"Legolas?"
The wind, which I had barely noticed before, tore the words from my lips.
Gunshots.
I clawed, looking up and down in turn. I had to help him, but I would never manage to climb back up. "Legolas?"
No answer.
Okay, my only option was to go down. I bit the inside of my cheek and jumped.
The impact went through my whole body and I cried out. Shit, did that hurt. The last time I had felt anything like that had been when I had fallen off a swing as a kid. For a moment I lay there waiting for it to get better. As my cheek lay in the wet grass, I tried to block out the violent throbbing by concentrating entirely on the tree that towered directly in front of me. Some distance behind it, I could see the Elbe River and industrial buildings on the other bank.
Slowly the pain became bearable and so I carefully straightened up and looked at the window from which I had just climbed down. Still no trace of the elf. Instead, I heard a siren wailing from somewhere behind me.
Oh great.
How should I get out of here now? And where should I go? If Legolas didn't come anymore, it would probably be better to just go back to my room before Sattler or one of the others got their hands on me. Without the elf, I had no chance of getting out of here, nor of solving the mystery of the ring.
With resignation, I turned in the direction I thought the entrance would be when something hit the ground next to me.
My heart leapt, as did I, when I realized what was lying there: a dead guard.
Oh God, had Legolas done that?
"There's nothing more you can do for him. Come, we must leave."
I whirled around. "How did you get here so fast...?"
"I'll explain later." He took my hand and started running.
I had no choice, I had to follow him. Still, the image of the dead man would not leave my inner eye. Legolas didn't seem to mind. But when I thought about how many people had already died since he had been brought here by the agency, I felt sick. Did one become dull with time? Probably.
My feet kept walking across the compound without my help until we reached a barbed wire fence. Large signs warned that high voltage electricity flowed through it.
"Legolas, wait. We can't climb over that."
He walked on, unfazed. "Yes, we can."
"Don't you see the signs?"
Without answering me, he reached out - I slapped my hand in front of my mouth - and touched the fence.
Nothing happened.
"How...?"
"Later." He lifted the barbed wire at a point where there was a small dent in the earth. "Quick."
I obeyed and got down on my knees. Then I wiggled through the dirt to the other side. Thank God my arm was fine again, or I never would have made it.
The elf followed and pulled me back to my feet as soon as he had done so. He seemed determined, as if he had been told beforehand where we had to go. How could he know his way around?
A suspicion sprouted in me and I felt my palms getting sweaty. What if he had actually been given a hint? Could that also explain why we had escaped in the first place?
It had all gone so damn smoothly. Too smooth. We had escaped Sattler's men before, but this time it had been... different. I didn't know why, but something was wrong.
We struggled up the embankment and at the top he stopped for a moment and looked around. I followed his gaze and saw the house we had escaped from. It looked like a castle: The light of spotlights cut the night that had fallen in the meantime and individual groups of armed guards patrolled around it. But no one looked in our direction. They did not even try to follow us.
My uneasy feeling grew stronger and stronger. "Legolas, I thinkā¦"
"Not now."
His tone was sharp as he continued to scan the area. Ah, there he was again, the good old secret-keeper. Not only did he seem to know exactly what he was doing, he left me out of it, as usual.
"We have to go down here and then along the shore a bit," he snapped me out of my thoughts.
I crossed my arms. "I don't think so."
He had already taken two steps in the direction indicated and now looked back in surprise.
"You're hiding something from me."
His shoulders slumped. "Ina, can we please discuss this later?"
"No."
"They'll capture us if we don't leave."
"Nonsense. They're not even looking for us." In the half-light, I saw him wince. Score. "Give me one good reason to trust you."
He fell silent.
That said it all, didn't it? He was doing it again, just like all the time before. How had I been so stupid? A person didn't change because he said so. He had always had nice words for me, but his actions spoke a different language. I shook my head and turned away. As much as the prospect of running into Sattler again frightened me, he seemed like a better choice.
"Ina. Wait."
I overheard him and made my way back into the spotlight. "I made a deal." His voice sounded desperate.
I stopped in my tracks. "What kind of deal?"
"Our freedom for the fate of this world."
Slowly, I turned to face him. "That sounds very dramatic."
"I'll explain when we're aboard the boat."
"When we're where?"
He stuck out his hand. "Come."
Again he sounded urgent, and this time I gave in. I wasn't sure why, but I did.
Hastily we walked down the embankment and across a narrow path that was right on the shore. The light from the headlights was dim here, so I kept tripping - over rocks, tree roots, and my own feet.
It took what felt like an eternity, but finally Legolas stopped. I heard him breathe a sigh of relief, and then I saw it too: hidden behind leaves, a small motorboat was waiting for us. At its helm was a man whose face I couldn't make out because he had placed the partially covered oil lamp directly in front of him.
"To there?", I asked unsure, while the Elf was already climbing down the last meters to the shore. "Yes."
All right. Carefully, I pushed myself forward inch by inch and finally made it into the boat behind the elf. As soon as I was in, the man turned out the lights, started the engine, and headed for the open water.
The wind roared in my hair and I looked back. There was nothing to be seen of the house, the embankment was too steep for that. Nevertheless, I knew it was there. Would it have been better to stay there? Why was I still in doubt? Where was our journey going now? How close were we to the end?
I shivered and the elf put a blanket over me from behind. Gratefully, I wrapped myself in the fabric, even though it stank of old engine oil. Then I sat down silently on the only bench on board and looked over to our captain. He stubbornly looked straight ahead and acted as if we weren't there.
All right, there was probably no better opportunity. So I leaned over and asked, "What's this deal you made?"
