by Kieron Uchee
I had been amazed at this, the idea of a public execution was not something that was supposed to be in the game, and it was almost like the rules regarding gameplay were being changed without the players being made aware of the changes.
I did a little checking and found out that Kamasut was being held at the Old Buttress, a jail located on the third level. It was run by the City Watch and was subject to many jokes do to the name and what was reported to happen with many of the prisoners held within.
This was where I would be spending my night off. I needed to find the hall for Thieves, which was not something that I could go and ask a guard about. I also needed to register with them to obtain more training and missions that would help me level up my skills.
Breaking into a jail should not be hard, it is only when you tried to leave that the problems would arise. It was a cloudy night which hid the light of the two moons, which was to my benefit. Looking at the prison I could see that the entrance was built on my side of one of the rivers that snaked its way down the mountain.
It was a narrow building of four stories; with the entrance located in the middle. I would guess that the prison made use of the river to supply the water needs of the prisoners. The entrance held two guards, with another clearly visible sitting behind a low desk. To go through the front would require the use of excessive force which was something a thief would avoid at all cost.
That meant I was going swimming, something I had thought I might have to do when I had scouted the jail earlier in the day. The river was my doorway and it would provide my cover as I made my entrance into the prison.
I entered the water, it had poor visibility but I was seeing through the dim light with my Dragon eyes ability and using my recently acquired Airless breathing to stay near the bottom. I groped my way along grasping the rocks on the river bed and using them to pull myself forward. I rolled over on my back, thankful that I had stuffed a sack with rocks and tied it to my belt before entering the water. It was what was helping me to stay on the bottom.
Looking up I could see that I was now under the building proper so I unfastened the sack of stones and slowly rose to the surface. I was in a tunnel that was formed from the river banks and the floor of the building.
The river had been bricked as it ran under the building and the whole thing reminded me of a large sewage system. Except that this was clean for which I was profoundly grateful. The idea of having to swim through shit did not appeal to me at all.
I could see an opening ahead, the building had a room that allowed access to the river, I could also see a couple of pipes that entered the water, I guessed that they were for water intake. In a world of magic, there was no need for heavy mechanical pumps. I was hoping that the pipe room was empty as no one would be needed to watch over mechanical pumps that were not there.
Breaching the water’s surface in the shadows of a corner I quickly scanned the room, it was empty. I made my way to the steps that led up into the room and climbed them. I had been experimenting with my nanobots abilities and had managed to control my body temperature by heating my skin surface to the point that clothing dried extremely fast.
As I stood there I began to heat up, I did not want to leave a water trail, soon my clothing was steaming and in a few minutes, they were totally dry. A very handy ability, I thought. I had been looking at all of my abilities and skills trying to think outside the box and learn how to adapt them.
It may be the game system was changing or it could be that I was just developing my skills. I was just aware that now I did not need to use the interface to mentally see and depress the buttons.
I could just think the command, and it would work. I had started out by saying the commands but had realized that a thief would not do well in the middle of a job if he started talking to himself. With a bit of practice, everything was working out. I was particularly pleased with the fact that I could now easily dual wield spells.
I had tried to do more than two spells at a time but that experiment had failed; I guessed that it had to do with using the hands as a focal point for the spell to launch. For whatever the reason I was only able to cast two spells at once and while disappointing I couldn’t do more it was still a huge advantage for me.
Soon my clothing was dry and I walked over to the door, it was locked but I had expected nothing less. Slipping my tools out of their pocket I went to work, the reward was a soft click and the door was unlocked. I had to admit, I was thrilled with being able to pick a lock, I think I had watched too many spy movies when I was younger.
Opening the door, I listened intently for a couple of minutes and hearing nothing, I entered the corridor. The dim light was provided by a flickering torch, which cast long shadows down the hallway. Boxes were piled up along the right side of the corridor, I examined a couple as I walked towards the stairs visible at the end of the passageway.
I read the first box, The personal effects of Thomas the Murk. He expired while receiving the tender care and mercy of the Crown, he has no known family. As I read a few more it became apparent that these were the personal effects of prisoners that had died in jail.
I moved on, reaching the stairwell I began to climb. I knew that the top two levels held the prisoners and that I would have to navigate my way past patrols and prisoners all of whom might call out at the sight of me. The risk was worth the challenge, as I could think of no other way to increase my skills.
The door on the top was unlocked, that is sloppy protocol, I thought. Cracking the door, I listened for a few minutes and hearing nothing I entered the second floor of the jail. Stretching ahead of me was a long corridor that ran the length of the building, it held offices on each side and in the middle, it opened out into the reception area.
That was where the guards would be stationed, and I needed to avoid that area. It was well lit with several torches and would be to open and bright to have many shadows to hide in. At the far ends of the central hall were two stairwells with another stairwell that was located directly behind the guard’s station.
Two guards had just begun a patrol from the guard’s station heading away from me, they would stop and check that each door was locked. I made my way down my side of the hallway stopping near the end and pulling my picks I unlocked the closest office door, closing it I locked it from the inside.
Glancing around I could see several desks and a shelving unit with papers stack on each shelf. I knew I would have a few minutes before the guards would be at the door so I began to go through each desk. Most contained trash, prisoner’s names and court dates, release information and the home address of the prisoners. Nothing that was worthwhile for me.
I stuck the jackpot on the last desk; it held a report on the Hammerytes. As I glanced over at the details within the report, became apparent that someone was taking an interest in what the Hammerytes were doing. Judging from the depth of the report the City Watch had the group under surveillance, but all they had discovered was that the Dwarves were manufacturing some kind of new weapons.
I soon heard the guards at the door; they were speaking about the upcoming execution. I listened to them as they discussed what would happen.
The first guard was saying, “I do not hold with this execution, the King has never held a public execution for thieving before, I am thinking that this is the work of that damned chamberlain, Archon.”
Guard number two replied, “It has been dark days since the Gods disappeared, things have changed, I am not sure who the hell is in charge now.”
As they moved down the hall I was left with nothing but suppositions, first, the King was not in charge, Archon was. Second, the changes that were happening were not a part of the original game design but were being forced into the game by the Old Bastards. The third thing was that the NPC of the city were not that happy with what was happening. The last thing was really a presupposition that Archon was interested in what the Hammerytes were doing.
Thinking about this I waited patiently for the guards to continue bac
k towards the guard's station. Once they passed by I gave them a minute, and then left the office I locked the door and then slipped to the stairwell. Unlocking the door I entered the stairwell and then relocked it. Climbing quickly I made my way to the next floor. Picking the lock I cracked the door open and peered down the hallway.
No guards were visible, but I could see several torches flickering on sconces going down the hallway, the overall ambient light was much dimmer here. I slipped through the door and walked to the first door. On this floor, there was only one series of doors on the far side of the hallway. The cells were considerably larger and were fewer in number.
Opening the cell door I could see that the first cell was empty, but on the far side of the cell was another door that led to another room. I quietly picked the cell lock and the metal barred door swung silently open. Good thing the hinges are oiled, I thought.
Once in the jail cell, I softly closed the door and silently walked towards the inner side door. It was not locked and hung partway open. I leaned forward in the shadows and looked into the other room. It was a disturbing sight, I could see a woman strung up by her arms with her legs pulled out at an angle and tied up taunt.
Listening, I could hear another woman, she was saying, “Oh, it is too bad that tomorrow you will be executed. I have had so much fun with you, both pain and pleasure.” Opening the door a little further I could see the girl who was speaking, she was a human as was the woman strung up. They both looked the same , with long blond hair, and the typical hourglass figure.
The difference was that the woman who was being tortured was an NPC, the other was not. Damn it, that bitch was a player, she had to be some kind of psychopath to be doing this.
I slowly entered the room, seeing that the player was too busy to notice me. She walked over to the tied up girl who I guessed was Kamasut the thief and reached out and began to fondle her naked breasts, then leaning forward she took Kamasut’s nipple in her mouth and began to suck on it.
At that point, I saw that she held a whip, with the handle shaped like a foot long phallus. She slowly began to touch Kamasut with it while still sucking and licking Kamsut’s breasts.
This was wrong on so many levels, it was not the one on one female action, I could care less about someones sexual orientation. It was the fact that she had not only tortured but was still actively sexually assaulting the NPC. It made me sick to think about how long this may have been going on.
I could not stand to observe this any longer and I silently walked into the room. Getting as close as I could I called out, “What the fuck do you think you are doing you sick bitch.” I watched as she wheeled around to face me, her face becoming contorted with rage.
“Who the hell are you,” she screamed. “I am going to make you wish you had never been born, by the time I am done you will be begging to have me kill you.”
Not wasting my breath on a reply I cast Dragon fire at her and watched as she jumped to the side. While she was still off balance I cast an Ice bolt at her feet which froze her to the ground.
As she looked down she grimaced and said, “Do you think this ice will hold me, this is nothing.”
I knew it would not hold her, that was not my plan. While she had been looking down I had closed the distance with her.
Reaching out I suddenly clapped my hands over her ears and said, “I think a little electroshock treatment is in order.” With a grunt, she freed her feet just as I gave her the largest jolt of electricity I could. I don’t care what level you are, having your brain zapped with lightning is going to knock you on your ass.
I held the power for as long as I could, I really was not that concerned over her brain being fried. Who knows, I thought, it might do her some good. By the time I had exhausted my power she was on the floor drooling with a vacant expression on her face.
I did not know how long I would have so I hurried over to Kamasut and examined her. She was beautiful even with her injuries, two black eyes, swollen cheeks and split lips. I did not want to even think of the damage the bitch may have done below the waist but I could see she was bleeding.
Her back was a tortured mess of cuts and bruises, she looked like she had lost a lot of blood. I pulled my shark tooth knife from the arm sheath I had commissioned a week ago. Grasping the rope I quickly cut through it and gently lowered her to the ground.
Seeing more rope on the table I bound up the psychopathic bitch and then raised her up. After tying her into position I removed her clothing. She was attractive as all players were, but the inner evil I had seen would forever cloud how I would look at her.
Once she was securely fastened I gritted my teeth and began to slap her face repeatedly until she had two black eyes and split lips, only stopping to occasionally punch her. I ended the beating by breaking her nose then reaching down I grabbed the whip where she had dropped it.
I whipped her back four times, enough to get the blood flowing and to show that she had been whipped. I was feeling somewhat sick at what I had done until I looked down at Kamasut. Trying to be gentle I lifted her and exited the room.
My hope was that the guards would mistake the girls and carry on with the execution. I could not think of someone who deserved it more. I tried to cast my simple healing spell on the unconscious girl but it did not seem to be having any effect. As I left the cell I noticed another small stairwell near the middle of the hallway that went up. It had to go up to the roof.
My plans to escape were suddenly changed as I heard footsteps in the nearby stairwell. I rushed to the middle stairwell and quickly climbed up. The upper door that opened onto the roof was locked but several seconds later I had it open and was on the roof. Closing the door I hit it with a dual Ice blast, freezing it to the door frame.
Glancing around I saw that the roof was empty. The far end of the roof overlooked the city below as the shoulder of the mountain jutted out towards the shoreline. The wind was blowing strong and steady as it came off the water. I stood for a minute then metamorphed my wings out.
Carrying the girl I started to run towards the far edge and then I leaped into the air, unfolding my wings I began to glide downwards. I started to flap the wings and soon the combination of wings and wind began to lift me as I glided over the city. I was actually rising as I flew towards the sea, this was the first time I had really flown instead of gliding.
Looking down I could see the lights of the city curving around the shoulder of the mountain. Orientating myself, I aimed for the city terminal and when I found it I followed the cable flying across to the island. Circling over the island I saw what Komhether and Sebastian had been working on, my house.
It was going to be a two level cabin. It was near the lake in the center of the island the open beach in front of it and the grassy area on the sides and back. I landed on the grass and ran towards the doorway. Banging on the doorway brought a quick response.
Sebastian opened the door with Komhether standing behind him. Looking at me with a startled expression he said, “Torn, what are you doing here, and what is wrong with the girl?”
Komhether suddenly said, “Sebastian move aside, the girl is injured, quickly Torn bring her in.”
As I entered the cabin I saw that the first floor was wide open with a fireplace dominating one wall and scattered chairs and couches all over. I went to the nearest couch and put the girl down. She was not looking good, still slowly bleeding and her breathing was shallow.
Looking up I asked, “Is there anything that can be done, my healing spell has no effect? I could not take her to a healer in the city, I just rescued her from the Buttress, they were going to execute her.”
Sebastian sadly shook his head and said, “I really do not have anything for healing, I am sorry Torn.” I looked at Komhether and he shrugged. Apparently, he also did not feel he had anything to contribute.
I jumped up to my feet and stated, “This is not acceptable, I will not have this girl die. Komhether, you are the last of the original Gods, and I belie
ve that you have some measure of the Divine power. Use it, help this girl, please. Try to heal this girl.”
Komhether looked startled and said, “You know I am not a God, I was just a messenger, I do not have that kind of power.”
I interrupted him and said, “You are wrong, all the Gods have power, they may not have allowed you to use it but I know you have that same Divine spark within you. Try my friend, just try to heal her.”
As Sebastian nodded in agreement Komhether began to look frustrated but then Kamasut moaned, and as Komhether glanced down at her I could see the compassion on his face.
“All right I will try,”Komhether said.
“That is all I can ask,” I replied. Kneeling down in front of the girl Komhether placed one hand on her belly and the other on her head, then with a look of intense concentration he began to gently rock back and forth.
In about a minute a soft glow began to surround him, a warm yellow light that flowed down his arms and hands and covered the girl, slowly sinking into her. After a few minutes, her breathing relaxed and her face lost the expression of fear and pain. She was sleeping, the healing had worked.
“Torn would you please explain to us what has happened, we were not expecting you for another week, and then you show up like this,” Sebastian said.
I sat down in a nearby chair, I felt exhausted. “I will,” I said. “But first do you have anything to drink as my throat is dry.” Fetching me a drink Sebastian looked expectedly at me. Komhether meanwhile was grabbing a bowl of water and some items to clean the girl.
I started slowly explaining my need to rescue the girl and then my discovery of her being tortured. Both of my friends looked upset as I explained what I had seen. Continuing on I summed up the tale with my return to the island with the hope of receiving help for the girl.
Komhether spoke first and said, “Well done Torn, to leave the girl in the hands of that bitch would not have been an acceptable thing to do.” Sebastian nodded in agreement and said, “You made the right choice, my Prince.”