Profits of the Heart

Prologue

It was the twelfth day of the tenth month. The soil appeared stale and porous, seeming to melt just like the stone pillars standing throughout the grounds. Vast drop-offs from the trails in the walls lead to nothing but black mist, and perhaps something deadly and unnamed lurking beneath. Night was there, giving nervousness as shrill as a raven's loveless eye. This was the underground prison of Izuin. The inescapable maze that only the warden knew by heart. Even the guards never knew where they were supposed to be. The cells were fashioned into the ravine, placed on unstable rock pillars, or down below the mist, never seen. The prison was staggering, big enough to hold cities. Its caves dug into peculiar places. They curved up and down and around like snakes. There were at least eight-hundred thousand cells, and each was unique in its own disheartening way. Almost half of the cells were empty and bare. They seemed to laugh secretly when filled with criminals. They circled like predators, catching prey in their unkempt corners.

The prison cells did not have sunlight or vegetation. The food was always lowered down on an elevator that lead to a crack in the ravine's ceiling, the only way out of the dull caverns. This was the single place where prisoners could see the sky. Still, the cells could not catch the light.

Once a week the prisoners would be led to a carved out room in the prison. It was large but well monitored. The floor was only gray stone, just as the walls and ceiling. Prisoners could visit and exercise if they wished, and the food was thrown on the floor by the unforgiving guards. The guards were often Ogres or Eja. Eja are brutish creatures with small heads and large, muscled legs. They grunt like pigs and growl like dogs. They are some of the strongest beings in all of Izuin, besides the Council.

Tonight was just this, where the prisoners met together to eat and 'talk.' But not for everyone, this time, because two men were about to do something very unintelligent. "Get on out, dungpiece." an Ogre hissed, sliding a thick silver slab away from the doorway. It weighed several tons and required no lock. It could only be lifted by an Ogre, an Eja, a Dragon, or a powerful Elf that could use magic. Magic could not be used, however. The grounds were enchanted by the sorceress who founded the very place. She believed that if prisoners could simply unlock doors and fly away merrily back into society, then there was no meaning of the word.

"You deaf?" Gurgled the Ogre, spitting inside his throat. A man half the Ogre's size stepped out of the cell. His hands were cuffed behind his back, and his ankles were tied in thin, brass chains. They looked bent and contorted, definitely not of quality.

"Hey, I recognize you." The man grinned slyly, shifting away from the Ogre. All he heard was a nasty growl fade away from behind him. All of them seemed the same, but in an Ogre's perception, each individual is quite different. No matter how nasty they smell, each scent is unique. It is said that Ogres eat infants, but that is not the case for the ones enslaved to be prison guards. They eat nothing but pig meat and sand-spiders.

The man's shirt was brown and spotted with moth holes. His pants were dark and shaded in stains of all colors. His hair appeared light brown and a bit long, his ears normal. He lived with a proud face, not unattractive at all. His eyes were a mellow hazel full of hope, which was rarer than jewels for someone in his position. The man's name is Adrian Sallis, he was twenty-one and arrested for theft six months ago. He was the only one who managed to get caught in a raid group of nine, setting fire to a bank in Yull'borough.

I'm leaving my cell. He thought, searching for something, or someone, in his mind. He strained himself. He felt faint for a moment as his heart began to beat quicker. His lips dried as he regained his equilibrium.

You're not hurt, are you? Said a slithery voice in his head. This one was crisp and feminine. It was not his, he knew.

No, I'm okay, but I have to find Anatoli. Has he spoken?