Days passed, and Calesh carefully followed his plan. He ate little, exercised much, using the little space he had to engage in physically demanding positions, staying still like a statue until his muscles burned like fire, and sweat dripped on his skin. He had learned these techniques in the Shadow Dragons temple, with the shadow monks, some seasons back. The other prisoners looked at him amazed, and shrinked in fear when he looked back.

Calesh studied the guards’ movements and marked their timings in his head using the orientation of the shadow produced by the dim light that came through the small slit on top of the cell. The one that would let the water in. sooner or later.

Every day he looked at that slit and also to his body. Analysing! It was narrow. But he was getting slimmer every day. The fat was going off, while he preserved the muscles with exercise.

One day, not many days after he arrived, water started to sparkle in the fringe. It was time. The water level would not be high enough to drown him, at most the water would rise to the door level. But being soaked in salt water, with no source of warmth, would eventually mean a freezing death. Other prisoners started to show some panic. Some had endured it before, for sure, but surviving was a game of luck. So, fear and cold expressions set in, eyes focusing the slit. In all those expressions a question: how much will it flow today?

Calesh was calm.

Looking at his slim and fleshless waistline he wondered if he could fit in the slit. I must!

Not dwelling to long on the ifs, he grappled the stone wall with his fingers. Slowly, not to tire himself to soon, he placed a foot on the stone wall and moved up. Once outside he would have to escalate some more.

Small moves, slow moves, he climbed.

A prisoner approached him: “you won’t be able to leave unless you are a great swimmer. The currents are too strong when the tide is this high. I know, I’m a fisherman”. Calesh looked down. His stronger arms and hands attached him to the wall like a lizard. “I’m not going to swim. I’m goin’ up.” He moved up and got to the slit. AAAAAAHHHHH. His head fit just nicely. And he was slim now, so if his shoulders went through the rest would be so easy. His right hand grabbed the cold stone wall outside of the slit and he started to rotate his body. He had to leave the slit with his belly up so he could start climbing with less effort.

Up, here we go. His muscles tensed, his shoulders went through and with a strong impulse he pulled himself out, citing on the slits edges, feeling the splashes of cold water on his buttocks. He looked up. The walls were steep and the stone was wet. But he was strong, well trained, and motivated. So up he went.

Some minutes later, feeling his arms’ muscles tense and pulse, Calesh was on the top of the castle walls, picking the guard patrols and studying their movements. The day was not clear, the sun was clouded, and rain was expected at any moment, so the men on duty were seeking a break from roaming around, standing as close to the crenels as they could, to shelter from the upcoming rain. For Calesh, rain would not be an issue. He was soaked in sweat already, and inside he felt warm, the thrill of the near assassinations starting to burn on his chest.

He ran for the tower to his left and covered himself from the line of sight of the nearest guard. The castle was big and patrols on the side of the coastline were scarce. Who would attack through there? A Shadow Dragon.

He climbed to the top of the tower. As expected, it was empty except for a banner floating in the wind. Peeking over the crenel he checked the guard below on the aisle. The jump was not big and he would land on the man below.

Seconds later he was undressing a dead guard. He had fell on the man and strangled him. Now he was dressing himself in the guard’s clothes. They were too big for him, but it would do. The rest of the patrols were about their business, and now was time for the shift change. Luck was with him, because he found some biscuits in the pockets of the jacket. It was time to eat and get his body back to normal size. He was hungry.