Yuri walked casually to Löder's room, guided by hand signals from Flynn, who was hiding in the back corners with the others.
Yuri Motioned for them to come forward, where they entered the next room silently, hiding behind any objects they could.
"How much longer until Löder's room?" Karol whispered.
"Not far, but shush," Flynn replied.
Karol rolled his eyes.
Yuri motioned for them to stop as he entered the next room, a pair of knights were on patrol.
The two saluted him, "Nothing to report, sir," a female knight spoke.
Yuri remembered he was supposed to be a lieutenant, "At ease."
"You two move it and go guard the Princess's room."
The pair looked at each other, "We're on direct orders from the captain himself to guard the prison."
"Ah," Yuri said, speechless, "Well now you have new orders."
The pair started slowly walking toward the prison, "Sorry, direct orders and such," the other female knight said.
Yuri drew the Knight's sword and swung at them.
The pair of knights were surprisingly skilled, blocking his every attack.
"Flynn, I could really use your help here!" Yuri said, quietly and urgently.
The two knights let their guards down, "Wait!" One of them said, "Flynn?"
The rest of the party threatened them despite their lack of weapons.
The pair removed their helmets, revealing Hisca and Chastel, two knights from the brigade that Flynn and Yuri once served in.
"Hisca and Chastel?" Yuri asked, relieved.
"Yuri and Flynn?" Chastel, the larger chested one asked.
Flynn sighed with relief and chuckled, "What are you two doing here?"
"When we heard you were all captured, we came to rescue you," Hisca said.
"We should've been smart enough to know that you would've escape on your own," Chastel finished.
"I knew you two were too skilled to be knights," Yuri said, smugly.
"We are knights..." they both said simultaneously.
"Whatever," Yuri rolled his eyes.
"What's going on?" Chastel asked.
"We can explain everything to you once we get to Löder's office," Flynn told them.
"Löder's office?" Hisca asked.
"I said we'll explain when we get there, if you want to help then just start walking."
"Right," they both said, dawning their helmets.
Yuri put his helmet back on and lead the group to Löder's room, slightly less quietly now.
A small squad of knights appeared, "What's all of this racket?" One of them asked.
They noted that Yuri was a Lieutenant and saluted him.
He pointed to one of the twins, "This one fell over..." he pointed to the other twin, "This one tripped trying to get her up."
"It sounded more like a fight to me..." One of them said.
"Go guard the Princess's room, no more questions," Yuri told them.
"Sir, yes sir!" The group said simultaneously.
"Damn... they really have these guys whipped into shape," Yuri commented as the guards ran to Estelle's room.
They reached the room where Yuri and Estelle had first made their escape.
"On the other hand," Yuri said, "We might not have to contact your uptight second in command after all..."
Flynn shook his head, "Every Knight captain knows about the passage, Yuri."
Yuri pointed to the ground, "Those are very fresh scratch marks, someone's been going in and out of here. It could be Rita and Estelle."
Flynn shook his head, "The odds of that are slim, he could've walked out the front door easily with no issues."
"Actually," Hisca said.
"We've been monitoring the doors," Chastel finished, "He hasn't left through conventional methods."
"So maybe we could turn this escape into a rescue mission?" Raven asked.
Yuri moved the statue, "Absolutely."
"First, we go to Löder's office, " Flynn said.
Yuri moved the statue back, "Fine."
•••
"You two, give me more coal... please." Rita felt bad ordering around the slaves, but she couldn't exactly do this all herself.
Dorik returned to check on her progress.
"How goes it?" He asked her.
Rita glared at him, "I'm working as fast as I can."
Dorik got closer to her. His monotonic expression broke slightly into about 10% sympathy, although Rita probably just had some Stockholm syndrome.
"Believe me, " Dorik said, "I understand your situation."
Rita slapped him, "You could never understand what it's like to have someone you love used as a bargaining chip!"
Dorik groaned slightly, and the slight moment of a sympathetic look on his face was impossible to miss.
He shook his head slightly, "Get back to work. You know the consequences!"
Rita cried more as the rare metal heated inside of the water, shaping it into a ring the same width as the tube that Ghasfarost already had.
"At least this won't consume very much Aer..." she whispered to herself, knowing that would be the least of their worries.
•••
"Rita is strong!" Estelle hollered to the disgusting doctor, "You're a fool if you think you're leaving here alive!"
The gray doctor licked her lips and smiled, "I haven't lived hundreds of years, studying pain in darkness, just to be killed by a teenage princess."
He pressed a button, electrocuting her further, "But I must admit, " he said, "Your resolve is firm."
He pressed the button again, "I would kill you, but my master is very insistent that you don't die."
Estelle breathed rapidly, taking in as much air as she could, "I've killed stronger than you. You're a coward."
He jumped out of his chair and looked her in the eye, "I am 300 years old, I've tortured thousands of people, most of whom I didn't even know, " he licked his lips, and his eye twitched, "You're not the first, and you will not be the last."
Estelle closed her eyes and kept calm, waiting for her moment.
•••
"This is Löder's room, " Chastel told them.
Yuri turned the knob, "No surprises here, it's locked."
Karol ran up to the door, "Hey..." he forgot the twins' names but needed the hairpin from Chastel, "Bigger one...?"
His and Chastel gasped, offended, "Does he mean our...?"
Judith and Yuri laughed hysterically.
"My name is Chastel," she told him.
Karol turned red, "Right... Chastel..." he held his hand out nervously, "I need your hairpin to pick the lock..."
Chastel scoffed at him, sheathing her blade and removing it, "Here you go, " she handed it to him, "You little pervert."
Karol chuckled embarrassingly, picking the lock.
The party walked in, shutting the door behind them.
Flynn walked over to his desk, searching the letters.
Yuri checked a trunk in the back of the room, rummaging through the insides.
"Yuri, " Flynn said, "We're here for letters, not snooping."
"Oh yeah?" Yuri asked, holding up Rita's outfit and weapon, "The rest of our belongings must be around here somewhere."
"I guess I stand corrected, " Fynn told him.
"Oh wow, a gel, " Yuri took it out.
Hisca slapped his hand, forcing him to drop it.
"Ow!" he winced.
"Still as shameless as ever, " Chastel scolded.
Raven pulled a book off of a shelf, and the shelf opened, revealing a secret room. "Yes!" he shouted.
"Woah, " Judith said, "Our stuff."
The secret room was a large-sized closet, containing their clothes and weapons.
"Great!" Raven shouted, "Lets all change at the same time."
"The closet is big enough for two, " Yuri told him.
"That's good, " Raven said, " Judith and Me first."
Flynn shook his head, "Nice try."
"You can change alone, old man," Patty told him.
They all got changed into their respective outfits.
"It feels so good to ditch the prison uniforms," Judith said, her revealing armor back on.
"The knight uniform was way worse," Yuri said.
"I thought it looked fine," Flynn told him.
Yuri rolled his eyes, "Let's go to the sewer, there's no time to waste."
They exited Löder's room only to be greeted by a dozen knights waiting for them.
"Drop your weapons, prisoners!" One of them said.
"Well," Yuri said, "So much for the whole sneak strategy."
He disarmed one of the knights and began the fight, which didn't last long.
They left the bodies in a pile, "They've probably informed Dorik of our escape," Flynn said.
"Good," Patty said, "Now he knows we're coming for him!" Patty was furious.
Repede growled, ready for battle.
Yuri pulled the statue back, and they entered the sewers.
"This place is gross," Hisca whispered.
Karol looked at the floor, "There are prints here, I think they're Rita and Estelle's!"
Yuri hunkered down a bit, "But it looks like they were accompanied by many guards, probably including Dorik."
They walked through the dark tunnels, following Karol, who tracked the steps.
"Hold it," Karol said, "They split off here."
"It looks like they held one of them here," Karol said, "There's a giant clump here, many of them stood in this place."
"Two sets trail off in this direction," Yuri said.
"They're Estelle's..." Karol said.
"It looks like there's a third returning set," Flynn said. "They're definitely Dorik's, but he's alone."
"What did he do with Estellise?" Hisca asked.
"Only one way to find out," Yuri began walking through the darkness, followed by his friends and the twin knights.
They walked, the scenery got darker and darker until they reached a stone wall that ended the path.
"A dead end?" Karol asked.
"That's impossible, " Flynn said, "Did you mess up the tracking?"
"No!" Karol said, "This is freaky."
Judith placed her hand against the wall, "It seems like a dead-end to some..."
"But you have the Krytian ability to read hidden texts, you read it in the cave that we found the bell to Myorzo in!" Patty finished.
Judith nodded, carefully running her hand over the surface.
Judith took a deep breath, and a hidden stone door appeared.
"Woah, " Karol said as the room opened.
"Rita?" they could hear a weak Estelle moan.
They rushed inside. The door was closed behind them.
"Ah!" Karol shouted. They all gripped their weapons.
Estelle could be seen through a small crack in the wall, chained to an upright table and barely able to move.
"Estelle!" Yuri shouted.
The floor collapsed, sending them falling into an empty, sizable, arena-style room.
Feedback rang out as an intercom system turned on, "Oh, I'm afraid you've entered the trap, " A sniveling voice rang through the room.
"Who are you?" Patty shouted.
"I am someone who has lived beneath the feet of Zaphias for hundreds of years..." The sound of lips smacking and menacing giggling could be heard.
"Whoever you are," Yuri shouted as he drew his sword, "I hope you're ready to meet your demise!"
The voice laughed some more through the speaker, "You won't live to foil the plans of my masters!"
"Release the princess!" Flynn shouted.
"Very poor choice of words..." The voice told them.
Estelle's body was tossed down in the room, being caught by Yuri and Flynn.
"Estelle..." Yuri looked at her.
"Yuri?" She asked, sitting up.
"She's ok," Flynn said, "Find a way out."
Karol reached in his bag and threw Estelle her blade, "Heads up!" He shouted, she caught it and raised it.
"There is no way out, Scifo!" The voice shouted.
A beep was heard, followed by the opening of chutes at the top of the ceiling, which had now been closed off for them.
Monsters poured into the room.
"Get ready everyone!" Yuri shouted.
Flynn, Yuri, Karol, Repede, Raven, Judith, Patty, Estelle, Hisca and Chastel all stood at the ready, weapons hot and backs to each other.
"Tear them apart!" Patty shouted, running straight at the nasty looking wolf and stabbing it straight in the skull.
Repede took his blade in his mouth and sliced through several deformed creatures that were hopping around.
The group easily cleared the wave of monsters.
"Is that the best you've got?!" Yuri shouted.
The intercom turned on, "We're just getting warmed up! I'll show you what I've been working on."
A massive door to a tight room opened, revealing a stout, eggbear like creature.
"Behold!" The insane doctor shouted, "The new and improved Eggbear!"
Judith gasped, "It's so big..."
The eggbear roared and moved rapidly toward them.
"I have been waiting oh so long to show her to somebody," the evil scientist laughed psychopathically.
"Keep your distance, defend yourself," Yuri shouted.
"Get behind it!" Karol shouted.
Repede ran past it, narrowly missing its claws and slashing its side, but the blade didn't penetrate.
Woof
Repede says it's strong, we'll have to pin it!" Yuri shouted.
The creature charged at them at lightning speed and smacked Flynn's shield, Flynn went flying across the room.
"Flynn!" Yuri shouted and ran over to him.
"I'm fine," he said.
The rest of the gang were hacking away at the beast's skin when they could, avoiding the heavy hits.
Flynn ran over, the bear punched his shield, but he took it this time, trapping its claw in-between his shield and sword.
Estelle ran over and did the same thing to his other arm, "We can't hold it that long!" Raven shot an arrow into its foot, the arrow was carrying a long piece of wire, which Repede tied around his legs to break its balance.
Hisca and Chastel each grabbed one of the arms, using their body weight to drag it down.
Judith wrapped her spear around its chest, pushing her foot into its lower back to help pull it down.
Yuri hopped on its back and hung around it's neck, "K-Karol," he struggled, "The Star always delivers the final blow..."
Karol took his axe and positioned it, he backed up to get a running start.
He shouted a hefty war cry, charging the eggbear with all of his strength.
He leaped into the air and planted his axe into the eggbears skull, penetrating straight through.
The eggbear groaned, and his strength slowly gave out.
Everyone smiled. "We did it," Karol said.
"Interesting," the voice over the intercom said, "Long have I waited for a challenger to appear."
"Why don't you come down here and fight us yourself?" Patty baited him.
The voice growled, "I'll make you eat those words."
A large door to the side began opening dramatically, the electronic sound of walking could be heard.
A figure stepped out of the darkness, 12 feet tall, a completely synthetic being.
Behind the glass on the head of it, was the 3 foot tall doctor, surrounded by buttons and levers.
Everything gasped at the sight of the slow moving device.
The grey creature cackled maniacally, "You're the most impressive candidates for the arena that I've ever had, and this princess not only stayed conscious through the torture, but she's actually fighting now!"
"I'm flattered," Estelle said, sarcastically.
"Give me everything you've got!"
Four large, mechanical arms began swinging wildly at them.
One of them caught Patty, who grabbed onto the arm tightly whilst it swung, "I'm getting dizzy!" She shouted.
The arm stopped swinging, instead gripping Patty tightly, "Ouch!" She said.
Judith stuck her spear into the joint of the arm, short circuiting it.
"You're an angel, Judy!" Patty said, hopping off of the arm.
"Blast!" The evil doctor licked his lips and pressed a button behind him, that opened every single door.
Dozens of monsters flooded in, "Prepare to meet your doom!" He shouted and laughed maniacally.
•••
Dorik had stepped away for some time, Rita heard a pound followed by Dorik's return, his face curled into frustration.
Rita looked at him, curiously, "They escaped, didn't they?"
Dorik sighed and nodded, "But your princess didn't. Get back to work, Mordio."
Rita bowed her head and sniffled, watching the metal finish cooling into the perfect size for the massive, glass tube.
•••
"Do you really believe you can stop what is to come?" The doctor licked his lips and roared laughter as he used his metallic suit to lunge toward Judith, knocking her back.
The entire party was surrounded by beasts of incredible sizes, they tore through them to the best of their ability.
"They seem to just keep coming!" Raven shouted, launching a wired arrow into the side of a wolf, creatively sliding the body into the way of another.
Patty aimed her musket at the malicious doctor in the mechanical suit and pulled the trigger. The sound echoed, and the glass cracked but didn't break.
"We need more pressure on the glass!" Patty shouted.
Patty reloaded her musket rapidly while Repede and Karol defended her against the onslaught.
"Monsters have stopped coming down through the traps!" Flynn shouted, "We're reaching the end!"
Flynn was smacked by a mechanical arm, knocking him to the floor.
"The might Flynn Scifo!" The doctor licked his lips, passionately, "Come to die?"
He raised one of the arms and delivered a mighty blow that was blocked by his vigilant friend, Yuri Lowell.
The doctor increased the power, attempting to break Yuri's guard and finish the unconscious commandant.
Yuri strained his muscles. He could feel the burning swelling, his body begging him to stop holding the arm back.
Hisca and Chastel ran over to pull the Blonde-haired knight away from the action. Yuri finally released his grip, letting the arm pound straight into the cement floor.
Yuri sighed and backed away, but noticed the mechanical suit's arm stuck in the ground.
The battle raged on, but amidst the chaos, Patty fired another shot of her musket at the glass, cracking it even more.
The frustrated doctor frantically pressed buttons, but eventually growled and used one of the other arms to break off the one stuck in the ground.
Yuri defended Flynn's body, ensuring that his friend was uninjured while they defeated the last of the monsters.
Flynn came to. "W-what?" he asked before realizing where he is.
With one mighty thrust of her spear, Judith cracked the skull of the final monster in the room.
"Alright, pal, " Patty said, "Prepare to meet your fate."
The group readied their weapons.
"You're out of monsters!" Karol shouted, "Give it up!"
The doctor sweated nervously, smacking his lips and slapping his forehead repetitively, "Fine! You wanna play?"
The two remaining limbs extended and began spinning at lightning speed, "Come and get me!" he shouted.
Everyone stayed back, trying not to have their life ended by the smack of the rapidly rotating arms.
"I have an idea!" Chastel shouted.
"We can use the monsters' bodies to jam the spinning of the arms long enough for us to crack the glass!" She hollered.
Everyone contemplated for a moment.
"Get on it!" Estelle shouted, her words nearly getting lost in the sound of the air being whipped around by the arms.
Raven and Karol slid a wolf corpse under the arms, but it didn't snag.
Yuri and Flynn threw a deceased ratwiggle at the limbs, it slowed slightly.
"This isn't working!" Patty shouted.
She ran at it and slid under the arms.
"Patty!" Flynn shouted.
The arm's movements began to slow. Patty was scraping her knife against the joints.
"Judy!" She shouted, struggling.
Judith hopped in and jammed her spear into the joints, nearly stopping the arms.
Raven pulled back his bow and fired an arrow that shattered the glass, the mechanical suit powered off.
The slimy, gray doctor took off, running and laughing in fear.
Karol grabbed his arm, but the doctor jiggled loose.
"He's escaping!" Yuri shouted.
The party all ran toward him, but they were no match for his speed, he began climbing the wall toward the hole that was used to spawn the monsters in.
Estelle hollered and tossed her shield precisely, clunking the doctor in the back.
The short-statured torture master grunted from pain and fell to the ground.
Estelle lifted him. He squirmed in her arms, trying to escape.
His laughing became high pitched, and he licked his lips rapidly in fear.
"P-p-please don't!" He laughed maniacally. Fear twinkled in his eyes.
"Tell us what you know!" She shouted, pressing her blade against his throat.
"B-believe me... I know n-n-nothing!" He shouted at her, "I wish I knew s-something!"
"Do justice and punish the unjust."
Estelle pulled her blade back, preparing to finish him.
"Estelle!" Yuri shouted.
"Lady Estellise!" Flynn hollered.
The dungeon master shivered in fear, "Please! Have mercy! I beg of you!" He pleaded.
"Tell me... How many times have you heard those exact same words?"
The castle princess rammed her blade straight through his gut, causing him to cry out in pain.
He tried to speak, but it came out only as gargled nonsense as the life left his body.
There was a moment of silence as the other party members stood there, shocked at what had just happened.
She let his body fall to the floor and then sighed.
"Where..." Estelle breathed heavily, "Is Rita?"
•••
The slaves finished attaching the ring to the tube, Rita felt sick to her stomach as she saw the power come to life.
"It works..." Rita whispered to herself.
Dorik came up behind her, "You did good work today, Mordio."
Rita looked at the glass tubing, it ran for at least a mile into the sky.
"It'll be about 24 hours before it's at full capacity..." Rita told him.
"Excellent, " Dorik told her, "We will release your princess afterward."
"What?" Rita shouted, "I did what you asked!"
Dorik maintained his emotionless look, "My lord wants to see it work before he honors the other end of the arrangement."
"Tell him that I'll do anything he asks..." Rita told him, "I just want her back and safe..." She broke down, "I hate myself for this, but she's all I have in this world."
Dorik turned his back, "I understand."
"Screw you!" Rita shouted, "You've done nothing but horrible things, and you think you understand my pain?" Rita began sobbing once again, nearly out of tears, "You're such a heartless bastard! Whatever he's paying you in better be worth it!"
Dorik sighed and walked away,
"It is worth it... Trust me."
