2. Escape

"Now remember. He'll likely be an earth mage. Most guard mages are. But that doesn't tell us anything about his focus. He could get something like rock armor up as soon as he senses danger which might as well be invincible with us being unarmed." Ava explained.

James nodded his head in understanding. He had barely slept the night before, not being used to sleeping on such a hard surface, nor sleeping with his hands tied behind his back. His eyes were strained from a lack of sleep but he forced his mind to focus on Ava's words.

“We’ll get a few seconds and as soon as your hands are free, attempt to incapacitate him by any means. The precious few seconds will buy me enough time to cast Deep sleep on him. You MUST keep his attention during this time! If luck is on our side, we’ll be able to grab the keys from him and escape. With the bare amounts of mana I’ll have, I won’t be able to focus much after that. My vision will be dizzy so you’ll have to help me leave.” Ava looked at him and he felt her eyes try to pierce his soul. She was searching for something.

James realized her fear. “I won’t leave you behind. I promise.” He conveyed his sincerity.

She finally nodded and broke eye contact. “Now get close, our bracelets have to be touching for the mana surge to break both of them.”

They both shuffled close together and turned around so their backs were touching and the bracelets were in contact. He could feel Ava’s body leaning against his for support. He could feel the bones sticking out, likely a sign of malnourishment. She told him of the disgusting stew they served once a day that you had to lap up like an animal from the bowl, hands bound as they were. He hadn’t had the pleasure yet seeing as it was only his first night and the “food” was served at midday. She had been here for a week already, an execution taking some time to set up apparently.

He could feel occasional shivers from her body, likely hunger pains. His own stomach growled in response, reminding him that he hadn’t had a meal since yesterday either. He was thankful for the bowl of water at least which had helped some.

"Shit! He used to always come alone." He heard Ava curse under her breath.

James noticed two people making their way over towards their cell. One of them was carrying a torch which gave him his first clear view of his surroundings. They seemed to be in a small cell with stone walls on three sides and heavy metal bars on the fourth. There was a small gate in the bars that the guardsman was currently unlocking. The guards too stood out from one another. One of them was wearing shiny steel armor, carrying a sword and currently opening the cell. The other guard, on the other hand seemed to be wearing nothing but a brown robe. There was some insignia on his robes but he couldn't quite make it out. He assumed this was the earth mage they would be dealing with. What surprised him how young the "mage" was. He barely looked old enough to be out of his teens. He had short blond hair and a face that wouldn't be out of place on a jock in a high school football team.

"Ava dear. I'm afraid it's our last day together." The mage smirked as he stepped into the cell. James could feel her body shake. Their hands so close to each other, he instinctively grabbed her hand and squeezed lightly in an attempt to calm her down.

"No response? Usually you're a little more fiesty than that!", the mage seemed to take some perverse pleasure in his torment.

"And who do we have here?" he seemd to finally take notice of James.

He could hear Ava start whispering something behind him, likely the start of the spell to extract energy from the dead insects. He knew he had to keep the mage's insterest.

"You're a little young to be a mage aren't you? I always figured they would be old wise men." James asked.

"What the fuck are you talking about? Are you daft? Mages are born blessed." He strode over and crouched on one knee in front of James.

"Who is this guy?", the mage seemed to ask the guard who simply shrugged in response.

He grabbed James roughly by the chin and looked him in the eyes. "Oh, this is going to be fun."

James did not have much of a chance to find out how 'fun' it would be. At that moment, he felt his bracelet break and his hands free themselves behind his back. He could hear Ava gasp behind him but knew he had precious seconds to waste. He pulled his arms forward and before the mage had a clue what was happening, he landed a punch squarely in the mage's groin.

That knocked the air out of him and whatever the mage was about to say was cut short. James paid no heed and leapt on top of the mage, trying to pin him to the ground. The teen was built like a tank and James realized no amount of force would allow him to pin this guy to the ground.

oof

He felt his ribs crack as a punch from the mage landed on his side. Any fight he had in him was overriden by pain. He rolled over and lay on his side as the mage got to his knees and started to stand up.

"Oh you little shi-"

"Deep Sleep"

James saw a mass of black "something" emanante from Ava's hand and impact the mage in the chest. He sported a look of confusion as the spell hit him before his eyes rolled over and he collapsed on the ground.

Ava, who had now gotten to her feet swayed a little bit, her mana reserves having been depleted. James knew he couldn't lay there forever. He knew it would all have been for nothing if they couldn't escape now. The guard who had accompanied the mage was now in the cell, sword drawn.

"Get back against the wall!" he commanded.

James groaned and got to his feet as well. The guard was focused on Ava, rightfully the more dangerous spellcaster. He likely had no idea how out of mana she was.

"Let us leave and we will spare your life." Ava tried to sound confident.

There was a moment of hesitancy in the guard's eyes. His eyes glanced towards the fallen mage and seemed to recognize the rise and fall of his body as he was breathing, still unconscious. He realized the mage was not dead and that seemed to harden something in him.

James lunged towards the man and while the guard attempted to stab him with his sword, they were too close for the sword to be able to swing the degrees required. He slammed into the guard's body and pushed him back with enough force that the guard hit the wall and dropped his sword. Pain exploded in his own body at the impact and James fell to his knees again, whimpering in pain.

"James look out!" Ava cried out. The guard had picked up his sword and was swinging it at him. He could trace the arc of the sword as it came towards his neck in a slicing motion. No time to dodge, James brought his bare hand up to block the sword. To both their surprise, the sword was stopped cold by the palm of his hand. A flash of blue light briefly engulfed his hand before dissipating. Had he just done magic? A surge of adrenaline flowed through him.

This seemed to scare the guard as he immediately dropped his sword and made to run. James knew if the guard alerted the others, their escape would be made near impossible. He grabbed the guard's feet while he was turned around and pulled, causing the guard to drop to floor, the weight of his armor and gravity working against him. James picked up the sword from the ground and use the hilt to knock the guard unconscious.

He walked over to Ava, who was now leaning against a wall and breathing heavily. "Ava. Are you alright?"

"I'll be better after some time. Let's get out of here."

He needed no further encouragement. His act of 'magic' had given him a shot of adrenaline and he was not going to waste it. He disrobed the earth mage and wore it himself like they had planned. Regular guards would defer to a guard mage allowing them some level of protection in their escape. So long as they thought he was just taking a prisoner somewhere else, they had no authority to question him.

He helped Ava out of the cell, putting an arm on her waist and having her use his body for support. Using the key ring he had picked up from the guard, he tried a few keys until he was able to lock the cell behind them.

They lumbered down the corridor and made their way in random trying to guess an exit. They had to be inconscpicous so he had her walk in front of him while he grabbed both her hands behind her as if escorting a prisoner. He used his other hand on her arm more to provide support while she swayed back and forth. No one would question a beaten up prisoner being escorted. Thankfully, the lanky robes hid his own painful walk. The adrenaline having faded and the pain since returning two fold.

Guard patrols would nod in deferrment when they passed each other without a second glance. Their only worry was other guard mages who would be able to identify that he wasn't one of their member, some kind of mage sense that Ava mentioned. Guard mages were rare inside prisons however, most of them being assigned to the palace, in the army or other more prestigious locations.

He thanked whatever diety existing in this world when they finally made their way to a door that seemed to be an exit. A little too early perhaps as the two guards at the door stopped him. Apparently, it was unusual for a mage to escort a prisoner out of the barracks by themselves.

"Sir, do you need help escorting the prisoner? We also require a release form before allowing prisoners to leave the premises."

He eyed both of the guards in turn. They seemed extremely uneasy to be questioning him but protocol forced their hand.

"Very well." James mentioned. "You", he pointed towards one of the guards, "fetch me the forms." The guard nodded his head and hurried off. "And you, fetch me your captain. I have some complaints to make...".

"Err yes sir. Absolutely. But... you see I cannot leave the door unguarded. Captain Jankah would have my head. I'd be happy to fetch him as soon as Micah returns with the forms." the guard squirmed under his gaze this time.

"And why would the door be unguarded when I am here?" James inquired adding an element of anger into his voice.

"No sir. I did not mean to imply-"

"Get your fucking captain right now!"

That seemed to have broken whatever resistance remained as the guard hurried off to fetch his captain. As soon as the guard was out of sight, James made towards the exit.

"That was well done" Ava complimented his acting and he felt his cheeks flush. He was never one to take compliments well.

They exited onto a street much like the one he had been arrested in. However, it was dawn and there was barely anyone out and about. A few street vendors were setting up shop, trying to rub away the sleep from their eyes.

Ava had recuperated enough mana to be able to walk without feeling dizzy. She took control, leading him down alleyways with a sense of direction. He ditched the robes in an alleyway, assuming that the guards would have been alerted by now to a person impersonating a guard mage. They finally arrived at a narrow wooden house squeezed in between other narrow wodden houses, perhaps one room wide and a couple of stories tall if he had to guess.

Ava too was surprised that the door opened when she twisted the handle. She cursed when she saw the state of what was inside. Or rather, what wasn't inside. The place looked ransacked. There were pieces of cloth all over the floor, bits of broken wooden furniture. This used to be her home and he could see tears starting to form in her eyes at the sight. She went over to a particular spot on the floor and pulled on the wooden plank. It gave way to reveal a hidden compartment. "At least my money's still here." she exclaimed.

They had discussed their next steps when they made their plans. The guards would discover their escape and immediately send someone to Ava's house to check. They couldn't stay here for much longer. Their best bet was getting out of the city. James sat down on a broken bench as he waited for Ava to gather whatever things she could. He realized she was likely a few years older than him. Her likely being in her late twenties to his mid twenties. She was beautiful and he shuddered to think what she had suffered through.

"Change into these. Your strange clothes stand out too much." She broke him out of his musings and tossed him some clothes. He looked down at his faded jeans and tshirt. 'Yeah, perhaps they did at that.'. She went into a different room to change and give him privacy to do so as well. He changed into the loose white shirt and baggy brown pants. He was wearing all black sneakers but thankfully those didn't stand out too much. He didn't imagine medieval shoes were as comfortable.

Ava emerged a few minutes later, her hair now bound in a bun above her head. He noticed that she had also tried to clean up the dirt on her face but it would take a long shower before either of them were fully clean again. They had no time to waste so they made their way out of the house.

Their plan was simple. Ava had a distant cousin in a nearby town who would be able to provide them shelter for a little while. It would have taken a few days of walking the money that Ava had been able to acquire, they'd be able to get passage on a merchant wagon and be able to arrive by nightfall.

The streets were starting to fill up with people going about their every day business. This helped them blend in somewhat. Ava purchased a couple of apples off a cart and handed him one. He followed her as she haggled with a couple of wagon drivers who were loading up supplies and about to head out of the city. She finally handed an old man some money and motioned for him to jump on the back of the wagon. There were a few barrels in the wagon already but enough space for both of them to sit or lie down if needed.

As the horse drawn wagon started moving, James found his pain returning. Every jolt of the wagon wheel making him wince. But he was grateful to be free.

"Thanks. For everything." He told Ava.

"We helped each other". She stated simply. She lay down against the side of the wagon and closed her eyes.

He didn't know what the future held in store for either of them. He wanted nothing more than to be back home and fall asleep on his comfy mattress. He had no idea how he was in this predicament to begin with or how he could possibly go back. Maybe magic was the answer. He fell asleep fantasizing about sleeping in his own bed.