Chapter 2
Escaping Aroughs
Trey had speedily unlocked all the cells and set all the captives free.
The prisoners now stood on the cold stone floor awaiting Trey's orders as they suddenly became loyal to him. An unsettling emotion fell upon Austin, not jealousy, but more like annoyance. Why did he suddenly become an idol of prisoners? Thought Austin. He pushed the thought away and focused on the task at hand.
Trey was ordering the captives to remain quiet so they could sneak out of the prison undetected. Adam was leaning up against the wall nearest the exit, his face pale and weak. Suddenly Austin remembered something, a small silken pouch tied to his belt. He pulled it off and tugged on the drawstrings, opening the puckered lip of the pouch to reveal a few chunks of yellow, chalk-like lumps.
Running over to Adam, he handed the pouch to him. Adam sluggishly looked up and offered a weak smile before looking down at the lumps that Austin had now poured into his hand. "These will make you feel better." Austin said, he somewhat felt responsible for Adam's weakness. Adam nodded then reached down and plucked the lumps from Austin's hand and threw them into his mouth.
After a couple chews, the color of Adam's pale skin seemed to flush back into him, his limbs no longer hung down, but rather firmed and once again looked to be part of his body. Adam stood up straighter, still not completely healed, but well enough to fight if need be. "Thank you."
Austin shrugged, "No problem, you need them more than I do."
"Hey. If ya'll are ready we would like to escape now." Said Trey, walking up to Austin. Then they complied and listened to Trey's obvious plan. "Okay, so we are going to sneak through the city and up to the south gate…" He then gave dangerous stares at the prisoners as he emphasized his last word, "Quietly."
The prisoners nodded intently as their inpatients began to take over. After years of waiting, their time for an escape finally came, and the slightest holdup was not going to be tolerated one bit. "Let's go already." Came a voice from within the mass of captives.
Austin leaned over to Trey and whispered in his ear, "I don't think they are going to allow any interruptions during an escape."
Suddenly the prisoners rushed forward bumping, shoving, and kicking as they tried to get out of the underground room. Trey jumped then turned and ran up the steep stairs to the surface. The captives, however, heeded Trey's advice and remained quiet the whole time.
The sky was clear and dark, and a slight breeze stirred the air. A silvery cloud drifted over the city, its edges glowing with ruddy light cast from the rising sun. A brooding mist crept along the city's streets, almost thick enough to obscure their feet. Dozens of large plaster-sided buildings stood clustered around the prison entrance. All of the buildings-cold and forbidding with the empty stare of their black windows-appeared to be warehouses or storage facilities, which, coupled with the early-morning hour, meant it was unlikely that anyone would notice their sudden departure.
Trey had no intentions of staying around to find out for sure.
Hazy rays of newborn light streaked horizontally across the city, gilding the tops of the towers, the battlements, the cupolas, and the slanted roofs. The streets and alleyways were cloaked in shadows the color of tarnished silver. High above gleamed a lone wandering star, a furtive spark in the brightening blue mantle, where the sun's growing radiance had obscured all of the other nighttime jewels.
Forward the escapees marched, their leather boots scuffing the cobblestone street. Trey led them through the warren of buildings toward the outer wall of the city, but not choosing the most obvious or direct route, so as to decrease their chances of being seen. The lanes they followed were narrow and murky, and sometimes he had difficulty seeing where he was placing his feet.
As they continued the buildings shifted to homes and shops: tall, cross-beamed, with whitewashed walls and wrought-iron fixtures upon the doors. Behind the shuttered windows Trey could hear conversations going on, dishes clattering, and the scrap of chairs being dragged across wooden floors. Time was no longer on their side. Pretty soon people would be going about their business and leaving the comfort of their homes.
Trey turned back around and held out a hand, signaling the men to stop. "We are near the southern wall. Get ready to fight there might be soldiers or sentries guarding the gate."
The prisoners dispersed without reason and began trifling through various tools that happened to be lying around different buildings such as blacksmiths, silversmiths, and sword smiths. Thus armed they set forth and streamed between the buildings until the gate came into view.
When they were only a hundred feet, Trey once again stopped in an alley behind a house and raised a hand. Then he crept along the side of the house and peered around the corner at the portcullis set within the tall granite wall.
The gate was closed.
To the left of the gate, however, a small sally port stood wide open. He withdrew from behind the side of the house and bowed his head as he thought ferociously. "Austin." He shouted, "Adam, and you four." He pointed to a trio of fierce looking men who, by their age, looked to have had military experience. "Come with me."
The men didn't argue, but sped up to stand side by side with Trey. With the six men he had chosen, Trey circled the thoroughfare that led to the gate until they reached the rubbish strewn base of the outward-slanting wall, perhaps fifty-five feet from the portcullis and the open sally port.
A soldier was stationed on each of the two gate towers, but at the moment, neither was visible, and unless they poked their head over the battlements, Trey and his companions would remain hidden from sight.
In a whisper, Trey said, "Once we're through the door, you, you, and you"-He motioned to Adam and two of the prisoners-"make for the guardhouse on the other side as fast as you can. We'll take the near one. Do what you have to, but get that gate open. There may be one wheel to turn, or we'll have to work together."
Running as quietly as he could, Trey dashed alongside the wall and, with a quick turn, darted into the sally port.
Before him was a long twenty foot chamber with a single fountain in the center, sprouting water in single rope-like tendrils, which dripped into the pool below. Men in fine clothes hurried back and forth, some carried scrolls.
Trey ignored them and turned to a closed door, which he unlatched by hand. Through the door was a dingy guardroom with a spiral staircase built into the wall. He raced up the stairs and, after a single revolution, found himself in a low-ceiling room where four guards sat. When they caught sight of Trey they sprang to their feet, pushing back the benches they sat in, the wooden legs screeched across the floor.
They were too late, for Trey closed the space between them and dispatched one man with a blow from his axe. The next man had about as much time as he would needed to pull his sword halfway from its sheath before Trey beheaded him with a swift upward fling of his arm. The other two had their swords drawn when Trey faced them, and by that time Austin and one of the prisoners, armed with a hammer, entered the room, cautious of the blood soaking into the floor.
The soldiers shot forth and attacked Trey who parried the first blow, however, the second landed upon the left side of his chest, bouncing off his breastplate denting it, but otherwise bruising the skin underneath. The soldiers jumped back in unison, ready to block any attacks.
Trey noticed that a single chair, missing a leg, sat leaned against the wall next to him. He returned his gaze to the soldiers, also bringing his leg up, kicking the chair at the far right soldier, who slashed down with his sword, cleaving the chair in two. But the force of the cut caused the sword to continue downward, lodging deep in the floor.
Trey flung to the right and twirled his body mid-air and brought his axe hand down to the man's neck. The blade sunk into flesh and came out the other end with a solid thud. The last soldier became wreck less and started flashing his blade through the air, Austin and the prisoner stepped back as the steel streaked across their personal space. Trey reared forward only to duck down and roll to the side as the soldier lunged at him. Trey didn't think or plan his next move, all he knew was to strike back. And so his axe flew through the air and sunk into the space behind the soldiers knee cap.
The man fell with an inhuman howl. Trey stood slowly as Austin finished the soldier off.
He sheathed his axe and turned to the spoked wheel used to raise and lower the portcullis, and pushed as hard as he could, straining every muscle. The other men added their strength to his and together the wheel began to turn, the ratchet on the side of the windlass clicking loudly as the huge wooden catch slid over the teeth below.
The effort needed to turn the wheel became substantially easier a few seconds later, a fact Trey attributed to the team he had sent to infiltrate the other guardhouse.
They didn't bother raising the portcullis all the way, for the fierce cries of freedom reached their ears from outside the guardhouse as the prisoners charged through the gate and out into the open fields that lay outside Aroughs. Trey left the wheel and ran down the stairs, the others in tow.
When they finally stopped to rest, hundreds of refugees sitting under what few trees that grew in the area, it was about late afternoon. About a mile from where they sat was a small cluster of brown buildings. White smoke rose from the chimneys, defiant of the wilderness around it. From where the makeshift army sat, up on a somewhat tall hill, farms were small square patches no bigger than their thumbs. The land around them was tan or sandy, where dead grass swayed in the wind.
After a quick break the prisoners decided to follow Trey and Austin back to Xeon, where they hoped to find a better life. They left the outcropping and started down the trail, each man grimacing at the steep descent. But fortunately the bottom came and by that time the sun was nearly across the sky.
The small village was composed of stout log buildings with low roofs-some thatched, others shingled. Smoke billowed from the chimneys, giving the air a woody smell. The buildings had wide porches where men gathered to talk and discuss business.
The large group of men drew looks from the village. Who would blame them, the group was made up of hallow-eyed, gaunt looking men each wearing a collection of tattered clothes.
Austin sped up, feeling the gaze of the villagers on his back, Trey and Adam walking alongside him…
The next day they arrived at the shore of the Flinseas River, which was a barrier that circled Xeon and then snaked towards the ocean where it poured into the sea. Several main bridges overlapped the river allowing passage to merchants and peasants, with routes that led directly to the city of Xeon, home to refugees that escaped the grips of the Empire.
Xeon is one of many rebel cities that are against the rule of King Aodin, the ruler of Salazier which was once the glorious and peaceful land of Alageasia. But after thousands of years foreign invaders came and took over the many kingdoms and set forth their armies to destroy the Old Order. The Dragon Riders never came back to help and, most believe, have disappeared across the eastern ocean to a mysterious land. The Elves have also gone into solitude and haven't been seen for centuries. Overall the only inhabitants of Salazier are humans, but that is what King Aodin wants everyone to believe.
The next few days were tiresome for the refugees and even more so to Adam who wasn't as strong as he was before his capture. The seemingly endless plains between the Flinseas River and Xeon were unrelenting. The infinite stretch of grass was mind numbing with the occasional birch tree that added a small amount of diversity to the greenery. The sky was only a blue hued reflection of the earth below with no differentiation other than the sun during the day and moon at night.
Eventually they reached a small forest that surrounded the back side of Xeon and provided the city with much of its livestock. Farms bordered the woods each producing rich and expensive crops. Several tributaries flowed into Xeon from the Flinseas River providing enough fresh water for the citizens within.
After refreshing in the river they continued with some strength returned to their fragile limbs. With doubled speed they reached the gates of Xeon by night fall and were met by a contingent of soldiers who, after spotting Trey, Austin, and Adam, allowed them passage, leading the refugees to the closest quarantine as Trey and Austin led Adam to Master Nolan for special healing.