24. Prisoner

Almost done clearing the horde of orcs, Fritz and Newt's count were both 49. What's left of the armies of orcs was a scared, measly pig. Both knees were trembling, and, constantly gritting his teeth.

"The last guy's mine!"

"No, he is mine!"

The two kids quarrel and exchange a few fists. They were yelling at each other. The last of the orcs thought that that was the great time to escape when he sensed their dreadful eyes.

"Where do you think you're going, huh?!"

"Eek!" The orc cowers in fear. He's big yet cowardly.

Fritz suddenly thought of a way to settle the scores. "How about we ask the pig whom he wants between us two to kill him? Bright idea, right?"

"Idiot, do you think the pig will choose someone between us?! You gotta do it with a coin toss!" Newt pulled a coin from his pocket and gave it to the pitiful orc. The pig didn't want to take the money but, Newt glared at him and forced him to toss it.

The coin was tossed in the air. "I'll take heads," Fritz claimed. Continuously flipping in the air, the coin only has two possibilities; head or tail. Unlike the life of the orc, there is only one possibility, which is death. As the coin finally fell on the ground, the clanging sound resonated in their ears. The orc quickly used both hands to cover which side of the coin is on top.

"Hey, take your hand off the coin! We can't see which side it is!"

The orc removed his hands and, both kids were able to see the result of the coin toss. "I-it's heads?!" Newt's disappointment shifted in the pig's direction. "Oi, you flipped it, right?! That's why you covered the coin!" Newt grabbed the orc by his collar. His fist clenched tight.

Fritz pat Newt on his shoulder, stopping the kid. "A loss is a loss. Be a man and accept your defeat." He was smirking. That smirk gave Newt the idea that Fritz was in cahoots with the orc. The latter must have chosen Fritz to end his life.

Newt just heaved a deep sigh. "Okay, fine. It's your win, again."

There's only one reason why the last orc chose Fritz to kill him instead of Newt was that he saw Fritz used the Severance Blade with a single piercing on the heart and, it's done.

"Go treat the injured dwarf girl. Give her some food too." Fritz brought out the nearly rotting fruits and water they found. "If she does not want the food and water, go tell her to eat the orcs and drink their blood."

One bottle of water and some fruits it is. Newt began towards the skin and bones dwarf girl who's silently watching him approach her.

"Hey, I know you're not okay. Have some water and eat some fruits." She wasn't picky at all. Her strength was all gone. Grabbing the food and water from Newt became a pain for her. "Ahhh! What a pain!" Newt scratched his head. "Here, I'll feed it to you."

Her lips were like dried soil that formed cracks on them. Bags are under her eyes and, she was really thin. She can't even speak her mind.

"Stop trying to speak. Just drink and eat up to regain your strength."

Usually, Newt is a little weak when it comes to girls or women. He can't handle them and would always get flustered every time. It's different this time. Newt's seeing the girl as a pitiful creature that needed to be treated carefully and enthusiastically.

***

It turns out that the last orc has the key to unlock the restraints of the unknown creature imprisoned inside the stock room. Several days have passed after the eradication of the orcs. Fritz and Newt took some time off for the dwarf girl to recover. They organized the weapons and armors that can still be useful, those that can be sold in the market. Fritz also organized his inventory. He has limited storage and, he couldn't store everything inside it.

"It's almost a week. Shouldn't we get moving now? She seems already fine."

Lily Katherine gave her name three days ago after being able to speak. She quickly gained her strength thanks to all the nutrients she's eating. Thanks to the bland meat of the orcs, the three of them were able to survive that long.

"I can feel my sense of taste becoming dull!" Their supply of water is almost out too. They really need to move to the upper floors and get water. That is if there's still water. The nearly rotten fruits were still stored inside Fritz's spatial inventory. The three of them have been eating orc's meat after the strenuous fight against the pigs. "Their meat's tensile and hard to chew even with all that boiling we did. I can barely swallow it!"

***

The three kids reached the third level of the dungeon. It began raining even though the light shone so bright up above them.

Lily explained what was happening. "The huge tree up above the land supports the whole place. The roots absorb water from above and drop it down here. The roots are also the ones responsible for the oxygen we're breathing in. As for the heat and light, I don't know where they are coming from."

They collected water and stored it inside their empty bottles. They also drink their fill while they're at it. After collecting the water they'll need, they proceeded in front of the boss' (stock) room.

"Lily should stay here. What's inside is something that a kid must-see."

Lily gave Newt a face. "I insist on going inside too." She was the one to open the door.

The stench of the rotting smell greeted their nose. Lily almost throw up after smelling the foul stench.

"I have been patiently waiting."

A smile formed on the prisoner's face. It was still the same inside the room. Dwarves' bodies were skewered like lizards. Their bodies rotting, eaten by hundreds of maggots.

"I thought of starving you to death but, I guess you can go on without food."

Fritz and Newt had a hunch that the monster shackled inside the stock room will die after a few days. A few weeks would have been logical.

"It didn't take you, kids, that long. I'm expecting you in about two to three days."

The other dwarves who were inside the cage didn't make it. They lost their lives because of extreme hunger and grieve wounds.

"Where do we use this key?"

A small key holds the stranger's freedom. And the stranger's death holds their freedom. They won't be able to get out of the dungeon unless they wipe off all of the monsters.

"You see that pond of blood?" A small pond has been created filled with the dwarves' blood. "Just drop the key there."

Fritz did as he was told. He dropped the key at the small pond and, the magic surrounding the stranger was dispelled.

"Feels fucking great to be free again!"

~