Free Ultimus Thesaurus: The last Treasure (Era of Change Book 1) by Maximilian Warden

and damp dungeons to golden rooms and impressive halls. It was an own kingdom within a prison. 
    This was the place from where everything was planned, the palace from which Jimosien was ruled. To my surprise we were allowed a personal audience with the king without further concerns. They led us straight into the throne room, which was arranged with an array of bountiful tables. The king was a mighty man, also in appearance, and he seemed incapable of leaving this fortress even if he wanted to.
    “These are the guests, Patrick? I have been waiting for an eternity; where is the seventh course. Where is the food? Two hours ago everything was still on schedule. And please change the music, I cannot enjoy anything while being harassed by this atrocious screeching,” the king uttered while munching on different meals at the same time.
    It was as if he was stuck in a trance, and while eating from plate after plate, he hardly managed to understand what happened around him. And Magnus knowing nothing of manners and etiquette run over to the tables to sit across from the king, where he, just as I would expect it from him, stole one of the chicken wings on the table to eat it without any remorse.
    “I would prefer some pudding, yes pudding is so sweet! But so too is this chicken, which my stomach now will greet! Why is there only water? I would much prefer a little wine, because than better we can dine!” he began to sing and eat wing after wing, until the king noticed, what was happening.
    “Thief! Thief! You have infiltrated my fortress to steal the food. My only weakness was revealed! Patrick, do something! He will leave me starving,” the king grouchily replied and tried to strike on the table, but his body made it impossible for him.
    Now his servants tried to stop Magnus, but he jumped on the table and ran around in wild circles, while the king showed his frustration by eating even more. I took advantage of the confusion and sneaked away from the scene with Lucia.
    “We must reach block 4 before they realize that we are gone. Perhaps we should first trace back the way we came. 
    I believe that I may have discovered a location plan on one of the walls,” I said, but Lucia already had other plans.
    “I will find my father. He has to be somewhere around here and I cannot allow that they throw him into this gorge. Danton has said that he hung on the wall for a long time. This is why it could be that his body is still somewhere here. We meet at the drawbridge.”
    Clever as she was, she gave me no chance to reply to her request. Instead she ran off, precisely in the direction that I didn’t want to go. Even though I hated her for leaving me alone, I still could understand why she did it. So I ran back and found the plan. Block 4 was a high security zone, but since this was a prison, most of the king’s security was trying to keep people from escaping rather than getting into the cells. There were no guards, and the doors were not locked. 
    Only as I arrived at the cellblock itself I understood the dimensions of this complex. Tens of thousands of prisoners had to be here, but only one was the one Jasper wanted me to liberate - prisoner 4747. The cell door was heavy and behind it I found nothing except impenetrable darkness.
    I noticed a switch on the wall, and as I touched it, I felt that I had closed an electrical circuit, which flooded the room with light. In the middle of the cell there was a man. His body was covered with faint blue glowing runes, and he was anchored to an apparatus, that connected his body to the electrical grid. He seemed to have felt this incredible pain for such a long time, that he didn’t even react to it anymore, but it still amazed me how he could survive this process. His face was not recognizable, because he wore an iron mask with a cavity, resembling the coin that Jasper had sent Lucia. I took a step closer to the man and the more I approached him, the stronger the coin began to vibrate.