Chapter 8 - Escape

Skyle and Leon grunted as they were both unceremoniously thrown into an empty cage that was isolated from the rest of the cages. Twenty meters to either side, countless humans milled within similar cages. Their eyes were full of fear and despair though none dared to make a sound under the cruel eyes of a half dozen guards stationed to keep watch.

“You will await the Lord Commander’s pleasure here,” one of the soldiers escorting them stated flatly, contempt dripping from his voice. “Any act of disobedience will be punished by death.”

Skyle glared at the guard in defiance. “Your commander said-”

The soldier met Skyle’s gaze for a moment, then tilted his head to one side. Immediately, one of the soldiers behind him stepped forward and delivered a violent kick against Leon’s broken arm. Fresh blood splattered against the dirt floor of the cage as Leon gritted his teeth, refusing to let out a sound but writhing on the ground in agony.

“Hmmph. This one’s got some mettle,” the soldier murmured, then slowly turned his eyes back to Skyle. “I know a hundred different ways to break such men, let alone pups like you. The commander didn't say anything about your friend. Go on, just try me.”

“You bastards!” Skyle cried out in outrage, but suddenly doubled over in a violent coughing fit, clutching at his own ribs where they’d cracked in his previous fight. When his head came back up, there was blood dripping from his lips.

Still, Skyle glared furiously at the soldier. The soldier narrowed his eyes and was about to motion to the soldier next to him again, but Skyle finally conceded, dropping his gaze and hurried to Leon’s side to see to his wound. Meanwhile, with a cold clang, the cage door was shut and their escort left, though not before leaving two men to stand guard over the door.

“I’m alright,” Leon said through clenched teeth, but blood was still oozing from the wound where the jagged end of a bone broke through the skin of his arm. “Besides, you’re not looking too good yourself.”

“Good, then that’s as it should be,” Skyle easily agreed, glancing back towards the door, beyond which the sentries had been posted. “As for you, I think your arm is just about bad enough to suit us.”

“Huh?” Leon froze and looked up at Skyle in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“We need to break out of here, and that means either us getting out there or them coming in here. We have no weapons, and no elemental power either. That only leaves two things,” Skyle stated matter-of-factly, pointing to his own head, then to his bloodied lips. “Our wits, and our injuries.”

“Hey, what about your-” Leon cut off abruptly as Skyle showed him his bleeding lips where he had bit into to them to produce the blood. Then Leon glanced down at Skyle’s broken leg. It was still slightly bent at an unnatural angle, but it was not as severe a wound as Leon’s own. “So you pretended?”

“I’ve got a couple cracked ribs and a busted leg, but the worse our injuries look, the better for now.”

“I see. Yeah, not bad, not bad at all farmboy. Will they really come to treat our injuries?”

“Most likely, yes, even if only to ensure that I survive until their commander’s interrogation. A better question would be, so what if they enter? I doubt we can overpower them, at least not without weapons and in this state,” Skyle muttered.

“Speak for yourself!” Leon growled in a low voice, glaring hotly at the guards outside the cage.

Skyle raised an eyebrow at Leon, and the other boy’s shoulders slowly sagged.

“If only I had access to my fire spirit,” Leon growled.

Skyle narrowed his eyes momentarily as he glanced at Leon. Perhaps it was the fact that he had never been able to rely on any elemental power to help him through his own hardships, but Skyle was truly taken aback at how much others depended on it, and how much its lack crippled their own abilities and potential. After all, the flame-flinging Leon that Skyle had faced earlier had been much more domineering and confident than the Leon sitting on the ground now.

Maybe that’s part of the price of great power, Skyle pondered to himself. We become too dependant on it. Then again, who would begrudge that small price for such incredible power? That brought back the memory of the overwhelming currents of raw elemental power coursing through every inch of this world. That feeling of being on the cusp of being able to wield such intoxicating power, it had been terrifying yet wondrous at the same time. Skyle closed his eyes and tentatively attempted to reach out for that same state once more, but reality proved cruel and the elemental sight was elusive as ever.

Had Skyle simply dreamed all of it? Had it been a delusion?

After failing a few times, Skyle decided he simply did not have the time at the moment. Kendric Farrow hadn’t taught Skyle to rely on wishful thinking, and the only miracles he believed in were those of his own making.

“Are you done yet?” Leon asked when he noticed Skyle opening his eyes.

“With?”

“You can’t sense your elemental power either, can you?” Leon asked, his mouth twisted in disgust. “I can’t even enter the spirit sight.”

Skyle opened his mouth, then closed it. There would be little point to explaining the fact that he was crippled and had never been able to truly enter the spirit sight until just a moment ago. Instead, he commented on something he’d observed.

“I don’t think anyone can, at least not without paying some kind of price,” Skyle pointed out. “The guards haven’t used any elemental power, and even that commander was using some sort of object to power his attack against the beast.”

“Just what kind of pit in hell is this?” Leon grumbled, glancing at the sky above.

Skyle followed his gaze, but all he saw were the bright lights of a beautifully multicolored afternoon slowly giving way to a breathtaking dusk as the brightness slowly receded from the sky. Glancing sideways at Leon, he wondered if all the other boy could see at the moment were the ominous dark clouds that Skyle had also seen when he had first arrived. The power of the True Sight offered many advantages, Skyle realized. He simply needed time to learn to familiarize himself with it and capitalize its assets.

Of course, life seldom would be so accommodating. His father had warned Skyle not to expect life to be fair, but at the very least he had expected a fighting chance. Broken, injured and captured by a vast army of hostile enemies in an alien environment, what was a mere 12 year old to do? Lie down and wait to die?

Shaking his head from unnecessary thoughts, Skyle whispered, “Hey, at least we’re not naked.”

Leon glanced at the milling masses of naked captives trapped in the other cages in the area and shuddered. The cages were made of sturdy, interwoven bars of metal driven deeply into the ground. On the other side of the bars, many naked people stared at them with unreadable eyes.

“You think there’s any chance of talking to the other prisoners?” Skyle asked.

Leon shook his head, “None of them dare to raise their voice that much. Doubt they’ll be much help for now.”

“No matter then,” Skyle continued in a low tone, “I saw the keys they used to lock the door hanging from the belt of the guard on the right.”

Leon blinked, then quickly looked towards the men guarding their door. They wore a strangely nondescript armor but Leon could see no belt, and neither could he spot any keys.

“What are you talking about?” Leon muttered.

“You know, the guard on the right, with the brown belt and the tasseled sword.”

“What belt and what sword? All I see are a couple clubs hanging from both the guards’ waists.”

Skyle at once realized it must be the True Sight at play once again. Upon explaining his theory about the illusions and the true sight, Leon frowned at Skyle as though he were trying to decide whether his cellmate was going insane. After going through the same explanation three times, each coming under heavier and heavier barrages of skeptical questions, Skyle finally decided enough was enough.

“Either you’ll have to trust me about the keys, or we’ll have to take our chances against two heavily armed professional soldiers with nothing but hot wind and busted limbs,” Skyle pointed out matter-of-factly, and Leon looked even gloomier than he had when he was trying to decide the matter of Skyle’s sanity.

“Ah hell, I’ve been pounded to bloody chunks by a troll, then sailed through a magic portal into a land of nightmares filled to the brim with blood-thirsty monsters. More than likely, I’m the one going insane,” Leon muttered almost to himself before taking a long, deep breath. “Fine, but since I can’t see the keys, you’ll have to snatch them. Are you up for it?”

“So long as you can provide a big enough commotion, I should be able to.”

“Pickpocketing come naturally to farm boys where you’re from?,” Leon raised an eyebrow.

Skyle eyed the other boy coolly and without any heat, but Leon slowly lowered his own gaze first.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Leon murmured in a low tone.

Skyle just shrugged it off. “Not pickpocketing but.. Ah, just wait until you meet my da. Then you’ll understand.”

“Was he the one who taught you how to shoot?”

“Much more than that,” Skyle replied, his eyes hardening. “He taught me how to kill.”

“I guess we have that in common, then,” Leon muttered bitterly, and both boys shared a long look of unexpected, but much welcome common understanding.

“Look, I think we somehow got off on the wrong foot. As it seems likely that we will be risking our lives together for the immediate future, it only seems proper that we should know who we are and what we can do,” Leon stretched his healthy hand towards Skyle in an elegant, noble gesture.

“Allow me to, most humbly, extend my salutations as Earl Leon Draxas Di Adrausier, heir of the House of Draxas, scion Di Adrausier of the Grand Duchy of Adrausier and Delphos. I’m a fire elemental summoner adept at the third stage, mentored by Archsummoner Faustus Brigandir of The Nine Suns. I’m also the student of Grand General Marius Poncius, trained in the martial arts and strategic endeavors of war from early childhood. As well, I’ve had the honor to be tutored in the arts and sciences by the sage philosopher Articitus and initiated into the holy mysteries of the Sacred Flame by his Holiness Archbishop Albedar Sumnus IV.”

After finishing this smooth, obviously well polished and rehearsed recital, Leon looked expectantly at the other youth.

Skyle scratched his head awkwardly before reaching out and shaking Leon’s hand with a bashful smile.

“Eh.. Skyle Farrow. Um, eldest son of the Farrow Farm of Sunny Meadow. Taught hunting and herding by Kendric Farrow. Ah, that’s my da, owner and master herder. Also learned letters and numbers from my mother, Adrienne Farrow, erm, Mistress of the Farrow Farm.”

Leon’s lips twitched a couple times before he nodded energetically with a twinkling fire dancing in his eyes.

“I’ve got to say, Skyle. If you learned it all from your ‘da’, he has got to be a mean bastard of a farmer, no offense intended.”

Skyle chuckled darkly at that.

“Hah, none taken. And you’ve got no idea.”

Leon pointedly glanced down at his broken arm and raised at eyebrow at Skyle.

“Really?

“Really. Now, let’s get this show on the road.”