Chapter 9: Escaping Prontera

Azaroth immediately rammed his body into two on-coming knights when he saw the opportunity. Both of them where thrown backwards by the force, and as Azaroth ran pass them, he started nursing his aching shoulder. He needed to avoid as many unnecessary fights as possible. The knights were not his enemies, and since most of them were equipped with spears or javelins, engaging them in the tight, narrow corridors of the dungeon was suicide.

He skidded around the corner, and dashed out the nearest door. Someone gave a cry, and there was the loud clanking of a lot of greaves coming from behind. Giving a short prayer hoping the door was not locked, he threw his body against it. Fortunately for him, it flew open.

He barely had time to throw his weight back on the door to close it when what felt like two bodies slammed against the door, trying to burst it open, but Azaroth was able to nudge the door to close again. He could hold out two knights, but it was unlikely he will hold out more than three of them, and there were four times more of them where they came from.

He slotted a javelin he picked up from one of the knights he knocked aside and stuffed it within the door's handle. The door budged slightly as the knights slammed their bodies against it again, but they were effectively sealed. Breathing a sigh of relief, he took a look at where he was now.

To his right was a long stretch of corridor which looked like it would lead him deeper into the dungeon again. To his left was a window at the end, where it forked out to the left and right. His heart suddenly leaped. The window was his exit. At most, it would be ten feet high and he calculated he was light enough to not take that much damage.

However, as he started moving towards the direction of the window, two figures loomed out from the right. He stopped in his tracks, just as they did. What made this more of an awkward moment was that he knew one of them.

" Well, awkward meeting again under such circumstances," Melanie grinned, her sword and shield already drawn.

" I can't say that I look forward to it," Azaroth replied gloomily, drawing both his swords.

" Alert the others! Go!" Melanie barked to her companion.

" But, Captain…"

" I can handle him. Bring reinforcements immediately!" Melanie replied. The knight immediately took off, and this did not bode well for Azaroth. If he was held up for any longer in a place swarming with people eager to put him back in prison, it won't take long for the knight to bring in reinforcements.

Before the knight had even left, Azaroth sprung forward, bringing his sword down upon Melanie. She raised her shield to parry his strike, but another hand of his swung around, bringing his other blade towards her body. With a speed that was surprising coming from a crusader, she raised her sword and parried his blow quickly.

The next few seconds the events happened so fast Azaroth just needed to find some time later to congratulate Melanie. Parrying his blow, she flipped her blade around, holding it with the tip of fingers, and stretched out to hold his hand back. Azaroth was taken aback at how strong she was, being able to effectively hold his arm back while holding a sword. Before Azaroth could counter her move, she slammed her foot, which was equipped with steel greaves, hard on his, use her shield to effectively push his sword that held it down aside, knee him in the gut and slam the shield violently against his forehead.

Azaroth felt his body being throw aside, numbly aware that he had slammed onto the wall. A flash of steel brought back his senses, and he ducked just in time to dodge Melanie's blade that went crushing into the stone wall.

He backed up a few spaces to buy his some breathing space. His head was ringing, and the pain in his gut was making his head go dizzy. The speed and style of attack was way too advance for a normal crusader, as far was Azaroth knew. He did not need to be told that he had engaged one of the elites in the army.

Azaroth tried to strike her again, but she developed a stance that was really troublesome for him. She raised up her shield and held it in front of her, almost effectively cutting her field of vision. However, Azaroth soon found out that this was not much of a problem to her.

Since he was stuck in a corridor, his line of movement was limited, and any forward strikes would land on her shield first. And when it did, she would just push him back with the shield and try to strike him with her blade, which Azaroth cannot really see since his line of vision was also almost effectively blocked as well. Attacking her legs was foolish, since he would need extra time to stretch out to her limbs, and that did not bode well, especially with her fighting style. He was effectively trapped, unless he decided to back up into the dungeon again, which he did not find favourable. His escape was so close, he just needed a few feet of breathing space.

" What's wrong? Can't pass through?" she taunted him as she parried anther ineffective strike of his.

" Funny. Was a sense of humour a prerequisite of joining the army?" Azaroth scoffed.

" You aren't getting out of here, Azaroth. You will stay here, and you will receive punishment for what you have done," Melanie replied. She waited, but there seemed to be a long pause between his next strike. She wondered what made him stop. She lowered her shield slightly to see what had happened to him. She saw him looking at her in a weird manner. He seemed taken aback at what she said.

" That's a first," he suddenly said.

" What is?" Melanie replied.

" The first person to address me as Azaroth and not some criminal when directly addressed," Azaroth replied.

" Is that of some importance of you?" Melanie asked.

" Indeed it is. You treat me as an equal, not like some criminal everyone thinks I am," Azaroth answered.

" You are," Melanie shot back.

" For your information, I'm not, and you should be spending your energies searching for the real criminal. You are wasting your time and effort with me," Azaroth replied.

" Oh, really? And how will escaping here make you any less innocent?" Melanie demanded, moving forward slightly to place more distance between Azaroth and the window.

" If to prove my innocence means loosing my life, I'd rather stay guilty," Azaroth replied. " I've been sentenced to death already, no matter whether I'm guilty or not. You think staying here makes a difference? What's the point in staying if you are going to die anyway?" Melanie had no reply for that, for it was logical.

Azaroth tried to push his way through, but Melanie merely shrugged him off to push him back. " Let me go! Somewhere in your heart you know there is something wrong with all these events. I'm innocent!" Azaroth yelled, getting frustrated he was being held here by a persistent crusader, yet he could not really blame her as it was her job to keep him here.

" That's not for me to question," Melanie declared firmly.

" You are not my enemy! But I'm not waiting here to die! Move, or else I'll be forced to hurt you!" Azaroth declared his ultimatum. Melanie scoffed. If he could beat her now, she would be impressed.

Footsteps of people could be heard running along somewhere close, and Azaroth knew his time was almost up. If he did not make his move now, he would be a dead man. He had to make his move perfect to avoid any risk. If it was not for the confines of the narrow corridor, he might be able to best Melanie, but under these conditions there was just one move left.

Melanie heard Azaroth take four steps back, which puzzled her as it meant that he was loosing ground intentionally. Suddenly, a powerful force hit her shield. It was almost as forceful as someone swinging a war hammer at full strength directly at her. Melanie gritted her teeth as she felt the force knock her back a couple of feet. However, before she could recover, Azaroth threw another flying slash at her.

The second strike knocked Melanie off balance, and it was all Azaroth needed. Charging forward, he pushed Melanie aside as he headed for the window. Reinforcements came just about a second too late, and as soon as they appeared around the junction, Azaroth threw his body against the window.

He felt his body fly out into the empty sky and start to fall along with all the broken pieces of glass. It took less than a second for him to his the ground, rolling along on the ground. Bits and pieces of glass ripped his shirt, but he could care less. Picking up his body, he started running away, ignoring the aches and pains in his body for the meantime.

The knights, who were all wearing armour made of metal, could not jump down from the window to the ground floor without a high risk of injury, so they started scrambling away to reach other exits. Only Melanie and a few others stayed behind to look at the broken window and where Azaroth was heading to.

Melanie glanced down to her shield. Her specially made Holy Guard had two, long slashes, one vertical and one horizontal, etched into the shield, ironically, in the shape of a cross. It was more of a dent, and although she was quite unharmed, the damage done was quite significant. Her shield had been a gift from her mentor when she attained the rank of a crusader, and was specially made by Dirk Quintos, one of Prontera's finest blacksmiths, to be durable, yet whatever Azaroth attacked her with made a lot of damage.

Melanie could roughly guess what Azaroth used: some sort of range attack that was wind based. However, sensing no magic energy channeled through him, the only other explanation was that he threw a flying slash, something almost unheard off and absurd if she had not seen it before. Apparently, more than one person could use this skill.

It also puzzled her why did Azaroth directly aim for her shield only. Both attacks had struck her shield squarely in the middle. He could have easily hit somewhere lower once, probably her feet, and achieve the same result. Was he purposely trying to avoid injuring her directly, replying on knocking her off balance?

" Captain, what now?" one of the knights who was along with her asked. Melanie did not answer him, still gazing at the cross that Azaroth drew on her shield.

-

Azaroth gritted as he pulled himself over the brick wall that surrounded the dungeon grounds. After scaling the wall quickly, since he was rather light, he pulled himself over and dropped over the other side of the wall. He crashed right down into a wagon of hay, which immediately cracked in two, but nonetheless it broke his fall.

As he got up, two arrows whizzed past him. Some of the nearby towers were alight with bright flame, and the archers who were close enough were sniping at him from afar. He knocked one out of the way as he picked himself up and started running away in a general direction. He had made it past the walls of the dungeon. Now all he had to do next was to make it past the walls of Prontera, which needed to be followed up by running faster than everyone else pass the walls.

The night was alight with fire burning brightly everywhere, the alert having spread much faster than he could possibly outrun. He ran past several houses and buildings, with noises and shouts in the air. Pains and aches started to register in his body now, and he was hobbling along the streets.

He heard a loud crowing noise coming from above him, and his head immediately shot up to see what it was. A couple of eagles were circling around him, just about 100 meters above his head and almost invisible in the night sky if not for the bright lights that had been lit. Then, he heard several barking noises, and he glance behind him to see several wolves quickly running towards him.

It was probably hunters who had set their creatures on him. The best way to disable a wolf was to kill it, but killing the animal would probably make him unpopular with the hunter's group, so he ran as fast as his legs could take him. But these wolves were specially trained to chase and hunt down their prey, and Azaroth was not in is best form to outrun fully grown wolves.

The first wolf leaped at him, missing him as Azaroth leaped out of the way. The second lashed out at him, baring its fangs at him, and Azaroth held out the back of his blade and the wolf bit down hard. It then started violently shaking its head, as if to wrestle the weapon out of Azaroth's grip. Azaroth gave a swift kick towards the wolf's head, knocking it dizzy to release the grip on his sword. He backed off and barged through a wooden door.

Backing up inside the building he had sought temporary refuge for the moment, he locked the door and pushed a nearby table to block the door. The wolves chasing him barged loudly on the door and he heard the hinges of the door crack slightly. Looking around, he noticed he was in a small warehouse. He had to look from an escape route quick: the sound of people coming to surrounding was increasing with a worrisome frequency.

Running up to the second story, he spotted the east window which was on the opposite end of the street the wolves were on. Before he could reach it, several arrows flew in his direction, one hitting him painfully on the shoulder. Pulling off all the arrows, he saw that a few hunters and knights had climbed through the other open windows of the warehouse.

He knocked a female hunter aside as she was about to take a shot at him, cutting another arrow flying towards his skull cleanly in two with his sword. Several knights surrounded him and threw strikes at him, he parried two thrusts made at him, sinking two javelins to the wall just behind him. He threw a punch in one of the knight's face to make room for him. He ran and jumped out the east window when someone broke down the door he had barricaded, probably the wolves but he had barely any time to consider it.

Flying down from the window of a building at about ten feet high again, he landed perfectly on his two feet and started running. Azaroth was running low on energy now, and since he was bleeding quite badly, he felt his body start to weaken. He doubted he was going to make it out of this place, but that did not stop him from running away from another bunch of swordsmen and knights who were chasing him. At least he had to try.

-

Vermillion headed towards the area with the most commotion, following the shouts of people to find Azaroth. From the looks of it, it looks like they had spotted him and were giving chase. With this, she knew where he was now. The problem was to weave through a whole bunch of people to reach to him. As she ran towards the area, she met Tryzen who was running in the same direction.

" Seems like we have found him," Vermillion stated.

" There are too many people here, he will be caught quickly. We need to slow them down," Tryzen replied, running through one of the alleyways to cut through to where the noises were heard. They stopped at the edge of the alleyway, where they saw Azaroth running at some distance somewhere. Several knights ran past them, not noticing that they were there.

All of a sudden, Azaroth stopped running. Slowing to a halt, he turned around to face the mob that was chasing him vigorously and braced himself, his swords raised up.

" What the hell is he doing?! Run!" Vermillion yelled.

" He's out. He knows there is no way he an outrun all of them, so he's trying to just beat them all. We need to slow them down," Tryzen replied, his hands already forming the seals needed to cast magic. Finishing his spell, he slammed his palm upon the dirty ground.

The people who were chasing in front were suddenly slowed all of a sudden, trapped by Tryzen's Quagmire spell. Their feet sunk slightly into the ground, surprised as Azaroth was. But Tryzen was not finished by a long shot. He cast more Quagmire spells, and by the time he was finished, he had formed a line all along the road, cutting off Azaroth's pursuers from him effectively, unless they decided to tread into the thick, swampy soil.

Azaroth was evidently surprised at this, but he then broke into a run, seeing the great chance to escape. The knights and swordsmen who were stuck were now cursing, wondering if Azaroth knew magic spells.

" Damn it, I thought he was only a swordsman!"

" What?! Did he even cast a spell? Is that possible? He's not a mage, is he, or a wizard?"

" He turned around and faced us, then this happened!"

" Where are the wizards!? We need them to dispel this thing!"

" I'm surprised you were able to cast so many Quagmire spells in such a short period of time," Vermillion replied, visibly impressed.

" Well, why do you think that the Elders are always after my head? They did not call me 'Blitz' back in Geffen just for show, you know," Tryzen replied, smiling.

" They call you Blitz?"

" Forget I said that," Tryzen sighed.

" What do you mean the Elders are after your heads? Because you can cast spells faster than them?" Vermillion asked.

The Elders were the leading people who hold power over the Magic Community, and they monitor and check upon people who use magic there. In short, they are the laws of magic.

" Well, casting faster spells means deviations from normal casting, and they don't like that," Tryzen answered. " I'll answer queries later. We need to find Azaroth now!"

-

Azaroth slipped around the corner of an alleyway and leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath. He did not understand why Quagmires started appearing all over the ground, but he had no energy to think about it. He felt the blood pumping inside his head loudly, and he was quite worn out. Sheathing his swords, he was forced to take a break, even though he knew it wasted precious time in his escape.

Suddenly, he heard soft footsteps nearby, too close in fact. He had not heard them earlier since he was breathing too hard and the blood was thumping in his ear drums. He got up, but two arms grabbed him and shoved him hard against the brick wall he was resting on. He felt a hand clasp itself on his mouth, disabling him from speaking. In the dim glow, he saw Serene Mayfly in the darkness.

He tried to say something, but Serene placed a finger on her lips and hushed him. Speaking calmly, she said " I believe you are innocent, Azaroth, and you are a mere pawn in a big plan. You should not stay here any longer, but rest assured, I will find what is wrong with this system that has judged you."

Given the chance, Azaroth would have broke down and shed a few tears to show how that statement meant to him, but he could not bring himself to. He just merely nodded his head.

As soon as he did, he noticed a pillar of white light surrounding him. He soon felt weightless, and then his body felt like it was sucked in some vortex. He then lost balance, and he felt himself fall down upon a sandy area. He was not sure where he was now, but he was sure that Selene had just warped him somewhere else.

Grimjaw skidded to a halt, surprised to see someone warp out of a portal in the middle of his fight. Here came a bloody, injured and worn out swordsman, in the middle of the Morrocan desert. However, his enemies did not seem to be so much bothered about it. Both charged at him, with this unknown swordsman in the middle of the way.

" Out of the way!" Grimjaw yelled, leaping towards Azaroth. Azaroth had just come to his senses when he was two assassins come towards him, their katars drawn. He felt someone wrap his or her arms around his abdomen and tugged him aside.

The assassin tried to stab Grimjaw, who quickly parried the blow in time. The second moved to the back of Grimjaw to strike him in his vulnerable area. But, as he was about to move in for the kill, there was a terrible ripping noise, and he found that two blades had pierced out of his chest.

Azaroth was a little confused as to what was going on, but the rogue had just helped him out of instinct, so he was paying him back in a way. Azaroth knew very well about taking the lives of people, but he knew he would sleep well even if he killed this man. After all, killing of the scum of Morroc might let him sleep better at night, so he pulled his swords apart, ripping the poor fellow into two and spilling his guts over the soil.

His partner was too distracted at his death to notice Grimjaw move. Soon, his head fell off, and his body soon followed it to drop down on the ground. Now that the fight was over in a sort of sense, both Grimjaw and Azaroth looked at each other awkwardly.

" Who are you?" Grimjaw asked.

" Azaroth Crimson," Azaroth answered.

" And what are you doing here?" Grimjaw questioned.

" On a holiday…" Azaroth replied, before falling down onto the sandy ground, loosing consciousness.