Chapter 730 - Inside the Cave Prison, Reunion and a Lifetime Farewell (1/2)

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 circ.u.mstances, 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.

”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.