Chapter 2

I stayed in darkness, with the occasional sounds of footsteps in the distance, for an unknowable amount of time, but it felt like hours. For a while I struggled and tried to yell more until I was tired, and my throat was too sore. Eventually, I just laid there and cried. I wondered what they were going to do with me. Had they ever intended to send me home? Was that even possible? What stayed in my head the most, though, was the sight of my own face looking back at me. The lifeless eyes. I couldn’t get it out of my head. It made me sick to think about. I had to push it out of my mind.

Eventually, I was finally lifted again. I struggled briefly before giving up. I was too exhausted, both physically and mentally. They didn't speak, but their footsteps sounded like guards. Down more stairs and hallways. Suddenly all in an instant I was dropped, my crate was opened, and I was dumped out onto a cold stone floor. A guard removed the sack over my head and began untying me.

I looked around the room quickly. It was a large open area with a single door on the right wall. The air was dank and smelled like feces. The only light came from torches on the sections of wall that separated the cells from each other, while iron bars separated the prisoners inside from freedom. There were 9 cells in the room, but only 5 of them had people inside. Well, 6 now. A fat guard sat at the head of a table with 2 other guards in the middle of the room. Another 2 guards stood over me. One by the doorway of my cell while the other continued untying me. Once I was finally able to move and speak again, the fat guard stood up and walked over carrying a club.

"Johnathan Dough. Convicted spy for the rebel group The Embers. We’ve been told you're quite the Lier and storyteller. I've also been told you know how to fight. Want to try it?" He said with a smile as he came to a stop in the doorway next to the other 2 guards.

"I... I don't even know what's going on. Is this a prison? I didn't do anything. I'm one of the heroes summoned to this world. I was supposed to be sent home, but... they killed- err tried to kill- I mean they did, I think, but-" I fumbled through my explanation.

Laughter erupted from the guards.

The fat guard spoke when he was done. "Wow, they did say you would probably act crazy, but that was something! You can't even get your story straight! Well then, if you’re a hero, why don’t you try to escape? A hero could easily take down 5 guards, right?"

I thought about it. I wasn't the best fighter, but maybe I could manage? No. I didn’t have a weapon, and I didn't know enough about my situation.

"That’s what I thought. I'll tell you now, you even think about escaping, I'll break your legs myself. It's a great method for getting rid of those pesky ideas. Once you have no means of escape, you stop trying it. Hahahaha!"

His laugh sent shivers down my spine. This whole place scared me. I didn’t deserve to be here.

The guards left my cell, and the fat one locked it.

"Don't worry too much, Mr. Johnathan. Thanks to you, we're getting extra wine and better food. It's in our best interest to keep you alive and well."

"… My name's William."

"Whatever you say. Just be a good boy, stay quiet, don’t make me break your legs, and we can all get along. Enjoy the first night of the rest of your life, John."

"Wait! Um, I need to use the bathroom."

"Then use it." One of the other guards said while pointing at a bucket in my cell.

That explained the smell then. The guards went around the room, extinguishing torches until just the one by the door was left. As the last guard was leaving, he snuffed out that one too and closed the door behind them. A tiny amount of light came in from beneath the door, but the room was completely black aside from that. I felt around in the dark until I found the mat of hay that was my bed. This was the worst. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want other prisoners to think I was weak or an easy target or something. Now that I think about it, do prisoners here even get to leave their cells?

"Psst. Hey. Embers kid." The voice of someone a few cells to my left.

"Are you talking to me? I'm not part of that. I don’t even know what it is."

"It's ok. I'm part of Embers, too. The guards can't hear us right now. They go to drink in a separate room down the hall after dark. When was the last time you had contact with them? Are you here to break me out?"

"I've never had contact with them, and I'm not here to break anyone out. You think I would be locked up if I were?"

A woman's voice from across the room spoke, but rather than a whisper, it was normal volume. "If you're breaking out, you better take me with you, or I'll put a curse on you and all of your descendants for all eternity."

The man responded, "Don’t listen to her, she can’t even use magic. The prison bars stop it from passing though them."

"What is this place?"

"It's a dungeon near the northern mountains, outside the walls of the capital. Though, I’ve heard it's connected to the inside through the long tunnels. If you were hoping for a trial, you're out of luck. This is the kind of place they take people to make them disappear. The only reason you're still alive is cause they think you have something they want. My advice, don't give it to them. Once they have what they want, you're no longer needed."

"I don't think I have anything useful to them. Pretty sure I'm here because I'm too useless, actually."

This time, the women spoke. "No. If you're here, you have something they want. You might not know what it is, but they will try to take it from you regardless. Even if it's something you can't give." Her words were solemn and shook me.

"... I think, maybe I'm here because they couldn't kill me. They just needed to make me vanish."

A man to my right responded this time. “There are ways to make someone disappear without killing them. Ancient demons are banished, some undead are cast into stone and buried, and there are powerful monsters can only be sealed away or put to sleep. So why go through the trouble of hiding you in a prison?"

Maybe because I'm human, I thought. Because those things are only done to monsters.

"... what about you guys?"

"Me? I'm not hiding it. I was a member of The Embers. If you're telling the truth, and you're not a member, we're a group of freedom fighters that opposes the current royal family. Founded after the death of a one of the previous heroes, years ago. Now, we're opposed to the war in the north because it's straining the people here and drawing too many resources all for a barren land. They want me alive to get information. My sister is an important member. They want Anna over there alive because they think she has some special spells, they want Henry alive so he can tell them where he stashed their loot. Simon is-"

"Hey! Shut up. It's not your place to talk about why other people are here." A deeper voice from one of the other cells spoke up rather loudly.

A course of shushes came from multiple cells. Guards never came. After that, no one else spoke.

I lay down on my mat and closed my eyes. What did I have? I was being sent away because I was a burden, wasn't I? Except I guess there is no way to return, so they were just going to kill me, and because I couldn't die, they had to make me vanish. This was just a nightmare. When I wake up, I won't be here. Maybe I would even be back home, waking up to prep for a test or getting ready for my part-time job.