Chapter 4

The new day dawned slowly as Kortlig stamped out the remains of the fire. The sun was just peeking over the horizon as they gathered their supplies and was only about 30 degrees higher in the sky when they finished. They hiked through the forest for around an hour until they met up with a group sent out from the main band of men to make sure Kortlig wouldn't be attacked. Kaya was stunned. "We must have only traveled for a mile at most if these goons got here that fast," she thought. It was true, it only took them three hours to pull Kaya and Tora back to the camp built on the shores of Morauti. Captain Taranin gave them a hero's welcome.

"Well, Well, if it isn't the mutts! Who said you could leave your cage? Did you really think we wouldn't find you, you buffoons?" He spoke jovially, but the acid in his gaze signified that he was anything but. The warriors jeered and laughed, but never once got too close to Kaya and Tora. Kortlig led them back to their "tent," though it was more akin to a cage covered in a sheet. "We have to find another way out, we'll never get away if we stop here," Tora said, though Kaya was finding difficult to believe that they would ever escape.

The day went on as usual: the passing men and children made jokes and insulted them, the few other slaves ignored them, and generally, the camp began to quiet down for the night. Three men would stand guard in shifts, each one standing in a spot so that their field of vision covered as much of the camp as possible for about three hours, then going to their tent to sleep before their next shift. Strangely, these six men were always the ones who stood guard, no one else had ever been required to take watch before. Stranger yet, they never seemed to speak, the most Tora and Kaya had heard from any of them was the odd sigh, even when they were blind drunk, but other than that, nothing more than breathing.

This night, the guard was set up and shifts were taken as usual. Some strange, glimmering objects had been left just close enough to the bars to catch Kaya's eye through a torn patch in the tent. It was two finger length metal rods, thick and tough. Kaya's mind raced as she snatched them from the ground and examined them. The 2 metal rods were thick with slight dents peppering the sides. They must have been a failed attempt at a nail by some poor, dumb pirate who would know not the consequences of his actions.

Tora watched carefully but seemed to have an idea. "Give them here and lean forwards," she said, holding her hands out to receive the scrap. Kaya tossed them over and leaned forward as instructed and Tora began shoving them into the small gap between the lock and the bolt on the heavy collar, barely squeezing them in. Once the metal rods were placed firmly enough that they did not fall out, Tora whispered, "This might hurt a bit, but I'll try to make it as quiet as possible. I am convinced that this is our last chance to escape, so we must do this now, at the most opportune time."

"What? I agree with you on the point of leaving now, but the camp is dead asleep, what could possibly wake them?"

Kaya's question was soon answered as Tora began to pound wildly into the back of Kaya's collar, cracking it open with the nails enough for it to be pulled off.

Then came Kaya's manacles, then Tora's collar and manacles. It was the freest they had felt in a very long time, no weight pulling them to the ground, no weight slowing their movements. This celebration did not last long as the two heard drunken stumbling coming from a tent nearby. The only obstacle left was the door, a heavy steel contraption of incredible weight. The two nails were warped and twisted, but they just might make something work. Kaya jammed the pieces into the large keyhole, smashing the nails with all her might. The door squealed and the metal nails bent to an unrecognizable shape as Kaya and Tora dashed their hands against the general lock area.

By the time the guards and about half the camp had awoken and come running, the door was bent out of shape as Kaya and Tora's magic heated the door's lock and handle up enough for it to warp out of the mechanism. It was barely 30 seconds, but by the time everyone arrived, the cage was smashed open and its prisoners were speeding into the night, no longer weighed down by the cold, heavy iron. "The Pirates had always insisted on moving our cage far away from their tents. Who knew their disgust would be our salvation?" Kaya said. She grabbed Tora's hand and sped through the forest night.

Author's Note

I finished this at 4 in the morning, what is wrong with me?