Gregory Grey and the Fugitive in Helika

by Stanzin

CHAPTER 14.1

  Lesley's Diary - Rescue - August 12, 1909

  Last night was fun.

  I’ve never broken someone out of prison before, but after last night, I’m definitely going to recommend it as something for people’s general bucket lists.

  In retrospect, I’m a little amazed it was successful, because I basically winged it, to speak.

  The escape itself wasn’t particularly fun or exciting, as much as realising that at the end of it, we’d ‘stuck it to the Boss’.

  Yahoo!

  Invisible, I’d walked into the makeshift prison they’d set up behind the stockade in the evening. The Spooks believed they were guarding prisoners who couldn’t cast magic, so they didn’t take the precautions a normal magical prison would.

  The dozen prisoners were behind bars, of all the archaic and impotent devices.

  Right after dinner, I floated a written message to the most sensible looking one; it told him to tell the others to be ready to be busted out.

  I spent about five hours with the two Spook grunts on guard in the room just outside the prison. I can speak Helikan, but these two idiots warbled some local dialect from a place where I presume everyone stutters a lot.

  When the grunts fell asleep, I lifted the keys from the one who had them and unlocked the bars.

  The prisoners trotted out, and stayed quiet.

  It was when I accidently brushed the fingers of one of the women with my own, that I realised my powers of invisibility may extend to others: her fingers vanished before my eyes, though I could still feel them in my hands. She didn’t notice. All I have to do is touch someone, and then they remain invisible until I drop their invisibility.

  I locked bars back up, and put the keys back onto the Spook’s belt.

  And then we walked out of prison. If I had thought of rescuing our people just two nights ago… it would have been just as easy as it was last night.

  This morning was much more exciting.

  The Spooks came storming through the camp… straight for the tent where I’d stashed the escapees.

  It’s a good thing I’d stuck around to see what they’d get up to.

  I got to the tent before they did, and just before the Spooks arrived, we ran out, invisible. It was nearest I’ve ever come to actually losing my cool.

  They came out of the tent looking confused, and somehow began to head directly for the tent I was shepherding them into. It would have been pants-browningly scary, if it had not been so funny.

  They chased us around camp like that for two hours, getting more and more agitated, and we just kept running away, trying to figure out how on earth they were tracking us.

  Seriously, I’ve no idea how they could go that long without at least venturing a guess that we were invisible. In their place, I’d have realised it practically immediately.

  As it turned out, it wasn’t until afternoon that the hunt became serious, and they started area blasting every inch of the camp with Dispellation Charms.

  But it was too late by then – I’d figured it out – they were tracking the prisoners using the stupid blood census devices they’d attached to our arms. I had them break the infernal things and trample them into the dust, find a fire, and then burn them.

  Now that I mention it, if the stupid devices tell them where we are…

  …then we ought to be ready to rid ourselves of them in a moment’s notice.

  I think it’s time I brought in Winnie and Emil into my little secret.