Amilios was, to say the least, quite surprised. The island was huge. On the other hand, Skele felt it had nothing to do with him. His mission was to find the island and he did.
He decided he would just stay outside, somewhere around the beach. He had brought his favourite tea with him. He would relax and enjoy the view while he was there.
"Amilios, drop me somewhere around the beach. You go get them and rescue Zion" Skele said.
Amilios looked at Skele, then overtook the boat and headed for the island.
After touching the sand, Amilios pulled out a stone ball and said, "We have arrived at the island. The boat will get here in about 20 minutes. We will follow them into the prison."
"We!? Amilios, you need to make sure you give them the right facts!"
Before Amilios could respond, the ball lit up with a blue hue.
"Got it. We have your location. You and Skele follow the plan. We will arrive within an hour." In the background, someone could be heard saying, "Elder Green, how did you even make these? They are genuinely amazing!" before the call closed.
"HOLD ON. What do you mean I have to go too??" Skele was screaming internally.
He looked at the sea, seriously considering whether he could swim away.
The boat arrived, and Skele didn't know what had gone wrong for his life to end up like this. Where did it all go wrong that he would be on the most dangerous island? What sin did he commit for his life to be slipping through his fingers?
As much as he was contemplating his life, he still followed behind Amilios. The guards were unblindfolded. Now with their eyes, they could walk more easily to their destination. After walking for a while, they saw that the island seemed to have no life except for humans.
Among the hills, a fortress came into view. It was made out of stone. The guards got in after their identity was checked. As for Skele and Amilios, they simply walked through the gate. The new guards on duty put on the clothes that were handed to them.
Immediately starting their shift without a break was just another monday to them. After collecting their equipment, which contained swords and chains.They walked through the fortress for another 30 minutes before arriving at the entrance of a mountain.
Climbing the mountain, they finally arrived at the location of the prisons. It didn't take much longer before Zion was in front of Amilios.
One guard couldn't help but ask, "I've seen everybody else work their worthless asses off, but why is that kid still allowed to sit and eat for free? Isn't he on vacation at this point?"
Another, more experienced guard shushed him before saying, "If a prisoner is treated even half decently, that means there are higher ups helping them. You shouldn't talk about them unless you wish to be locked in here yourself."
The mere mention of being a prisoner in this place was terrifying enough that the guard shut his mouth immediately. The other guard spoke up, "Let's go. The prisoners need to be released on time," before walking into the lower floors of the prison.
Skele was ready to free Zion and get out before anybody even realized he was here.His hand, poised to break the bars, was caught by Amilios. Skele looked at him, confused. Amilios dropped the invisibility before speaking to Zion.
"I don't know what it is, but I can sense a life threatening energy behind this door. It's most likely some kind of trap. We have to wait for Moon to get here. I am going to the lower levels to scout ahead. Skele, do you want to stay here with Zion?"
Skele looked at the bar he was about to touch and couldn't help but scream internally again. I almost died, and I didn't even know how. This might truly be my last day. He then looked at Amilios.
Staying here with Zion might seem less risky, but if Amilios goes down, my invisibility will likely dissolve. Zion won't be in immediate danger since everyone is familiar with him staying in his cell.I'm more likely to be in danger if I stay here.
"No, I'm coming with you. We don't know what's down there. It's too dangerous for you to go alone."
Zion nodded. "If they get here before you guys come back, we will come for you."
Amilios headed towards the deeper floors. Skele spoke up, "It was nice to meet you, Zion. We'll get you out of here. Just hang on a little bit more." Zion laughed before seeing them off.
Amilios walked down the stairs, arriving at the second floor. This place had dozens more prison cells. The guards were rounding up prisoners as they went by and headed to the even deeper floors.
"I don't understand. Where are they taking them? Don't tell me there's some kind of torture down below," Skele whispered.
He saw that the deeper the floor, the stronger the prisoners looked. The lower levels were also bigger, which meant they could hold more prisoners.
There were now thousands of prisoners. At this rate, aren't the guards in danger? With such overwhelming numbers, how come these reckless criminals aren't attacking them?
"You guys, what are you doing? There aren't many of them. We can kill them!" one bald headed man yelled.
"Is that the newcomer?"
"Yep, new batch arrived yesterday. Newcomers are always ready for a whoopin.Can't they just be quiet for once?"
"Hahaha, don't say that. I remember you were just like that too. Ignorant and stupid."
"What? You want to fight?"
"Come on, if you dare."
Before the situation got worse, one of the guards clanged his chain. Everybody shook as their bodies reacted to the sound. The new batch, of course, didn't react to this, and the bald man even laughed more.
"A mere sound has you guys scared? Hahaha! And here I was thinking I should stay low. You're supposed to be the most heinous criminals, but look at you, just a bunch of cowards!"
"I'll give you some advice,just shut your mouth and don't do anything out of line," another prisoner tried to warn him, but the bald head scoffed .
A small commotion began as the guard started walking with every step, the atmosphere grew heavier.
The guard took out his chain and swung it at the bald headed man. He clearly saw the chain coming but was too arrogant to dodge. The moment the chain touched his body, he started to feel nauseous.
He fell to his knees, completely baffled by the situation. He felt worse and worse, to the point he began vomiting. Luckily, the guard pulled his chain back, allowing him to breathe again.
The other prisoners didn't dare to laugh, not wanting to be the next target. They had all been through this process of what the guards called "education."
The bald-headed man finally found the strength to stand. This time, he wasn't laughing or mocking anyone. He never wanted to feel that ever again. Now, he even understood why the other prisoners had been so afraid.
His eyes shook whenever he looked toward the guards. A little time passed ,just enough for the guards to move on and gather other inmates from the same floor. One of the braver inmates snorted at the bald-headed man.
"What happened, kid? I thought we were all cowards, and you, oh so brave one, were going to show us your strength."
The bald-headed man didn't have the energy to reciprocate the feud. He just silently moved away. This action made the inmate laugh his guts out.
"Oh, another hero has fallen. That dream was short lived. What a cruel world! Hahaha!" The man walked with his hands on the stomach,almost forcing more laugh out of himself.
Others joined in the laughter. In this cruel place, the only time the inmates could laugh was when new arrivals made foolish actions. It was their only medicine in this poisonous lake.
"Why in the world this picture of these inmates laughing feels sad. I feel bad for the baldy too.He came with such vigor too. What in the world is that chain? I should be careful around the guards. Vomiting like that could kill a person" the ever so careful Skele thought, immediately noting where was safe to stand and where was not.
"It's most likely a contact poison. What's bothering me is how the guards themselves are immune to it. Did they take some kind of antidote? Or is there something else?" Amilios whispered.
"What does it matter if they have a counter to it? What matters is that we don't. By the looks of it, that thing would 100% work on me. You might be fine since your strenght is in Myr, but we definitely shouldn't take the risk. If they capture you, we are basically done for."
I am basically done for, Skele thought afterwards.