I woke up on my old mat. Got up in a hurry and ran my head into the ground. I do not learn.

I was in my old cell. I crawled to my comfort corner.

I was alone.

Judging by the lighting, it was morning.

Nessy must be royally pissed. I had to talk to her. She’ll try again without me there to screw it up.

I sat up and turned to face Ides the troll. His cell was empty.

I took a deep breath and tried to relax myself. There was something, an idea or thought, that I had forgotten. What was it?

I had a sense of it, an itch. But I lost it. Something important.

I stared down at the center of my cell, as Ides the troll had. I was too weak to roll up. I feared I would get stuck. So I sat there and tried to remember. Remember what I forgot.

Oh, it had been a dream. I met with him. Ides. He was kind. I walked with him along a narrow path above the stars.

Then I really remembered. I stood up and walked to the metal bars, pressed my head through the more widely spaced bars at the door. I listened. I waited. I stood there for hours.

A guard came. My heart rate rocketed. The guard placed my bowl down, gave me a concerned look, and then walked away. I didn’t budge.

The light of the day began to fade. I stood there still.

Time passed.

It was nearly night now. I could no longer remember any part of my dream. I was sore. I was tired. I was anxious. I was depressed. I was alone again. The room became unseeable.

Footsteps. Running footsteps. Far away, but it was something. I leaned forward and listened. It was pitch black now. Silence.

More footsteps, further away. The clank sound of metal. Chatter. Heavier footsteps. “It’s happening,” a distant whisper voice echoed. The noises continued. Every minute, it got louder and more hectic.

“Go down, down, down!” a deep, raspy voice echoed.

Then, there was a scream. With it, much yelling, clashing, banging, thudding.

“Down, down, down,” a faint voice echoed. A loud bang. A slam. Footsteps. Laughter.

The noises strengthened and multiplied. A rumble of chaos. There were inmates running around right outside my cell. Some were laughing, others shouting.

“They're coming!” a voice not far cried out.

“Down, down, down,” a hoarse voice called out from far away.

Then I heard it again, closer. “They’re coming!”

“Who!” someone nearby yelled.

“Ides! Be patient!” the crier replied.

“Down, down, down,” a new voice that could be barely heard.

The crier then ran right past our cell with loud footsteps. Not long after he passed, I heard him again. “They’re coming! Be patient!”

After many minutes I spotted a large crowd slowly walking door to door. They were laughing and shouting and bonking each other on the head. They had guard weapons and improvised armor.

The crowd very slowly made their way over to me. They were at my door.

“Wait,” a voice from the crowd spoke. From the center emerged Ides the troll. He looked at me and smiled. “Not this one.”

The creatures of the crowd looked up at Ides and then to me, then down. Ides turned away from me and the group carried on.

“Be patient! They’re coming!” the thin voice echoed in the distance.

“Down, down, down,” a voice cried out.

I stood there, not knowing anymore if this was just a dream. The sounds of chaos eased until there were only distant thuds.

I walked back to my corner and laid down on my mat. I slept like a baby. I woke to the sound of a nearby cell door opening. I sat up. It was Ides. He was back in his cell. He slammed the cell door behind him.

I stood up and ran over to the bars between our cells.

He came too, but said nothing.

Somehow I knew. What he had done. What he intended to do. He smiled and I smiled back.

He then walked to his corner and stared at the floor.

That next morning, there was no food delivery. The prison was silent. Then, the prison was flooded with city guards. I stood at my cell door and watched them run about. I watched as one city guard opened a prison cell and released dozens of prison guards who had been locked away.

Four city guards came to me and removed me from my cell. I was taken up to the top floor where there was sunlight. They took me to the large entrance door, and out it, into the exterior of the prison.

“You are free,” said the city guard.

“Why?”

“King Ides sends his regards.”

I turned back and watched the guard walk back in. I had seen this before too. The city guard walking back into the prison. I traced that memory back and remembered it all. They had raided the bottom floor. All the guards there had been killed by the hands of the very angry prisoners that they abused. And the prisons, they fled onward, down, down, down, into the tunnel. Goblin mechs awaited them at Redrock. Not a single soul escaped. Rounded up to be reprocessed. But every last corrupt guard had been slain.

I watched the city guard open the door to the prison to re-enter. And just as he did, another city guard exited. Behind him was Nessy. She saw me, and she ran. She ran past him toward me. And she hugged me. Then I saw El. And she ran over too! And Alice not far behind. Then, Hamburger. Even he ran to us and joined the hug.

“How?” Nessy grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me. “How?”

“It was Ides,” I said.

“No, Charlie. It was you.”

The prison entrance door swung open. It was another city guard. Behind him was a lizard-like man. He had slime green scales and bright red eyes. He walked directly towards us.

“Which one of you is El? I’m Ekr.”

“Me,” said El.

Ekr eyed her up and down tisking. “And Nessy?”

“Fuck you, frog.”

Ekr nearly leaped backwards. “But I have a quest.”

“We’re already on a damn quest.”

“Utupt,” he silenced her. “Mine is important.”

“What do you want?” Hamburger took a step forward.

Ekr looked up at Hamburger. “She is a paladin,” he motioned towards El.

“Says who?” asked Nessy.

“Ekr.”

“I am?” El said.

“Yes,” Ekr nodded with a pleasant smile. “These moments present themselves.”

“What’s the quest, Ekr?” asked Nessy.

Ekr pulled out parchment and began writing.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m writing down the quest!”

“Why can’t you just say it?”

“Oh, and trust the details to your memory?”

“You could have pre-written it.”

“It’s a dynamic situation! Let me focus!” He continued writing while we stood there.

“There,” he handed it to El.

Nessy snatched it from El and read it over. “I can’t read this cursive shit.”

“You rushed me!”

“Why do you write R like that?”

“Like what!”

“Show me how you write it,” said Nessy, handing him back the parchment.

“No!”

“Let me see it,” Hamburger snatched the parchment and skimmed it. “Got it.” He handed it back to Ekr.

“No, keep it. Good luck!”

“Let me see it,” I said.

Hamburger handed it over.

Bring 5 basilisk eyes to Ekr in Redrock.

“That was weird,” said Alice.

“It’s a ridiculous quest,” said Nessy, “and he didn’t even specify the reward.”

“I have a request before we hit the road,” said Hamburger.

“What?” asked Nessy.

“Chromatic cocktail for the road?”

“Fuck you.”