Chapter 20: Unsuccessful infiltration.

The soldiers take away our backpacks and throw us into a dirty cell.

“You’ll have to wait here until the king is ready to give you an audience.” a soldier says.

That’s all the explanations we receive.

“I thought that Neb said that it was no longer illegal to try to break the seals,” Ellie says, worried.

I nod.

“Then why are we being imprisoned?” Ellie asks the soldier guarding the door.

She doesn’t answer, staying there unfazed.

“Great!” Ellie flares up as she sits on the floor. “This is our sixth day, Rin! What are we supposed to do?”

I don’t have any kind of answer to that. What are we supposed to do now?

“Excuse me, Ma’am,” I say politely to the soldier. “Do you know how long it takes the king to give an audience?”

“Not long,” she says and gets back to her immutable stance.

I go and sit next to Ellie.

"We'll make it, Ellie," I say

"How can you even say that when we're trapped in this dirty cell?" Ellie says.

"We'll make it just like we crossed that bridge," I say.

Ellie stays silent.

"Ellie?" I say. "Can I ask you something about what you said back on the bridge?"

"Sure," Ellie says, resigned. "There's nothing better I can do right now."

"What did you mean when you said I didn't need to fit in?" I ask.

"Oh! Well…" Ellie stutters. "It seems that you somehow believe that you need to be like my other friends from high school to hang out with me. But I couldn't care less. I enjoy being around the real Rin. Like the last five days. That's it."

"The real me?" I ask.

Ellie lets out an annoyed noise.

"The one that doesn't worry about being the best, the one that laughs carelessly, the one that doesn't care too much about appearances," Ellie says and sighs.

I try to say something as I hide my face between my legs, but my lips won't move.

A group of masked guards get into the room.

"The king will see you next," one of them says.

A pair of guards handcuff us and take us through a long corridor until we get to a pair of tall golden doors.

We wait there for a few minutes, then another guard gives a sign, and we walk into the throne room.

Tall windows with views of the city line the room on both sides all the way to a set of steps. On top of the steps lays a golden throne.

A man sits on the throne, analyzing us as we approach. He might be in his early thirties. Simple but elegant robes mark his athletic complexion.

"Kneel before the great King, Abhag the third!" shouts a guard as we are forced to kneel.

"Under which chargers are they accused?" Abhag asks.

"Multiple witnesses saw them getting off the dragon sighted yesterday afternoon," the guard says with an uncannily familiar voice. "We believe that they're responsible for breaking the seal of the lake of Em."

"I see," Abhag says. "Can I know your names?"

"Speak!" one guard says.

"Sasaki Rin," I say.

"Inoue Ellie," she says. "Your majesty, we've been told that the activities we performed were no longer illegal in this kingdom…"

"Silence!" shouts a guard.

"And who could possibly tell you such nonsense!" Abhag says.

"His name is Nebulord," I say. "He told us that he works for you, so we believed him."

Everyone starts laughing.

"Nebulord!!!" Abhag says, laughing. "I've never heard that name in my entire life. Have you?"

"Not a single time in my entire life, " says the guard next to the king, taking his mask off.

"Neb!!!" I exclaim, recognizing the man under the mask.

"Hey, Rin!" Neb says as the guards next to Ellie and me take their masks off. They're Taen and Zull.

None of them can contain the laughter.

"What 's going on?" Ellie asks, disconcerted.

After a while, the group calms down.

"Brave warriors," Abhag says. "I owe you a better welcome, but this man insisted on playing a prank on you."

"Sorry," Neb says, raising his hand. "But you should've seen your faces."

Taen and Zull carefully take our handcuffs off and help us stand.

"You're a piece of excrement!" Ellie says as she rushes like a flash to punch Neb in the guts.

Abhag, Zull, and Taen burst out laughing.

"It's great to see you again," Neb utters, short of breath.

"Zull, can you please explain what's going on?" I ask, still confused about the situation.

"Oh, sure!" Zull says. "When we noticed that the ruins on the lake didn't disappear, we knew you made it. So we rushed to the capital to tell the king."

Taen appears with our backpacks.

"And from what we can see, you've broken the second seal as well," Taen says, bringing the cage out of my backpack and taking it back in.

"So we figured out that you would need the most help you could get here in the capital," Neb says. "Our king is really interested in breaking the third seal. Therefore, we prepared everything for you."

"You'll see, brave warriors," Abhag says. "Since my grandfather sealed the third dragon and the gem under the castle, a new species of obnoxious creatures has infested the palace, especially the dungeons. We call them Nietravs. I have the hypothesis that they feed off the gem's oozing energy."

"So you need our help in order to get rid of them," I say.

"Exactly," Abhag says. "I'll be eternally grateful to you if you do so, without taking into account that you'll be fulfilling my dream of seeing the dragons roam freely through the skies again."

"Then you should know that the best you can do for us is to take us to the place as soon as possible," Ellie says.

"Right!" Abhag says. "Neb told me about it. Follow me!"

We take our backpacks and follow the king.

"With the years, we've discovered that Nietravs are weak to blue fire," Neb says as we walk down an infinite spiral of stairs."So we developed a particular spell to attack them. The word to cast it is Fufugo."

A bright blue flame appears on Neb's hand. He urges us to try it. After a few attempts, we’re able to make it.

"Wow! I'm so proud of my apprentices," Neb says, swaggering. "Of course, you have an excellent teacher."

We finally make it to the end of the stairs. A pair of black metal doors stand in front of us.

Zulls hands a stick to both of us with a glistening stone on top of them.

"Those are pyl rocks. They'll light your way without attracting the Nietravs or consuming your energy," Abhag says. "I also have to tell you that the dungeons shapeshift under the influence of the gem. My grandfather protected it with more than one spell. Be careful."

"I know they'll make it," Zull says.

"Have the best of luck!" Taen says.

We hug them.

Neb is telling something to Ellie's ear that I cannot hear. They hug. Then he comes next to me.

"You're a talented adventurer, Rin," Neb says, hugging me. "You just have to believe."

Zull and Taen open the doors.

"Now go!" Neb says as he pushes us into the darkness of the dungeon.

"Let's get over with this," I say to Ellie.

And we start running.

…

We run.

And run.

And run.

And we start walking.

"I think this is the sixth time we have passed that moss patch!" Ellie says, frustrated. Sitting on the floor to take a break.

She's right. We've been circling the same moss patch over and over again. Not a single creature has attacked us. Nothing. Just an infinite hallway of brick.

I sit next to Ellie, hitting my backpack with the wall. The cage of the staff pops out of one of the pockets. But instead of hitting the ground, it stays suspended in the air without moving.

"Wait a minute…" I say. "Ellie, give me your part of the staff"

We place the three parts of the staff next to each other. They start pointing in the same direction, the moss patch.

"I think the staff is telling us where to go," I say to Ellie.

"I can't walk through walls," Ellie says. "Let's put it together to see if something changes."

We assemble the staff, but it keeps pointing at the moss patch.

"Great!" Ellie exclaims.

"Look!" I say.

The moss is glowing dimly. I take the staff closer to it, and the wall splits into two with a strong noise.

"Smart boy!" Ellie says, hitting me in the shoulder.

We walk into the new hallway.

The darkness here seems to be overthrowing the light of my pyl rock. I can’t see beyond my extended hands.

"Ellie…" I say before a slimy mass knocks me out.