It took almost no time at all before they had paced far enough around the prison to reach the gate. Bellamont removed the keys from his belt, careful to keep them from jangling. After briefly searching through them, he succeeded in finding the one to open the gate. It was only as the key was turning that they heard the voices.
"If you see him, tell the new boy to hurry up. The captain said to show him around on his first day."
"He should've just finished feeding the inmates, if they haven't got the keys off him."
The speaker laughed, but when his companion spoke it sounded worried.
"You don't think…the vampire perhaps…?"
"Trust me: it's impossible for them to escape. There are legion members at every gate in the city - there is no chance for them to get out unseen. You remember that Nord tried to escape a couple o' years back? Ended up with an arrow in his neck before he'd made it ten paces." The guard chuckled.
Oreyn and Bellamont froze. To be imprisoned again after this delicious taste of freedom would be the cruelest torture imaginable.
"We should've caused a diversion…" muttered Oreyn, eyes already showing that all the wild ecstasy of the past few minutes was beginning to leave her. Bellamont just gave her another of his irritating smiles.
"I think we already have one." he gestured at Arcadia, who looked terrified at being confronted with guards. He stared around for a moment desperate to find a hiding place, before panicking and running straight into another guard's view in his haste to hide.
"Escaped prisoner!" bellowed the guard nearest to them, running around the side of the building. Oreyn grabbed Bellamont roughly by the back of his tattered shirt and pulled him deeper into the shadows. A stream of guards ran straight past them, weapons raised, and with a scream of fear and pain they saw Arcadia plunge to the ground, clutching his side.
"Now!" whispered Oreyn, raising her hand to cast her spell. Bellamont gulped down his potion and the two fled, near-flying down the steps and through the gate.
The guards on the other side were startled as the gates flew open, but couldn't see the prisoners as they ran in front of them. Their bewildered faces elicited a harsh bark of laughter from Bellamont and they gasped, backing into the wall behind.
Barely containing her own cackle of triumph, Oreyn scrambled down the slope, rolling down the last few metres. She was closely followed by Bellamont, who skidded and slipped his way down. They did not stop at the bottom, sprinting at full speed away from the Bastion.
"Spell…worn off!" gasped Bellamont as they ran and his companion cast a quick glance at her now visible body. Years of darkness had left her skin alarmingly pale and a lack of nourishment meant her body was skeletal beneath the rough cloth of her shirt. However, she could feel the young blood of the guard coursing its way through her body, giving her more energy than most well-rested mortal men.
Bellamont, on the other hand, had only the energy left from his paltry breakfast of stale bread and ale. His breath came in wheezing, heaving gasps and his legs already felt leaden. His muscles, soft from lack of use, burned with the exertion - already he was desperate for a rest.
As Bellamont began to fall behind, Oreyn began to glance around for a hiding place.
"Here!" she hissed, dragging him into a clump of bushes that surrounded a large rock. They crouched low and crawled through until they were completely concealed by the leafy shrubs.
"We shouldn't rest for long. It will be easier to escape if they don't know we've gone. The sentries by the gate will see nothing - they only see that which they expect to."
"You sure?" wheezed the Breton, leaning back against the stone. "I…I laughed as we passed them."
"I heard." she said disapprovingly. "And a damn fool thing to do it was too. But they'll put it down to the wind, or their imagination."
"It seems unlikely…" Bellamont bit his lip.
"The Legion thinks itself invincible. They'll be too busy crowing over catching Arcadia to even notice we're gone for a day or two. Trust me. How do you think I managed to survive all these years?"
"You got kept nice and safe in jail."
"You think that was my first crime? Pfft, I've been evading guards since I was seven years old." She bragged. "Just on a small scale theft at first, I'll admit - a couple of shirts, food, maybe the odd vase from a rich friend's house."
"You had friends?" snorted Bellamont, his voice stronger as he regained his breath. "I find that hard to believe!"
She slapped his arm good naturedly, made far more amiable by the joy of their escape.
"No really, how did you get rich friends? Surely they'd want nothing to do with a vampire."
"I wasn't born like this, you know." replied Elrena as if it were obvious. "When my mother was called out on midwife duty I'd go along to help, and sometimes the broodmare's brats would decide they wanted to befriend the oddity. Sometimes they were so rich that their possessions could move by themselves."
"Into your pocket, presumably?"
"Naturally." replied Oreyn, grinning wickedly. She glanced distractedly up at the sky. "Looks like rain. Perfect - that'll help conceal us. Shall we go?"
He nodded and they emerged from the bushes and began to run again. By the time they had reached the lakes that surrounded the city the rain was falling thick and fast on their heads, washing the grime that accumulated over the years from their hair.
Pausing to take a deep breath, Oreyn plunged into the murky water. A soft splash several seconds later told her that Bellamont had followed.
She barely felt the cold - despite the warmth of flesh that human blood gave her, her insides were already like ice - but she could sense Bellamont cringe as it hit him. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw him surface for air, gasping at the night sky, then dive back under.
She had to hand it to him, he was a good swimmer. His arms sliced through the water easily, pulling him through the water with barely a splash and he rarely surfaced for air. It took only a few minutes for them both to have reached water shallow enough for them to walk through.
Bellamont paused when the water was knee deep on him and it was only then that his exhaustion began to show again. Several seconds later, Oreyn had joined him.
"You move much better in water. Less like a broken puppet." she observed. "Still, maybe once you've had some food you won't be so jerky."
"Freedom doesn't suit you Oreyn. I swear you've been almost pleasant to me since we escaped. It's not natural." He replied, then bent to scoop some water into his hands. He splashed it over his face, but even the shock of the cold couldn't stop the enormous yawn that followed.
Choosing to ignore his last comment, or perhaps taking pride in it, Oreyn instead focused on his yawn.
"We will camp soon. I know of a fort near here where we will not be found."
"A fort? There will probably be bandits there. I don't know if I am up to a fight at the moment."
Looking at him, Oreyn had to agree. He had begun to wheeze again and the cold of the water had turned his skin almost as blue as hers.
"You stay here, dry yourself, get warmer. I will deal with the bandits."
"There is rarely less than three in a group. Think you can handle it?" he said, beginning to shiver.
"I am more than capable. You forget that each one's blood will invigorate me more than any food we could find. Besides, if you don't warm yourself soon you are going to die of cold."
"Can't deny that." replied Bellamont, forcing his feet to move through the water and onto the beach. There were several rocks scattering the beach, and he settled himself behind the largest of these, rubbing at his arms and attempting to stop himself from trembling.
"Keep out of sight, keep warm, try not to get yourself killed." Oreyn told him and after a momentary pause to check her bearings, she started walking west.