Chapter 26: Prison Break

“Alright, that’s enough. You’re scaring the kid.” Micah snorted at the man’s comical expression. “Open the doors.”

The man frowned and tried very hard to reign in his expression, before slowly raising a special medallion up to a section of the gate.

A screeching groan followed right after, as it opened up for the two inhabitants to come out.

“Y’know, one would think you had a Caretaker locked up like some kind of criminal,” Micah joked as he stepped out, stretching.

Finn simply sat still, watching as Micah bickered playfully with the man, who still watched him with a stunned expression, shocked into silence.

Eventually, Micah noticed that Finn hadn’t moved yet, and urged him to step out. Only then, did Finn finally move.

But immediately he set his feet on the cold, hard floor, he frowned.

Huh? What was that just now? The thought to stand up had not even crossed his mind once until Micah spoke to him.

“What’s wrong, kid?” Micah noticed his frown and asked offhandedly. But Finn quickly put on a blank face, hiding his thoughts to himself. He stood up immediately and walked the short distance to the open metal door with a smile as though nothing was wrong.

Meanwhile at the back of his mind, a cold realization had dawned on him.

The same thing had happened again.

Just when Micah asked that simple question to him, he had tried to give a non-committal response, waving it off as nothing, but he immediately felt a compelling desire not to lie! Or rather—to be honest

!

The Geri and Freki aspect of loyalty?! Finn thought in alarm as he smilingly walked out the door and into the corridor joining the two men.

An awkward few seconds passed where nothing was said: Finn was in his own head trying to figure out the specifics of the loyalty side effect that was affecting him and how it was triggered.

Micah was watching Finn’s not-so-great attempt at trying to control his expressions so they didn’t betray something…

And lastly, the other man seemed at a loss for words at the current development. It was as though he had never for the slightest second believed Finn would step out of this cell so sane and so calmly.

The short lull was only broken by Micah’s usual exuberance. He pulled out a cigar from his pocket and lit it up, taking a deep puff. “So, with this, I guess I’ve settled all your fears and misgivings, right?”

“That is not up to me to decide, Caretaker.” The man swallowed silently, locking the cell doors and leading the two men up out of the chamber.

Micah waved a hand at the man’s words dismissively. “That doesn’t matter. I know your father will have nothing left to say. He definitely has to uphold his end of the bargain now.”

Finn didn’t know what was going on, but from the looks of things, it seemed as though Micah and this man’s father had come to some sort of agreement in regards to him. And apparently, Micah had just won.

Finn raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sunlight as they came out of the underground cells, stepping out into the broad daylight. They were smack in the middle of nowhere. All Finn could see was forest in every direction, save for the small building like an outhouse right above where they’d just come out from.

Was he such a danger that they felt the need to retain him so far away? Finn thought with a frown. But Micah, noticing his expression, Pat him on the shoulder with a playful smile.

“It’s alright. That phase is over now, kid. From here on out it’s smooth sailing… Well, kinda.”

“Kinda?” Finn spoke hesitantly. He was still wary around Micah because of the weird side effect that only occurred whenever the man spoke an order. At least normal conversation was still possible, though. He just needed to watch himself so he didn’t give anything away.

“You don’t need to worry about it for the time being,” Micah laughingly said, just as from right behind him, a large avian creature tore out of his shadow, making Finn take a step back in shock.

With a height of nearly ten feet (3m), and a sprawling wingspan of about thirty feet, the bird was massive. It towered over Micah from behind, turning its head up to the sky in a powerful shriek, announcing its presence.

“Caretaker. Please. You know the policies. Flight is not allowed within the school grounds without proper—”

“Hey. Jude Seneschal, was it?” Micah’s tone suddenly went cold, without any trace of his usual playfulness. He stared at the man dead in the eye. “Remember who you’re speaking to.”

That shut the man up immediately, and he quickly averted his gaze. Micah’s generally relaxed and playful nature usually made one forget he was a Caretaker, it was only in moments like this when he got serious that the true weight of that title became apparent.

“Don’t mind him, kid,” He turned back to Finn with his usual smile sliding back into place. “The Seneschal family has always been known to be sticklers for rules. This here is Freddy,” he gestured to the large bird behind him, patting its shadowy-black feathers as it lowered its head to the ground. “He’s going to be taking us on a short journey.”

Finn watched Micah climb onto the bird and settle onto its back comfortably before he moved at Micah’s urging.

Damn! The loyalty side effect again?! Finn cursed in his mind. He needed to find a way to leave Micah’s presence really quickly, or else, it would only be a matter of time before the man would notice something.

Finn climbed onto the back of the bird, settling into a contraption that was already set in place for comfortable travel. The bird kicked off the ground immediately after he settled, sending a huge gust of wind spraying dust and debris into the air. Finn instinctively tightened his grip on the harness.

“Hold on tight, kid!” Micah shouted over the rush of wind with a voice full of exhilaration.

Finn didn’t need to be told twice. He pressed himself closer into the broad, and surprisingly cool back of the massive bird — Freddy — as they shot upward.

And as the forest below rapidly shrunk into a green carpet, Finn risked a glance back at the Seneschal man, who stood by the small outhouse-like building.

He had an unconcealed look of disapproval on his face as he watched and their eyes met for a second, before Finn turned his gaze away and focused on the fact that they were flying.

“So, where are we going, Mr.Caretaker?” Finn managed to yell over the wind, deciding to be proactive and tackle the loyalty issue head-on by being direct, hoping that a simple question wouldn’t trigger the honesty compulsion too badly.

Micah grinned, leaning forward slightly as Freddy banked sharply to the east, away from the direction of the forest. “The School, of course! You’ve got a new uniform to pick out, a new room to claim, and a lot of confused teachers to meet!” He guffawed.

“My bargain with the headmaster means you’re officially no longer considered a threat… though you’re still my responsibility. But at least now, because of your new status, you can join the school and become an official Ossuarist!”

“It’s time for you to meet your new classmates, Finn!”

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