Fourth Wall

Twenty Three: To Love Is To Fight

The problem with breaking out stealthily would be getting the other prisoners to cooperate. Some were intelligent and willing. Others were nasty for the sake of being nasty, and Chloe knew better than to bother with them. So, they would have to wait until they could spring everyone. A few hours passed, and Chloe spotted a noticeable lull in the changing of guards.

"Okay. Looks like this might be our best bet." She whispered, turning to her companions, who'd been half-dozing with Astarion's back resting against Halsin's front. Chloe couldn't blame them. The day had been tiring and the damp cell currently housing them frigid.

Astarion straightened, and Chloe could swear she saw a slight blush on his cheeks as Halsin, in his half-waking state, clutched at the vampire's receding form for a split second before rousing fully.

"'Tis time?" His deep voice thick with sleep rumbled. Chloe nodded mutely, silently reaching through the cell bars to unlock the door. The dungeons were slick with moisture and everything covered in rust, so Chloe had to move with painful slowness. The door creaked lightly as it swung open, Chloe gritting her teeth against the sound. She waited tensely. No one stirred.

Chloe motioned for them to follow her out, and the group moved with the silence and precision of a pack of wolves towards the cell containing Shadowheart, Wyll, and Lae'zel. Just as they reached the door, the prisoner in the opposite cell stirred. A dwarf with a pinched face opened his eyes, raised a finger almost in slow motion, and Chloe saw his mouth open.
She whipped her head in his direction, fixing him with a glare so deadly it killed the words in his throat.

"You shut the fuck up or I'll knock you out and leave you in here to rot and save everyone else out of pure spite!" She hissed in a whisper as she heard the lock on her party member's cell open. They needed to hurry.

Luckily, the dwarf seemed convinced, genuine fear filling his eyes as the hand he'd been about to use to point them out turned instead to a defensive gesture.

"Smarter than he looks," she thought to herself. Chloe couldn't help her sigh of relief as she spotted her companions, though Shadowheart was sporting a black eye and a split lip that hadn't been there before they'd been imprisoned. Chloe's face darkened as Shadowheart, Wyll and Lae'zel crept out. Chloe's hand shot out to seize Shadowheart's upper arm.

"Who?" She whispered through clenched jaw. It was all she needed to ask.

"..Relax, it's not like I've never been hit during a fight." She said, before realizing Chloe wasn't budging. "The ones that searched us and took our weapons. The bald one." Shadowheart finally admitted, her face neutral as she tried no doubt to analyze Chloe's intent. Chloe simply nodded and released her arm.

"Alright, Astarion knows the plan so he's on unlock duty." She passed him the key ring and he went to work unlocking cell door after cell door. "After these prisoners are set loose there's no telling how much time we'll have or how many enemies we'll face. The guards will be easily outnumbered by all of us, but we need to get to wherever they stashed our weapons."

Chloe relayed the plan in a whisper to the group, who huddled around her. She kept talking as more faces appeared around the huddle. She had expected the prisoners to be loud, rowdy, unruly once they'd been released. Evidently, they were more ready to organize than she'd anticipated.

"I know where they keep them!" A vaguely Scottish accent pipes up from the corner, a grubby hand shooting up. Chloe motioned him forward, a human man stepping up to the huddle. He'd likely been here a while, by the state of him.

"Go on." Chloe encouraged, and the man, barefoot and thin with malnourishment, suddenly twisted his hands in his shirt like a nervous child with all the eyes on him.