months.

He frowned. "If I think of how long it felt, it should have been more than two years. But judging by the amount of food I received, it can't have been longer than one week."

I felt bad for him at the thought of how little food he ate in more than three months. "Yeah, it was about two, three weeks," I said in a calming tone.

When out of the cell, I turned right. "Wait, what?" Borin asked. "Isn't the exit that way?"

"Look, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I didn't come here for you."

"Good. Because if you did, I would have wondered what took you so long."

"Again, you can thank me whenever you're ready," I said. "But I have to go free another prisoner."

"And how were you planning to explain my sudden freedom?"

"I didn't plan anything, I didn't even know you were still alive. But for the other prisoner, I had planned to get him out of the city."

"And how did you plan to do that?"

"I don't know, okay? Aren't you the expert of sneaking around in this city?"

A silence fell as we continued moving deeper into the dungeons. "Look, it's fine if you want to go and free whoever they locked up in there, but I'm really tired from doing nothing for three weeks, so could I just stay behind and… cover you?" he said in a tired voice, breaking the silence.

"Fine," I said as I slowly placed him down against the wall. "Wait here."

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere."

I continued my way through the dungeons, quietly shouting Alstred's name from time to time. None of the cells seemed to contain a prisoner, let alone one that was alive and conscious.

About twenty cells after I left Borin, I suddenly heard a soft response. I looked around, and suddenly saw Alstred's face behind one of the iron grids. "What are you doing in here? What if they catch you?"

"I'm here to rescue you," I said as I grabbed the keys and started to unlock the door. "They were going to keep you in here forever, until you starved to your death. It's my fault you got in here in the first place so…"

"How are you going to get me out of the city?"

I ignored his question as I opened the door and cocked my head to the door at the end of the seemingly endless dungeon. "Come with me."

He followed me as I walked back to the exit. Halfway, we came across Borin, who was still lying where I left him.

"Who is that?" my two companions simultaneously asked.

"Alstred, my roommate Borin, Borin, Alstred." I picked up my friend and placed his arm around my neck as I guided the now free prisoners to the door. "I don't exactly know how the two of you can escape the city," I said as I reached out to the doorknob of the heavy oak door that went back to the narrow guard room, "But there is this place called the Hole…" I explained as I opened the door, after which I abruptly stopped.

I was staring right at the red mask of First Ra-Kachar Reece.

I instinctively took a step back, to which he responded by taking a step forward. He grinned as about three other Ra-Kacharz came up from behind him, their whips in their hands.

"Where do you think you are going?" he asked threateningly. "Do you not know you are not supposed to leave your sleeping quarters during the night?" He grabbed his whip and rolled part of it around his hand. "And by the looks of it, there are plenty of other unclean things you are guilty of," he added with a look at my companions.

"Guilty! Guilty!" the Ra-Kacharz emphasized.

"We will have trial at dawn! Clean Noradzeer!"

"Clean Noradzeer!"

oo0O0oo

It was not the first trial I had witnessed, but it was the first one where I was on this side. I was standing in the middle of the room, Alstred behind me, sustaining Borin, who was still very weakened. In front of me, the Nine were seated, Reece in the middle. The large fire in the room cast an orange glow over their red uniforms.

Amongst the crowd that was spectating from the sides, I spotted Tira. She looked scared and worried. I couldn't blame her. Most of the people who had stood here before me, were never seen again.

The sound of a gong echoed through the trial room.

"Borin of Noradz and Alstred of Rithmere," Reece spoke, "You have been found guilty of attempting to escape the dungeons without permission. Therefore you shall be punished. Clean Noradzeer."

"Clean Noradzeer!"

The gong was heard again.

"Robin of Noradz, you have been found guilty of breaking the curfew laws, helping prisoners escape and committing violent acts against a Ra-Kachar. Therefore you shall be punished. Clean Noradzeer."

"Clean Noradzeer!"

"Since you have lead them to break the laws of cleanliness, you shall decide over your fate. The Sacred Cup shall speak."

Oh no. Not the Sacred Cup.

A man in a black uniform brought forth the shining cup and placed it in front of Reece, who showed two cards. One of them had LIFE written on it, the other DEATH. I gulped.

"You will choose a card from the cup, and that shall be your fate. Clean Noradzeer."

"Clean Noradzeer."

Reece lowered his hands to place the cards in the cup. At the very last moment, I could've sworn I saw suspicious movement on the LIFE side.

"Unclean one, step forth and choose a card from the cup."

My heart was racing as I followed his orders. As I lowered my hand into the cup and I could feel the two cards on the bottom, I looked back at the two who had just lost their short-lived freedom again. I shouldn't have gotten them into this.

I closed my hand around one of the cards. I closed my eyes and slowly retrieved the card that would decide about my life from the Sacred Cup.

"Show us the card you have drawn."

I opened one eye to look at my card, and my heart skipped a beat.

DEATH.