Chapter 34
YES! ESCAPE!
Fakir did his best to quickly get to the bars and he sank to his knees as the childbot walked up to him. He gripped the bars with his good hand and, surprisingly, smiled at the android.
"Uzura, what are you doing here?" he whispered. "We left you with Charon."
"I followed you, zura!" she cried. "I came all this way for you, zura. Are you happy?"
"Yes, yes, just be quiet," he hushed.
The bot looked past him and at Duck, tilting her head and asking, "Why does Duck look funny, zura? She looks…weird, zura."
"I…I do?" she asked, holding her arms to her chest. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, Duck," Fakir ordered. "Uzura must be…mistaken."
For the first time since he woke up, he finally got to see Duck from head to toe. She did look different. The first thing that seemed to pop was the dress. It was white with almost a yellow tint to the edges and her wings seemed to be bigger and…paler. As he looked closer at her, he also noticed the difference with her feathers and realized they looked a bit less like feathers and more like hair.
His eyes quickly scanned the rest of her and he felt his face warm as he noted the…enlargement, shall we say, of her hips and chest. She was beginning to look more grown, a lot like the girl from his dream. He had to force his eyes away just to keep from thinking of her like that. She wasn't some mystery girl. She was Duck and she would always be Duck to him.
He turned his attention back to the bot and said, "Look, if we don't get out of here fast, we will all be…killed. I need you to get the keys and…agh." He grasped his arm as a sudden pain overtook him. Sadly, his several days without sleep didn't help, duh.
Uzura tilted her head again and Duck rushed to his side, "OMG, are you alright?"
"Yeah, fine," he grunted. "My arm was just acting up."
"What happened, zura? Why don't you have a shirt, zura?" Uzura demanded. "What have you been up to, zura?"
"Nothing," Fakir growled. "The King almost broke my arm. But that's not important. You need to get us out of here. If we can make it to the mountains again, then…"
"Mountains, zura?" Uzura asked.
"Yes, the place with Charon and Raetsel," Fakir said.
"They're gone, zura."
"What? Why? What happened?" Duck asked.
"Big flying ships, zura," she said, imitating something flying overhead. "They shoot and bomb Charon, zura. That's why I came here, zura, to find you. I was lonely."
"So…that must have been what the Raven meant by airship attack," Fakir mumbled. He suddenly pounded the bars and laid his head against it. "Damn. He's one step ahead of us. We'll never get out of here."
"Fakir?" Mytho suddenly asked from the opposite cell. "What were you and Altor building?"
"A hoover board," he grumbled. "Why?"
"Do you know where it is?" Mytho asked again.
"I can hardly remember where they held me and Altor," he said. "Why are you suddenly so interested?"
"Because it seems it is outside your window," he said and pointed.
They all looked and saw the copper board balanced outside the cell window. Duck moved to the window and carefully slid it through the bars. She struggled to put it down without too much noise, but it was difficult.
"What is it doing here? How did it even get here?" she asked.
"Maybe it's a trap," Lillie finally piped in. "I love traps."
"Silence, s'il vous plait," Femio said. "I think Fakir has an idea."
The Knight looked closely at the board and looked back at the window. He then saw a shadow move closer and it knelt by the window, slowly grabbing the bars.
"I'm sorry I can't do more," the figure said. "I'm too afraid."
"Rue?" Duck asked and ran forward. "Oh, Rue! I've missed you so much."
"Please, be quiet," she whispered. "I can't be here long. I can only tell you that your best chance is to get to the hidden gat on the far end of the courtyard. It has two large rose bushes in front of it and will be your only escape. Fakir, I hope you can get them out. I know what my father plans to do and…I just can't imagine any of it happening to you."
"Rue, why don't you just let us out?" Fakir asked. "You seem to be able to move freely about the castle. Why don't you just help us yourself?"
"I can't," she sobbed. "Do you realize how much pain I'm in whenever I disobey him? He's hurting me so bad right now and…it's taking everything I've got just to talk to you."
"What has ee done to you?" Femio asked.
"He swore he was never going to let me out of his sight again and…now he has a spell on me," she whispered. "If I leave this castle, he'll know exactly where I am. I'm sorry, I can't do more for you. I really am."
She stood and Duck reached out as far as she could, whining, "Rue, wait. Please…don't…go." But she was already gone. The bird-girl slumped back to the ground and Fakir walked over, kneeling next to her. "I wish none of this happened. I…I actually with I was back in the circus right now."
"Don't think like that," he said. "We have a chance now. If Uzura can find the keys, let us out and find Altor then we can easily make an escape. I just want to know where my brother is. He wasn't tossed back in here with me."
"Someone's coming, zura," Uzura whispered as the clanking of keys were heard on the other side of the door.
"Uzura, I need you to hide," Fakir whispered. "Get ready for anything, people."
The key holder stopped after a few seconds and pushed open the door in confusion. He looked inside the dungeon carefully and asked himself, "Why was the door open. Hmm. Strange. Well, losers, you are all invited to a great example of the King's great power. It's gonna be great. I think you'll like it…not."
Fakir rolled his eyes. Could that guy possibly use the word great in that statement anymore times?
The man started walking down the aisle, looking into each cell, and Fakir looked at Uzura, nodding his head as a signal. The childbot smiled and quickly ran from her hiding spot, coming up from behind the guard and snatching the keys. She tossed them to Fakir and just as the metal pieces left her fingers, she pounded on her drum, starting the guard and distracting him so Fakir could unlock the cell door.
He did his best with one hand and, with some help from Duck, they were free. He grabbed a stone that was laying on the floor and bashed the guard in the head. He dropped like lead.
The moment he was sure the guard was out cold, he dropped the stone and gripped his right arm. He leaned against the wall and Duck was about to help him when he just pointed to the others and said, "Get them out. We need to move quickly."
She did as she was told and she unlocked the others very swiftly. She smiled at Fakir only for him to nod without saying anything. He really was in a lot of pain.
Uzura walked up to him and asked, "I did good, zura?"
"Yeah, yeah, you did good," he said. "Let's just hope our luck doesn't run out."
He pushed himself from the wall and headed to the door. He motioned for everyone to follow but be quiet. It was very crucial that they stayed as quiet as possible. Their lives depended on it.
Femio and Mytho had grabbed the hoover board and they moved out of the dungeon, carefully so not to alert anyone and soon they got to the courtyard. So far, so good, but soon their luck would run out. It always does.
The group was about to head for the gate that was hidden behind the rose bushes at Rue had said, but just as they were about to move forward, Altor blocked their path, a pistol in his hand.
"Don't move," he ordered.
Fakir stared at him in surprise.
"Altor? What are you doing?" he asked. "Put that thing down."
"Altor! It's good to see you, zura!" Uzura cried.
"Shut up! You are all going to be punished for your defiance," he said, his eyes, once full of wonder and knowledge, hard with a horrifying glare. "Soon, the King will kill you all."
"Something's not right," Femio whispered.
"You think?" Fakir grumbled then stepped forward. "Altor, what's gotten into you? I'm your brother and we're your friends. Why are you saying these things?"
"The King will always be triumphant," he said and took a step closer.
"I think…I think the Raven has done something to him," Duck suggested.
"I'm afraid you might be right," he whispered back. "We'll have to find a way around him."
"Awe! Altor, good job my boy," the King chuckled as he strolled out with Drosselmeyer and an entourage of guards behind him. "The weak minded always fall first."
"What have you done to him, you bastard!?" Fakir yelled.
"Well, something not nearly as painful as for the rest of you," he sneered. "Now, I wonder how you could have possibly gotten that hoover board. Do I have a secret SPY somewhere within these walls?" He looked directly at a window Rue was peering out and she ducked away. "No matter. You are still never going to get out of here no matter what my daughter tells you."
Fakir glared at the King and suddenly and idea came to him. He ran back to the hoover board, turned it on, hopped on it and grabbed Altor as he flew past. He shot straight up the wall and just before he went over the wall, he released his brother and the board to go careening out towards…wherever. He just wanted to get the two away before the King got ahold of them again. Hopefully, a hard knock to the head will set Altor straight and that's exactly what Fakir was thinking.
He was now trapped up on the wall with several guards ready to shoot him when Uzura threw a large rock at them and knocked them off. Fakir looked at her and thought that perhaps it was a good thing she was a robot. He took the chance he was given and tossed one of the guards over his shoulder and into the courtyard.
"Uzura! Throw the rock at the gate!" he called as he did his best to fend off another guard.
The childbot did as she was told and soon the gate was swinging lazily on its hinges and the others rushed through. Fakir watched with hope when he was grabbed from behind by a guard. He struggled, but his one arm wasn't nearly strong enough to pull the much bigger man off.
Duck looked back and gasped, causing the others to also look back. How were they going to help him? Just as they were thinking, a guard fired at them and nearly hit Lillie, trimming one of her two blonde pony tails.
She glared up at the guard and said, "Alright! I've had enough. It's time I brought the hurt!"
She ran back at the wall and somehow found a way up doing some very…unnatural gymnastics. When she reached the top, she swung her feet over her head and kicked the guard who shot at her and balanced perfectly on his chest.
"You are so gonna get it and I'm gonna have so much fun doing it," she smiled creepily.
"Eez she getting scarier ou est that just moi?" Femio asked, watching her.
"I think she's just gotten a spine," Duck said in awe.
Fakir was still struggling with the guard and when he saw Lillie do what she just did, he called, "Lillie! A little help?"
She looked at him and smiled down at the guard. "Guess you'll just have to wait. I've got new prey now."
She jumped off the man, his ribs cracking, and she summersaulted over to the second guard and wrapped her leg around his neck, choking him and making him release Fakir. He fell to the ground, but Lillie still wasn't finished with the guard yet. He watched with a mixture of horror and…horror as she dislocated his shoulder and knocked his head against the wall.
She smiled at him and said, "Did that help?"
"Maybe a bit too much, but…yeah, that helped. Thanks," he said and she helped him to his feet. "Now we need to get out of here."
"Sweet! This will be fun," she said and just as she got ready to flip over the side, another shot was fired and hit the stone concrete block before her. She squinted at the guards and cracked her knuckles. "I'll be right back."
"Uh…how about no?" he said and turned her away. "Right now, we need to worry about escape. If we can just get down without dying, we can get to the forest and hide. Now, can you help me down? I'm one arm short if you haven't noticed."
"Alright! Let's do this," she said and jumped over the side.
Fakir leaned over and watched her untangled a bunch of vines from the wall, scurry back up the wall doing some strange acrobatic things and wrap the vine around one of the blocks. She sat on top and as the guards fired at her again, she flipped back over to them and started beating the snot out of them. Fakir still wasn't sure how to feel about it and he decided to concentrate on getting down.
He looked over at the side where he saw everyone still staring up at him and he hollered, "Get to the forest! I'll meet you guys there!"
"But…what about you!?" Duck yelled back.
"Just get going! Lillie and I will be fine! Now GO!"
They started to run off reluctantly and he grabbed the vine. He shook his head and took a deep breath. It was going to be really difficult to climb down the side with just one arm. Why did the Raven have to shred his flesh like that? It really was making everything far more difficult to do.
He swung over the side and made his way down, the vine giving way just a bit as he put his weight on it. His heart was racing. If he fell from that height, he would either be dead or even more injured and be useless. He didn't look down. He instead looked up at the vine to make sure it would hold him till he reached the bottom. It wasn't going to. He could see it was very weak near the top and that if he didn't hurry, it would snap and he'd be done for.
He tried to quicken his pace, sliding his hand as fast as he dared and just a few feet above the ground, the vine snapped as he had figured and he landed painfully on his back. He groaned in pain, but still stumbled to his feet. He looked back up and saw that Lillie was still fighting, yelling profanities and making a reason to beat them all to a pulp.
"Lillie!" he cried. "Let's go! You've done enough!"
"And this is for my ladybug!" she screeched as she tossed another guard over the side. She then turned to him and said, "Alright! I'm comin' down."
She flipped over the edge and did her strange acrobatics and was soon standing before him. She smiled and shrugged. She then grabbed his good arm and pulled him, running of course, toward the forest.
By now, the King was infuriated and he called from the gate, "Get them you fools! They're getting away!"
"Sire, that's the Swamp," a guard said. "That place in crawling with monsters. They won't be coming out of there anytime soon."
"I don't care! Go after them!"
They did as they were told and ran into the Swamp after the kids. All I can say is that they were in for a treat…not.
So, escape! Yay! Another one! What did you expect? The Raven's a jerk and want to get on with the story! Don't worry yalls, it ain't over yet. :)
I hope you guys weren't a bit too disappointed by the escape, but it was really the only thing I could think of and kudos to Rue for fighting her father! Am I right?
Anyhoo, let's just hope I don't screw this up and make things go all haywire. I really hope you guys are still enjoying this and I can't wait to hear some more reviews and stuff.
Till the next chap! Oh, and thumbs up for Lillie finally doing something. God! I'm so glad I actually gave her something important to do.