With an impatient growl, Alex kicked it again and the bottom left part of the cell door bent backwards, as the hinges squealed in protest.
The heavy wooden door across from his cell flew open and Hendry rushed in with a cry of alarm. The electric rod was in his hand, but it hung limply at his side as he watched the door slowly warp in its frame from each kick with growing horror.
Alex let out a roar and kicked again, the rusted hinges finally snapping from the force of his blows. The cage door streaked across the hallway and smashed heavily into Hendry, the bottom of the frame catching him full in the face as he stared at Alex, completely dumbstruck. Blood and broken teeth flew from Hendry’s mouth as the weight and momentum of the cage door sent him tumbling backwards.
In his panic, Hendry had forgotten to close the door behind him, but it appeared that fate was willing to lend a helping hand – or more accurately, Hendry’s hand.
The old man hit the ground and flipped ass over elbows. As he rolled, the knuckles of his hand smacked the bottom corner of the door. Despite it being a glancing blow, despite the door being solid wood three inches think and reinforced with iron castings, it was enough.
Alex gawked like an idiot in disbelief as the door smoothly swung shut, moving so slowly that it didn’t even make a sound as it latched shut until the magical locks on the door activated.
Ignoring the door for now, Alex rushed over to Hendry who has lying in a tangled heap with the cage door, fearing he might be dead. However, relief washed through him as he saw the rise and fall of his chest.
“God damn it, Hendry I didn’t want to hurt you, why did you have to come back now of all times?”
Alex freed him from the warped metal and tossed it aside. He didn’t know why, but even though Hendry drugged and imprisoned him, he genuinely felt bad about injuring him.
Alex had viewed Hendry as just a crotchety old man up until now, but he realized how much he had underestimated him when Hendry slowly rolled over on his side, spat out more blood and teeth, and laughed.
Tough old bastard.
“What’s so funny?” Alex asked.
“I was coming to let you out. Go figure, huh?” He said in a wet growled, his laugh devolving into a coughing fit.
“Huh. Yeah, go figure.” Alex said, giving his own dark chuckle.
“Alright Uncle Hendry, let’s go.” Alex said and grabbed Hendry by his ankle, dragging him into the next cell.
“What the hell, kid? And I ain’t your uncle!”
Uncle Hendry tried swatting at him feebly but quickly gave up with a groan of pain. Carefully, Alex picked him up and set him down on the sleeping pallet gingerly. Surprised at just how light Hendry was thanks to his enhanced strength
“Oh, don’t be like that Uncle Hendry. Your wife asked me to call her Auntie Jane, so obviously that would make you Uncle Hendry. Or would you rather I called you Unc? You tough old coot.”
Hendry did little more than groan in pain, but his distaste for this nickname was clear. Alex snickered and took out one of the more potent healing aerosol cans, waving it in front of Hendry.
“Now, you listen to me Uncle Hendry, you answer my questions about how I can get out of here and I will heal you with this.”
Hendry’s eyes burned with the want of a drowning man spotting a life ring only a couple of feet away, before turning to locking onto Alex, his gaze now angry and narrowed in suspicion.
“What are you talking about, boy? We can leave through the door there.” He said, pointing a finger at the door.
“Nope, can’t open it from this side. The door locked itself the second it closed.”
“What...? No, I.... that bastard.” Hendry said.
“Look, that doesn’t matter. Do you know of another way out? Tell me, and you can have this.” Alex said, and shook the aerosol can in front of his face.
Hendry glanced fearfully at the door on the other end of the hall and then shook his head.
“No.” He admitted darkly. “I haven’t gone any further than these holding cells. He makes us bring people down here, always one at a time. Every week or so he comes here, takes them away to... to do whatever he does to them with that astral stuff. Jane was always the one interested in that kind of magic, not me.”
Alex’s eyes widened but Hendry let out a wheezing guffaw.
“You really think my Jane has this kind of work in her? No, she loved the study of it. She couldn’t handle seeing these cells, let alone helping that damnable nephew of hers. Ha, maybe you were on to something, kid. If you really were our nephew instead of that little shit, we wouldn’t even be here.”
“What is he researching?” Alex asked, ignoring Hendry’s crack about being his nephew. He had more than his fill of family growing up, thank you very much.
“Why did you drug me? He wasn’t here, you could have just let me be on my way and nothing would have happened.” Alex said, trying to keep the rage from his voice.
“Honestly?” Hendry asked, looking him in the eye defiantly. “I wanted this over. I don’t know what he does in there, but no one ever comes out alive. He has been trying to summon some sort of creature...”
Hendry trailed off, trying to find the right words, but then swore instead. Those were hardly ever the right words to use when you were trying to express yourself, but damned if they don’t feel good anyway.
“Obviously, Jane knows all about this, but I want nothing to do with the gods or those accursed astrals.” Markov said after a while, and Alex let him work out the rest of his words in silence.
“Last night, Markov left to perform some kind of summoning. At first, he said it worked, but then something went wrong with the man he hired to finish the ritual. Markov escaped most of the backlash, but the other one was badly weakened. They were raving about some kind of interference, but I never understood what they were saying when they discussed these matters, I only know they botched it somehow. Before Markov left, he told us to keep an eye out for any strangers, and that he would be back in a week or so after he recovered and took care of things at the society.”
Alex narrowed his eyes, homing in on the piece he cared about the most, and dismissed the rest to be processed later.
“And you think he summoned me? Why?” He added when Hendry nodded in confirmation.
If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
“Markov set up scanners all over the house. At first, they weren't picking up anything. Jane said it was like you were immune to them, but I assumed the damned things were just broken. Besides, Markov only ever told us what to do if we encountered someone with a specific aura signature, he never said anything about what we needed to do if the sensors didn’t pick up anything at all.”
Hendry trailed off and glanced at him nervously.
Alex groaned and rubbed his eyes wearily, he already knew where this was going.
“We were going to let you go, but then...” Hendry licked his lips, and an apologetic look flashed across his face like lightning before he continued.
“When you were washing up, the sensors finally picked up a reading. It was only for a second or two, but it confirmed you were an Outworlder.”
In the shower, he had absorbed the dimension essence. His racial ability said that he should be immune to sensors, though. But what if, when he absorbed the essence, the sudden spike of magic that flooded his body temporarily disabled his natural immunity to sensors?
Alex swore under his breath. He knew he should have waited to learn more before absorbing a random magical item into his body. And right here in this room, wasn’t Vi talking about him making rash mistakes only a couple of minutes ago?
Alex took a deep, calming breath, before returning his attention to Hendry.
“So, you are saying that I somehow messed up his summoning?” He asked in a slow, deliberate voice. “That, instead of whatever the hell he was trying to summon, he grabbed me instead?”
Hendry nodded, looking at the ground now.
“And you thought that if you brought me to him, he would let you guys go? That he could use me to finish whatever he is working on?” Alex said, his voice rising as he spoke.
“Look at me!” Alex shouted, banging his hand against the bars.
Hendry slowly raised his head, and Alex saw that it wasn’t fear that filled his eyes, or what made him look at the ground – it was shame.
Hendry knew what he was doing to Alex was wrong, but he still did it anyway.
Maybe he is family after all, Alex thought bitterly.
“I had to. It was our only chance to end this. I’m so-”
Alex slammed his fist into the bars and grabbed Hendry by the collar.
“Say you’re sorry, and I will beat you to death. Understand?” Alex said slowly. His low, dead voice belied the intensity in his eyes and the rage pounding in his ears.
Alex stood up, his hands balling into fists so tight that his knuckles popped and began strain in their sockets. He paced back and forth, taking deep breaths.
Finally, he knelt back down beside Hendry.
“I understand,” Alex spat out in the slow, barely controlled voice of a man forced to apologize even though he did nothing wrong.
“I will do everything I can to make sure both of us walk out of here. But when this is all over...” Alex said, gesturing between them with a finger. “You and I are going to have a reckoning.”
Hendry looked away for a moment before returning his gaze to Alex, defiant. Not defiance towards Alex and his promised judgement – but towards the shame roiling within himself, that compelled him to try and justify his actions. For betraying a stranger who came to him in for help.
Betraying a stranger, to protect the one he loved. What would Alex have done in his position?
“I know you are doing this to protect Jane, and I can respect that. But once this is all over, this is over.” Alex said, indicating to everything around him. “I guess the cat’s out of the bag about me being an outworlder, so you obviously know I have nowhere else to go.”
Hendry looked at him in utter confusion
“What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that, after this: We leave. We put – what was the name of that town, Dunmere? – We put Dunmere to our heels and we set up shop somewhere Markov won’t be able to find us. Or, if you think we can take Markov down, we’ll go to Dunmere and explain what's been happening here, and they will handle him for us... There’s also a chance that Markov could be taken down while we’re escaping here... But, at that point he would be dead – so we wouldn't actually need to go anywhere after all, I guess.”
Hendry stared at Alex in flabbergasted horror, and he gently patted the older man's shoulder.
“Just pick which ever option you like the most and hope for that.”
And just like that, he was like a ship suddenly breaking through the storm into calmer seas, with a clear view of where to go next. And the anger coursing through him was becalmed by his compassion for a man willing to cross the line to protect someone he loved. It was a begrudging compassion, sure – but compassion all the same.
[Task]: Once Bitten, Twice Shy.
[Description]: You have been betrayed and imprisoned by the Odde family. Despite the betrayal, you made a deal with Hendry after having a confrontation. But first: You must find a way to escape the underground facility by gathering more information.
[Objective]: discover the reasons for your incarceration.
[Objective Reward]: Skill Book
[Objective Complete]: discover the reasons for your incarceration.
[Reward]: Skill Book: Ritual Magic, Beginner, Vol. 1 has been added to your storage.
[Reward]: 10 Bronze Spirit Coins have been added to your storage.
[Reward]: 50 Iron Spirit Coins have been added to your storage.
[Reward]: 100 Lesser Spirit Coins have been added to your storage.
[Bonus Objective added]: Keep Hendry Odde alive, as you explore the underground facility 1/1
[Reward]: Awakening Stone.
[Completion Objective]: Escape the underground Laboratory.
[Task Completion Reward]: Essence Stone.
Alex dismissed the network screen and looked at Hendry, trying to decide what to do.
“I told you everything I know, boy.” The old man said, looking at the aerosol can.
Stubborn jackass, I should make you say please.
The thought was mean and petty, but Alex felt like he deserved to be a little mean and petty right now. He hesitated for only a second longer before sighing and handing the can over.
“Just pop off the top and spray it on the wounds. I have no idea if it’ll fix your teeth though. Or if it’ll fix broken bones, if you have any.”
Alex got to his feet and walked out of the cell, his hands on his head as he thought.
The new bonus objective wanted him to keep this man alive, so he assumed that meant it was going to get dangerous once he left this room. He had no intention of actually facing any of that danger, but babysitting Hendry would slow them down considerably.
Rewards for keeping the old man alive aside, Alex was still pissed at being dragged into this mess, but he didn’t hate Hendry or wish to see him dead.
The thing’s people do for family – If he had a family, that is.
Alex smiled and turned towards Hendry. Hendry tossed the empty aerosol can to him and slowly sat up.
“Gods, my entire body itches. My mouth feels like it's on fire.”
“Looks like it does regrow teeth, good to know.” Alex said and before closing the cell door between them and locking it. Hendry jumped to his feet in a panic and rattled the door to his new cell.
“The hell are you doing, boy?!” He yelled. “Let me out of here!”
“Calm down, Uncle.” Alex said with a smirk. “Auntie Jane will probably be down here to check on you sooner or later. Even if she hates this place, she wouldn’t sit and do nothing while you were missing. She can let you out when she finally does show up.”
“Don’t be stupid now, you can’t go in there alone. That place is massive. You’ll wander down there forever before you find a way out. Once Jane opens the door, we can all leave together.”
“Meh,” Alex said with a casual wave of his hand. “I’ll be fine. And I sure as shit can’t bring you with me. Something tells me it’ll be dangerous in there, and I’d rather not have your blood on my hands, even if you are a dick.”
Alex glanced at his hands, currently covered in Hendrik’s blood.
“Well, anymore blood... You know what I mean. Anyway, take care Uncle. For everyone’s sake, I really hope we don’t have to see each other until this is already over.”
Alex walked towards the door, ignoring Hendry’s shouts. As far as he could tell, there was no magic warding the door, so it appeared safe to use. He put a tentative hand on the handle, steeling his nerves with a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.
He pulled the door open and stepped through, Hendry’s voice cutting off as the door slammed shut behind him.