The Forest Guardians

48. Wonderland Chapter 3

Mike's POV

Hurried footsteps echoed throughout the chambers, chasing after my tail. I stumbled upon a fork in the corridor and glanced back at my pursuers, who hollered for me to stop. It was pointless for them to shout when no one in their right mind would stop. I took a gamble and chose the right side.

I cursed.

Then I winced as I rubbed my left side. I took quite a hit there when I suddenly appeared in someone's bedroom. And to think I would stumble on some unspeakable scene in broad daylight too. I grimaced as I inadvertently recalled it. I really needed some bleach to clean the image off my eyes and brain.

"Dice."

The cube-shaped robot immediately appeared by my side. It flew steadily beside me while keeping pace with me.

"Check where I can hide. I need to throw these guys off."

Dice beeped in response and started mapping out the area. It didn't take a minute for him to finish.

"Right ahead of you, there's an intersection. Turn left and head down the steps. It's an unguarded dungeon."

I saw another intersection before me, just like what Dice had said. Turning my head around, I saw the guards still hot on my heels.

"Tch. Persistent fellas."

Before I turned, I used light magic to blind them. For good measure, I used my dark magic to stall them. The shadows of the guards heeded my call and grabbed their ankles. I smirked in triumph when I heard an enormous clash of metal on metal against the ground.

By the time the blundering guards recovered, they didn't know where the mysterious intruder had gone. I had disappeared like the wind.

I shrank behind the wall as I heard the clanking of metal went past my hiding spot.

I had purposely darkened the dungeon with dark magic so that it would deter the guards away. No one would be willing to investigate a dark place unless they had a screw loose in their head.

When I turned around, I was scared out of my wits that I nearly fell.

Chained to the wall, it was a male prisoner. It was unknown whether he was alive because he made no sound or movements despite my presence.

"What. The. Hell."

Dice had mentioned that it was an unguarded dungeon, so why was there a person right in front of me?!

The prisoner had both his arms chained to the wall. He had enough leeway to lean against the chains while kneeling on the ground. I couldn't see his face since his waist-long dirty, matted hair was in the way.

"Hey," I whispered as I crouched closer. "Hey!"

The figure stirred.

Through the mess of tangled hair that was so dirty that I couldn't decipher what colour it was, I saw a pair of honey gold eyes blinking slowly at me. Despite the prisoner's state, I could see vigour in his eyes.

"A visitor?" The chains rattled and creaked as he moved. The prisoner yawned. "Haven't had one in a long while."

"And... how long is that?" I asked.

The man squinted his eyes as he tried hard to recall. He gave a sheepish smile.

"I have no idea at all. Been here since the Queen's tea party." He squinted his eyes while recalling his memories. "I remembered winning a bet against the Queen, but she was a sore loser. Hence, she trapped me here."