Our story is set in an old run down tower that goes by the name of Dungun Prison. It is a single grey bulging in the Misty Isles. The Misty Isles are a bunch of islands in Ahoy, a giant beautiful post-magic landscape. Dungun Prison was once a nice place; it was a school in fact. It was considered the best school for young sorcerers to go to. It had three turrets, one where the sorcerers slept, and one was the potion room. The last room was where the sorcerers kept their most prized possession, the copper wheel. The sorcerers had built the tower secure, so no one could take the copper wheel. It was believed that the wheel could grant one wish. But the wisher would have to live their life in the tower.

Later that year the school was sadly ambushed. People against what the sorcerers had done blew up the turrets, causing the sorcerers to flee and the tower to be deserted.

The mayor of Ahoy believed that the wheel could grant too much power and greed in Ahoy, so the mayor dropped the sacred artefact off a cliff and into the ocean. That was the last time Ahoy saw the copper wheel.

Now, Dungun Prison is nothing but a rusty prison, which can hold only one prisoner. Inside the single cell that lay in the middle of the monstrous tower housed not just the only person that called the place home, but the worst criminal that Ahoy had ever seen. Inside the cell, the ceiling was as high as a temple and it was as long as a tandem. The small cell smelt like rust that has been collecting for hundreds of years. All that the prisoner could see was the faint glow of a firefly buzzing around at night. The sound of the guards, coughing and spluttering from the amounts of dust could be heard. The prisoner felt the handcuffs on his hand, turning them blue. This was really no place to keep anyone, not even the most wanted criminal in Ahoy. But there he was, Lion, the most feared criminal in Ahoy rotting away in Dungun Prison, Misty Isles. His real name no one remembered, but people called him Lion because of his strength and quick agile escapes.
        It was only his werewolf like eyes that gave him away. Once a month he committed a crime. When the full moon was out, when he could hide from the world. He transformed into a werewolf, teeth and all. He was sentenced to a life in Dungun Prison but that was more than Lion was willing to take. Lion was getting more impatient every day to get out of that horrible, retched tower.
        Soon it felt like Lion was arrested years ago but as Lion and the guards both knew, it had only been a certain amount of months.

Lion looked up in fright as a guard came past for his dinner. Lion noticed that the guard had an annoying sheepish grin on his face. The guard was tall. He had brown hair and a ratty looking moustache. He seemed to be carrying a big silver dish with a lid on top. Lion jumped up in excitement, as it wasn’t always that he got a big silver dish. The guard bent down revealing a single, stale carrot. It had bits of mould on the black sprout. Lion groaned in disappointment.
        “Where’s my cake?” grumbled Lion sarcastically.
        “This ain’t no banquet,” giggled the guard
        “This is all ye are getting, so eat up.”
        The guards’ behaviour became worse over the last month. It was almost like the guard was experiencing sleeplessness, and a lot of it. But deep down, in Lion’s heart, Lion knew why the guard was behaving like this.
        Because he was a werewolf.
        This was the cruel behaviour Lion had expected when coming to jail. Lion thought it was unfair; how people mostly remember the bad things you do over the good things. It was unfair that people treated you badly when they know you did something wrong. What Lion mostly thought was unfair is that when he is a werewolf, he isn’t in his own mind. He was sentenced to a life of horror for nothing.   

        The next day Lion was experiencing the feeling of ecstasy. A piece of parchment that flew into the jail cell window earlier that morning meant nothing but good news. He had found it lying on the ground; next to his collection of wanted posters and a bag of gold. There, on the floor was a corner of a newspaper, what’s hot in Ahoy. On the front page was the reason Lion was experiencing jubilance. Lion picked up the parchment and read it out loud.
        “The Ahoy mines have uncovered a magical artefact that was mysteriously made in the time of Ahoy. It was believed to be one of Ahoy’s only magical artefacts. It is believed it will grant its owner a single wish. And that single wish can guarantee the wisher anything they dream of. It is called the copper wheel.”
        Lion felt a flicker of hope from inside his heart. Knowing if he could achieve his dream only by possessing the copper wheel. Lion had waited so long for this moment. When he could escape the life of being a werewolf. He had longed to live his dream life, with family and friends and hope and a job with a lot of adventure. Who can love a werewolf? No one. Lion loved the exhilaration of being a robber, but he didn’t like being bad. He didn’t like after a case, the good people of Ahoy looked down upon him.

Lion had decided to go his own way in the world and be a criminal. But first, he needed to escape from the hall of horrors, Dungun Prison.

“Get up, yer coming with us,” boomed a voice from the other side of the prison cell door.
        “I said get up” yelled the voice intensely. “I ain’t standin’ here any longer.”
        Lion turned around, uncovering a tall guard, with tattoos all over his body. Guards at Dungun Prison only came in two sizes, big and huge.
        “Why?” questioned Lion?
        “Cos I said. Now get up.” The guard unlocked the prison cell door, dropping the keys in the process.
        “Now look a what ye have done,” yelled the guard.
        “What now?”
        The guard had no more tolerance, so he grabbed Lion on the back of his top and dragged him out of his prison cell, down the hall.
        “What’s happening?”
        “Nothing.” At this point, Lion began to get worried.
        “If it is nothing where am I going”?
        “I aint telling you anything.” Boomed the guard. “If I get an order from the boss, I follow even if it is an exa-” the guard jumped. “Nothing to hear.” Lion let out a shriek. “EXECUTION”.

Lion was brought up to the top of the tower to face his execution. It was a mildly windy day with a ten percent chance of rain. Lion was put on the edge of the tower, feeling scared. He could hear his heart beating in his brain as he was wondering how long it would be to the moment he left the world. He was shoved on a chair and tied up so he couldn’t escape.        
        “Well we had to make room for da copper wheel.” Lion couldn’t believe his ears. The copper wheel, everything he wanted was right where he had lived. A man dressed in black came over. He was holding a giant chainsaw. The guard was in hysterics. He muttered a few words that Lion could just make out. “ Ye shouldn’t have robbed, ye little cat.”
        Lion’s ropes started to loosen. He was considering his options. He could run out of the chair and push the chainsaw guy and the guard off the top of the tower. It was on an island, so they were sure to drown.
        He could jump up and single handedly destroy the chainsaw, but every one knew that that was impossible. There were helicopters and boats and even a jet, all there to make sure the execution all went to plan. Lion could hear the chainsaw revving, going closer and closer to his head at a time. Lion could feel the wind that was coming from the chainsaw. Lion only had seconds to live. The guard came closer and closer with every breath that Lion took, eager to see an execution. Lion only had one thing left to do. He put his leg out, tripping the guard over. In his fall, the guard knocked over the executioner, sending the chainsaw straight towards Lion. It just missed Lion, cutting Lion’s ropes. Now Lion was free. The guard got up; yelling a battle cry, “fire”. All the helicopters, boats and jets started to fire big bullets and missiles towards Lion. One of the helicopters shot a bullet straight towards Lion. Lion dodged it but it hit the guard in the head. Lion ran towards the edge of the tower, ready to jump. A missile came straight towards Lion. It was at a matter of life or death. Lion jumped off the one hundred meter tower straight towards the sea. Behind Lion, the missile hit the tower, blowing the top off. The jet blew itself up, smashing all the helicopters. Lion found himself in mid are, falling and falling. All the boats had sunk due to the amount of objects falling from the sky. Lion closed his eyes for what was about to happen next.

To be continued…

Read Part 2 here