Mutagen

Day 154 - 9:21 PM - Root Cave Prison, Tamawo Ancestral Tribe, Municipality of Badian, Province of Cebu

For Celine, it might be just a few years.

And for Pefile, it was about two decades.

The amount of time might be different.

But the two of them longed for each other deeply within their hearts.

Now,  they finally met after years of loneliness.

And only the prison bars made of sturdy roots separated the two.

Without hesitation, Pefile grabbed the prison bars made of tree roots. The Root Cave Prison was not just a cave but a living one. These prison bars could be commanded by the shaman of the tribe to open and close if needed. And by right, it was the shaman who was the warden of this place.

In normal circumstances, no one would be able to open these prison cells without the shaman's presence. Cutting the roots was also impossible. These trees were special as they were some variant of a Spirit Tree. The trunk and roots of these trees were as tough as stone. Even the king or any other person with royal blood was not an exception and would not be able to open the prison cells.

However, there was something that Pefile had now that he did not back then.

As Pefile touched the roots, he activated his Mutator Ability, forcing him to control the roots and the tree.

And Pefile succeeded as the tough roots bent, opening a path for Pefile to enter the damp prison cell.

Celine was surprised as Pefile opened her prison cell just by touching the prison bars. Spending a long time in this prison, she knew that it was something not possible.

Nonetheless, Celine was happy. She wanted to wipe her tears that did not stop flowing. However, Celine was in an extremely weakened state. Although she could still move a little bit, it would take a toll on her body.

As Pefile entered the opened prison cell, the three men stood back.

"You two, guard the entrance, and I'll search the prison," Berrak ordered the two soldiers. "Let's leave the two for a bit. We have a bit of time for their little reunion."

Padua and Geronimo nodded and rushed to guard the entrance they had long seen earlier. They positioned themselves in the area where they would be able to see the barred entrance before anyone that entered could see them.

On the other hand, Berrak opened a small magic circle. He was being careful not to create any magical ripple in the surroundings. The magic circle was just about the size of a basketball, and the creature that came out was a lively two-tailed black cat, eagerly staring at its new master.

That was right, it was the magical beast living inside the barrier that Mark destroyed last afternoon. To be precise, it was a dead household cat that became a spirit after living around magical races for a long time. It was quite intelligent and was eager as Berrak was the first human to see it. There was no need for a long time of taming as it was domesticated beforehand.

"Kiel, go scout the surroundings," Berrak ordered. "Return to me if you saw people."

"Nya!"

With a single meow, Kiel's body turned transparent. As its new master, however, Berrak could feel it start running at fast speeds. However, no one would be able to notice it as it was silent as it was agile. If not for Berrak's affinity with beasts, he might not be able to detect it last night.

In the cell, Pefile approached Celine.

"I'm sorry." Pefile kneeled down beside Celine's bed and wiped her tears with his hand. "I didn't mean to make you wait this long, but... hah..."

Pefile was having a hard time explaining himself. It was something unusual as he was a man of few words and little vocabulary.

Nonetheless, Pefile could not help but feel torn inside at Celine's condition. Although she was not on the imminent verge of dying, even an innocent child would be able to tell that something was wrong with her. Her body was on the thin side, and even though it was pretty dark inside the prison, the paleness of her skin was apparent.

Celine looked like a pale ghost if one was to honestly say.

,m "How did you turn out like this?" Pefile could not help but ask. "With the curse of our race, my brother should have taken care of you more than himself."

It was the truth. After all, the emotion called love was a life and death sentence to them. If Celine died because Artile neglected her, he would die too. Pefile, on the other hand, would live since he had long received back her love in exchange for his.

"He did care about me in the start," Celine replied. "But after some time, he stopped and let other women take care of me."

The women Celine was talking about might be the human wives of other Tamawos. As there was nothing much to do in this place, unlike the mortal realm, some of the women were tasked to do chores in the palace instead. Taking care of prisoners, however, was not included in those chores. However, Celine was special in a sense as Artile would not let other men take care of her.

Still, the state that Celine was currently in was the result of Artile's neglect.

"Can you move?" Pefile asked. "I'm getting you out of this place. No one will be able to stop us today."

Pefile's eyes were filled with determination. Although he was confident that no one would be able to stop them now, he would be willing to die if it still failed this time.

"Have you gotten blind after all these years?" Celine smiled as she asked Pefile. "What part of me can you see that can move properly?"

Pefile shook his head. Celine had never changed even after these years. She was still the honest and lively girl he met back then. Still, her jokes and honesty were really inappropriate this time as it meant that her condition was worse than it appeared.

"But before we escape..." Celine added, glancing outside her prison cell. "Someone that seems to know you were brought here yesterday... I heard him being tortured asking for information about you and something like a mark."

Those words of Celine made Pefile surprised.

"Do you know where?"

Pefile asked, gently brushing Celine's hair off her face. The warmth of his hand made her squint and smile.

"I... don't really know. The shouts and yells just echoed outside. I can't really get up to look... Maybe in the torture chamber or something?"

Celine replied.

"Torture chamber?" Pefile frowned. "Nothing of such exist in this place. Torture is not our method for getting information."

Pefile then got up and looked outside the cell. He then saw Berrak, searching for other prison cells nearby.

"Berrak, can you search of a cell with a tortured person inside?"

"Tortured?" Berrak was taken aback. "My cat already found it. It's way on the back. The opposite direction of the hole we entered."

Hearing that, Pefile immediately returned to Celine.

"Celine, I'll check on that person, first. I'll quickly return, and we'll get out of here."

"Don't worry about me." Celine stared at Pefile. "I waited here for years. A few more minutes won't matter."

"Hah..."

Pefile could only sigh as he bent down and kissed Celine on her lips. Celine was a bit surprised but closed her eyes soon after as she accepted his affection.

"I'll return fast," Pefile said as he then went out of the cell and turned to Berrak once more. "Guard my wife for a bit."

"No problem. Kill me if even a mosquito landed on her."

Berrak assured Pefile only to have a refute returned at him.

"There are no mosquitos in this place."

Rushing towards the direction that Berrak told him, Pefile reached the intended prison cell in no time.

And his eyes grew wide.

"Erille!"

Pefile shouted as he opened the prison bars without thought.

The prison cell was filled with the smell and stains of blood on the floor. Affixed with roots on the wall was the old Tamawo that Pefile met yesterday.

But compared to the last time that Pefile saw him, Erille was far different...

In the worst sense.

The old man's arms and legs were broken and skinned like an animal. His eyes and face, and body were filled with bruises and cuts. And with his limbs in that state, just being hanged on the wall would make him feel constant pain.

"My... King?" Erille weakly voiced out. "Is... is it you?"

Erille then raised his drooping head towards the direction he could hear the incoming footsteps.

That, however, made Pefile freeze in remorse.

"Erille... Your eyes..."

Even the emotionless Pefile was shaken. In the place where Erille's eyes should have been, was nothing but bloody sockets. Pefile could not help but look around the cell. On a small table in the corner of the room was the rolled skin and eyeballs nonchalantly placed.

"I'm sorry... my king..." Erille spoke in a dismayed voice. "I won't be able to serve you in the future."

"Erille! What happened to you?!"

Pefile approached the old man and tried to help him.

However...

"Stop, my king." Erille's voice sounded strong as he drained all of his last will and energy. "My time ends here. Leave immediately with the queen. Your brother must have known that you are here."

"But Erille..."

"LEAVE!"

The old Tamawo's voice stormed inside Pefile's ear.

"I don't care anymore whether you will lead our tribe or not. But promise me... Live... Not only for your sake but also mine..."

And with those words, Erille's head dropped once more. Pefile felt remorse as he knew that the old man breathed his last.

Erille was loyal to the previous king and the first prince from the past to his last breath. Nonetheless, it was also this loyalty that robbed him of his life.

Still, it was the old Tamawo's conviction that was highly praiseworthy. He remained loyal and valued Pefile's life over his.

Erille was the perfect retainer at heart.

Pefile shook his head and left the prison cell of the dead old Tamawo. There was nothing he could do now but promise that he would live not only for himself but also for Erille.

Suddenly, Geronimo came running towards Pefile.

"Sir! The gate of the prison is surrounded!"

It was a grave situation in a sense.

There was no way that they would be able to transport Celine out of the hole they entered. They would at least need to use the front gates before taking off with Berrak's summons.

Pefile hurried back to the cell where Celine was in.

"You really came back quickly... I thought you would take longer."

Celine said.

"Don't joke around this time, Celine. Seriously..."

Pefile shook his head in exasperation. Celine's body was already in a bad state and she could still let out such jokes and sarcasm.

"Hehe."

Celine laughed a little, seeing Pefile's exasperated face that she had not seen for a long time.

"Celine, let's go." Pefile then began to carry her. "Hold onto me tightly."

"I can't, you idiot."

Celine retorted with one of her arms dangling weakly to her side.

This time, Pefile just chose to stay silent.

"What do you plan to do, now?" Berrak asked and gave his suggestion. "I can summon Baku if you want to. We can use the hole we entered."

Baku, the flying serpent. If Berrak was to summon that gigantic flying snake, there would be no way for the Tamawos to block their escape.

However, Pefile shook his head.

"We are going to confront them," Pefile replied with eyes filled with hatred and determination. "Get ready to fight."

Berrak shrugged and smiled. Even Padua and Geronimo felt the emotions raging from Pefile and readied their weapons.

"Before we escape, I need to make sure that my brother will suffer for the things he did."

Pefile said.

"Then, let me summon something to carry your wife," Berrak suggested. "I don't think you will be able to fight while carrying her."

With Berrak's suggestion, Pefile could only nod.

What they did not expect was that Berrak would summon something that they had never expected.