Chapter 51

The Escape

“Cast in ice, she shimmered beneath the moonlight; tails entangled the roots of the trees and frigid spikes built a maze in the place of walls.”

Fairytales Collection, The Frozen Princess

The high sky above was cloudless, the moon adjoining the stars in illuminating the world of the night. Even the city itself stood shining in embers, almost every street lit up in luminosity of the gems. Darting through the narrow and darkened alleyways was a small entourage of five, hooded and cloaked from head to toe.

Noah used as much of the ‘Dark’ as he possibly could to cloud them all, but he didn’t see much effectiveness to it. After all, he still had no clue as to how to properly extend it, and overusing it through raw expelling only made him tired. The most he could do, he realized, was coat the soles of their boots to smother the sounds of their footsteps. While it wasn’t optimal, it was better than nothing as nobody here except for him knew anything when it came to sneaking around properly.

He came to a halt suddenly, everyone else behind him following right after. Beyond the edge of the oily wall was an open street, well-lit, and he saw no other alleyways nearby. He peaked beyond, and frowned; it was a half-circular opening, with a row of window-shops opposite of him, but, more importantly, a still-open and well-awake tavern to the left-end of things. He saw no guards, but that didn’t matter – he didn’t want to be seen by anyone.

“… how far away?” he asked Claire.

“Uh—a-about ten minutes?” she replied.

“…” falling back into silence, the gears of his mind began spinning once again. He closed his eyes and focused, shutting off all distractions – bit by bit, overhead map of the fort slowly came to him as he projected it into a 3D shape to the best of his knowledge. He didn’t see every corner of the fort, let alone map out everything in detail as he didn’t have enough time, but, luckily, the surroundings were a part of the general route throughout the fort that he had walked through three-four times – just enough to gain enough detail.

Roughly three hundred feet up ahead, down the crescent-shaped street, was a dodgy set of dark and narrow passages, mostly home to either the homeless or the discarded trash. They wound in a zig-zag shape altogether, making a full round around one of the fort's residential areas. According to Claire's information, the entrance to the underground tunnel should be somewhere around the Etkiw’s Smithy, a small, but well-respected smithy toward the eastern end of the fort.

To get there… if he was alone, that wouldn’t be an issue – but he wasn’t. Moreover, there were four extra people. None of which possessed any sort of a skillset that could help them at the moment. In addition, they carried a decent amount of luggage which slowed them down considerably. It didn’t, however, lead to him losing his focus – if anything, it sharpened it.

The less favorable situation he found himself in, the more focused he became; it was simply his nature. He never allowed himself to panic and let his emotions take over, even in situations far worse than the one he found himself in right now. There was a way out of this, he knew – there was always a way out. He just had to find it.

Over and over, he examined the layout of his surroundings inside his head, looking for anything – and then he spotted it. If they circled back and took down the Hiymer’s Boulevard and its own set of the dark alleyways, they could entirely circle the residential area in a full sweep. In addition, the back of it was far less populous and frequented, and even the guards largely ignored the area.

Everyone else stayed quiet, even the young Lyon; all four knew the extent of what they were doing, and what would happen if they were caught. Unlike Claire and Lyon, however, Myrell and Sash didn’t speak because there was no need to – and, unlike the former two, they neither felt the fear nor the anxiety. The two put all their trust into their Master and knew full-well that they’d get out of this safely, especially because the Master brought all four of them together.

“… let’s go.” After a few minutes of stillness and silence, Noah finally spoke out in a hushed voice and suddenly turned around, surprising everyone. However, they still followed right after him, rounding back the path they took to get there.

The five shadows continued darting along the faint shade, still making no sound. They quickly routed back to the original section as Noah took them down the Hiymer’s Boulevard, a magnificently wide, yet eerily empty concrete street. By Noah's estimates, it was almost forty feet wide, but there was nothing on it except rotting wagons. It also happened to branch off into hundreds of smaller streets and hundreds of smaller alleyways, forming a sort of a maze altogether.

Just as they ducked into the nearby alley, with Noah ready to lead them down the complex web, a shot, almost like that of a cannon, exploded out – he came to an immediate halt and looked up to the sky, his eyes widening. The lines and threads that usually remained faintly lit suddenly flared up like lightbulbs, the entire fort drowned in the encased shower of breathtaking light. A mere moment later, a silhouette encased in fluorescent light shot up into the sky like a flare, as Noah instinctively ducked further into the shadows, drawing everyone with him.

"SKYLER!!!!" a maddened, crazed, and high-pitched voice broke out throughout the fort at a frequency that almost caused Noah a headache. However, just at that moment, he felt the lumps of the Dark cradle him from the inside and protect him. Others, however, were not so lucky; Lyon immediately fainted after vomiting a mouthful of blood, while Myrell and Sash endured for a few moments before passing out themselves. Only Claire remained halfway conscious, still struggling. "GET YOUR ASS OUT RIGHT NOW!!!"

Noah gritted his teeth together as he pooled the four bodies together as closely as possible, throwing himself in front of them, encasing his entire body in the Dark. He may not know the exact functions of Light, but he did know some users had the ability to use it as a scouting tool – and someone like Sylene, a Duchess, no doubt could see everything the light touched inside the fort. And, thanks to the set of countless strings and threads hung up above the fort, the entire lining was like living inside the world of light itself.

We can’t escape like this, he immediately realized. There was that variable – something nobody could account for, let alone a complete alien to this world – the Light. The magic. No matter his calculations, no matter how much he spun the gears of his mind, from time to time, he’d run into situations like these – like ending up inches away from completing his mission, only to have somebody he didn’t even know lived inside the mansion pull out a gun and hold it against his head.

Glancing at the four, all of them passed-out, even Claire now, he flinched. He felt it, in that moment. Something he didn’t feel in so, so long – guilt. The moment he thought of abandoning them here and just leaving by himself, a wave of guilt washed over him like a tsunami.

He sat down – or, better said, slumped onto the floor. Once again, he realized, he was at the crossroads. Just like back on the day of his twenty-first birthday. Two choices – one of the few times the life truly offers only two choices, and you have to pick one. The last time… he ignored the guilt. He saved himself and went on to live a rather prosperous life – one haunted by the ghosts of that day, but a prosperous one nonetheless. He could do it now – though he wasn't a hundred percent confident in escaping anymore, he was still confident enough to try it. He could even use the four of them as temporary distractions by calculating the angle of the light hitting the alleyways and exposing them to it at the right time.

He could potentially even use Claire as a hostage and negotiate; however angry Sylene was, she was not mad – her heart could not endure losing two children within the span of a single night. It could perhaps afford him a ticket out. The only end he’d face today, then, would be the end of this identity – hundreds of which he could craft to replace it.

There were many options, but only two choices – and he was wrung. I didn’t think I was this weak, he smiled bitterly, looking up at the breathtaking sky. He knew why however; he let them in. Perhaps not the Lady and her butler, but Myrell and Sash… he did. In the process of obtaining their hearts and their loyalty, he'd given away a small part of himself to them, however much he ignored that reality. He cared, he mused, sighing aloud. More so than perhaps even that care, he didn’t want any more ghosts – or, rather, he couldn’t afford any more ghosts. His mind has been walking on the edge for so long, a single push might be enough to careen him to the other end.

Was he confident in fighting her magic with his own? Of course not. He had not even considered using the Dark as a means of battling, nor had he ever practiced it. He could imagine some possibilities, but as he never planned to stand in the light, he only ever gave serious thought to its stealth applications. I don’t need to win, he consoled himself. Just buy enough time. She won’t kill me so long as Claire’s fate remains a mystery. I can string her along and look for a chance to escape.

He knew it was a moronic decision – after all, almost every inch of his body was telling him to get out now, while he still could. He will probably come to heavily regret the choice he made today… but he knew, no matter what happened, that regret wouldn’t amount to a single droplet of what he felt on that day, over twenty years ago. Nothing ever will, after all.