Chapter 7: A Moonlit Escape!

Kaz’s throbbing wounds caused him to wake shortly after being unceremoniously thrown back into his jail cell. Hissing with pain as he sat against the back wall, Kaz brushed his right hand over his body in an attempt to gauge the extent of his injuries.

Wincing, Kaz first brought his hand up to his forehead. Gingerly tapping the area above his nose, Kaz felt the thick scab that covered the new addition to his looks. Feeling down towards his chest, the previously broken ribs seemed only to be cracked instead of fractured.

Well, I don’t actually know if my ribs aren’t fractured, but they hurt a lot less. Oddly, my left shoulder feels a lot better too. Kaz was astonished to discover that his body had already healed to this extent while he was unconscious.

“Hey Ahriman, why has my body recovered at this rate anyway? It can’t have been too long since I got the snot beat out of me.”

{Oh. I forgot to mention something. The Chant that you were practicing actually is crucial to a budding necromancer’s development. Since you started meditating on it, your body has become more physically resilient.} Ahriman sounded almost embarrassed that he forgot something so significant.

“Huh. Either way, I need to get out of here before the morning. I’m sure they’ll kick me out my dropping me off the battlements of the West Wall or something.”

Slowly standing up, Kaz started to expand his magical sense in order to probe for an opportunity to escape.

“It seems that I’m in luck. The large pool of death energy just outside my cell is still there. It’s decreased in size considerably, but there’s still enough for me to Death Warp to.”

But….if I go through with this it will truly mean abandoning my previous life as a citizen of Klavan. No...it was Pagan who forced me to abandon this life. The moment I was branded an Exile it was over. There’s...nothing left for me here. I only hope Mother will be fine without..me. Without the proper political clout, I can do nothing more.

Blinking his eyes to get rid of impending tears, Kaz tried to steel himself as a wave of emotion ran through his body. After a moment, Kaz’s eyes narrowed and his jaw set in a determined grimace.

Counting my innate magical energy and my enslaved souls so far, I have enough mana for five basic Rank E spells. I don’t have any idea of what time it is, so the only thing that I can do is be careful…Death Warp might be my most valuable tool since it doesn’t deplete my mana pool when cast.

Taking a deep breath, Kaz braced himself and focused on the nearby pocket of death energy. Summoning the words to his mind, Kaz casted .

The moment Kaz casted his Death Warp, he felt as if his senses were stretching. Within a few seconds, Kaz rematerialized outside near the pool of death energy, slightly smaller since some of it was consumed.

*BANG* A heinously loud noise broke the silent night’s peace as Kaz rematerialized outside. The noises of alarmed guards broke the night, and they started running towards the back of the dungeon where Kaz popped out of.

“Shit. Shit. Shit shit shit shit.” Kaz broke into a cold sweat. “Ahriman, you never said that Death Warp would make such a loud noise upon casting. Why would you NOT mention that?”

{I never said that it didn’t. Plus I never actually thought it would be used outside of battle. Making loud noises during a fight is advantageous to confuse your opponents right? I’ll have you know I’ve never used it to escape like a rat in the dead of night.} If ghosts could have facial expressions, Ahriman’s would be the embodiment of smugness.

“OY THE PRISONER’S ESCAPED” A lithe Klavan scout shouted to his patrol-mates as he gave chase. At his speed, it would only be a matter of time before he caught Kaz.

Damn. I’ve barely run ten steps and the Klavan scouts have sighted me. I guess all that commando training that they do isn’t for nothing after all. Kaz could do nothing but keep running in the direction of the Southern Gate.

Sensing the scout getting closer and closer, Kaz suddenly turned to face his pursuer.

Gathering magical energies in his hand as fast as he could, Kaz blasted a spell at point blank range. hit the scout in the chest no less than a meter from where Kaz casted it.

“Urk!?” Blasted with pure magical power, the scout could do nothing but grunt as icy tendrils shot through his body, causing him to fall on the floor. His extremities and nerves numbed by the unnatural cold, the Klavan scout fearfully tried to crawl away from Kaz.

{That was a well casted spell. Personally I would’ve just impaled the man with a Frozen Spear but that’s just me. Leave none alive to tell the tale, overwhelming fear does wonders for a necromancer’s reputation.} Ahriman’s voice filled with glee as he remembered parts of his past exploits.

Well, I’m not quite ready to stoop to killing others when I do not have to. That man did not do anything wrong to me. I don’t even think I would aim to kill if Ranik or Pagan came chasing after me. Kaz grimly ran towards the stairs leading to the parapets of the Southern Wall.

“Archers! Aim to cripple! Disable and capture the prisoner if possible!” A familiar voice barked orders to the sentries on the walls. Ranik raised his longbow into the air and took aim along with his patrol squad at Kaz.

As arrows whizzed by Kaz’s body, Kaz desperately ran in a zig-zag fashion towards the stairs.

Okay, I would maybe aim to cripple Ranik at least. The mean bastard definitely has it in for me.

Fortunately for Kaz, the arrows aimed to cripple his legs all missed. Unfortunately for Kaz, one of the arrows meant for his legs slammed into his left shoulder. Gritting his teeth in pain, Kaz could no nothing but keep running.

{Kid, either your luck is unlike any ever seen in this world, or these scouts are all downright shit at aiming.}

“Yeah, my luck definitely isn’t the greatest. Also, did you ever consider that perhaps they’re missing because I’m providing them with a moving target? Or that maybe, just maybe nighttime isn’t the most conductive for target practice?” Feeling more irritated with each painful step he took, Kaz snapped a scathing response back at Ahriman.

{Oh shut up and concentrate on running. Besides, the full moon tonight nullifies your nighttime argument. Look, I can see the individual rocks on the ground as you’re running.}

Looking up at the sky, Kaz’s face darkened further. Ahriman was right, with the full moon out, I might as well be escaping during the day.

As he frantically ran across the courtyard, Kaz cut a rather pathetic figure. His once-sturdy clothing had been torn in various places due to weapon damage. There was a thin layer of dirt mixed with blood caked on some areas, thicker in areas where Kaz bled from before the wounds closed.

Pagan woke up due to the alarms being rang throughout the Citadel.

“Heh. I don’t know how that poor bastard managed to escape, but it’ll be fun to watch the show. It’s even a full moon tonight! It’s as if the gods planned for this to happen.”

Pagan leisurely grabbed a flagon of cold wine from his desk, and leaned over his office’s balcony to watch the chase happen below.

“From this angle, Kaz running away looks like a fox hunt. Hahahahaha, run for me little fox, run!”

Sitting down in a nearby chair, Pagan watched the scene below him intently while sipping on chilled wine.

Oh damn it all. How am I supposed to get across the Gate? I can’t force it open with my own strength, and if I use the gate lever to open it from the top the soldiers would just close it before I could run down and get through. Kaz frantically looked around for an alternative as he realized that there was no easy way to get across the Wall. He was at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the Southern Wall, close to the actual gate.

“We’ve got you now, traitor scum!” Several scouts had caught up to Kaz at this moment, surrounding him on three sides. Seeing no alternative, Kaz started to run up the stairs that led to the parapets. As Kaz lept up onto the parapets, he started to run in the direction of the lever.

My only choice out of the gate is to attempt to open it up from here.

“Ahriman, would my improved physical resiliency allow me to survive a fall from the top of the wall?” Kaz frowned as he approached the gate’s lever.

If I could skip having to open the gate entirely, that would shave so much effort off of this jailbreak.

{Not a chance, hotshot. Even ignoring the fact that you still carry moderate internal injuries and bones that are half healed, your body at its current peak capabilities would be mashed into a neat paste if you tried to survive a 30 meter fall.} Ahriman dryly slapped down Kaz’s idea.

As Kaz contemplated his escape route, Ranik caught up and lunged at Kaz. Hoping to be the one to capture Kaz, Ranik drew his sword and tried to cut at Kaz’s hamstrings.

“I don’t know how you got out of that cell, but this is the end for you. Even an exile that attempts jailbreak cannot be spared the executioner’s blade. Just so you know, I enjoyed carving that brand onto your forehead. Watching the light go out of your eyes before you fainted earlier was an exhilarating experience.” With a smirk on his face, Ranik taunted Kaz, hoping the latter would lose all hope and give up on the spot.

Instead, Kaz felt an incredible rage well up from deep within. Almost without thought, Kaz gathered up enough power, and blasted Ranik with just as the scout sergeant was about to swing his blade.

“!!!” Ranik’s eyes revealed his panic and frustration as his joints locked up. This look of panic turned into one of fear and anger as his previous momentum carried Ranik up and over the edge of the wall. Wailing miserably, all Ranik could do was scream his indignation to the skies as he fell to his death.

“What? How did Ranik fall to his death? There was absolutely no way that Kaz could have overpowered him. That green flash….could Kaz be a magi?” Various theories flashed through Pagan’s mind. No longer content to drink and watch the show after Kaz had turned the tables on his pursuers, Pagan quickly made his way down the Keep to the courtyard.

Kaz’s breath caught in his throat. Even if it was an accident, it was the first time that Kaz had killed somebody that he knew. The nameless enemy soldiers in the forest didn’t really count. They had no previous interaction with Kaz, no personality was assigned to their corpses. However, Ranik was different.

Even though I disliked him, Ranik was a person with a face and a name. Nobody deserves to die like that….

{Fool! What are you waiting for? That man’s death has provided you with an opportunity! Even a naive numbskull like you should be able to figure it out.} Ahriman’s reprimand snapped Kaz back into reality, out of the numbing thoughts that he was swimming in.

Like lightning, Kaz realized the opportunity that Ahriman pointed out. Turning back to the stairs, Kaz sprinted as fast as he could back to the stairs.

Fearfully, the remaining scouts who were chasing Kaz took up threatening stances with their swords in an attempt to block him from going down the stairs.

“I have no time for this!” Kaz quickly summoned up the majority of his remaining magical energy and threw two at the lightly armored scouts. Screams broke the night for a third time as one spear impaled a scout to the wall while the other spear went through a second scout’s leg.

Panicking from the sudden pain and loss of mobility, the second scout crashed into the last scout and both men fell down the stairs. With a loud thump, the men landed at the bottom and moved no more.

Panting and getting more mentally exhausted as most of his magical energy was spent, Kaz sent his magical sense to the other side of the gate. Locating the death energy pool where Ranik landed on the other side of the wall, Kaz grinned.

Raising his hand once more, Kaz forced himself to cast .

With a second earth-shattering *BANG*, Kaz materialized on the outside of the wall. Pausing for a bit to use the last of his energy to cast on Ranik’s lingering soul. With some of his mana restored and another soul added to his collection, Kaz slipped into the night.

By the time the Klavan soldiers opened the gate and ventured outside, Kaz was long gone with only the terrors of his magic imprinted in his pursuer’s memory.

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