My (Monster?) Hero Life

Their captors marched Kace, Grugda and the crew through a smaller door once they passed inside. Kace looked over his shoulder to watch as Sophia and Raven were led away to another room.

'God damn it! I thought I was going to get preferential treatment!' Kace swore to himself angrily as he descended the cold stairs that awaited beyond the door. After every few steps, there was an unnatural, cold source of light embedded in an alcove.

It allowed Kace to study the sturdiness of the walls of the castle. The person who had built the place had made sure the stone bricks were so seamlessly joined together, that they looked like one giant piece of stone. 

With each step that he took, Kace could feel the temperature around himself steadily dropping. The sound of the crew's teeth beginning to chatter started to grate on his nerves. 'If the cells aren't warmer than here, then I'll end up killing the lot of them!' 

It seemed to Kace that the journey was taking far longer than he would have suspected. However, before he could complain, the stairs suddenly stopped coming. Kace was too lost in his thoughts to see it and ended up awkwardly stamping on the floor.

The guard at the front gazed back at him with his eyebrow raised in an arch questioning what had happened. Kace just looked at his feet to hide the embarrassment that had become evident upon his face. 

The guard decided that it was nothing to make a fuss about and continued to lead them onwards. After several more minutes passed, they came to a crossroads. Grugda and the crew were led away down the path to the right. 

The guard separated Kace from the group; he alone was led to the single cell that was situated at the end of the left passage. The section itself had no source of light, only the dim flickering from the hallway. 

The bars appeared to be made of the same material as the castle walls. 'I wonder if I could break them since they're quite a bit thinner?' Kace wondered as he was shoved inside through an open gap in the bars.

He watched as the guard used some kind of magic to create the bars to fill the open space. 'That's quite interesting. The stone is the same as the old city in the caverns, so is it a natural resource or formed by magic?'

When the guard left, he took the time to look around his new room. Not that there was much for him to see. There was an inch high raised platform against the rear wall. 'I guess that's meant to be a bed?' He wondered as he realised there was nothing else except a small hole in the floor.

With a heavy sigh, he lay down on the pathetic excuse for a bed. The stone was cold and hard as it pressed against his back. 'They better fetch me soon.' He complained while drifted off to sleep.

A loud banging against the bars abruptly woke home up. He was so startled that he leapt to his feet; his eyes began to glow as he activated Night Vision. His golden eyes fixated on the figure in the hallway, relieving his tension.

"How long have I been here?" Kace asked, his throat felt as dry as a desert.

"Only a few hours." Celia chuckled in response. "I've come to escort you."

With a wave of her hand, the bars dissolved into the floor. Kace watched her cautiously. Something in her tone had alerted him that things were not as simple as she would have him believe.

He had no other choice but to follow her though. So when she spun on her heels and marched away, he only hesitated for a second. Not wanting to spend a second more in the cell, he swiftly caught up to her.

"So where are we going now?" He asked hesitantly when she took a left at the crossroads instead of the right that would lead back to the stairs that brought him down here.

"Ah, we're taking a shortcut," Celia stated matter of factly.

A stream of curses echoed within Kace's mind. 'You fucking kidding me! The guards made us go down all those stairs for fuck all?!' Needless to say by this point, he was fuming.

Feeling pent up anger emanating from behind her, Celia turned to look at him. 'Maybe I should try to raise his spirits a bit?' She contemplated as she never slowed her pace.

"You know, the Queens has decided to arrange some entertainment in light of your arrival. She's sincerely hoping that it will be to your liking." Celia's words echoed off the walls around them.

Kace looked at her with an incredulous look upon his face. 'First I'm arrested, then almost have my back doors bashed in. After that, I'm thrown in prison, and now I'm expected to believe the Queen has arranged entertainment solely because of me? I don't know what shit you're trying to sell sister, but I'm not buying it.'

"Oh, well you'll have to thank her Highness on my behalf for going to such efforts for me." Kace actually said as he sneered in his mind. The only thing he was currently grateful for was the lack of any more stairs. 

The path diverged several times, making him feel like he was in a maze rather than beneath a castle. Celia appeared to know her way around as if it was drawn on the back of her hand. She never hesitated on which path they had to follow to reach their destination.

Kace began to hear loud cheering echoing down the passage as a bright light penetrated the darkness ahead. An incredibly loud voice rang out above the others. Kace tilted his head as he listened to what it was saying as eyes went wide in shock.

"Ladies and gentleman! Let me introduce the next challenger! Kace!" It roared with the tone of an announcer.