Rising to Fall

Chapter 4-4

The Sky Army are marched one group at a time into the castle that dominates the Capital. The General and the Commanders are the leading group and their recruits train behind, Squid warriors separating them and at least one warrior holding every recruit. As Adam is half pushed-half dragged towards the castle, he notices the slight yellow stain on the courtyard at the base of the steps leading up to the castle. He smirks to himself. It would seem that the Squids weren't totally successful at removing all the graffiti.

It takes quite some time for all of the recruits to be manhandled into the castle due to the sheer amounts of them and the Squid warriors escorting them but they did it eventually. As General Azubi leaves for another part of the castle, the warriors drag the recruits to the back of the building and then down a wide staircase that leads underground to the dungeons.

The staircase ends in a large room with several branching corridors, each with a large iron door on the front with a padlock that is currently unlocked and open. The sides of the corridors are metal bars that go from floor to ceiling and from side to side, the ends of each buried in a concrete wall separating each cell. Adam twists to look over his shoulder as the Squids lead him and his Commanders down one corridor and the group behind them goes down another. With the number of possible corridors here, it would be impossible for them to get out without becoming hopelessly lost.

After several minutes of walking down stone corridors, averting their eyes from the empty cells, the Commanders are each unceremoniously shoved into a cell and the door is securely locked behind them. Adam and his two Squid guards walk the furthest until Adam is finally given a cell of his own, separated by a few empty cells from the nearest Commander, Kali.

He stumbles as he is shoved in and the door is locked behind him but he recovers in time to give the two Squid warriors a hard glare before they leave. His hands are still cuffed behind his back, as are the rest of the Commanders'. The position isn't overly uncomfortable now, but he imagines that it will become quite irritating before long. After all, it is never comfortable to sleep with your hands behind you and eating is virtually impossible.

"Pleasant accommodations," Adam hears one of his Commanders say, the middle-aged voice marking him as one of the original Commanders, Jack, who was reaching 45 years old when the Army scattered 12 years. "I'm willing to bet that dinner is covered under room service."

"But it's probably not gonna be a five-star meal," Jordan says.

Adam scans the two metre square cell, noting the wooden panel producing from the wall that presumably serves as a bed judging from the thin blanket on it, the crude toilet in one corner and an old sink with a rusty tap. The lighting isn't brilliant, which makes Adam glad that his sunglasses had been removed, even if he hates the fact that the Squid General had done it. He looks up. A grey box in the corner of the wall clings there, the front a black screen that stares at Adam.

"Security seems pretty tight too," he says, loud enough for his Commanders to hear him. He hears someone stretch a bit and sigh.

"This is going to be great," the female voice says sarcastically.

"At least it's not winter, Cassandra," Jack says. "It could be worse."

The Sky Army Commanders are silent for the following minutes that stretch into hours, although it could have just been time messing with them. After what feels like an age, several heavy footsteps echo in the corridors, far off at first but coming closer and closer with each passing minute. Adam, having finally worked his way into a semi-comfortable seated position against the wall, keeps an uninterested expression on his face as the steps come to a halt in front of his cell. The Squid General, flanked by two of his warriors, crosses his arms and grins at Adam. Adam raises an eyebrow back, hiding a smile as the skin around the General's eyes tightens slightly.