Chapter 96 - Love And Cage

-- Aaris - PoV --

When I shouted, the boy flinched and startled for a while and everybody just looked down on me. Suddenly a woman was startled wailing and walking to bars, I heard her chains crackle which was nabbed to her foot.

I moved my gaze and saw her, 

"I have a husband, both of us have nothing else besides each other… I… want to see him!!" She cried out to me, 

"I have a son, I want to watch him grow!"

"My father is waiting for me!"

"I have a big sister! I promised her I will become a strong mage!" 

Slowly the chamber was filled with cries filled, all of them started shouting what I wanted was to give them hope, that will probably help to hang on.

'Then just be patient, after I am done with everything, I… 

We'll come for you!' I shouted and smiled, just when I raised my foot, somebody spitted on me and started laughing hysterically, 

I turned to the voice and saw a girl squinting and laughing at me, "Cling to the hope he says!... What a joke! What a clown! How will you do that? power of friendship?!" She pointed her finger at me laughing like crazy.

'What's your problem? If you don't want to trust me, I can't do anything.' I ignored her and slowly treaded to other door and she threw a marble at me, 

"Trust? Why should I trust you? We don't know who you are? Why are you here?"

Suddenly she snapped and started yelling,

"And now saying I'll save you? Don't fuck with us! I know you are just mocking us and pitying our misery, don't act all high, or might you asshole! Free us? You'll be dead once, that son of a bitch of Diesswrin find you!" She cried out.

'You know Diesswrin?' I turned to her and smiled, 

"Why should I tell you? Just fuck off where you were-" I jumped in front of her cage and grabbed the bars, she flinched back and fell down startled, 

"You… you fucker! How dare you scare me?! Did you come to take revenge for what I said?" She hid behind a big Bearman ( beastman ) and taunted me like she won a fight or something.

I sighed and tapped on the bars, 'you-' I pointed at her, ' I'll come for you.' I pointed my fingers at her and smiled and then jumped down, she got stunned when I said that, possibly she didn't want to believe me,  but I need her to know about Diesswrin, I'll find the keys and get her out.

***

While Aaris went off to find the keys, the girl in the cage was dumbstruck by his words.

"Jane? Are you ok?" The Bearman spoke to her, he looked at her, her blank and irritated face suddenly turned red, 

"Bozo! He… He...he… he said he'll come back for me especially? Did….did…. Did...he fall in love with me?" She grabbed her cheeks and shook in embarrassment, 

"What should I do Bozo?" 

The Bearman just sighed and thought about how to tell her the truth and he decided not to break her poor heart now, "well… ah just say I am sorry when you see him again." 

"I'll try…" she joined her fingers in embarrassment and flushed quietly behind him.

Meanwhile, Aaris was wandering from chamber to chamber to find the keys and then he saw some men gathered around in a chamber loading off some boxes.

There were hundreds of men cautiously circulating thousands of boxes, he hid behind some boxes and observed them, he checked and knocked the box and realized they were spell imbued on them, 

"Hurry up you donkeys! We don't have much time! Lord Diesswrin has told us to finish up before the festival! Hurry up or I'll put you in the same cage as those beggars!" A huge man yelled at them, devouring a huge chunk of meat and swallowing a mug of beer.

Aaris looked around and saw a gate behind them, he noticed it was spell sealed, but sneaking from this horde of men won't be that easy.

"What should I do?" That must be the room where they keep the keys! It also looks like a depot where they send and bring things, I don't want them to notice me and so something reckless, what should I do? What should I-" Aaris was clasping his forehead thinking of a plan, abruptly the sting ran through his head again bringing him down on his elbows.

"Stun slumber…." The voice echoed in his head.

-- Aaris - PoV --

This voice! why? It fucking hurts! I grabbed my head and slammed it down, screaming in pain, 

Everyone around there started shouting and looking for me. In just a second they surrounded me. They were saying something but my ache was far more painful than usual, numbing my vision and hearing both.

A man walked up to me and pulled my hair, I felt a sharp thing being rested on my throat and the voices echoed again, 

"Stun…

SLUMBER! ] I shouted and my mana exploded as aura out of my body, they all slipped back and some were blown in the air. After a few seconds of that outbreak, I calmed down and my vision and hearing came back to me…

I took the support of the box and tried to stand up and then looked around, all the hundreds of men were down, slowly the pain fainted and I checked them to make sure they were down or not.

All of them were blacked out completely, almost as if they were dead, just what the heck happened now? I grabbed my head again and my grip slipped from the box and the box fell down and broke, 

'What the hell?'  I turned back and saw summoning papers, flying all over in the air, I grabbed one and stirred up my thoughts thinking why did they need them and so many of them?

I ignored them and went to that huge piglet of a man, and searched his body, I found a flock of keys and dragged my feet to that room lock, I tried the keys and finally unlocked the room and found several shelves with keys hooked under some name tags, 

'Fuck!' There were hundreds of keys there! How will I find Cecelia keys here? 

I infolded the cloth on her and she came out with a huff, I was panicking and started using many keys clunking inside her collar.

'I am sorry for this, it will take some time Cecelia please be patient there are thousands of keys here!'

"Ai… eae...e…ea!" Suddenly Cecelia grabbed my hand and squealed with subtle voice, 

'What the fu-, I am sorry I didn't get that." I said, 

"She sat silently there for a while, then tapped on her collar like she finding something, and then when her fingers reached to keyhole she twisted her hand and gestured for keys, 

'Keys? Didn't you hear I am finding them-' I sighed and she abruptly swung her hand and slapped me, 

'What the hell-' I glared at her and she was panicking too. I understood it was a mistake but that hurt like hell.

Then I looked at her closely, she first shook her hands first signing for keys, and then tapped her chest and then raised her hand covering her eyes and moving her head like an explorer.

'You are saying that you can find the keys?' I stared at her with my eyes squeezed in doubt, she nodded huffing out deep breaths, 'I'll take your words on that but how?' 

She moved her head around and then suddenly, she moved her head and pointed her pinky, to her left, 'do you know where your keys are?' I was shocked, she nodded and then I gazed down on the left, there were still too many keys to find one out from them.

'You know, I still can't find your keys like that-' I was saying and she tried to stand up and grabbed her, she was still pointing her pinky to left, I moved her forward, and then she changed direction slightly to my right, after shifting slowly to her accordance and going behind two shelves, she started nodding vigorously and humming to one key flock.

'Is this your key?' I asked her and she was nodding continuously. I gently put her down and took the keys. I entered one key in the hole and twisted it, but it got stuck. It was the wrong one.

There were still four left. I changed the key and tried again but it got stuck again.

I sighed and doubted her, why did I think it would work? I twisted the third one and the collar fell from her neck.

I was shocked and stupefied to see her cracking her neck and she suddenly hugged me out of nowhere, 'how… how did you do that?' I shouted and she slapped me again and then started bowing apologizing to me, probably because I started her.

'I... I'm sorry if I started you, but can you tell me how you did that?' I was surprised how she made cheek swell with just one slap, as expected these dark elves are strong as hell.

"I can feel its presence." A voice echoed in my head again but this time it was sweet….?