A Gratuitous Host

WHOOSH!

A sudden rush of wind filled the room that ceased any conversation. You braced yourself for the sudden gust before it vanished just as quick as it came. Before you could contemplate, a loud curse caught your attention. Deacon stumbled back from the bars; pain etched on his face as looked down at his hands. Slight steam seemed to come from them.

“What happened?!” Ben shouted.

“The bars! They-FUCK! They burned my fucking hands!!!” The jock cried out, struggling to clench his hands.

Looking, you see the bars glow a dim orange. Moving close, you bring a hand up to them and can feel the heat coming off the bars.

“What in the-”

SNAP!

The loud noise caused you to jump as fire soon burst into existence. All of you, even the unknown fourth prisoner, looked at two stone columns that were illuminated as the steel braziers atop them came to life with flame. They were placed evenly apart against the far side of the room.

The hell is happening? The thought repeated in your mind. Those thoughts soon ceased.

It was soft at first but soon it escalated to a loud rumble as the room began to shake. You struggled to maintain your footing, nearly stumbling as you moved backwards. Ben was behind, grabbing your shoulders to both keep you and himself from falling. Deacon, meanwhile, had leaned against a wall to stabilize himself from falling over. The only one of you that was relatively fine was the mystery person sitting on the ground, but even they had to tense themselves from the vibrations.

“What the hell is happening?!” You cried out.

“I don’t know!” Ben responded. “Just hold on! This has gotta end soon!”

“Look!”

You and your friend followed to where Deacon was pointing. The section of the wall between the flames was slowly being pulled downwards. Increasingly, it was pulled into the ground, slowly revealing darkness behind it. Soon the section completely sank into the ground and the shaking soon stopped afterwards.

For a moment, none of you moved, just staring at the newly made opening. Nothing but darkness was seen. Even with the new opening, all of you were still trapped behind the bars. But then…

Tap…Tap…Tap…

A slow, repetitive noise came from the opening. You, Ben, and even Deacon, grouped up as you watched the opening. The noise grew closer as the tension grew just as much. Pretty soon, something entered the room.

Whoever or whatever it was, they were wrapped in a large, flowing black cloak that covered their entire being. Purple inscriptions and symbols lined the edges of the cloak as a hood covered the head. Clenched in its sleeve covered hand was a gnarled, wooden staff with a crooked head. The butt of it tapped the ground as they slowly moved until they stood in the middle of the door and the cell bars.

We stood there, unsure of what to do or say. The figure just stood there, slowly moving their head as they gazed at all of us. Deacon, obviously, was the first to act as he growled and marched up to the bars.

“Hey!” He shouted, grabbing hold of the cell bars. “Are you the fucker that put me in here?! Hey, I’m talking to you!”

The being slowly looked towards Deacon, but still, they stayed silent. This only angered him as he began to shake the bars.

“Uh, Deacon, I don’t think that’s a good idea?” You speak, trying to calm him down.

“Yeah. I don’t think riling the bloke up is a good way into letting us go.” Ben pitched in.

“Shut it!” He snapped at you two before looking back at the being. “Now, you listen and listen good, jackass! I don’t know what game you’re playing, and I don’t care. But, if I’m not out of here in the next five minutes, you’re going to look like a popsicle when I shove that stick up your ass!!!”

“Ooorrr keep going, see what happens. Yeah, that’s another option.” Your friend deadpanned.

You hear a small shuffling under Deacon’s constant shouting. Looking behind you, your mystery fellow inmate had finally stood up and moved closer to the two of you. The bottom of their face was shown but still not enough to make their identity known.

A quick jab to the side made you look away and turn towards Ben. He had a fearful look on his face as he pointed forward. Looking, you watch the being point their staff towards the college star. The runes around the top began to glow a pale purple.

“-you even listening to me, you bastard!” Unknowing or uncaring, Deacon continued to rant aloud, even when his manacles began glowing the same color. “Why don’t you come in here and see if you’re still cocky after I-”

Without warning, his arms were yanked violently upwards, and he was sent flying backwards.

“FUUUUCCCCKKK!!!” Deacon screamed as he was sent back. Though short, the fight was stopped as he was slammed into the far wall, arms over his head and locked in place. He groaned as he looked up, tried, and failed to move his arms. Panic finally coming onto his face, he looked towards us. “I can’t move!”

You stood stock still, stunned and horrified at what you just saw. Slowly, you turned to look at the figure and saw them pointing their staff towards you. Quickly, you looked down at your bindings and they began glowing.

“…Ben?” You whispered, voice trembling. Looking, you see Ben and mystery inmate’s manacles began glowing as well. Your friend looked towards you with a resigned look.

“Well shite.”