Prison 4

The door clanged shut behind me, and they threw me some keys through the bars. I again wondered what I'd gotten myself into.

I picked up the keys and looked around. The stench of the place was overwhelming. I realized it had been days since anyone had even entered into this prison. I was wondering how many of the prisoners had died and what I was going to have to do to try to save the remainder.

First things first, I cast a general cleaning spell. It would destroy all dirt and foreign matter exactly the way I envisioned the spell. This would also get rid of any airborne contaminants whether they were bacterial or viral. I realize that this culture had never come up with germ theory yet and that was one of the problems facing me here.

The cleaning spell had worked on about a 25 ft.² area, so this First Bank of cells would be clean. I checked the key ring and found the key to the first cell on my right. I opened the cell door and looked at what was inside. It was then that I realized my cleaning spell had literally destroyed whatever clothing and blankets this prisoner had been using.

The emaciated figure was that of a young woman. I had no idea how old she might've been. She looked like she was in the last stages of starvation. I quickly moved to her and lifted her head. The cleaning spell had done its work, her skin was unmarred by dirt or grime. Her lips were chapped and she had sores all over her body. I pulled a flask of juice from my dimensional storage and tipped it towards her lips as I magicked the cap off.

With pressure on her lower jaw, I got her mouth open and poured a small amount of liquid into her mouth. She swallowed automatically, and I began to empty the flask, little by little into her. Her stomach began growling and her eyelids began to flutter.

The empty flask went back into my magic storage and I pulled another flask of juice. The girl/woman was now cognizant, and I released the flask into her hands. I pulled out a small loaf of elf bread which she almost snatched from my hands as I offered it.

I cautioned her to eat and drink slowly. And she reluctantly acquiesced. She sat up with her knees drawn to her chest. I felt her gaining strength from the magical food and drink she was eating and drinking. It was now that I could cast a healing spell on her that cured her sores and other physical ailments. I reached toward her, and she flinched. I continued however and placed my hand on her arm so that I could cast the diagnosis spell.

When they brought me here they told me the prisoners here had contracted the black death. In my mind I had interpreted that as bubonic plague. This prisoner had no trace of that. What problems she did have were a result of starvation and she would overcome those with normal meals.

I left the cell and locked it going across the hall to the next cell. Here I found the same problems as in the other cell. Again, I ministered to this prisoner in the same fashion and moved on.

In the final cell I found the first body. She had been dead for a day or so. She looked horrible but only because the cleaning spell had removed the flesh that had rotted. I pulled a sheet from my magical storage and wrapped the body in it. I moved it out into the hallway and cast a cleaning spell on the next cellblock.

It took me five hours to finally cleanse and visit the entire prison. The live prisoners ranged from young women to old crones. The oldest women had died along with the plague victims. I had finally run into the plague in the fourth cellblock and had to use a restoration spell to cure the plague. It was resistant to normal curing spells.

I made my way back to the entrance and banged on the cell door to get some attention. I told the guards that looked my way that I needed clean blankets and clothing for all of the prisoners. I was met with blank stares as they told me that there were no supplies of that kind here in the prison. I asked them when they were going to feed the prisoners and they said that they wouldn't come near until the plague was gone.

I told them that they had better start cooking food for the prisoners and leave it in the hallway and I would magic it into the prison proper and feed the prisoners. They were surly, and I ended up having to fire off some harmless sparks in their direction to frighten them into doing their jobs.

I didn't really blame them for being frightened of the plague. It would probably be several days before I would be able to get them to let me out, once they were convinced that the plague was finished. I was afraid that hypothermia would be a real problem now, so I needed to find a way to keep the prisoners warm.

I went around and collected all the empty flasks. None of the prisoners had talked to me yet so I wasn't sure of their names are what they had been put into prison for. However, none of them were strong enough to try to jump me.

I decided that I would go ahead and create lava stones that I placed on pedestals that I created in the center of each cellblock. The lava stones would radiate heat without causing a fire. The radiant heat would begin to permeate the entire area and raise the temperature of the dungeon.

I had sheets left over in my magical storage that I took out and cut in half. I gave half a sheet to every prisoner. That is, I left half a sheet in every cell so that each prisoner could take it after I had left the cell. The prisoners were still leery of me and flinched when I got too close.

I heard a banging from the entrance and I went to find that they had placed a large pot of gruel along with bowls and wooden spoons in the hallway. I used a small teleportation spell to bring it to me. Making a table wasn't any problem and I quickly began to spoon out gruel into bowls for the prisoners.

I took a bowl of gruel into the first prisoner. She had wrapped herself in the half sheet. The temperature was already warmer than it had been, although it wasn't warm enough to keep the young woman's nipples from making points in the sheet. I immediately felt bad that I had looked at that and handed her the bowl of gruel. She took it quickly and began to eat. I told her my name is Kane. I asked her if they were supposed to bring water and she quickly looked down and nodded her head. I asked her if she would help me take bowls of gruel to the other prisoners so that they could get it before it was too cold. I quickly amended my statement by saying that she needed to finish her gruel first.

I had levitated the table over the lava stone on its stand and moved to the last few cells in this block. I had moved all the bodies into one cell in the very back of the prison and cast a stasis spell on them. That way I wasn't tripping over bodies as I moved through the prison corridors. As I gave out the gruel to these prisoners, the first couple of girls were tentatively coming out of their cells. They immediately saw the lava stone and moved as close as they could to it without being burned. The lava stone was giving off that much heat. I let them bask in the warmth for a few more minutes before I asked them again to come and help me. With the two prisoners help, it went faster.

I could see that they were eyeing the gruel and I knew that even with the elf bread, the gruel hadn't staved off their hunger. I would've given them more but there was only enough to give everyone that was left in the prison a full bowl. I told them that they would get more food later this evening even if I had to conjure it. This statement earned me a glimmer of a smile from both of the girls.

Once everyone got their gruel I went back and banged on the entrance asking where the water was. The guard said that they had to use their water ration to make the gruel. This only slightly annoyed me. I knew that I could create water and it would be cleaner than the water they were used to. I filled the big kettle with water and had the girls drink their fill before they began taking water to the other prisoners.

I had finally left all the prison doors open so that I could gain access to the prisoners without having to stop and unlock and then relock the doors. Many of the prisoners had finally begun to gather around the lava stones in their section of the dungeon. They were all much stronger now and the water had helped revitalize them.

I told each group that I didn't mind them warming themselves by the lava stones but if they were to injure themselves or others, I would lock them back up in their cells. I gathered up all the bowls and spoons again and cleaned everything before I teleported it back out into the hallway for the guards to gather up later.

Some of the prisoners had finally used their slop buckets so I used a cleaning spell again to remove the waste and alleviate the smell. So far even though I heard some of the prisoners murmur among themselves they hadn't said a word to me yet. I moved back to the entrance again and created a chair that I could sit on by the door.

The rest of the prisoners were starting to congregate around the lava stones. I believe the feeling of warmth was generally a new experience for most of them. I still had no idea who they were and why they were in this prison. I wasn't even sure why I was in this prison. They told me that I was here to cure the plague when they rounded me up from the adventures Guild.

I had only been in the city a short time. Only been on this world, a short time. My name in this world is Kane. I invented a device that would break dimensional barriers and allow me to visit other worlds. The device was supposed to bring me back to my own world after a set amount of time. The device worked in that it sent me to another world. The device failed in bringing me back home. It simply kept transporting me to a different world.

My home world didn't have magic. It was on the fourth world I visited that I ran into magic. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately I was quite adept at magic. Most of the world's since then have had magic of one sort or another. My magic always works in these other worlds even if the way the populace here used magic differed from my own use.

On this world I was going to be an adventurer. I had the requisite magic and combat skills. I could use most martial weapons and one world had trained me in unarmed martial arts. It should've been easy to join an adventurer team and clear out some quests to earn money to live on. On the last mission one of our team got injured and I quickly healed him. This was met with surprise. It seems there were very few magical healers in this world.

The next thing I knew I was before the Marquis of the city. He told me that there was an outbreak of plague that he needed me to deal with. Early the next morning I was in this dungeon. I still wondered why all the prisoners were women and why they were in here in the first place.

The temperature in the dungeon had risen some more. I decided that I needed to try to find and destroy all the furry creatures that were carrying the fleas that carried the bubonic plague. They didn't really have rats here. There was a furry lizard that took the place of rats in this world.

I cast an imaging spell that gave me an impression of what was behind the walls of the cells. I found pockets of warrens filled with the little beasts. Instead of killing them all off, I used a wide range spell that killed all insect life within a half mile radius. That would take care of all the cockroaches, fleas, mites and other vermin.

I had an idea that the lizards played an important part of the diet of these prisoners. I didn't want them to starve to death once I left the dungeon.

I had some time here, so I knew I needed to deal with the blanket issue. They needed blankets. I decided I would have to teleport out of the dungeon to find some place that sold supplies. I could replenish my supply of elf bread and the fruit juice. Then I could buy blankets and a few other items for the women. Once their bodies were no longer starving, they would begin have the normal monthly needs of women. I worried about how they would clean themselves.

I realized I was suddenly thinking too hard about this. If the guards finally came back and found they had new blankets, they would steal them to sell them. The neglect that I had found here was troubling.

I hadn't been all that impressed by the Marquis when he had me brought before him. The normal people in the city were not in much better shape than the prisoners here in the dungeon.

I suddenly realized I wasn't going to let these women that I had expended so much effort on die. I didn't care why they were in the dungeon. I would gather everyone up and we would flee this country. I could open a gate to the outside forest and then I could sort out everything there.

It would be days before the guards ventured closer to the cellblocks. If I didn't show up it would scare them. They would believe that the Black death was still rampant, and I had succumbed to it. That would give us plenty of time to make our escape.

I teleported to the alley next to the inn that I had a room at. I went up and gathered up all my belongings that I had left. I told the innkeeper I was checking out. The innkeeper merely nodded and went back to cleaning.

I visited the general store that the adventures frequented. I went ahead and bought up all the food supplies he had as well is blankets and camping gear. I bought all of his cloaks and robes. He had boots as well and I bought all of them too. This pretty much took all of my hard-earned currency. I still had some gems in my magical stores that I could convert into coin. The shopkeeper was impressed with my magical storage ability. He said that the ability was extremely rare. With all my purchases stored away, I thanked him for selling me the items and for reminding me of things like water skins and eating utensils and cooking sets. Those at all been included in my purchase.

Once I left the shop I teleported back into the dungeon. I looked around, but I don't think the girls even knew that I had gone. I walked closer to the lava stone and the girls quickly moved away from me.

I asked them their names and why they were in the dungeon. As I looked around none of them would meet my gaze. I quietly told them that I had hoped that they would be grateful that I had saved their lives and healed them. I told them that I guess that was asking too much from them. I slowly turned around and walked back to my chair.

The girls began to huddle together, and I heard vague whisperings. Eventually the first girl, timidly walked up within 3 feet of me and said her name was Shauna. She asked what I was going to demand for my help. I told her that I didn't understand. She said that the fact that she was a princess had kept her from being raped like the other girls. She asked if I was going to demand sex from her as well as the others for what I had done for them. She quickly went on to say that I was probably a better choice since I was at least clean. Most of the time the guards were filthy and stank.

I had hoped that my misgivings were false. The fact that the girls/women were so timid around me had led me to believe that they had been abused. Now that my misgivings were proven correct, I was angry. I couldn't believe that the guards were allowed to abuse the prisoners this way.

I asked Shauna why she was in prison. She said that she had refused to marry the Marquis. If she married him, he would have access to all of her countries resources. She had been sent here with her retinue to meet the Marquis and he had killed her retinue and imprisoned her. The Marquis couldn't have her kingdom without marrying her. The magic wouldn't allow him to take control without a full-on conquest. I asked her about the other prisoners and she said that they were probably all in the same manner being held because they had refused or angered the Marquis in some way.

I asked her if she wanted to leave the dungeon. Her eyes filled with tears and she began to shake. I quickly stood up and grabbed her. I held her in my arms and she began trying to fight me. She quickly tired. After a few moments she realized I was merely holding her. I told her I would not harm her. She finally collapsed, and I picked her up and put her on my lap as I sat back in the chair.

I told her that she and the others had no need to fear. I told her that I could take her and everyone else out of this dungeon. We could make our way back to her country where she could be safe from the Marquis. She asked why I would do this? I told her it was the right thing to do. I told her that I was not one of the Marquis subjects nor was I afraid of him or his soldiers. I told her if he got in our way I would squash them like a bug. She began to sadly laugh and said that she would like to see that.

She had finally gotten control of herself and I told her to stand up. I pulled one of the robes out of my storage and told her to put her arms over her head. I helped her into the robe and she was excited for the extra warmth and covering. I started pulling more robes out of my storage and told her to start passing them out to the other women.

She came back and gathered up the pile of robes that I was still pulling out of my storage. She gave them to one of the other girls to take to the other cellblocks. She came back and took the last load of robes to another girl and sent her as well. She asked why I hadn't given them robes in the first place, and I told her that I had just purchased them a short time ago. I told her that I had magicked myself out of the dungeon to go and buy what I could to aid in their escape.

She asked if I could truly take them all out of the dungeon? I told her that I could. I told her to gather all of the women together. Once they were gathered I began handing out elf bread. They began to greedily eat it.

I quickly tossed the cell door keys on the floor. I magicked away all of the lava stones and pedestals, the table, and the chair. They were all finished eating now and I told them that I was going to open up a gate to the forest outside the city. I told all of them to walk through the gate and wait on the other side for me to join them.

I cast the gate spell. They were all wary of the shimmering portal that opened before them. I asked them to trust me and to walk through. Shauna led the way and the rest of them quickly followed. I was last through and dismissed the portal. This was a parklike clearing in the forest. I had found it the other day while I was hunting was my adventure team.

I immediately began pulling boots out of my storage. I was telling the girls to try to find the sizes closest to their own. I found that I had purchased plenty of boots. After they put on the boots I had each of them come to me and place a booted foot in my lap so that I could model each boot to comfortably fit their feet. I didn't want them to be rubbing sores in their feet while they were walking to Shauna's country.

They were all luxuriating in the feel of sunlight. I finished with their boots and then began to pass out water skins. I gave my magic water skin to Shauna and had her fill her skin from mine and then fill everyone else's skin as well. While she was doing that I was pulling out cloaks and having everyone pass them around as well. I had to model some of the robes and cloaks, so they wouldn't drag on the ground and trip the girls. Some of the older women were feeling a bit of trepidation about trying to walk to Shauna's country. I told them that we would manage somehow. I told them if I had to I would carry them. I said I wasn't the greatest mage in this world for nothing.

I had meant it as idle boast to boost their morale, they however, took me seriously. And maybe I was.

With all of the women ready now, the Princess pointed the way to her country. The forest was dangerous but if we made our way all the way across it we would be close to the borders of her country. If we angled North after we left the forest, we would eventually come to the road that ran between the countries. We would probably be able to bypass the border guard and head directly into her home city.