How to go from a simple meeting to a prison break in one week (1)

His eyes snapped open.

Or rather, the half-put-together things that you could call eyes.

For a moment, all that he could see was blue.

Endless blue without a single speck of white.

The sky, his mind supplied.

A useless observation.

As he lowered his gaze, he saw that he was surrounded by a large crowd. Their cheerful and agitated faces frozen in time.

Stuck, staring at a building.

He didn't feel guilty though.

That's just how teleportation worked.

Around him, black light particles gently rose into the air and surrounded his body like dust.

They were the only thing that could move, next to the "orb" at the center of his chest that continuously attracted said particles.

That disturbing, pulsing thing floated in the air, surrounded by a black vortex that moved towards the center in a spiral and slowly formed the vague, pitch-black shape of a body.

Making him look like a shattered statue made from black marble, the limbs frozen in the same position that they had been when he teleported.

Ebony,  better known as Lutho, couldn't feel his body or anything else for that matter.

Because his black astrum -that disgusting thing at the center of his chest- was busy numbing all nerves and senses to spare him the pain of being literally ripped apart and converted into light.

In fact, that was the exact reason why it wasn't recommended for others to be teleported by black Virkasas, due to the severe backlash the others gained since their bodies didn't have such protection.

He sighed in his mind.

Already imagining the hell he would go through once he reformed.

That being another reason why he wanted to go home again.

Around him, time slowly sped up. His body half-formed but still covered in darkness.

By now, several limbs as well as half of his face were finished, the particles moving around him in a flurry.

The numbing feeling lessened more and more as his body knitted itself back together.

Having nearly fully reformed by now.

As soon as the last particles snapped into place, a rush of energy flooded his body and the sluggish movement of time disappeared.

The whole thing taking less than a second.

Loud murmuring assaulted his ears as soon as the disorienting experience was over. 

The small plaza in front of the city hall bustling with people.

The crowd gawked at the building like onlookers at an accident, while they waited to hopefully catch a glimpse of the famous figures that were in there right now, busy discussing important matters.

Even though they were clearly unwanted there. Given the annoyed expressions of important businessmen and envoys that fought through the masses just to get inside.

Ebony huffed as he observed them. Carefully moving through the crowd to get to his destination.

Crowds like that weren't an unusual sight for sure, considering all of the representatives and merchants and whatnot, that went in and out of there on a daily basis. 

But today was different.

For one reason and one reason only.

All of the captains, that monitored the eight districts, had been summoned to a meeting by the general. Which, in itself, was already something that happened very rarely.

Like the true introvert that he was, Lutho managed to avoid all of the attention and offered a few curt nods to the soldiers stationed around the plaza as he passed by.

A silent gesture of approval for their hard work. Their smiles being reward enough.

All things considered, he was well respected in the military, having gained quite a lot of popularity even though he was just responsible for a city district.

A not very impressive deed in his eyes, but nonetheless, many people admired his sense of justice and heroic spirit that they liked to preach about as if he was some good example for kids.

In fact, the only reason why he knew that, was because some of his colleagues had one day barged into his office and presented him with a popularity chart that they had made themselves, with him being in third place alongside other people that he didn't recognize.

It had been a very annoying conversation in his opinion.

With Lutho trying to politely get rid of them so he could continue his work, while they tried to aggressively persuade him into believing those rumors that they claimed were all true. Even though he knew for a fact that they weren't.

Back to the topic, the meeting wouldn't be held in a place as ordinary as the city hall, but in the military headquarters that were right next to it.

Which was also one of the closest buildings to the prison that was located in the heart of the city.

To paint a better picture of it, the prison had four towers that were connected to the main building, which looked just as imposing from the outside as it did from the inside.

Those towers were a special case.

For one, each tower faced one of the four cardinal points with the bronze tower in the east, the silver tower in the south, the golden tower in the west, and the platinum tower in the north.

The bronze tower was for death sentences, the silver one for Interrogation, the golden one for torture whether it be the physical or mental kind, and the platinum tower was for the final judgments. Not to be mistaken with the court. That was in a whole different building.

Other than that, the entire prison was surrounded by a park that was not only used to keep the prisoners at peace, but also to isolate them from the city by making the gigantic trees block the view that have been grown for exactly that purpose.

There were also a few other facilities in the same area like the eating hall, the medical wing, the fitness center, and community spaces for entertainment and education so that they had a chance to get their lives back together.

A rather good system if he said so himself.

Nevertheless, the affairs of the prison weren't all that important for Ebony, the eldest child and future successor of his clan.

For now, he just had to play his role as good and righteous Captain Lutho, as he always did.

Having finally managed to escape the wretched crowd, he greeted the soldiers stationed at the entrance who let him in without question after seeing the silver badge on his uniform.

A badge that he had earned after rising to the rank of captain and taking control over one of the districts. A nice but meaningless item in his opinion. Who needs a badge to prove themselves when they have the skill and knowledge to back it up?

Opening the door he stepped inside.

Hah.

He suppressed a chuckle.

It was just like he remembered.

Soldiers, squires, and bright-eyed trainees were everywhere, filling the entire building as they bustled around in their friend groups or followed their mentors to a certain place.

Lutho smiled, passing through the familiar halls, while the youngsters parted for him like the sea between the cracks of their continents. Not even trying to be subtle with their awestruck stares and hushed whispers.

He couldn't blame them. When he was young, he acted just like that when he saw the Captains and commanders walking around in their uniforms, their mere presence screaming of power and authority.

Ah, how he missed being twenty-three.

The volume of the chattering increased as soon as he turned at a corner, the meeting room not far from there.

He smiled fondly. Amused at their behavior. But his moment of quiet was quickly disturbed by a loud yet pleasant voice that popped up behind him.

"Hey! Hey Lutho! Wait up for a second! I know you can hear me!"

Lutho sighed and shook his head, slowing his pace so the person could catch up to him, even though he knew she could've gotten to the meeting room in seconds considering her power.

"Didn't expect to see you here commander. Weren't you busy doing an investigation outside?"

He asked the dark-skinned woman to his right, her yellow eyes slightly dull from exhaustion but still full of life.

This was Acelia Kol, one of the younger commanders in the military, who had proven herself to be efficient and level-headed in all sorts of situations. Thus becoming the general's right hand, or at least a good candidate for that position.

Lutho turned to look at her.

In comparison to his uniform, hers was much more detailed and elegant, with golden accents and the commander's badge sitting proudly above her heart.

Other than that, she looked just like the last time he saw her, right before that dreadful investigation that stole most of his subordinates.

An event that he resented to this day.

She seemed a little worn down, but it didn't seem like there had been any serious complications. If one ignored the light eyebags and the weary look on her face.

Maybe he should tell her twin to force her to rest.

Lutho couldn't let her end up like him after all, and yes, he was indeed fully aware of the fact that his way of working was unhealthy and stupid. He just didn't care enough to do something about it.

Acelia groaned and brushed a few of her box braids out of her face,

"Don't even get me started on that," she complained, her hands flailing around wildly, nearly hitting his face,

"the whole mission was useless! Completely and utterly useless! We didn't find anything, not even the source of those rising energy levels and we've been there for four months!"

He cringed lightly at the frustration in her voice.

Something that could rarely be heard by the always calm and gentle woman. It made him glad that he stayed in the city. At least he didn't have to sit outside in the wild and do shit like that.

Though drowning in paperwork wasn't exactly paradise either.

"Not so fun being a commander huh?"

Lutho teased in an attempt to lighten the mood, earning a half-hearted shove at his shoulder and a tired smile.

"You don't look that much better either Captain,"

She replied when she saw his cleaned-up appearance with the brushed hair, shaved beard, and otherwise refreshed complexion, though it did little to hide his hollow cheeks and those never fading eyebags.

"Well, what can I say, the paperwork just loves me too much to let me go you know?"

Chuckling, Acelia rolled her eyes.

He still uttered the same lame phrases that he made back when she had been freshly promoted and still needed his guidance to know how a proper leader acted.

Good to see that at least that hadn't changed.

Pushing the door open, they finally arrived at the meeting room and were greeted by the rest of the Captains and the general, who all looked at the newcomers with annoyed or tired expressions.

Lutho tensed. The judging or maybe even disappointed look on the general's face sending shivers down his spine.

That man was nearly as scary as his grandma when someone didn't accept seconds during a meal.

Rubbing the back of his head, he excused his tardiness and quickly went to his seat that was right next to the general's as they all sat in order from one to eight.

Acelia settled next to him, standing beside the general as a supervisor for this meeting.

The general, Ryker Orsol, was the head of the entire military in Silfar, a city that was not only known as the city of knowledge, courtesy of having so many academies, but also the city with the strongest military in all of Acren.

He looked especially annoyed, shown by the slight furrow of his graying and bushy eyebrows, on the usually stoic face.

"Now that everyone is finally here," Ryker started, his deep and calm voice washing over the silence like seawater over sand, and sparing a warning glance at Lutho who tensed in his seat, "let us start with the meeting."

The grey-haired male cleared his throat and pulled out a stack of papers, his white eyes reading them over once more.

"During the last two days, our informants in the other nations have reported several identical cases about the disappearance of infants."

Shocked gasps erupted around the table.

Eyes widening at the proclamation, while one pair turned into slitted pupils.

The air turned colder and frost began to spread across the seat and table, as he clenched his hands around the armrests.

The culprit being Arcos Fyron, Captain of the first district and a Sansuro (a wyvern).

He was a quiet person, never saying more than needed but he did have a soft spot for kids and always treated them with kindness. As such, it was no surprise that he reacted so harshly to that statement.

A low warning growl was heard.

The anger in his eyes lifted and he blinked, pupils turning back to normal and regaining their focus, while his fangs retracted and the frigid cold made room for an nearly oppressive heat.

The frost on the table and chair melted.

Across the table, the Captain of the sixth district, Dargos Kargan who was an Okasil (a dragon), stared him down.

His brown eyes nearly glowing in contrast to his warm brown skin, while his face distorted into a frown. The golden piercings moving along with it.

"Calm yourself Acros."

He growled, small wisps of smoke rising from his mouth as he barred his fangs at him.

Tsk.

Clicking his tongue at their behavior, Ryker glared at them in an equally fierce measure, forcing them to settle back into their seats so they wouldn't start their little rivalry again.

For some reason, his expression reminded Lutho a lot of a disappointed parent.

The corners of his mouth twitched.

Seeing how they deflated and returned their attention to him, Ryker nodded in satisfaction, cleared his throat, and continued,

"Usually we would not get involved with such matters since it has nothing to do with us, but the peculiar thing is, that all of these cases link up with the incident that happened in the eighth district at the Actrea academy."

Ryker's white eyes strayed to Lutho, who took this as his cue to chime in.

"Two nights ago, a large explosion had been recorded on the fifth floor of the Actrea academy," He stated, his face serious and voice devoid of emotion.

Instinctively, everyone in the room straightened in their seats and listened in rapt attention. Their eyes sharper and colder than before.

"Having been the first authority figure to enter the crime scene, I noticed that the explosion came from an empty storage room. The resulting rubble buried a squad of my soldiers and around twenty masked strangers that are currently in the prison undergoing Interrogation, as well as being the prime suspects in this case."

His breathing hitched a little at the memory. The gruesome sight forever etched into his mind and definitely not one he would ever get used to even in this line of work.

"Over the course of two days, several soldiers had woken up and given their testimony of what happened, alongside the investigation team's reports after they were done inspecting the crime scene and the medical staff that tended to their wounds. I received all of those reports yesterday evening and will now relay the contents of them as followed."

Tapping into the power that laid dormant in his core, he tugged at its strings, willing it to summon what he needed while the black of his irises flared to life, consuming the whites of his eyes and turning them pitch black.

With a flash, the documents appeared in his hands, the darkness in his eyes vanishing without a trace as he continued with his business. The slightly disturbed looks that he received going right over his head. 

"The soldiers reported that one of them had been found knocked out and paralyzed in one of the hallways in the south. There were no signs of penetration nor poison or anything else in his system, as such the cause is still unknown. The one who found him had a violet astrum and stated that he had sensed more people within the building than there were supposed to be, as well as a very powerful energy source coming from one of the storage rooms on the fifth floor."

"Calling in reinforcements, they stormed the room and witnessed how twenty people with white masks, blood-red cloaks, and overall dark clothing surrounded a portal with four of them stabilizing it. Not knowing that at the time, they immediately attacked the intruders but before they could capture them, the explosion occurred, rendering them unconscious and in some cases heavily injured."

The faces of the other Captains were serious as they processed the information given to them.

This was indeed a very dire situation.

Although there hadn't been any mention of the infants what's however, it seemed very likely that those intruders were the ones responsible for the disappearances.

"How many infants are missing?"

Makena Berestal asked, who was Captain of the second district and had been in the position of Captain for the longest time.

She too had a frown on her face, her golden eyes tinged with worry as she absently fiddled with the mechanics of her prosthetic arm. A thing that she often did when she was deep in thought.

"So far, there have been sixteen cases, but we can't be sure if there are more or not."

Ryker answered, his aged face desolate of emotions and white eyes gazing at a faraway place.

Lutho had a striking suspicion that he knew something. But he couldn't be sure.

"If we think about it, the numbers would match. With four people staying behind and stabilizing a portal, there would be sixteen left who could then go and kidnap the children, with each of them carrying one."

Makena offhandedly mentioned, her few gold teeth shining from the light above. Before resuming to screw around with her arm as she blew one of her graying curls out of her face.

"But what if there were more? And just because the numbers line up, it doesn't mean that they were the ones that stole them. After all, from what Lutho said, the soldiers didn't see any babies did they?"

Eurea Aristel, the Captain of the fifth district,  questioned, her orange eyes narrowing at the others as she sat in her seat, boots propped up on the table and hands playing around with a toothpick that was stuck between her teeth.

"And? Even if they didn't steal those children, they still trespassed on private ground at night and caused an explosion that created severe property damage. Not to mention the fact that we still don't know why they were there in the first place!"

Kyron Tegra, Captain of the third district, retorted, his red eyes burning fiercely as he glared at her.

Eureas eye twitched, her toothpick snapping in half as she clenched her hands, the cold metal of her countless rings digging into her skin.

She was fuming in her seat, her face nearly as red as her hair as she shot daggers at him with her eyes. Trying to rile him up to a fight, which was very likely to happen since they were only one seat apart.

It was no secret that they hated each other's guts, with the way that they were glaring at each other since the start of the meeting, a single word of his being enough to make her explode and vice versa.

The perfect example of an infamous rivalry that had been going on since the first day of their enlistment, also known as the day that they declared themselves archenemies, though no one knew why they hated each other's guts so much.

Lutho, who was scared that this meeting would escalate just like all the other ones, quickly diverted their attention by mentioning a thing that he hadn't told them yet.

"If I may have your attention please, would you two be so kind and not start fighting again? I haven't talked about the reports from the investigation team and medical staff yet, so it would be nice if you would listen to me instead of going crazy and making me clean up the mess you'll most definitely make,"

He said, that last part layered with a sickeningly sweet voice as if he was talking to angry little children.

Hearing that, they reluctantly diverted their attention to him, though not without a spike of irritation at the sarcastic yet gentle tone.

Curse him for letting his mask slip.

Acelia gave him a knowing smirk.

The teasing he would have to endure later was a sacrifice that he was willing to make.

"According to them, after they were done investigating everything, they concluded the cause of the explosion. It was a portal rune that had been drawn wrong. It is very likely that the mistake had been so small, that they didn't notice the error."

"Other than that, there were no fingerprints, remnants of substances, or magic around it, meaning that they were not amateurs in any way. Which, sadly, won't make this easier."

He sighed, feeling a headache lurking in the back of his head.

That's it.

After this, he needed a coffee.

"Now, to the medical report. Most of the victims had minor or medium bruises, cuts, and concussions, while others suffered from broken bones and internal bleeding but thankfully there were no permanent injuries."

He cleared his drying throat.

"In an attempt to remove the masks from the intruders to finish the examination, the medics discovered that there was a special seal placed upon said masks that made it impossible to remove them without receiving severe burn marks."

A somber mood descended upon the room.

This revelation left them with even fewer options to solve this case swiftly and there was still nothing about the children.

"Why not just rip the mask off?"

Dargos asked out of the blue, a lazy smirk splayed across his lips, his reddish brown scales glistening in the light.

It was easy to say for him, who, as an Okasil, was basically immune to all sorts of burns and fires.

Eurea cackled loudly and high-fived him, before sneakily stretching her hand out behind the seat next to her to collect betting money from Kyron.

The sneer on his face clearly portrayed his anger at losing, as the bet was based on how quickly Dargos would say something out of pocket in this meeting. Which, this time, was about half an hour.

"Dargos, we all know that it would rip the skin off of their faces and would do nothing but make them more unrecognizable,"

Isra Lupos, the Captain of the fourth district, said in a monotone voice.

Being the one that sat between the two rivals she certainly didn't fail to notice the two betting behind her back.

Her blue eyes remained calm and collected as the sound of smacks echoed in the room. Her brown hair swayed a little as she lowered her hands, her palms tinged in a light red.

Yelping, Eurea rubbed her head, leaning away from the other as she glared at her and stuck out her tongue in a childish way.

Kyron mirrored her, sending Isra a look of betrayal before resuming to glare at Eurea and innerly blaming her for this.

Makena, who watched the whole spectacle, covered her eyes in shame. These idiots had the attention span of flies when put into a room together. It was embarrassing to call them Captains in times like these.

How Ryker hadn't put them into couple therapy yet was a mystery to her.

An arm slung itself around each of their necks. Like a snake descending upon its prey.

Goosebumps broke out on their skin as they got pulled closer and closer to Isra's face until they were only a breath's width apart. Her eyes no longer calm but harboring a dangerous glint.

Even Lutho was disturbed by the scary expression that she wore.

It reminded him too much of someone he knew.

"And you two~" She murmured, her voice sending  shivers down their spine, "don't you dare to bet behind my back without me ever again, or I will make you regret it."

Releasing them, Isra leaned back with a rare, satisfied expression on her face. Acting as if nothing had happened.

Contrary to her, the two rivals looked like their souls just left their bodies.

Scooting as far away as possible from her and not glaring at each other for the first time since the start, their eyes stubbornly glued onto the table in front of them.

Lutho sighed and rubbed his eyes.

Isra's skills as a former captain of a ship, in terms of intimidation and apparently also gambling, came in handy from time to time. But he would like it if she wouldn't resort to scare the living out of them like that.

He needed them alive and kicking, not half dead and crying.

To be honest, sometimes this was closer to a kindergarten than a room filled with professionals.

They were even worse than his siblings when they were younger and that was really one hell of a statement since he had had four harbingers of chaos to look after while their parents were on business trips.

"Anyways," He sighed, shaking them out of their stupor and gaining back their attention.

He deliberately ignored the still-smirking Isra who looked like a cat that just got its cream and the pitying looks he received from Makena.

They made him uncomfortable.

"I held an Interrogation yesterday with one of the intruders as per General Orsol's orders.

I didn't learn much about them yet, but I know that they use codenames for each other and that they are very good liars."

"Other than that, after a checkup with Elira Fern, she concluded that they have seals placed into their minds that will activate as soon as they slip up and say something that they aren't supposed to say."

"A failsafe so to speak, so that they would forget everything in case they were captured. And what makes this whole situation worse is that we don't know what will trigger that seal, and I personally don't want to let all twenty suspects forget everything before we even find out a single thing."

Heavy silence stretched across the room. Frowns and incredulous expressions spreading on their faces. Not being able to believe that they didn't have any leads in this case.

How in the world should they find something when they couldn't ask the prime suspects anything and they couldn't exactly let an amateur into their mind lest they would screw up and make things even worse.

"And what do we do now?" Ylvos Xia, the Captain of the seventh district and an Ivarkea (a Long) asked. Therefore being the last Captain to be introduced.

"Sixteen infants are missing, a group of unknown individuals is rotting in the cells and we don't know where the children are, nor why these strangers were there and we can't ask them anything at all because we don't know the triggers."

He observed the faces around him while he played with the small water currents in his hand, turning them into ice shards and back to water over and over again.

His own face locked in a cold and calculating expression as he thought it all over, making sure not to have overlooked any details.

The silence stretched on, expressions falling more and more as they couldn't figure out a solution that wouldn't backfire at them.

Sigh.

Their eyes snapped up at the sudden sound. Gazing at the disappointed general who opened his mouth and said,

"Don't lose your heads now," Ryker comforted awkwardly, his posture stiff and words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth,

"even if we don't know all the answers, they should still be put on trial before the Sphinx, who can hopefully reveal the truth to us before we get them an official trial in front of their national leaders. Are there any objections to this course of action?"

The heavy atmosphere lifted a little, though not all of them were convinced by that.

The Sphinx was old. Very old.

Many rumored that she was created by a God to aid the people.

After all, she was the one that taught all of the Isantis about the Dreamrealm and how to navigate it, as well as the usage of the all-seeing eye and how to foresee the future.

Due to that, she was fickle and couldn't be taken for word. A being so close to divinity and possibly even part of the spirit realm was dangerous.

The nature spirits were already existences that couldn't care less about mortal life, so why should she be any different?

But despite these reservations, she was the best bet they could take. Her expertise with the all-seeing eye was undeniable.

A short moment passed as they mulled it over.

One by one, they raised their heads to look at Ryker Orsol and reluctantly nodded. Accepting his proposal.

"Good," he said, clapping his hands loudly, "then it is settled. I will send her an invitation as soon as possible. In the meantime, we have a trial to prepare so get to work. Dismissed."

"Yes sir!"

They chorused in unison, saluting him as they rose from their seats.

With that, the meeting was over and each of the Captains went back to work. They still had to organize the whole thing, schedule the place and time, who will escort the prisoners to the room, who will prepare a seal of binding, and so on and so forth.

Not exactly a piece of cake but that wasn't anything new.

Lutho was one of the last to leave the room.

Just before him, Eurea passed by, chewing around on a new toothpick that she had gotten from who knows where. Her orange eyes carried a strange gleam inside of them.

Unnoticed by all in the room,  she tapped Ryker's wrist and strode out of the room, her short red hair bobbing up and down as she walked.

Ryker remained standing at the table, blankly staring into space and seemingly deep in thought.

Not having noticed anything. 

Acelia stood in the doorway, the rapid tapping of her foot telling him to hurry up and leave. She didn't want to be stuck in this building any longer and he did promise to treat her to a coffee once she came back.

Turning to leave, he was nearly at the exit when a cold voice interrupted him.

"Ah, I nearly forgot. Lutho, no matter what response we get, you will be responsible for bringing the news to the prisoners."

Ryker told him, his back facing the thirty-year-old.

Lutho hesitated, a little perplexed at the sudden request. 

"Sir? May I ask why me? There are enough prison guards and messengers that could do it?"

"Do you question me, Captain?"

The general snapped in a vicious tone, his pure white eyes burning into his black ones.

What's gotten into him? Was he going crazy?

Lutho thought, scared at the sudden change in behavior.

"No! No of course not Sir I-"

He stammered, fidgeting in place.

A strange sight to see from a grown-up.

"Good. Now leave, I don't want to see you fail again."

The response was cold and sharp.

An underlying threat barely scratching the surface.

Lutho flinched at that and promptly rushed outside. Too caught up in his memories to realize what was going on.

Acelia looked at him with a worried gaze, having heard none of that conversation. But she didn't ask him yet. Not when Ryker could still hear them.

Instead, she rubbed his arm in a comforting manner and led him away.

Sparing a glance at the stiff general who was left alone in the warmly lit room, as rays of sunlight streamed through the windows.

His hands trembling slightly as a drop of dark purple liquid dropped from his mouth.