The Zero Hour | #Wattys2016

Chapter 6 - Imprisoned (Part 2)

After prudent preparation, Amadeus carefully pushed the main door to the prison room open. The weight of the heavy wooden door shifted slightly as Amadeus heaved with all his might. The door groaned and opened slightly, leaving a small gap wide enough for Amadeus to pass through. Amadeus peered down the corridor to see if it was clear. He then walked quietly down the corridor, where various portraits hung on the wall, all of them bearing the picture of the same person – Waldo Drake. Amadeus resisted the temptation to vandalize the portraits by drawing comical facial hair and scars on each one of them.

As he made his way down the corridor, he tuned his ears to the sounds of laughter and chatter, trying to trace it back to its source. Each time the floorboards creaked under his footing, he would stop for a moment, wary of alerting anyone of his presence. As he was passing through the room doors, he heard muffled screams of agony coming from one particular room. Curiosity got the better of him; and he peeked into one of the rooms, only to find an extremely disturbing scene which made his hair stand on end.

Lockheed and Gene were writhing in pain on the floor as green smoke surrounded them. They were in too much pain to notice anything that was happening around them, so they paid no attention to him. This must be the legendary healing spell he had heard so much about in White Harrow. Nobles would use them to mend the battle-wizards. While it was quick, taking at most a few hours to heal most critical wounds, it had a mandatory side effect – excruciating pain.

Quietly closing the door behind him, he tried to shake off the disturbing images from his mind as he proceeded down the corridor. Finally, he came to a spiral staircase with intricately carved handles. The sounds of celebration he was following were clearly heard below him; that was where the Nobles must be. He peeked down the staircase to determine if the surrounding area was clear of people.

Once he found that the coast was clear, he sprinted down the staircase and immediately dove behind a large potted plant (it was so large that the pot itself sufficed to keep him safely hidden). Safely behind the giant leaves of the plant, Amadeus breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath. He had ended up in the foyer of the mansion, and large double doors leading outside formed the grand entrance on one end of the foyer. On the other end, a large arch adorned the wall, leading to the dining hall.

He could hear voices and laughter coming from the dining hall, mingled with the sound of cutlery clinking against ceramic plates. Amadeus knew that Gene and Lockheed were in their rooms undergoing medical treatment, so the sounds coming from the dining hall had to be from the other three Nobles – Waldo, Turney and Willie.

Amadeus took out a piece of torn cloth and unrolled it, revealing the assortment of tools he had brought with him – Rei's belt which had two icicles attached to it, the key ring holding all the keys to the prison cells (aside from the two keys he had pocketed earlier), and a knife from the weapon rack in the prison room. He had thought through this very carefully, these items were all he needed to execute his plan. He would have to best the Nobles in a game of wits. His heart was racing as he took out an icicle from Rei's belt – he would only have one shot at this.

He crept as quietly as he could to the outward facing window which was nearest to the dining hall. He lifted the window open; and using both his hands, lifted himself onto the window sill. He leaned over towards the dining hall and peeped in, confirming that three Nobles were inside, stuffing their faces full of food and fine wine. Waldo was there, seated in the middle of the long table, with Turney and Willie at his side. He would need to make this look as believable as he could or they would see right through his ruse.

Taking careful aim, Amadeus threw the icicle in his hand with all his might, causing it to crash through the dining hall's glass window, shattering the glass into pieces and pinning itself into a wooden pillar. Upon throwing the icicle, he dodged silently back into the foyer and ducked back into his hiding place. The sound of chaos erupted in the dining hall.