Codul was sleeping in his bedroom when the jailbreak began. The long hours in his playroom, or the dungeon as it was also known, usually wore him out. So many experiments and discoveries and now he had a new toy, he would need all his rest so to dissect him properly that night. He loved new experiments much like his father had before him, in fact Codul loved experimenting with his father so much, one day he had done the ultimate project. Waiting until his father had fallen asleep in the study, Codul had taken a knife to his father's neck and collected the blood as it poured out. Collecting from his father's corpse, via a craniotomy, the brain which he melted down in the furnace near his playroom. He had hid the body in a vault in the second floor, so his mother would be none the wiser and lied to her that he died in his sleep. Codul waited until his mother had also passed, though this time from natural causes and he then set to work with the saved liquids. Combining the two properties together and injecting them into himself, Codul would gain the ultimate knowledge from his father and be twice as strong. While this may have worked in theory, it had also implanted his father's age into him and he now appeared much older than he really was. He did not mind though, it was all in the name of science and if this was the side effect of being more intelligent, so be it. Rolling onto his side, Codul snored in his deep sleep as he dreamt of chasing merun through the waves in a boat, hoping to catch one in a net to experiment on. Down in the dungeon, the wheels were already in motion. The occupants knew that Codul would be back by early evening to torture them anew so it gave them a few hours to get out. Kauda noted that the door had been left open, the mad man probably forgot to close it from exhaustion. The unexpected visit from Jolark disrupted his routine and he clearly got sidetracked with his own delusions of power. Ulo had found the keys on the desk and made his way to the felun first as she would be the easiest to release. She was tall enough to unlock the man chained to the strange bed and to help the poor humun in cell two. Ulo dropped the keys on the floor next to her foot and hopped back as she stooped down to pick them up.
"Thanks," she whispered and got to work on the lock with shaky hands, "I wish I knew your name, little guy. You're my hero."
Feyzer listened in and smiled deeply as he heard her cell door swing open with a small creak. She was free, only a moment or so before she could walk over to him and... He turned his head to her and watched her, struggle to walk. What had he done to her? Ulo turned his lights up a little bit, but not enough to disturb anyone unwanted and helped the felun with her journey. Grasping the walls of the other cells, she made her clumsy way along to Feyzer's, wincing and struggling to remain confident.
"I'm sorry," she whispered to everyone, "I can't walk..."
Ulo switched his view to her lower torso, she only had one leg. The other had been sawed off just above the knee. Had Codul done this? Is this what he planned for Jolark? Feyzer too watched her, with sympathy in his eyes.
"You're doing great." His encouragement got her attention as she reached his cell and held the bars with shaking hands. Feyzer repeated his previous words and found himself getting lost in her eyes. Stunning green, or rather turquoise eyes. With her complexion and hair, she was utterly beautiful and he told her.
"You're not so bad yourself," she smiled back at him and unlocked the door, "every part of you."
Feyzer knew she was referring to his naked body on full display thanks to the position he had been stuck in for too many years. He was looking forward to being free but wary of how the years had eaten at his muscles. His body was nowhere near as muscled as it had once been. Even with the swill Codul forced them to eat, Feyzer required proper food and fresh air to recover his strength. Ulo turned to the man in cell two and watched him lean against the bars, his hands gripping them so tightly, his knuckles turned white.
"Don't leave me here," he whined as he watched Kauda unlock the chains that bound her new friend, "please. I beg you. Please."
Feyzer was soon free of the chains over his head and he let his arms drop, painfully to his sides. Oddly the muscles in them were just as strong as they had been but he shrugged it off and moved his arms at the shoulder socket to wake up his circulation. His feet were soon also free, causing him to fall to the floor and curse at the cramp now hitting both ankles as the blood flow was regained to them. Kauda balanced herself on the bars and started to make her way, awkwardly around to the other two occupied cells but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll go," Feyzer shook his head at her statement he was still recovering, "it's fine."
Taking the opportunity as he might not get another chance, he reached over and held her face, delivering a long and unintentionally sloppy kiss to her mouth. Ulo watched them with mild confusion but was soon hopping as Feyzer approached and unlocked cell two.
"Please. I beg you. Please don't leave me here."
"I won't, can you stand?"
Due to Ulo shining his little lamp lights on the cell, Feyzer could see the man properly. His shaggy long, unkempt hair was hard to differentiate from his beard which was also growing madly but it was the huge scar on his chest that his guest could not tear his eyes off. Gruesome stitching, looked like it was done by a child, awkwardly sewn and the man's skin underneath badly stretched and frayed at the edges.
"Please, I beg of you. Kill me."
Feyzer looked at the man with his piercing eyes.
"Don't leave me here," he started to sob through his pleas, "please. Kill me. I can't take it any more."
Ulo glanced at the cold, naked man next to him and tried to read his thoughts but no success. Kauda had shuffled around the cell walls to them also and was now looking at the poor wretch with sorrow in her eyes.
"We can't leave him here with that maniac."
Feyzer looked at her and silently agreed. Whatever Codul had done, was clearly causing this man a lot of distress. Every twelve hours it seemed, he would erupt in screams of agony and from what he could see of the surgery done to him, it must be something that has been implanted. Not wishing to find out for the sake of the little tynko and for everyone's sanity, Feyzer placed a hand on the shivering man and exhaled slowly. Nothing happened.
"I have a knife."
Everyone turned to the voice and Ulo leapt over in joy. Jolark held his friend warmly and pressed a sequence of buttons on the tynko's belly. Only special people like his master or good friends knew about the hidden keypad on his stomach, so people like Codul would never find the secrets within. It was also a great storage compartment for moments such as this. Throwing the knife into the open floor of the dungeon, Jolark lay back and winced at the pain in his side from being dragged down a long flight of stone stairs. Feyzer picked up the blade, nodded at the unseen face and went back into cell two with intent. Unwanted intent but he knew it was the right thing to do. Covering her ears, Kauda turned away from the humun as his life was taken from him with a swift slice of the knife to his throat. Feyzer was the only one to hear the man thank him in broken breaths before he slipped away completely. Leaving the cell in a melancholy mood, the slowly recovering man turned towards Ulo.
"How about we free your buddy?"
Ulo jumped up and down as the lock was turned in the door. Kauda hobbled along towards the last cell in the room that was occupied by someone friendly and watched Feyzer as he entered to help the stranger.
"All right, man." Crouching down and helping Jolark sit up a little, his rescuer got him to his feet slowly and turned to the little tynko. "You go on ahead and find a safe route out of this castle."
Ulo saluted with one of his legs before scampering up the long staircase to the ground floor. Feyzer placed Jolark down on the chair at the desk and turned to the felun again. Her eyes on his instantly, searching them for any trace of evil or malicious behaviour. Her trust in men was understandably shaken but after that kiss before, she found herself trusting him more than she might otherwise. She was also wondering how, with one leg, to get up the stairs. Her thoughts were interrupted as Feyzer asked her what her name was.
"Kauda." She extended a long, slender arm to him which he held and shook softly. "Kauda Lombat."
Jolark's eyes opened again at the name he had heard not that long ago but in his current predicament, it felt like eons ago. He looked at the nonsensical papers in front of him, equations and calculations. Nothing he could comprehend, especially since his head was still fuzzy from whatever that man upstairs had injected into his veins. Jolark turned his head slowly to look at the other two but soon regretted that as he felt a heavy punch to his face and fell off the chair. Hitting the floor with a solid thump, Jolark turned around to see who hit him, his eyes opening slowly as he looked at his old friend from the army.
"Fey... zer?!"
"You bastard."
Jolark winced again as he shyed away from another punch, causing Feyzer to turn away and scoff about his behaviour considering how they were when they had last seen each other.
"You left me alone to die," Feyzer whispered loudly because they still had to keep quiet, "Jolark..."
The drug still clouding his memory, Jolark tried to reason with him but turned silent when Ulo reappeared in the room. The little metal dog immediately confused as to why his friend was on the floor and hurt.
"It's fine, buddy," Jolark glared at Feyzer before smiling at Ulo, "I fell off the chair."
Accepting this answer, Ulo jumped up onto the desk and dug out a clean piece of paper. Placing his paw on top of it, he scanned out the escape route his system had recorded for his fellow cellmates. Realising they had little time before either Shade or Codul awoke, Feyzer picked up Kauda and carried her up the stairs. Jolark and Ulo behind them, the taller holding onto the wall for support. When they reached the top of the long spiral of stone steps, Ulo sniffed the air around the open door to the main house and wagged his tail to suggest it was safe. The four of then being as quiet as they could, started to make their way along a thin corridor towards a junction that they could either go upstairs, into the dining hall or take the nearly hidden route to the main hall. The latter was their choice and being quiet but also quick, the group got as far as the plush carpet in the entrance hall before they heard a strange noise from upstairs.
"What is that?!" Kauda whispered in panic and held onto Feyzer's neck tighter.
"An alarm of some kind?" He replied, trying to not to get distracted but completely aware that they may not be as safe as they thought.
Panicked but not defeated, the four picked up the pace and scampered over to the front door. Jolark opened it as fast as he could and let Feyzer out first, carrying Kauda. He was about to tell Ulo to go next when a loud bang rang out around the house and Jolark watched the woodwork of the closed double door in front of him splinter immediately. Turning slowly, he looked back to the cause behind him.
"Not so fast, my new pet." Codul in a pink housecoat stood halfway down the curved staircase leading to the first floor, cradling a shotgun in both hands. "Not so fast!"
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