Hope in the Highlands

9

Kaji was genuinely surprised at the discovery of the mage in the tunnels. It turns out that the ring he had them take not only allowed him to communicate with both of them telepathically and allow them to communicate with each other in the same way, but it gave him enough power to magically teleport them back into the upper half of the prison.

"Here," Ashric said inside her thoughts. Hearing his voice in her mind still startled her since she wasn't used to it. In his hands, he had dirt.

Frowning, Kaji nodded and wiped it all over her face. Ther would be the only guard to recognize them up close; most of the others didn't care enough. Ther didn't either, but Ashric and Kaji had just had dealings with him. "They will assume we are dead when we don't show up in the pits for the next fight, right?"

"They should," he responded. As they met gazes, Kaji smiled widely. His dirt-coated skin made him appear several shades darker and she was certain she appeared the same. "I think I already have an idea where the gemstone might be."

"Where?"

"There's a gemstone that allows new prisoners to teleport inside the prison. It won't allow anyone to teleport out, but that's how new prisoners arrive. You were unconscious when we first came here, but I remember it. Does that sound like a gemstone that can cross dimensions, Shaan?" As he spoke, Ashric peaked around the corner they hid inside in between two jail cells on the medium level. Their cells were in a section far to their right, but Ashric and Kaji had chosen this area specifically because it had empty cells. They could pick one and hopefully, the guards would pay no mind. Most of them didn't care for the prisoners, what they did, or what happened to them.

"It should be about the size of your hand and bright violet in color. It has a single black speck along the top," Shaan explained.

"What about a cooling shaft?" Kaji looked at Ashric as a group of angry-looking prisoners stormed by. Ashric pulled her closer against the wall behind them, so the prisoners passed them by without incident.

"It cools down a room and gives it fresh air," Shaan responded.

Kaji had overheard the guards speaking about how they wanted to return to the barracks because it was far cooler. "The guard barracks." She hesitated to tell Ashric the rest of her plan because she knew he would hate it. Briefly, Kaji wondered if he could read her thoughts, but when he didn't react, she guessed that the ring allowed them to send thoughts between the three of them, not specific mind-reading.

"How are we going to get inside there?" Ashric frowned.

Kaji nodded. "I have a way. One of the guards owes me a favor."

Ashric opened his mouth to protest but pulled her out of the tiny space between the two cells. Prisoners were heading back to their cells, so he gently tugged her inside one on the far left just as the iron bars closed shut behind them. "What are you going to tell him?" Ashric whispered out loud.

Kaji shrugged. "I'm not sure, but I'll think of something. Next free time, you just grab the gemstone. I'll get the cooling shaft."

Ashric's forehead creased as if he doubted her explanation.

*****

Ashric mulled with a crowd of prisoners as they waited for the new ones to arrive. Many prisoners enjoyed watching them arrive and most enjoyed tormenting them before the guards took the new prisoners to the "reeducation chambers" for two months while they adjusted to being in prison. Grimacing at the thought, Ashric shook his head. In reality, the guards simply wanted another form of entertainment, and what better way to keep yourself busy than to torment terrified new prisoners?