Up in the tower, Alastor lay on the floor where he had landed, a bit dazed. He was still wearing the knight's helmet and armor he had put on earlier so he didn't suffer any fatal injuries. When he made it to his feet, he turned around to find the Princess Charlotte lying prettily on her canopy bed.
"How an earth could she sleep through what was happening out there?" He thought, unaware that she was only faking her slumber.
He crossed the room to the bed where she lay and took a moment to look at her, just to make sure she was the one he needed to rescue. Her figure was petite, her dress was pretty and medieval style, she had gorgeous blond hair which was soft and had little flowers braided within her locks, her cheeks were rosy, her complexion perfect, she was beautiful. Beautiful for a human, but Alastor cared little for such things. Nevertheless tower, beauty, and fancy dress usually meant princess so he chose to wake her up.
The princess, still pretending to be asleep, puckered her lips slightly. She was ready. But instead of giving her a kiss, Alastor bent over her, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shook her.
"Wha, wha..." She said. This was not how it was supposed to work.
"Wake up!" Alastor called.
"What?" She snapped, annoyed.
"Excuse me for the sudden wake up call but are you Princess Charlotte?"
"I am." She replied recovering. "But please call me Charlie and I have been eagerly awaiting for a bold knight such as you to rescue me."
"Oh that's nice." Alastor said brusquely, wanting nothing to do with her helpless princess routine. "Now let's go."
"But wait, Sir Knight!" She protested. "This be-th our first meeting. Should it not be a wonderful, romantic moment?"
"Romantic? Ha-ha! You're not serious, are you?" He chuckled.
"Yes I am."
"You are aware that we are in the middle of a dark, spooky, and adze guarded castle right? Not exactly a romantic setting. I think we should focus more on escaping, before we're killed."
"Okay good point." She agreed.
"Splendid! Now where's the door?"
"There is no door."
"What?"
"The door was bricked up years ago."
"Then how do we get out of here?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"I don't know. Why do you think I needed to be rescued in the first place? It's because the only way out is through a window from a 70 ft tall tower."
"Fair enough." He said. "Alright give me a minute to think."
He proceeded to pace back and forth across the floor, waiting for an idea to come to him.
"I don't mean to complain, but did you really come here to rescue me without any idea on how to get me out of the tower?" Charlie said.
"It was on my to-do list but more important things came up. Such as dealing with your roommate out there." Alastor pointed to the window.
"Oh you didn't hurt her did you?" Charlie asked concnerned.
"Hurt her?! She's the one who tried to kill us!"
"It's not her fault! She can't help it!"
"What is that supposed to mean? Never mind. We'll go back to it later. For now let's just focus on finding an exit here."
"Good luck with that. That's all I've been doing for the last sixteen years."
Alastor's gaze wandered over to her bed.
"I got it! We could make a rope out of your bed sheets and curtains."
"Tried that, rope wasn't long enough."
"Oh...Then we could tunnel our way out."
"Tried that too, couldn't break through the floor. It's made completely out of stone."
"Is there anything in here we could use to build a ladder?"
"No because I already tried that and it failed. I've tried every escape route possible and they've all failed. I even tried to build a glider once but the stupid thing wouldn't fit out the window."
Alastor started to rub his forehead in frustration.
"Okay, okay, okay. So we'll have to get a little more creative."
"What could be more creative than building a glider out of your vanity set and two dresses?"
Once again he glanced at her bed which once again gave him an idea.
"Using your bed to make a battering ram." He concluded. "Did you ever try that?"
"With the leftover parts of my vanity, yes. I tried to use it as a battering ram and it failed. I wasn't strong enough."
"Then maybe you just need some extra strength."
With that said, Alastor broke off two bed posts and tied them together using the curtains in order to create one large battering ram. Then he lifted it up, Charlie quickly moved to help him and she had an unexpected amount of strength for someone her size. Then the two of them aimed for the bricked up doorway.
"I really don't think that this is going to work." Charlie said.
"Do you have any better ideas?" Alastor asked.
"No."
"Then we're trying this. Now on the count of three. One...Two...Three!"
They ran toward the brick wall and banged the makeshift sham against it. It didn't work for the first five times but by the sixth, their combined strength and persistence managed to punch a hole into those bricks.
"I don't believe it!" Charlie was astonished. "We actually managed to break it down! I thought that would never happen!"
"Now's not the time to be stunned. We have to move." Alastor said.
"We'll let me get my bag first."
As soon as Charlie grabbed her suitcase, Alastor grabbed her hand and crashed through the hole while dragging her behind him. She ran alongside him but found it hard to keep up even though he had her by the arm.
"Take it easy!" She said. "You're gonna make me trip!"
"Sorry but both our lives are kind of on the line here."
He stopped for a moment and tried to figure out which direction to go.
"While we're taking a breather." Charlie said. "Would you mind telling me your name?"
"Um...Alastor." Said the wendigo, preoccupied with trying to figure which way was out.
"Sir Alastor. Where do you hail from?"
"I don't know." He said only half listening to her. "Somewhere between the Third and the Fourth kingdoms."
"How did you hear of me? Are you of noble blood? If you're not, that doesn't matter to me. Really. All that matters is that you have courageously risked your life to rescue me and there's nothing more I could ask for in a knight."
"Princess I really don't think we should take this time to get to know each other. At the moment my only goal is to locate to the exit and escape from here with you and- Uh-oh I forgot about Angel."
"Who's Angel? Your valiant steed?"
"No. He's a giant spider who follows me wherever I go."
"A giant spider?"
"Long story, no time to tell it. You wait here, I'll be right back."
"Wait a minute you can't just leave me here all by myself."
"Well I can't bring you along. You'll only get in the way besides this part of the castle looks perfectly safe. There's plenty of debris here for you to use as shelter. If that adze comes by you can hide from it easily."
"Her."
"Excuse me?"
"She's not an it. She's a her and I don't have to hide from her. She won't hurt me and I would very much appreciate it if you wouldn't harm her."
"Let me get this straight, you don't want me to kill the thing that's kept you trapped here and has slaughtered hundreds of men?"
"I told you, she can't help herself. When she was first brought here to guard me they did something to her mind to ensure that she would never escape and so that she would prove to be a great threat to any knight. Something to make her feral and violent, to think like a savage animal. When she attacked you and killed those knights, she had no control over herself. She probably doesn't even know what she's doing."
"Then what do you suggest I do?"
"Find your spider or whatever he is and the three of us just leave."
"And what if she tries to stop us? What if she tries to kill us? What then? Do you want all of us to die?"
Charlie sighed, seeing his point.
"If it's unavoidable, then fine. Kill her. But try not to hurt her. Please try." She pleaded. "She's a prisoner just like me and I would have freed her long ago if I knew how to."
Alastor was surprised by how much compassion Charlie had for her monstrous captor. Any other princess would have most likely insisted that he kill her guard beast before doing anything else. It was crazy but he could understand her reasoning. This moth adze wasn't a really a mindless, blood-lusting, monster but another innocent victim to human cruelty. Just like himself and Angel. Though on the other hand maybe killing her would be the best thing for her.If she was truly mentally cursed without hope of recovery, perhaps he should just put her out her out of her misery instead of leaving the poor thing here to suffer in her madness.
"I make no promises but I will try to spare her if it is possible." Alastor said.
"Thank you."
"Now stay here. Do not move." He instructed. "I will be back with Angel soon. Assuming he's still alive."
"I still can't believe you brought a spider with you instead of horse. Just what kind of knight are you?"
"One of kind my dear." He chuckled. "One of a kind."
And he set to work tracking down Angel.
