Demi Dark
Chapter 11: Time Will Tell
The centaur knights surrounded Irilos and his friends. They were easily outnumbered. With Arelis weak from his last battle, it would be very hard for a victory while the others defended him. Strangely it was Orison that stepped forward.
"What proof do you have that one of us is a demon?" he said.
He stood tall and proud, yet he carefully kept his neck calm. Irilos took the guess that Orison was trying to avoid a battle, but was also preparing for one in case his plan failed. One of the centaurs stepped forward. The pure silver armor made it obvious that he was the captain, but he walked almost to perfect to have much experience being a captain. The centaur was easily a few inches taller then Orison if not a foot. The elf didn't budge at the centaur's gaze.
"Would you risk your friend's life in a battle?" The centaur captain asked.
"Would you risk your soldiers' lives in battle?" Orison replied.
Everything went silent. Shania smirked, but no one really noticed.
"This is a battle of wit," she whispered into Irilos' ear. "Trust in Orison."
It is all we can do Shania, Irilos thought but said nothing out loud.
Sadly in a few minutes, the centaurs had taken the band of friends in chains to the prison of Pacalon. Arelis was tightly chained into a blacken steel coffin in the cell across from the others, because the centaurs still believed he was a demon. Orison had been trying to pick the lock for the past few hours. Due to his lack of skill with a hairpin along with the constant patrols of guards going about the prison, he had no time to get the lock open. Shania sat calmly in a corner of the cell. It appeared as if she was sleep, but she was probably thinking of a plan to get out. And Irilos… was hoping his father would never find out he got thrown in prison. He imagined all the terrible things his father could possibly do to him if he found out.
"What do we do now?" Orison whispered.
"Try and convince the guards that we are innocent?" Irilos replied.
It was not the best idea he had, but it might work - or at least work when large mounds of meat fly through the air.
The usual guard walked past the cell, Irilos reached out to get the armored centaur's attention. He even called out to the guard, but got no response. The centaur just kept walking up and down the row of cells. It was rather odd that the guard seemed to walk in the exact same pattern, and took no notice to the captives at all, not even to taunt them. Irilos waited until the guard walked past and attempted to grab his long black tail. His hand when straight through and the guard instantly turned into a cloud of smoke.
"We were never being watched in the first place?!" Orison cursed.
"Wait a second," Shania ordered.
No one had noticed that Shania had left her corner for an instant, but they also never realized the sounds of battle coming from above.
"They will need some help up there whether they want it or not," she stated.
"What do we do about Arelis?" Irilos asked.
"We will have to go without him. Orison open the door."
Orison nodded, and in a few minutes got the door open. He and Shania ran up the stairs to help the centaurs defend off the attack, but just as Irilos had started to run up the stairs he heard an echoing crack coming from behind him.
I'll catch up later with them, he thought as he turned back around to check what was trying to get out… or in.