Chapter 2: Escape

 

       “You know, I did tell you not to forget,” said Lucas, “so you really have no excuse.”

       The two were walking down the cobblestone street, slowly making their way to the jail that was just a ways away. Haven's head was bowed, but he could feel everyone staring at him, which only built onto the ignominy that weighed down his shoulders. He didn't bother responding to what the blond had said though, knowing that no matter what he said his friend probably wasn't going to try to help him out of this mess.

       About a couple minutes later, they finally arrived at the fairly large jail. Lucas led Haven into the building, where a prison guard took him and led him down the corridor, their footsteps reverberating off the stone flooring and throughout the rather quiet place. Cells sat on either side of the corridor and small torches were mounted on the walls, which illuminated the place enough to where someone could see down the corridor and the keyholes on the cell doors. As he passed them, Haven occasionally glanced into the cells, but was unable to see whether anyone was occupying them.

       As they walked, Haven started to think a little, and he soon recalled that he helped construct this place about a year ago. The old jail was beginning to fall apart and the times called for a more stable jail that wouldn't fall around the prison guards at any moment. Crimes were on the rise in the past year and they also needed a lot more space in order to fit all the criminals into one jailhouse. However, ever since all of the members of Malum except for one were executed, crime rates had decreased and it seemed that this place was hardly ever in use nowadays.

       There was one particular thing that Haven remembered about this place though: there were no enchantments to keep people from using magic. No one ever expected a magic user to be put behind bars since they had to be blessed with that kind of gift. So far, it had been proven that the jailhouse didn't need such enchantments, and Haven didn't think anyone would ever consider the possibility of him trying to escape. As far as they knew, he only knew healing arts.

       Haven and the guard soon came to a stop in front of one of the cells that were about halfway down the long corridor. The brown-haired boy stared into the blackness of it for a moment while the guard opened the cell door. After removing the handcuffs, the guard shoved Haven into the cell before closing the barred door. The youth remained standing there for a moment, listening to the guard's footsteps growing fainter until there were no longer any traces of them.

       Removing the handcuffs had been the guard's mistake. If he had kept them on, Haven wouldn't be able to use magic. His style of magic called for him to say it in the style of prayer, which meant he would have to fold his hands as such. Since the cuffs were off, he was free to use all the magic he wanted. Of course, however, no one knew that Haven was capable of other styles of magic. He didn't know any destructive spells, but he did know one that enabled him to teleport. Unfortunately, he had never completely perfected it, and so it wasn't as great as what it could be. Because of this, teleporting often took a lot of energy out of him and he was only able to teleport short distances, which would probably be just enough to get him just outside of the building.

       The brown-haired boy did stop to consider for a second if he was really going to go through with this, but he was quickly reminded of the punishment he would face if he stayed here any longer. Haven wasn't willing to give up his life so soon. He still had many years left to live before he became old and he still had a lot of things he wanted to accomplish before his life ended. If the crime had been much more severe, such as killing someone, he would face his punishment honorably. But this? He never questioned the law and the consequences that were given for breaking them, but being given capital punishment for a crime – if someone could really call it that – such as this didn't seem rational to him.

       “Hey,” came a masculine voice that sounded a bit scratchy around the edges.

       Haven's train of thought was broken upon hearing the greeting. He stared into the abyss that the weak firelight was unable to penetrate, but wasn't able to make out the person from which the voice had came. He didn't realize that someone else was in here, but at the same time, it didn't matter to him too much. After all, it wouldn't be too much longer until he would be out of this place.

       “So what're you in for?” the voice came again a few seconds later upon figuring out that Haven wasn't going to greet back.

       “Forgetting to make an offering at the alter,” explained Haven, not really able to ignore people whenever they spoke to him.

       Laughter came from the darkness. “Is that really a crime 'round here?”

       “Yes, and it has capital punishment as a consequence,” muttered the brown-haired boy.

       Not another word came from the abyss. Figuring he would probably take advantage of this silence to get ready to escape, he slowly brought his hands up and folded them in front of his chest with his head bowed.

       “By the way, I wouldn't try to escape if I were you,” advised the slightly raspy voice.

       “Whoever said anything about that?” questioned Haven, not moving from his position to make it look like he was just praying.

       “Don't play stupid with me. I might not be that smart, but I can tell. I could see it in your eyes.”

       “Maybe you're just thinking things?”

       “Just don't try it. If you do, I'll tell the guards on you, and they'll be on your tail for the rest of your life.”

       Haven mentally cursed at this as he looked towards the blackness in anger.

       “Unless you help out a friend in need of course,” the voice continued.

       The brown-haired boy didn't answer, trying to figure out if he could trust the words he heard.

       “If you did something that bad, there's gonna be mercenaries out to get you, and they won't leave you alone, even if you go south,” said the voice. “You won't be safe anywhere. But if you help me outta here, I promise I'll help you get to a place where you'll never be bothered by 'em.”

       There was a couple moments of silence as Haven briefly thought it over. It seemed to be the only way he would be able to get out of here safely. If he didn't help this person escape, he wouldn't be able to leave quietly and the guards would probably capture him before he would even be able to leave the city. He didn't really expect the criminal to keep his end of the bargain though, but that didn't really matter to Haven anyway.

       “All right, I'll help you,” said Haven.

       “Alright, what's the plan?”

       “I'm going to use a spell. I'll need you to come close to me though in order for me to help you out of here.”

       Haven could hear movement within the abyss. A couple footsteps were heard on the stone flooring before a hand came out of the darkness and fell to rest on the brown-haired boy's shoulder. Haven closed his eyes and quietly muttered the chant. A few seconds later, he felt his feet leave the ground. For a couple moments, it felt as if he was being pulled through space at a rapid pace until he felt his feet meet with the ground.

       He opened his eyes to see that he was no longer in the cell, but instead in an alley next to it. Haven quickly turned to see who the person was that he helped escape. It was a man who looked to be in his twenties and stood to be six feet in height – about a head taller than Haven. He wore black pants and black boots. However, he had no shirt, which revealed the large muscles that were on his torso and arms. A couple scars were on the upper half of his slightly tanned body. He also had spiky black hair and brown eyes while his lips were curved into a cocky smile.

       Haven's eyes widened in surprise upon realizing who it was. Lucifer's smile turned a grin upon seeing the look on the younger male's face.

       “Surprised huh?,” said Lucifer.

       The brown-haired boy didn't even respond. He mentally cursed a few times, completely hating the fact that he had just helped the greatest criminal in the north escape his cell.

       “I think you already know my name,” Lucifer continued, seeing that the brown-haired boy wasn't going to say anything. “Let's hear yours.”

       “Haven,” the shorter male replied a little brusquely as he turned around. “Let's get going.”

       Haven didn't even bother waiting to see if Lucifer was going to follow as he began to walk towards the street outside of the alley. He didn't care if Lucifer was going to get caught because he knew that once they were out of the city that the criminal was never going to keep his promise anyway. As long as he wasn't caught too, he didn't really care what happened to Lucifer.

       However, Lucifer followed him anyway. When they got out onto the street and began walking in the direction of the exit, Lucifer kept his head down to hide his face to make it harder for people to recognize him. Luckily for him, no one had yet called him out and he was able to keep close behind the younger male easily.

       After a few minutes, they were about to turn a corner. Lucifer looked towards it to see a glimpse of shiny armor beginning to turn the corner. Upon realizing that it was a knight, Lucifer quickly grabbed Haven and pulled him into a nearby alley with him. He threw himself against the wall that was in the shadows a little ways so that his back was against it.

       Haven felt himself being pulled towards the older male until his back and head were up against the muscular body. His cheeks reddened a bit and he quickly tried to pull away as he opened his mouth to say something. However, a strong arm was wrapped around his chest, drawing him close to Lucifer while a hand went up to cover his mouth to keep him from saying anything. Haven tried to squirm away, but Lucifer's grip remained firm.

       “Stop squirmin',” Lucifer whispered into Haven's ear. “You're gonna get us caught.”

       The brown-haired boy stopped and his eyes closed shut as the blush remained on his cheeks. Lucifer turned his head to the outside of the alley to see the holy knight passing by a few seconds later. After waiting for a couple more seconds to pass to make sure the knight was a good distance away from them, he relinquished Haven, who quickly shot away from Lucifer a short distance before turning around to face him.

       “You b*****d!” snapped Haven, his cheeks still slightly red, but more out of anger.

       “What's the matter, you didn't like that?” asked Lucifer, laughing.

       “No,” Haven mumbled as he turned to face the exit of the alley.

       Lucifer stepped up to the shorter male from behind and threw his arms around him.

       “I know something else you might like,” he spoke a bit seductively with a playful smirk on his face.

       Haven's cheeks reddened before he abruptly pulled away while saying, “We don't have time for this right now! Let's just get out of here before the prison guards notice that we're not in our cells.”

       “Whatever you say,” replied the older male as he followed the brown-haired boy out of the alley.

       The two turned the corner and continued to make their way towards the exit of Fallcrest. So far, no one was able to notice Lucifer, or at least they didn't say anything if they did. They continued to walk down the street, going somewhat quick, but not that fast to where it might have looked a little suspicious.

       About four minutes later, they finally came near the entrance. However, there were holy knights guarding it. Haven mentally cursed about the fact that he had forgotten about the guards that were posted here. He soon slowed to a stop as he tried to figure out what to do.

       “Let's just keep goin',” Lucifer said quietly as he went to stand next to the younger male. “Maybe we won't get caught.”

       Haven let out a barely audible sigh as he continued forward with Lucifer. However, it was a complete mistake.

       “Wait a minute, isn't that Lucifer?” they heard one of the guards ask.

       “It is, get him!” a second guard shouted from under his helmet.

       All the people that were around stopped to look towards the spiky-haired man before also realizing who it was. They screamed and ran away while two of the holy knights charged towards him. They didn't bother with Haven, completely unaware that he had been arrested earlier.

       Lucifer only grinned when he saw the holy knights charging towards him. He ran towards them before jumping up over one of the knights. His feet met with the knight's armored back before he jumped off of that and landed on the ground. The other two knights quickly went to fight Lucifer as they drew their swords. Lucifer stepped to the side to avoid a slash from one of them before delivering a swift kick to the knight's side. The knight stumbled towards the other one while dropping his sword. The criminal saw the other knights charging at him from behind and he quickly picked up the dropped sword before holding it out in front of him. The knights slowed down to draw their weapons as well.

       Haven didn't even pay any attention to them. He saw that now was a good chance for him to make his escape and he wasn't going to let it go to waste. After going around Lucifer and the knights, he ran out of the city, not even caring about what happened to Lucifer. However, Lucifer saw the boy leave from the corner of his eye and he forgot about the knights in front of him.

       “Hey, wait for me!” Lucifer said before turning around and running after the brown-haired boy, just missing a slash made by one of the guards.

Reviews

[Eidolon Michael]

I liked this chapter. It was very well written and fun to read ^_^

[Amund Schofield]

Lucifer seems dumb. A criminal of his caliber should have some wit about him.