Quest of the Bounty Hunter: Kidnapped

Grace

Grace was bored out of her mind. After spending her evening with Emerald and sleeping the night on the cold ground, Grace had the whole day to herself until she saw Emerald again. Over the past year, Grace had taught herself many useless but entertaining skills such as juggling (using her bread that was too stale to eat) and perfecting a walking handstand.

But right now, nothing could satisfy her want for adventure. For something new. For something -anything- to happen.
With a sigh, she transformed into a tiny beetle as the familiar feeling of the world growing twenty times as huge comforted her restlessness. Today she'd explore the same old silent prison. Like she'd done a million times already. But maybe this time she'd find something new.

Instead of turning right to go to Emerald's cell like she normally did, Grace turned left and scampered around the bend. Even though it was midday, the torches were lit because there were no windows. She followed the tunnel until it ended at a staircase.

Since she had been here for a year, Grace had explored pretty much every inch of this jail except one particular place that she tried to avoid.

The cellar.

Grace had been down there once but the moment she entered the room at the base of the stairs, her whole body had frozen with a sense of fear and the cold. There was something off about that place. Something that seemed almost magical. But evil.

Everyday she yearned to explore it, but she had never mustered up the courage to until now. Today would be the day she discovered the secrets that were housed below her and the whole prison.

Grace transformed into a cat to slink down the steps more stealthily. Immediately she felt the chill and her heart began to beat faster, but she pushed on.

She darted around the corner and through a labyrinth of extra cells, even more secure the her own. Each had sets of shackles attached to the wall but they all lay on the floor unused and the cells were empty.

Grace padded around another bend on the tips of her paws, making sure that no sound could be heard from her steps. But at the end of the hall, in the last cell, surrounded by a murky puddle and wretched stench, was a sight that made Grace yowl and transform quickly back into a human.

It was a body. A skinny and frail unmoving form of a person wrapped in rags. Were they dead? Grace wondered as she pulled herself back to her feet and swallowed grimly. Once the shock had subsided, Grace drew closer to the cell. She put her hands on the cold bars and looked closer at the petite figure on the ground.

Grace noticed long, tangled, messy brown hair in a clump around the person's face and concluded that this was a female.

"Ma'am?" Grace whispered. She was frightened of this woman. What was she doing down here? What could she possibly have done to be chained up and locked in a dank, dark cellar of a prison? Was she even still alive?

With a slight shake in her voice, Grace repeated, "Ma'am?" This time it was a bit louder and it only took a moment before the figure shifted slightly.

Relieved, Grace let out the breath she hadn't even known she'd been holding. The woman tried to sit up but she was too weak to do so. She pushed her grimy hair out of her eyes and looked at Grace.

Instead of the defeated eyes of a prisoner, Grace was surprised and mystified to see deep brown eyes burning with passion. Her face, though grimy and pallid, was pretty and in her more youthful years she must've been very attractive.

"I haven't seen a human, besides the jail keeper, in ten years." The woman whispered with awe. "Took you long enough to find me."

"What do you mean?" Grace inquired quietly. She was amazed that this woman had survived, alone, in this prison for a decade.

"I could sense your magic. I could sense it every night when you would go around the prison and visit with people. Primarily the cell right above me."

Emerald, Grace thought with a smile. But she was bewildered.

"How could you sense my magic?" Grace asked with a puzzled expression.

"I don't know. I guess I've spent so much time with magic users that I'm used to their aura and magical buzz." The woman responded shakily.

Grace was stunned. "When have you spent time with magic users? Aren't they illegal here in Meldest?"

"I...I can't answer that." The woman said with a slight stutter.

"Can you at least tell me who you are?" Grace begged, sticking her face farther through the cell bars.

"No. I'm sorry." She said dipping her head in an apology.

This mysterious woman was intriguing but sadly, still a mystery.

"What can you tell me?" Grace asked.

The woman smiled at Grace's persistence. "I can tell you a story. It isn't important but it can offer some entertainment."

Grace nodded eagerly, "I would love to hear a story! I am sorely in need of something different."

The woman gestured for Grace to come into the cell and sit down. Two quick transformations later, Grace was leaning against the wall beside the woman near enough to hear every word.

Grace closed her eyes as the woman began to speak in a faint, but beautiful storytelling voice.

"Once, many years ago, I would spend my days with my wonderful baby girl. She was a ball of energy, much like you were when you first came here and would shapeshift every day. My daughter would explore the c- our home from dawn to dusk, chasing the cat and stealing sweets from the kitchen. I loved her with all my heart. But then she was snatched from me. Everything was snatched from me. I was locked away in this prison. In the course of one hour, my life changed completely. The whole world was violently flipped upside down." The woman faltered as a tear slipped down her cheek. Grace's heart twisted with empathy.

"She's 16 now, probably the same age as you. She's the only reason I'm trying to survive this prison. I hope and pray that someday I may be freed and that I'll get to see her." The woman finished with a soft sigh.

It wasn't a very long story, Grace thought, but it encompassed so much sorrow.

"Someday you'll see her again. I can just feel it. I know how you feel, because I lost some of my best friends too." Grace looked at her hands as they shook. "Because of my magical powers." She spat it out quietly but with venom. Her powers were amazing and sometimes helpful but they had gotten her here in the first place.

"Tell me about your friends." The woman said laying her hand on Grace's knee.

Grace sighed and dove into her mind to all the wonderful, but now painful to recall, memories.

"Well, Dia is a bounty hunter. I was her partner. We made a great team during the times when I wasn't in the kitchen. But I also worked in a castle kitchen. That occupied most of my time. My best friend there was Klieria. We used to work together preparing and serving foods until she was promoted." Grace explained remembering Dia's stubbornness and Klieria's warm smiles. This brought a sad smile to Grace's own face.

"Klieria?" The woman murmured. "I know her."

Grace looked up suddenly, shocked. "How do you know her?"

"I...I can't exactly remember." The woman replied, pressing her fingers to her forehead. "What castle did you work at?"

"Meldest." Grace answered, probing the woman's eyes for recognition.

"Ah." The woman said shortly with her eyes sparkling softly. "Yes, I remember now."

"What? What is it? Do you know of that castle?"

"Of course I do." The woman said with a yawn.

"Please! Tell me who you are!" Grace begged with her hands on the woman's shoulders.

But it was too late. The woman had fallen asleep.