25 Miners

Jack thought of Stephan's words when he was taken by the bandits to somewhere inside the fortress. The others didn't give it much thought; they knew their leader would do the work in their stead, except Mike. Mike was thinking of how a knight would jump the squares or more like how he would jump to the outside without behind seen. Soon after that, a bandit threw poor clothes and ordered them to strip and hand the expensive ones they had on their skin.

There wasn't much to do besides to keep going and do as they asked; Sir Jack started first. He changed his clothes and then handed the ones he had on him. They were given easy-going clothes meant for beggars. It made him look like one. The others followed then they were taken deeper inside the cave. The cave wasn't only a prison but it was also a mining area. It was connected to it by a dark tunnel with no opening to the outside; the adit followed a seam or vein of ore. The bandits had torches with them the whole way and the group was in chains.

They were given seven pickaxes. "You will work for us until you are all skinny then we will move you to the gallows. Don't slack off or we will wipe your back until it bled. We don't want to damage the product so be obedient."

The bandits then left them with other prisoners. Looking around, Jack understood there were factions and groups within the space. They were a group on their own and one of them had to create an opening to escape. They didn't want to have their organs sold. They felt all eyes on them as they looked like the only ones with decent build and muscles. The rest of the prisoners all lost their brightness. There are men and children. The men looked like old ones with long beards and hair with skinny bodies. The children on the other hand were given the task to move the ore and place them within a vehicle.

Sir Jack touched the collar on his neck and cursed internally. He knew outside the walls was a dangerous place. Yet, he had never thought he would be one day like those slaves in Valtrar. He always looked down upon them and hated the way they begged for everything instead of working on it. Now, he felt the helplessness of the beggars but he refused to give up. He would keep searching for a way to escape and take with him his comrades. If circumstances forced it, he would give up on them and then escape on his own.

"What do you think of Stephan's words, Sir Jack? I believe he meant something but I don't know exactly what he meant. I racked my brain for it but I just cannot understand," Mike said. "If he said so, it meant he had an idea how we could come out of here."

"I don't believe in the words of that performer anymore. He must have already ditched us. We shook look out for ourselves."

"Hey! You!" someone shouted behind them. Jack and Mike turned their heads. "Didn't I warn you of slacking off? Are you slacking off on your first day here? Get back to work."

The captain of the mining team had a long leather whip. He was a short man looking like a dwarf but he wasn't one of them. He was pissed off because Jack and Mike didn't return to work. "These damn bastards," he tightened his grip over the handle and readied himself to hit them. "They really don't listen to anything I say. I hate rebellions like you the most."

The captain of the mining team threw the cord of his whip but it was stopped by two firm hands. Jack had his eyes burning with anger. There was no way he would let himself be touched by someone else and be whipped.

'This guy… Did he catch my whip with his bare hands? How could it be possible? There is no way someone might do that. Who are they?'

"I am sorry if we slacked off. We are not familiar with the rules. We will get back to work immediately," he let the whip get to the man's feet and turned back picking his pickaxe then returned to work alongside Mark.

The captain was intimidated by them; he turned back to the bandits who were guarding the main tunnel where they came from. They were playing cards and drinking beers to their hearts' contents. "Who are those new ones?"

The guards glanced at where the captain was pointing at. "Ah! Those! I think you shouldn't touch them, Megar. One of them is sitting with the boss. We had special instructions to not touch them. The boss intends to use them for something."

"If he intends to use them then, why did you bring them here?"

"To teach them a lesson I guess. I don't know exactly what the boss intends to do but he ordered the bandits he kept to keep the last of them secure to disappear from his sight and he also shared the meals with him. I doubt they would be normal prisoners."

Jack and the others worked as if they had never done it. They filled so many satchels and Mike even helped the children to fill the vehicles. The charge of counting the ore was surprised by the amount of work the group did. Jack had his eyes focused on a silhouette that mined like them. She was a woman who kept glancing at them as well.

They were brought back to their cells by the day. It was a procedure to let the ones used to rest the night have difficulties in adapting to the surroundings. Sleeping in the day and then working the night, it was hard to keep up. However, for knights like those seven, it didn't hinder them much.

"There was a woman there. She was keeping the act together as a man. I got a feeling she is one of our tickets to get out from this prison," Jack said. "I saw her face somewhere. It's not strange to me. On the contrary, it's so familiar."