Escape

I sat on the floor in a corner of my cell, where the bars met the stone wall. I gripped an empty plate in my hands, studying the chipped surface thoughtfully. The torch across the hall was still burning, even though I'd never seen anyone change it and it never burned out. Weird.

I watched the flames' reflection on the surface of my plate, before looking to the torch itself. I'd always liked looking at fire, and now the flickering light seemed to call to me, beckoning me over, and strangely I wanted to obey.

‘That's enough,’

I put the plate aside, frowning as something poked me in the arm under my shoulder. I half-expected someone to be on the other side of the bars, prodding me for entertainment, but I was alone. It wasn't long before I realized that it was the underwire of my bra, which must have worked loose after I'd been thrown to the floor.

'Great. Now I need new clothes.'

The ridiculous thought made me smile a little, reaching to absently feel the end of the wire through my shirt. I paused, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as my fingers felt the thin wire.

An idea struck me, and I got to my feet. I went to the cell door, the bars just far enough apart for me to stick my head through. I peered at the tiny hole in the metal lock, my idea quickly forming.

I turned my back to the bars and, after making sure no one was coming, reached up under my shirt. I managed to tug the wire free and turned back to the bars, straining my ears for footsteps, I carefully twisted the wire before sliding it into the lock and wiggling.

'Thank you, stupid spy movies.'

A sudden explosion sounded from the main room, startling me so badly that I almost dropped the wire. Shouts sounded, followed by screams and a second explosion, and I worked faster, frowning as I struggled to pick the lock. I probably wasn't even doing it right, but I couldn't spare that thought much attention.

Finally, the lock clicked open; at the same time the door down the hall leading to the main room opened with a violent crash. I shoved the cell door open and moved into the hall, grabbing the torch off the wall after a moment's hesitation. I wouldn't get far without some kind of weapon.

I ran down the hall, holding the torch carefully so I wouldn't accidentally light myself on fire. The cells I passed were empty, as they had been when I arrived, and I paid them no attention. As I neared the broken door, two people suddenly fell into the hall in a tangle of fighting limbs.

The taller figure was on top, wrestling the smaller one down with no small amount of difficulty. The cloaked figure on the floor thrashed and kicked violently, struggling to reach the knives strapped to his thighs. The taller figure got to one of the knives first and held it up, preparing to stab the smaller person.

I hesitated, not sure what to do, before I realized that the taller figure was the gang leader, Damaen. Bristling at the sight of him, I acted without thinking and swung my torch like a bat, striking his arm hard enough to leave a bruise while simultaneously burning his skin.

Damaen swore and dropped the knife. The smaller person caught it by the handle and twisted it in his grip, shoving the blade into Damaen's side. I watched with a mixture of pleasure and horror as Damaen grew rigid, blood spilling from his wound, before he collapsed on top of his opponent.

The cloaked person shoved him off and sat up, his hood falling back to reveal a long, dark blue braid.

"Noah!" I gasped, startled by the sight of the Hunter. "What are you doing here?"

She looked up and scowled. "Saving your stupid a*s, what else?" She got to her feet and looked at the fallen gang leader. She wiped the blood off her knife onto his shirt before sheathing the blade. "Come on. Alec and Mi'ta are getting Tyler and we're supposed to meet them soon."

"How did you know we were down here?" I asked, following her into the main room. The bonfire had gone out, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. It was almost empty, save for a few bleeding gang members on the floor.

"Well, we spent two days looking," Noah retorted, moving to stand by the stairs. "We thought you were dead. Then some guy with three eyes showed up and told us where you were. He lied, though," she said, glancing around. "He told us the place would be empty."

I blinked, then sighed. "He was keeping the playing field even," I said bitterly.

"Yeah, that's what he said. He also said something about you taking too much time." she looked at me thoughtfully. "Any idea about that?"

I frowned. "He said that-"

Another explosion cut me off, and Noah moved in front of me protectively, drawing Lyalin. It wasn't until then that I noticed a long cut in her cloak, revealing an angry red gash across her back.

Before I could question the injury, a door on the other side of the room burst open. Alec and Mi'ta appeared, Alec carrying a limp, unconscious Tyler, whose broken arm was bound loosely in a sling.

Alec spotted us and hurried over. "Let's go," he said, his eyes unusually serious as he started up the stairs. Noah quickly followed, and I dropped my torch before Mi'ta and I joined them.

We quickly reached the street, and I noticed the dead bodies of Torik and his companion by the door. I didn't get a chance to look; when my pace faltered, Mi'ta gently pushed me forward to keep me going.

As we ran through the empty streets, I caught sight of a figure on the roof of a building. I glanced up and realized it was Liske, watching our escape.

I frowned and half expected him to attack us, to continue evening the odds. He merely watched us go, however, and as he faded from sight, I noticed how amused he looked.

B*****d.

 

"Now, then," Noah said, sitting cross-legged on the coffee table. "Would either of you like to explain what the hell you were thinking?"

I sat with Tyler on the couch in our room at the inn. Noah had sat us there shortly after our arrival. Alec stood against the door, arms crossed over his chest, and Mi'ta stood behind Noah, tending to the wound on her back.

"I'm sorry," I said tiredly.

"You should be," Noah snapped. "You two are lucky you aren't dead."

"I'm sorry," I repeated. "We want to find Lily, and we got impatient. We weren't thinking. I'm sorry."

"I think they've learned their lesson, Noah," Mi'ta said quietly, moving to Tyler's side when he finished with her. He held the wrist of Tyler's broken arm gently. "Your arm's already started healing, but it wasn't braced, so it's healing wrong. I can fix it, but it's going to hurt."

"I don't care," Tyler said, staring at his lap. His free hand found mine, and I gently squeezed his fingers.

Mi'ta placed his hand on Tyler's shoulder, and slowly moved his fingers down his arm. Tyler's hand gripped mine tightly and he gave a small, pained noise, his jaw clenched. The bones of his arm shifted under his skin, and he closed his eyes.

Mi'ta quickly finished, sighing softly as he released my brother. "It's going to be sore, but it's fixed."

"Thank you," Tyler muttered, flexing his arm slightly, his fingers relaxing around mine.

"From now on," Alec said as Mi'ta shifted to my side and began healing my wounds. "Please listen to us. I know you want to find Lily quickly, but throwing yourself at a gang leader isn't the way to do it. Even if it had been the right Damaen, it's doubtful that he would have just handed Lily over and let you walk out."

"The fact is," Noah began, her tone oddly gentle. "No matter how desperate the situation, you have to think before acting. You can't go looking for danger and expect to get out without a problem." She fell silent for a moment, fingering the handle of Leonart. Glancing to Alec, she mused, "We'll have to teach them how to defend themselves."

Alec nodded slowly. "We'll go to Oyin next, it's quiet. That will give us time to teach them."

"Let's go to sleep, then," Mi'ta said, standing after he finished healing everyone. "We don't know if we'll find Damaen in Oyin, after all."

"Hey, Mi'ta," I said, drawing the magicians' attention. "If I had magic, would you be able to sense it?"

Mi'ta blinked at me. Tyler looked at me oddly as he followed Alec out, and Noah ignored us, getting ready for bed.

"Probably," Mi'ta said after a moment. "If it was powerful enough, yes. Why?"

I shrugged. "Liske said-"

"Who's Liske?"

"That three-eyed guy. He said that he can read minds, but he couldn't read mine because I'm protected by some kind of magic."

"I think you would know by now, if you had magic," Mi'ta said with a faint smile. "And I would have sensed it."

"So why couldn't he read my mind?"

"I don't know. It might have just been a fluke."

I nodded, and he left after bidding us good-night. I showered and changed my clothes, and when I returned to the main room, Noah was already asleep.

Crawling into my bed, I laid down and pulled the blanket up over my head. I didn't want to stop in Oyin; I wanted to keep going until we found Lily. But I didn't want to be completely useless, either. Vaguely I remembered telling Tyler on the beach in Shalved that we would have to learn to use some kind of weapon, and here was our opportunity.

'All right,' I thought warily as I drifted toward sleep. 'I just hope it doesn't take us too long.'

X X X

In the morning, it seemed as though everyone in town had heard of the raid on the Fire Gang.

"I guess you guys are famous now," Tyler mused as we left the Cats' Eye in, where everyone was talking about the dead gang members the police had found that morning.

"No one knows it was us," Noah replied, watching people exchange news of the incident.

"It's better to keep quiet about these things and avoid unwanted attention," Alec explained, leading us through the streets until we found an empty alley. "Especially if you don't plan to stay much longer."

"Let's go," Noah said, drawing her cloak around her. "The sooner these two can defend themselves, the sooner we can continue our search."

Alec smiled softly and tapped a few keys on the Seeker. "To Oyin, than," he murmured, and pressed the red button.

I thought irritably. 'I'm just going stir-crazy, and what Liske said is getting to me. I've got to figure out a way out of here.'