Year 23-3

The crown outlawed numerous magical creatures, most of which for seemingly being demonic, but there were three pardoned from persecution.

Fairies, elves, and half breeds were permitted to live within the king's borders, but with so many people taught to live in fear of the others, they were far from safe. The accepted were always treated as criminals. It didn't matter how benevolent they were.

The divide was so stark most towns built two jailing towers- one for humans and another for everything else. Regardless, we knew where Penn was held. It's unlikely they were planning to charge him with an official crime. He was arrested for lack of clothes when he and Tucker first walked into town. Nudity was hardly worth punishment, but creatures and humans alike, from time to time, found themselves imprisoned for petty offenses. Jail owners made a profit on those who would pay to set their friends and family free.

As a Hunter, I was familiar with jail towers. I knew enough about shift changes to pick a good time for Tucker and me to strike later in the evening. Jail towers were built to keep prisoners several stories in the clouds while guards held positions on the ground. We needed to get inside but also enough time to climb steps and free Penn.

"We're going to start a fire," I said.

We were across the way standing under cover of wilderness with our eyes on the tower we had to invade. Late in the day, while the sun began to set, shadows were thick.

"To save themselves, the guards will leave the prisoners. When they do, we'll go in and get your friend," I added.

"And after?" Tucker asked.

"Leave town," I said.

I planned to use stones and dry grass to make a single flame. Unfortunately, before we left the bushes, Tucker took action. I hadn't noticed until it was too late, but when I started walking, he remained behind my back. I turned back after two steps and saw his eyes glowing brighter than usual. My head swiveled to find what his attention held, and I saw several flames spark around the tower.

"I said 'a' fire, not" I started to complain, but an explosion cut my words short.

He blew a hole through the side of the structure.

Had the tower been closer to the rest of the town, we might have been noticed. Lucky for us, most town folks didn't go out that far without reason. I had to wonder if Tucker was capable of so much already; why did he need me? While guards exited the tower, Tucker and I ducked down. Crouched behind the cover of bushes and trees, I was steaming.

"You want us to die?!" I argued while also whispering.

"I lost control," he said before slumping over.

I had to catch his body to keep him from lying on the dirt. His sudden loss of physical ability shocked me.

"Tucker," I said, holding him with his head over my shoulder and his chest to my own.

His heart was beating like a stallion, but his body was cold and shivering. Did he overexert himself?

"A moment, I need a moment," he mumbled.

A single fire would have prompted the guards to leave their posts, but explosions were enough to warrant a search. I could hear them drawing their swords as they shot out of the tower doors. Their voices grew louder when they approached our hiding spot. I prepared to draw my sword, but Tucker caught my wrist.

"Don't," he said.

He couldn't move but somehow had the will to beg my hand not to raise. The guards were inches away. We should have been cut like cattle, but we weren't. I held my breath, and Tucker held my wrist. Through the leaves, I saw boots standing over us, but they walked away.

I took a breath of relief, and Tucker finally let go.

"You're mad, aren't you?" I said, but not with rage.

"We have our distraction," Tucker remarked.

I might have laughed had we not been at risk. There was a hole in the stone wall, and with fires to put out, the guards were occupied.

"Can you walk?" I asked, peaking my head up to see, but Tucker stood up and began leaving our cover.

His impatience rivaled my own. I followed him as quickly as I could, but he seemed to move without worry. At every step, we evaded the sight of those looking for us by only a hair. We entered the tower and began our climb.

"Your friend, is he honestly worth all of this?" I questioned.

Tucker was without doubt while he moved forward, but I kept my eyes on the steps behind us. There was no guarantee a guard wouldn't come back inside to check on the prisoners.

"Would you not do what you can to save your family," Tucker said.

"My family is dead," I remarked, and it was true twice over.

He went silent the rest of our climb, but who could say whether or not he was being his usual self or muted by my words?

When we reached the top, there was a locked door keeping us from entering the prisoners holding cells. Perhaps I wasn't as familiar with the tower as I thought. I didn't account for that door. I drew my sword to break the barricade down, but again Tucker stopped me.

"I can open it," he said.

"Will you pass out," I joked, but I was legitimately concerned.

"I can open it," he repeated with a reassuring grin.

He held his hand over the hole meant for a key, and his eyes began to glow bright like before. It took only a moment before we heard a distinct click, and the door blew open.

I couldn't have understood at the moment, but Tucker's powers were simpler than they appeared. He could do almost anything. The issue was in the details. His Vow was never to take a life. Anything passive like seeing in the dark or opening locked doors was easy. Starting fires or causing pain sucked the life out of him.

The top of the tower was a series of metal cells forming rows and columns holding prisoners. When we walked inside, I expected them to look our way or beg for help, but they kept deathly silent. Wind and moans were the prevailing sounds filling the salty rotten air.

"We're here for your friend, nothing else," I said.

"They're suffering," Tucker pleaded.

His eyes were on me while I looked over the hell we broke into. I was becoming reckless. I wanted so badly to leave the kingdom, I agreed to madness. It took the sight of creatures damaged and abused to pull my better judgments back into the foreground. What was I doing? Was I looking for death itself?

"We're all suffering, now find Penn while we still have time," I said before pushing Tucker to walk.

I hadn't the slightest idea what Penn looked like at the time, so it was Tucker's job to find the satyr. Of course, while he searched the cells, I was left to look out for any guards who might have returned.

Though, I couldn't sit still.

Rusty metal, dirty hay, and entrails, that's all those creatures had access to. Some were treated to worse cells than others. Fairies were kept in tiny boxes hung from the ceiling. Their natural dust illuminated spaces enough to see elves beaten bloody and centaurs nailed to the floor. There were several outlawed creatures like imps, who might have been malevolent, but didn't deserve such cruelty.

What made it worse was my involvement. I was responsible for a handful of those creatures being detained. As a Hunter, I captured many, but I never took the time to know what happened after I delivered my bounties.

"Tucker," I called out.

The atmosphere was beginning to hurt.

"Tucker," I repeated.

Where had he gone?

He was taking too long. I walked the aisles of damned souls. Wandering the depressed space, I came across something peculiar. It was another door. It didn't have a lock like the one Tucker opened earlier, but I got the feeling it was a forbidden place. I was compelled to walk inside.

What I found was inhumane.

A girl with pink skin and pointed ears was tied to a wall. Naked, bleeding, and cold, she held herself in the corner of the room, keeping her body shut. I needn't wonder why she was so special to have her own room with a door. She was a woman. Speechless, I gazed at the horror until a hand rested on my shoulder from behind my back.

I quickly drew my sword as I turned to strike down whoever was witless enough to touch me. I thanked the Gods Tucker had magic; otherwise, I might have made him another decoration in that place. Behind him stood the satyr we came to retrieve. At the time, Penn didn't know me, so its likely that seeing me with a sword was enough to keep him silent.

"We're ready," Tucker said and simultaneously asked if I was still sure of my earlier decision.

I took a moment to pull back my blade and breath. Before I spoke, I glanced around at the creatures treated less than human.

"Free them," I said through gritting teeth.

Looking into Tucker's eyes, though they were a puzzle, I knew he agreed with me.

"Who," he asked.

"All of them," I said before returning to the pink elf's room and raising my blade to her restraints.

The ropes around her ankles and wrists were thick, probably meant to weigh her down. They took time to cut through. Even when the deed was done, she was too lifeless to move on her own.

"We need to go," I said on a knee.

She wouldn't look at me. She wouldn't speak.

"We need to go," I repeated, pleading for the broken woman to move.

With time running thin, I had no other choice but to lift her. She kicked and punched and clawed at my body, but I refused to leave her. When I returned to the corridor of cells, Tucker was performing a grand miracle. One by one, each section of cells popped open. The four of us, Tucker, Penn, myself, and the pink elf received many glances.

Why weren't they running?

"Leave," I exclaimed, and finally, they got the message.

Slowly but steadily, the battered and bruised made their escape. It was our first liberation together, but we couldn't have known that.

We followed the pack of prisoners down the tower steps. At the bottom, we were met by guards.

Numbers were in our favor.

With a woman on my back, I raised my sword to fight. The prisoners seemed to do most of the work before I had the chance. They were effective despite their main concern being escape. Tucker, with a wild fury of wind, cleared a pathway into the woods, and I made sure no one was left behind. Still, no one died. Bodies littered the ground, but they were unconscious.

It was impossible.

It was Tucker.

He knocked everyone out before they had a chance to truly fight. He was saving them, and worse, showing them mercy.

The four of us were the only ones left to see the sight, and that might have been enough. We rescued more lives than I could count. But we weren't done.

"What did you do?" I asked Tucker plainly.

"Their minds are trapped in their bodies," he said, before continuing," they're sleeping."

He was shaken. Not a single drop of blood wet his hands. Incapacitating so many soldiers left him weak.

"But, they're still alive?" I continued to question.

"Yes," he answered.

With my sword still drawn, I plunged it through the first soldier's throat I stood over.

"No!" Tucker cried out into the growing night.

I continued to walk the ground, snuffing out anyone not on our side, and he let me. Weak or not, Tucker could have stopped me, Penn could have stopped me, the elf could have stopped me. But they didn't. I did what we all wanted. I did what was best, and when I was done, I sheathed my sword.

"Why did you," Tucker tried to speak.

"They didn't deserve your mercy," I said before we finally left the scene.