On the run. The story is reaching a close and I do hope that my future stories are much better than this. Comments and reviews are, as always, encouraged.

The shock of all that had happened had worn off and the three of us set off for the dungeon exit. "What now?" I asked.

Blaze replied, "We need to get out of the city. Once they find them back there, everyone is going to be on to us. First, we need some supplies. I have a bag up in my room with some things. I need to get it."

I interrupted, "I'll come with you."

She responded, "No Silver, you need to get Marlo out of here, the guards might know that he is supposed to be locked up. Besides, I'll move faster on my own, and if I'm caught, I have the best chance of not being executed."

"But..." I objected.

Blaze shot me down, "No! I need you to trust me Silver. I'll meet you two by the old oak stump. Marlo knows where it is. If I'm not there in 2 hours, leave without me." She kissed my cheek and then ran off towards the bed chambers. Marlo and I went the other direction, towards the gardens.

Marlo was leading me, because all I could think about was Blaze. Marlo, sensing my concern, said, "She'll be alright. Princess Blaze is a fighter." I nodded, but I was hardly reassured. We went unnoticed for the most part. When we reached the gardens, Marlo looked around to make sure we were alone and when he was sure that no one would see us, motioned for me to sit with him on a bench.

"What are we doing?" I hissed. He gave an evil smile and then tapped his foot twice. I felt a jerk underneath me as the bench rotated and flipped over. We fell a short distance before landing on a couple mattresses.

"Secret passages." Marlo said in a joking voice. He stood up and brushed himself off. I stood up and took a look around. The passage was dark, pitch black in fact.

Marlo said,"Silver." I turned in the direction of the voice. "Follow me. There should be a torch ahead."

I replied, "No need." And gave myself an aqua-marine aura. We both could see much better. The passage looked old and was very damp.

"Lead the way." Marlo said. "It's a straight shot for about a mile until a ladder at the end. We walked in silence thee rest of the way. All I could think about was Blaze, and what would happen if she was captured. But I did my best to forget those thoughts. After a while, we reached the end.

Just like Marlo said, there was a ladder. We ascended and I removed the cover that blocked the exit. The light hurt my eyes at first, but as we emerged, I could see that we were in the basement of a building.

"This used to be my home as a boy. Now it's abandoned, everyone thinks it is cursed." Marlo joked. We replaced the cover and went up to the main floor. Marlo left me for a minute to go upstairs. I remained in the front room, left to examine. There was covered furniture and a thick layer of dust. I could peer through the boarded up front window, the people were going about there buisness, completely oblivious to Marlo and I.

Marlo returned after about a minute and led me into what I assumed to be the kitchen and he pointed out the back door. "Through the park and over the city wall. Then it's about a mile to where Princess Blaze is going to meet us." Marlo instructed. I let out a sigh and Marlo put his hand on my shoulder, "It's alright, we're almost there." I nodded, and we cut through a park.

The greenery and fresh air was a nice change of scenery compared to the dank and dark tunnel we had just come from. It was a short trip, because we soon found ourselves at the city wall. We stopped to examine the stone wall that stood about twenty feet high. Marlo said, "Well now what? I don't think I can climb it."

I turned to him and said, "Do you trust me?"

He replied. "Well yes but...Ahhh! What are you doing." I lifted us both up and it took Marlo by surprise.

His yelping continued until I said, "Marlo, relax or we're gonna get caught." He quieted a little as I floated us over the wall, completely unnoticed. As soon as I set us down on the other side, we both made a dash for the woods nearby, so we wouldn't be caught in the open.

The safety and shade of the trees offered a nice relief from the sun. We waited for a moment to catch our breaths, and Marlo said, "Next time you're Going to do something like that, tell me."

I retorted, "It worked, didn't it?"

He responded, "Don't sound so offended. Come on, this way." And he motioned for me to follow him. We walked in silence for a little while, but Marlo finally broke it, "So, what is your intentions towards the princess?"

I sighed and replied, "I don't know. I was hoping to marry her, but it may be too soon. And now, I think that marriage is the least of our worries."

Marlo put his hand on my shoulder, "There is always time for love my friend, don't ever forget that."

"I won't."

We walked the rest of the way in silence, arriving at "old oak stump" after fifteen minutes or so. There we waited patiently for Blaze.

Again, Marlo broke the silence, "Here..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet box. "...take it." I took it and opened the box to see a pair of silver wedding bands.

A smile came across my face, "Is this what you went upstairs to get."

He nodded and replied, "I bought them for a girl, but I was too much of a coward to ask."

I continued, "Thank you very much." I had barely placed the box in my pocket when the sound of footsteps could be heard. And after a moment, Blaze emerged from the brush, in street cloths and carrying two backpacks.

"You made it." I said, as got up to hug her.

She hugged me back and said, "I had to fight off a couple guards, but I wasn't followed."

I took one of the backpacks off her and asked, "So where do we go now?"

And she replied, "Well, I was thinking we could head deeper into the wilderness and..."

Marlo interrupted, "If I may, perhaps we could head for the Vidic river monastery. I know the head Abbot and they will hide us from the king."

I looked at Blaze and she gave me a small nod. "Lead the way." She said.