“What did you say?” he whispered, ready to blow up.
“I said no, and now I am saying something else too. Back off”answered the boy. He had enough of people that think they are better just because others are scared of them. It didn’t matter if he had to fight, he wanted to. His hand lifted his sword, just in time to block the killing blow from the other.“You’ll regret this” whispered the man and ordered the others to take care of Burdõl, who also grabbed his weapon. The people around jumped away fast as the boy and the dwarf kept fighting. First, it was the man that attacked. Each swing was fast but heavy when it landed. Luckily, Arkain somehow managed to protect himself like never before. The two of them danced and danced, mainly Arkain deflecting. Up, down, left, left, right. His feet have moved fast and his hands equally. The blade he have found in the cave seemed to have been lighter than ever before and it was also very useful. The handguard had managed to stop the next attack and partially trap the other’s blade.“You are dead boy!”he shouted just before he lifted the blade again.“Aaaahh”he yelled as he was about to swing the sword again. It was just about to hit Arkain’s yet again, but something stopped it. A blade have glided in from the side, creating a bit of spark. Behind it was Agaroth, who angry as always have bombarded into full attack. Moving fast and acrobatically, he easily pushed the man back.“Go help Burdõl!” he shouted, but by the time Arkain turned around the dwarf has already taken care of his side. Now, the two of them stood there waiting for the traveller to finish. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen because as soon as the bandit saw he was losing his men were ordered to continue his fight. An army of soldiers have flung into attack to which there was no defence. Agaroth have pushed the first ones away but realized that there was no fighting. The three of them have sprinted away with the soldiers behind their back, like rabid dogs.“Just what we needed!” shouted Burdõland increased his pace. All of them ran through the market with their hands pushing anything that they could grab in front of their persecutors. Arkain especially had managed to kick an entire stall down and then jump over the next one.“After them!” came the shout from behind. Some men had used their horses to get to the hunted. Buildings and doors have passed by with enormous speed as they speeded along the long streets. The horsemen had pulled their swords out and were now getting ready to attack, but Agaroth was on the case. He took his one out as well and cut one of the animal’s leg. It toppled into the dirt fast and created a barricade for the others. Arkain, Agaroth and Burdõlhave kept sprinting with their capes flinging to the right and left, until they have reached what look like a cellar. Out in the open in front of a house was a square door that was leading down, into what must have been a cellar. It had a lock on it but Arkain quickly cut it in half with his sword and jumped down, with the others following him soon. They closed the door and held it shut with only small holes being their only way to see.“Good idea”whispered Agaroth and told the two of them to get back. One of his hands was used to hold the door, the other to hold a sword. If someone were to open it, he would have a way of defence, because there wasn’t a way further down. It was just a small hole, with a few boxes at the end, each being broken up. Soon, the sound of footsteps could be heard coming closer, then passing by. When Arkain looked out through the small hole, he could see a few soldiers standing out in the open, looking around. A few of them had passed by except one. One, which walked up to right where the three of them were hiding. His breathing could be easily heard as his feet came closer. The sharp ended boots have stopped right before the boy’s eyes and his breath could be felt.“Stand back!”whispered Agaroth and suddenly opened the door. It smashed into the soldier’s head which fell back from the impact, as soon as he did, Agaroth grabbed his feet and pulled him into the cellar. His hands quickly twisted into knuckles and he stopped the man from getting any air by placing it onto his mouth. A few seconds later, it was laying on the floor, like a piece of cloth. The door was quickly closed again and Agaroth went back to his position, meanwhile Burdõl carried the man to the back and kept his eye on him. Long minutes have passed until they have calmed down and sat down. Everyone sat down and stayed quiet for the rest of the hours so that they could make sure that they are hidden. Auspiciously, it stayed quiet and nothing could be heard. When it was starting to get dark they walked out and started to make their way back towards the main gates as quietly as it was possible. At every turn, they have scouted out the street but there was no-one they could see. It was all quiet and there was no life anywhere. The streets were in the same mess they were left or at least the way Arkain went. They didn’t want to take the same way back, so they had to take a circle but it seemed overly quiet. Not, until they have reached the market did they realise what has happened. Ripped clothes were on the ground and also a few dead bodies. Not many, but still enough to make Arkain disgusted.“They must have taken them away!”he said as he ran around the place, checking most of the stalls.“Everything has been taken”Without much hesitation, he ran back to Agaroth.“We have to save them!”he pleaded and asked for the traveller’s help, who refused.“No, how on earth could we save them? Us three against an army? We continue on and hope that we don’t run into them”but the boy didn’t agree. Arkain was determined to do something about it. He didn’t think, or tried to be logical. He just started running towards the main gates with the other two in his back. Once, he got outside the walls, he kneeled down seeing that there were tracks in the mud that lead forward.“We could follow this!” he said and pointed towards his objective. The tracks could easily be picked out from the many rocks and grass bundles around. It was basically a line that showed a clear way towards the bandit gang.
“We have to save them!”
“No. You would die! You think that you can just give your life up now?! I didn’t come this far so you could just throw away yourself like no-one cares!”
“Alright. You can go on, but I will try and rescue them. They don’t deserve a fate like this” asserted the boy. Agaroth realized that there would be no point in fighting further. He would not be able to change his mind.
“I will take you no further than two miles away from them. Once you see, how many of them there are and how hard it would be to beat all of them, you will give up” agreed Agaroth and started walking forward. The wind has started to pick up and dry the trees around them. As the long pines have swung from side to side next to them, water has flew down from each of their leafs and landed right on the three of them. Never the less, they have kept going and followed the tracks that have allowed them to enter the city, to now take them away. Soon, they have come to a cross roads. One stretched forward and the other whipped to the side aggressively. They looked down to see the tracks leading to the right with more lines and curves joining into many branches. Arkain sustained his motions and went right, following the outlines. They went on and travelled more until they have reached a clearing. Around them were two big hills, and behind it a stronghold which could be seen from afar. The three of them ran up to the hill on the left, and threw themselves down onto the ground with only their hand poking out.“Here we are”whispered Agaroth“Now you can see for yourself that there is no way of getting them out”There were guards on the sides with spears and arrows guarding the main entrance. There were four towers on each corner with soldiers that carried bows and arrows on top, circling in the spherical tower. The structure looked old but still useable and the enemy had“…clearly taken advantage of it”. Beside the fortress was wooden short fence, with an enormous hole in it. Around it were guards, protecting a mine from which sounds of picking and plucking could be heard. Sometimes, a group of people would come up in ripped robes, carrying a box of stone. The fairly sized box would be placed down inside the area on top of others. In front of the gates was a long line of people, heavily guarded, they kept nodding into the stone castle. Around five meters away from them were carriages waiting to also enter. Some gatekeepers have opened the other side after a while, to allow the carriages to have a shortcut the
refore speeding up movement and process.“So, can we go the other way?”asked the traveller feeling like a winner. Abruptly the sound of another carriage could be heard coming. This gave Arkain an idea. An idea that would have been foolish in Agaroth’s eyes and that is why he didn’t tell him.“Arkain!” he whispered louder as soon as the boy made a run for it. The carriage has just passed when he have slide under it and pulled himself up. Behind him was another carriage but luckily far enough so the driver could not see him. He looked back at Agaroth and Burdõl to see the dwarf fling into action and also make his way down, to do the same. Both of them were now hanging from below, outside of anyone’s vision. Except the traveller, he didn’t do anything, just sat there and watched as the two of them rolled in through the main gates.
Chapter 17: Proof of bravery
All Arkain could see is hundreds of feet in his vicinity until they have passed through the gate. Inside was a clear place of stone. Sounds of hammering and iron sizzling could be heard, mixed in with people speaking and soldiers chattering in their loud armour.“Take them to the left!” shouted a man and the carriages turned to go to a different direction. A few seconds later, it stopped and sounds of chains could be heard, and the opening of a door. The cart has been opened from behind and villagers were released from the inside while the other cart has rolled up next to Arkain. Under it was Burdõldrastically hanging and holding in, with his head being as red as an apple. He nodded and the boy did the same. Someone laughed“Hahaha, nice find you have there, although I am not quite sure you are going to beat the record!”
“Oh really?!”came the sound from behind the boy.“I have still got more than you! What are you going to say to that?!”
“That I am excited to see which one of yours is going to die first in the cellars!”Now, the other person has also opened his. After that, they have talked for a while then took the prisoners away.“Are they gone?”whispered the dwarf and dropped down.“I think so”answered Arkain and climbed out from below. The two carriages were placed under a wooden roof, next to great stacks of hay which the horses instantly started to eat.“We need to get to the prisons!”said Arkain and started looking around the place. They were behind a row of boxes and barrels and in front of them were tables, randomly placed in a dirty pile covered in cloths and unused items. There were people hurrying around in the middle with prisoners going from left to right. The villagers were taken away to the other side into a building which they never came out from. The prisoners that the two drivers were taking were walking towards the left, where a square like place was. Dirt had been replaced with stone, and there were four pillars on each side connected to walls. Inside the walls were wider and there were four stairs leading down from each side. Two was on the left and two was on the right, both leading the same way.“The carriage drivers went that way!” said Arkain and started crawling through the piles of junks. He and Burdõl had to climb over some of them but mostly managed to stay on the ground. The boy grabbed one of the chairs and stepped forward, only to jump back from the site. He stopped breathing and froze in one place. There was a man right before them standing a few steps away looking at one of the towers. Burdõl looked up but ducked down a few blinks after.“Don’t move”he said and held his hand on his axe. They could hear a man come up to the three of them. It stayed there for three seconds than started walking away with the other soldier.“It’s time to go!” murmured the boy and started walking towards the stairs. Every once and again two soldiers would pass through the place, steadily walking at constant pace. One, two, three! Though Arkain and went for it. He ran to the side then jumped into cover with the dwarf following him. They went down on the first floor from which the stairs lead down further to the left using the one on the right hand side.“Stop!”hissed the boy and pushed back the dwarf. In the front was a long tunnel with small windows on the top to provide light. The tunnel was wide and was well lit which allowed anyone to easily see anything in it. In the centre was a group of people, soldiers that pushed the convicts into different cages that were carved out of the wall and was surrounded by stone, and in front with iron bars. Each had a door with a big lock on it which would have been hard to break to anyone. The soldiers were chatting and waiting for a fairly wide man to come up to them. He was in a better type of hood but still ripped and carried chains of keys on his left hand side.“The key keeper”uttered the dwarf.“Well done, well done gentleman!”he said with a deep voice“You have rid the world from evil”he then faced towards the cells“You people will die and rot here unless you decide differently. Have a good time!”and walked away with others following him and talking to him“So where were we? Payment, ah yes…”The voices became quiet over time and the two of them finally found their courage to go down. Once they could finally see who and what was in the cells, they have nearly vomited. It was filled with human faeces and the ones that were still alive were crippled by the sight and beating, so they were crawled up into the corners. The newcomers were standing on the side with their hands on the bars, and their eyes facing outwards.“We need to help them somehow!”articulated the boy and started bashing one of the locks. He even tried with a sword but it did not work. He tried to get a hold onto the metal bricks but could not. They were placed in a position so it could have been bashed down by a simple sword or axe.“You can’t save them moron!”said one of the prisoners behind him. His clothes were already ripped mostly and were very skinny with his bones nearly piercing through his skin.“You cannot save them. They are all going to die. Even if you manage to get the keys from that guy, you would still need to fight your way out. They would die. One, by one! Ha-ha!”
“You are wrong, but if you want to, I can leave you here after I have opened the doors”The prisoner wasn’t happy from that thought. He opened his mouth but closed it. Then he pointed towards where the key keeper went, and turned around, facing away from the boy towards the empty wall. Arkain looked at the dwarf but before he could say anything, the dwarf told him that it is“ridiculous”. Nevertheless, Arkain told him to wait here, while he steals the keys.“Besides, if we want to get out of here now, we are dead anyway!” he slithered as his feet were soundlessly skipped. At the other end was another staircase, but that one was from wood. The walls were pranged down on the top and were leading up into what looked like a tower, with circular walls. To the right was another long corridor leading back to a room, or central area. To the left was another staircase leading up into the tower. There were a few broken windows on the side that provided light while the boy hopped up leaving two stairs out with every step. Upstairs was another strip of passageways that lead forward and to the right. The boy looked around to see whether he can get a clue about the whereabouts of the keeper and kneeled down once he saw mud on the stone floor. There were small pieces of mud that must have fell off of the man’s shoes which he took from the cave. He didn’t think about it yet, but the cave’s floor was muddy next to the wooden stairs which could have been the reason there is mud on the floor in front of him. He followed it, which lead up another staircase later on. Luckily, there weren’t any guards in the building, just outside, shouting and probably doing their routine work. On the third floor was a long hallway with only one door in it, at the end with a window on the opposite wall. The door had just been closed, and the ticking of the lock closing could be heard, which echoed through the corridor. From the window, came a bright yellow light beam that covered most of the area. The boy tiptoed towards the door and tried to look through the keyhole, which was big and easily accessible. Through it there was the key keeper, standing and walking around with his keys hanging and clanging with each move. He stopped next to a table and sat down next to it. This could only be seen because the table was in the middle of the room, with a bed behind it. The man sat down, and grabbed a glass bottle from it and started drinking it. Ale was slowly dripping down his mouth onto his clothes which already stank, even from one door away. His other hand has picked up a letter, and then his eyes started reading it, havi
ng a sip within every sentence. Soon, he fell asleep, dropping the paper and the empty glass bottle on the table with a big knock. I have to get in there, thought Arkain and started slowly opening the door, but in fact it didn’t move at all. He tried twice, but gave up. He didn’t want to wake up the man however drunk he was but there was no other way to get in. The walls were empty other than a window and there was probably no other door he could have used. The boy started walking up and down to try and plant an idea in his head. Then, it jumped in. He ran to the window and checked if it was open. As his hand pulled the handle down and pushed it out the window moved and followed his commands. Yes!He looked out and saw that the window was actually facing away from the stronghold with the danger being on entirely the other side. Also, there was a small stone spur which was big enough to step on. If there was another window in his room, this was the only way in. He climbed up and looked outside. It was a bit windy but nothing worse than a small breeze, so he stepped outside.“Here we go!” whispered the boy to try and encourage himself. Now, half of his body was outside and only one of his hands was holding onto the glass. Below him were certainly a big fall and also a scary one. He tried not to look down but didn’t work. He started breathing faster. One, two, three! And he took a step further outside. Both of his hands were holding onto the stone as much as it was possible and shuffled off to towards the left hand side. The first four steps were horrendous but it became bearable after. There was nothing below him, only air. It seemed like an eternity but he made his way to another window that was intensely reflecting the disappearing sun’s reflection. Finally! He continued to shuffle until his hands reached the open window. It was big enough for his size but any inches bigger and he could not have fitted through it. He slipped inside, into a room which had a red tone and his goal. There were two cupboards on the sides, but that didn’t matter because he quickly rushed towards the keys, which were hanging on the man. His hands worked fast, and he yanked off all of the keys with a quick swish with his sword. They were long iron keys that were nearly capable to open anything. He looked at them, but his eyes got stuck on the letter the man was reading before it fell asleep. He picked it up and opened it. It had a red symbol on it with a flower on it. The flower had twelve petal and a few vines growing off of it. Arkain started reading it:
With Blades and Flames: Awakening Page 17