In the Guardroom, just as Elsa slipped the two keys down into her pouch as Jan described his daily work and Haarion was wondering if she was wearing anything under that skirt, a voice was heard from the doorway.
A young woman who looked remarkably like Elsa was standing in the door of the Guardroom. "Excuse me..I am seeking my cousin Jan? The letter from his mother asked me to meet him here. My name is Gerda.'
In that moment, everything stopped. The Warder turned and stared at this new arrival while Jan, more out of sudden nervousness than anything else, started to laugh.
The newcomer looked annoyed. “I don’t understand…what is so funny?”
Ellsabeth meanwhile positioned herself so that she had a line of sight with everyone in the room but for the moment played dumb and remained quiet.
Jan looked across at the newcomer. "I’ll tell you what’s so funny. You can’t be Gerda...THIS is Gerda....' he gestured at Elsa who gave a weak smile. Jan smiled back at her then looked at the newcomer again, his eyes going wide. "You must be some kind of SPY!'
The newly arrived Gerda was indignant. "What are you talking about you simpleton?? I told mama this was a stupid idea...what interest could I have in an in-bred fool guarding a prison of all things???? Back in the Mark I am being suited after by brave, noble men, not prison guards!'
Ellsabeth used the commotion between the two to distract the guards as she slowly moved closer to where she could use the keys she had managed to pocket. If as they had been told, thpse two keys would open all the cell doors in the upper floors of the prison, then she could use the chaos to slip away, while her comrades freed Daedre…or at least that was the plan.
Jan stepped up to Gerda."IN BRED FOOL??? This coming from a hayseed like you, a little country nothing is all you are, or she her...or...I'm getting confused, but to say such a thing to your own flesh and blood you MUST be an imposter!!!'
Gerda reached out and slapped Jan smartly. “How RUDE! I am no flesh and blood to you, thank the stars!”
The warder stepped towards them, trying not to laugh. "Hold this woman until we get to the bottom of this, Van.'
Jan gestured to two other guards to help. “Jan…not Van…just…ummm…..Jan.”
The Warder nodded. “Yes of course…Jan. Remarkable, these two girls could be twins…” Haarion, warder of Arnach fell silent as he considered that possibility.
Gerda soon had a guard on each arm, and was none too happy about it. "What...what are you doing...this is...insufferable...let go of me you louts...this INSTANT!!!"'
Ellsabeth slipped unnoticed to the mechanism on the back wall, placing the keys into the correct slots quickly. She held her breath for a moment, the turned the keys while she had the chance to do so. It had clearly been a while since the locks had been used and turning the keys took effort, and made a soft scraping sound of metal on metal.
Jan is utterly focused on the “imposter” but at the sound the Warder began looking back towards Elsa.
Just as he faced the woman….SNAP. Both locks opened triggering a mechanism inside the wall and beyond in the Donjon, the clang of a large number of doors echoed.
The guards all froze in confusion at the sound, then a loud alarm claxon started to ring…and all eyes turned to Elsa.
Ellsabeth looks around the room and swallowed hard. With her distraction evaporating in front of her she took advantage of Jan's stupidity. In bringing her inside he had failed to remove her Sword and Chakram, only taking her dagger. She drew her sword knowing that she would likely have to fight her way out of this.
The warder noted Elsa with her sword out and laughed, moving towards her. "Now put that down little lady...you are in the middle of the most secure place this side of Minas Tirith...I don’t know who turned your head with pretty lies or promises, but drop that and we will get to the bottom of it....as long as you tell me who put you up to this, I will be…merciful.” His smile made it clear what he considered mercy and she gripped her sword tighter.
Haarion had yet to even bother to draw a weapon....and was still smirking. No sound came from outside the guardroom and Elsa’s hope for a flood of angry prisoners was fading.
-
In the sewers below, the passage filled with spiders, Cal and Xan tried to move forward but there were far too many of the creatures in the small space to make progress. They were trapped, bogged down, as a figure stepped out of the gap in the sewer wall...larger than the rest and female...terrifying in aspect...this then was their leader, Zaritha Tasakh.
The air had gone hazy with steam and a scent that still smelled like dry sand but was making their eyes water. It was growing harder the breathe in the heat. The newly arrived Zaritha Tasakh was truly horrifying. With two additional spider legs on each side, clearly razor sharp, the woman stood nearly 7 feet tall, all muscle and bone with a carapace for protection, the perfect synthesis of person and spider. She turned to look at the trio, all six of her eyes locked onto them.
Eduwiges swore bitterly and slowly backed up, making sure that they were all side by side as they faced this new threat. 'Ahh, Lethy, any chance you’ve got a fire arrow in there?' She spun her sword Badu Druit and prepared for this new, horrifying onslaught.
Calidis just stared at the Ungoledan woman with absolute disgust. Her hand holding her greatsword still shook slightly but did not waver. "And these have been down here for who knows how long..."
Xanderian nodded softly to Edu. "I do have fire arrows..but they are unwise to use in such close quarters when we are surrounded by very mobile, and very flammable, adversaries...and yes sweet Nighteye...for their Brood Mother to be so formidable and distorted, these creatures have been here since the Donjon was first built. Perhaps their apparent alliance with the Donjon is just as old...'
Several more Ungoledain in human form stepped from the tunnel, spreading out, and the trio prepared for battle. However rather than attack, their Tasakh gestured with a spider leg to have them stand aside and struggled to speak, as if using a language she had mostly forgotten."Waahhhtttt does the Preeeeyyyyy do here....they are not the afflicted from the great stone hive.....what arreeee...they."'
The leader of the creatures tilted her head in what seemed to be curiosity, all six eyes looking at them.
Edu breathed in and gagged. She realized that the strange scent was actually some kind of gas. She shouted, 'That is some kind of poison we are breathing, not just spider stink! Hold your breath and back up!'
Calidis helds her breath and moved as suggested, still positioning herself slightly in front of Xan. It went without saying though, that they could not hold their breath forever. She looked about the cistern, wondering if the source of the gas was the Ungoledain themselves or somewhere else...but there was no way to tell.
Xanderian watched the hulking skinchanger, thinking out loud. "Before she was calling to be fed...now she asks questions....why?” She raised her voice and looked as the Tasakh. 'We are not from the prison, no....we come from outside, we do not wish to disturb you.'
Eduwiges stayed on guard but eased into a non threatening pose, 'We do not want any trouble. We are just passing through.'
The Tasakh looked even more confused and gestured towards Edu with one spider leg. "Then why does the large one smell of the sacrifice? We hold it and surround it and it breathes with our breath, safe and silent in our silk. She is not the sacrifice...yet she is the sacrifice....but she is not...Has she escaped us? No...but...yes....?
Even more spiders had filled in the chamber around them and it was clear the trio would not be fighting their way out.
Calidis decide to remain quiet. Considering she stomped a few spiders to death, she assumed that the Ungoledain would be completely uninterested in anything she would say.
Xanderian thought carefully, whispering to her two companions. "They hold the sacrifice, surround it...keep it safe and silent in their silk...” her eyes went wide in realization. “THE BOX....the Box is a cocoon....and they are confusing you and Daedre, Edu....she is the sacrifice they keep in their silk.”
Eduwiges eyed the creatures in front of them. 'Why in bema's name would they confuse me with their sacrifice? Xan we either need to talk our way out of this or….' She shook her sword just a bit.
Calidis whispered to Xan and Edu, "Perhaps we could convince them that we are going to get their 'sacrifice' for them and they will let us be on our way..."
Xanderian shook her head softly..."No....I don't think they wish this sacrifice...after all, they already HAVE her due to whatever agreement they have with the Donjon. They are holding her but these creatures are responding to blood. They have sworn to protect whoever is inside that "Box", the sacrifice, I suppose until they are brought to judgement for their crimes...but they say that Edu is the SAME as this sacrifice.'
Calidis frowned, 'Well, we are not giving Eduwiges to them.'
Eduwiges looks at Cal and Xan incredulously, 'I am not going on their bloody menu!'
The Tasakh suddenly gestured with all four spider legs. "We must see the truth of this..bring them within...we go to see the sacrifice, to understand this....bring them.'
The herd of spiders moved the trio in through the side passage where the Tasakh had come from. Considering the odds they had little option but to go with whatever the Tasakh demanded for now. After a few minutes walking there would find stairs to one side..leading up to a heavy stone wall.
As they went up the stairs, their heads cleared, the gas clearly pooling down below. The wall ahead of them looked like stone, but as they got closer it appeared to be made of spider silk, perhaps a foot thick.
The Tasakh waved her spider arms and the silk seemed to part like water, forming an archway. Within they saw a vast stone chamber before them and in the middle was a large pool of brackish water, above which was suspended a cocoon that seemed to be pulsing slightly.
Eduwiges was not sure what to do, she stayed ready but was flabbergasted by all of this. 'Lethy' she whispered, 'What are we going to do? Cal?'
Calidis looked up to the cocoon and then to the Tasakh. "How do we even know Deadre is alive in there?"
From the far side of the chamber, two guards were racing towards the group, shouting. "NO...we are on lockdown..go back, you monsters...BACK DOWN BELOW...we will call for you when we wish you...'
As they approached, swords drawn, two of the Tasakh's spider legs extended like lightning, taking both guards in the chest and punching out the back. The guards twitched for a moment, their mouths foaming as some form of toxin took hold, then she dropped them...in a moment the bodies were covered in spiders.'
The Tasakh gestured again and the cocoon slowly lowered, swinging towards her and finally settling on the stones. The trio noticed that one of the guards had painted a face on the cocoon which looked like a woman, winking, with full red lips...the word BITCH was written across it.
Calidis shook her head. “Well, that explains who different viewers have reported the “Box” with different faces. It seems the guards have a poor sort of sport with it.”
At another command, the cocoon slowly melted away, revealing a woman in early middle age. Her skin was a grey pallor and her hair was greying, but as it spilled out from the cocoon, it was clearly that same flaxen tan color that Edu's was.
Eduwiges almost dropped her sword as she stared in shock. Somewhere inside herself she felt a pang of recognition.
Calidis immediately moved toward the woman to check for signs of life and any injuries or ailments. She was no healer but still...as long as she kept the ointment put away perhaps she could be of help.
She woman had apparently been unconscious due to the toxin. As she gasped in air her skin grey less pallid and her eyes fluttering open. She stared at Eduwiges."Rowenna?......no.....you're too young...you must be....what did she name you?'
Eduwiges stammers, 'Eduwiges...' she did not know what else to say. “Rowenna was my mother…”
Daedre the Shadowslip, once of the Blood Eye but now a freelance thief, reached out, smiling. “Your mother? Well, what else would you think? Eduwiges...well ain’t that a mouthful"...one hand weakly cupping Edu's face...."Oh my stars....you have Sarick's eyes....you have his eyes..." and she began to weep leaving Eduwiges dumbstruck.
-
In the Guardroom, Ellsabeth turned her attention to the approaching Warder. She angled her sword so the tip of the blade pointed squarely between the Warder's legs. "If you want to keep whatever you got down there I suggest you keep your distance."
That caused the warder to pay attention....and he sidestepped the threat while drawing his own sword. However he still had not called for help, he assumed he wouldn’t need it against one little girl.
Elsa could hear a hubbub starting in the hall...the sound of distant footsteps, running...a shout…and then both Elsa and the trio underground heard a massive crash. The prisoners had apparently finally realized they were free…and the true prison break had begun.
