Chapter 15: The Escape

Lily looked down as the guards dragged her out once again to the forest. She just wanted to go home but ever since she was brought to Averlon the guards have kept her in a cell refusing to let her go home. Day in and day out they would bring her to the forest and ask her if she remembers the way back to the bandit camp. This has been going on for a week, every time she was terrified. Terrified that each trip to the forest will be her last...

The guards try to ensure that she does not know what is going on outside but she still picks up snippets when she is carted out of the city. She keeps hearing the same thing being whispered and everyone she passes by gives pitying looks as she is shoved onto the wagon. The same words repeated over and over again by those that watch her get carted off to the forest.

The beast...

She’s food for the beast…

Lily knows some creature freed her from the bandit camp, she does not know why she was spared by the beast. What she does know from what has overheard was that entire adventurer teams have disappeared. The roads are locked down and whatever this thing is…

It’s unstoppable…

Lily felt the anxiety rise again from within the dark recesses of her mind. Today might be her last, the beast could have simply missed her. There is nothing she can do if she runs into it again. She’ll die to its teeth or claws or spines or whatever it uses to kill its prey.

Lately, she has been feeling increasingly depressed and anxious. The constant captivity, lack of human interaction, the homesickness, and the nightmares of the time she spent at the mercy of those bandits were starting to wear at her.

Then she felt the wagon lurch to a stop, Lily snapped her head up and saw that she was now right outside the forest. She looked around and saw that this time she was much further down the road. Every time she was sent here she would be taken to a different part of the forest in the hopes she would remember something.

But to Lily the forest looked identical, she was a farmer, not a ranger. All she sees are trees and shrubbery that all looked the same to her. That combined with the fact that she was stumbling through the forest in a panic when she escaped ensured she had no idea how to get back to the bandit camp.

“Get off.” the guard said gruffly. The pair of guards were always in a sour mood, of course they would be… The powers at be have decided all their lives were disposable…

As Lily got off the cart she noticed a group of wagons riding down the road. There were two wagons and the wagons were guarded by a group of guards. That was odd, the roads were supposed to be closed.

Lily took a few steps towards the wagons as she looked on. She noticed that the wagons were filled with something…

Lily felt the wind blow towards her, then she smelt the smell of rotting flesh. Lily gagged from the smell as she doubled over and retched.

“Oi what are you doing?” one of the guards demanded.

Just as Lily felt the guard’s hand on her shoulder she felt him flinch.

“Ugh, what the hell is that smell?” one of the guards muttered as he covered his nose.

“Must be the bodies from the bandit attacks, I heard the bandits are getting bold with the roads locked down and there aren’t that many patrols on the roads.” the other guard said with a strained voice as he covered his nose.

“Oh, the attacks on Wheaton and Hearthstead?” the first guard asked.

At those words, Lily froze as she felt her blood turn to ice. She looked at the approaching wagon as she felt the panic start to rise. Lily was from Hearthstead… she had parents and a little brother…

Lily staggered towards wagons in a daze, she heard the guards asked her to stop but she didn’t care. Then she felt one of the guards grab her shoulder and yanked her back. Lily could hear the guard shouting something at her but she just tried to turn around again.

“OI!” the guard roared as he backhanded her across the face.

Lily fell onto the ground, finally snapped out of her daze. She looked down at the grass below her and saw the chains that bound her hands. All Lily wanted to do was go home, but her home was gone… but maybe her family was still alive…

Lily then heard the sound of the wagons trundling past, she turned her head and looked at the wagons. The wagons were filled with corpses, then saw a small body half hanging out of the back of the wagon. She felt her heart drop as she recognized the face of the little body, it was her little brother. His once ever-smiling face now blank, his eyes once filled with life now empty and hollow.

“GET THE HELL UP!” one of the guards roared as she was dragged to her feet.

Lily didn’t even look at the guard, she just looked at the wagon as it trundled past. Lily felt her vision blur as she felt her eyes grow hot. The guard yelled something else but it all sounded like muffled garbling to Lily. Lily turns and sees the guard raising his hand to hit her again. She doesn’t do anything as the blow lands and she toppled onto the grass.

Lily tastes blood in her mouth and she feels the welling grief inside her. She realizes that at this point there is nothing left for her to live for. Her home is gone, everything she cares about is either dead or destroyed. She might as well die right here…

Die right here…

Lily then feels a quiet rage begin to bubble out from within her. She feels something in her snap as her grief turns to vindictive rage. She looks up at her captors, the guards who beat her when she refused to enter the forest, the guards that treat her like human garbage as they cart her off to the forest day after day.

Well if they want her to go to the forest so badly… she’s not afraid to die anymore, she’ll welcome the beast’s claws if only those claws strike down her captors too.

Lily was ready to go to the next life… are her captors ready?

With that last bit of defiance in her mind, she stands back up and gives the guard a hate-filled glare. Her gaze makes the guard pause for a moment but his face turns into a snarl.

“What are you looking at?” the guard snarls as he shoves Lily towards the forest.

Lily obeys as she takes the lead into the forest. Usually, she tries to be quiet lest any excess sound alerts the beast to her presence. But this time she stomps her way through the forest, rustling bushes, intentionally snapping branches underfoot.

Lily could sense the guards starting to feel fearful of all the noise she was making. She noticed over the many trips to the forest that the guards were afraid to talk in the forest. That was for good reason; many of the monsters in the forest have very sharp hearing and there was no guarantee the beast wasn’t among them.

Lily felt a fire ignite within her as she smiled. She felt something she hasn’t felt in a long time. Empowerment… These men were at her mercy. In the forest, she held the power, she didn’t care if she lived or died so there was nothing these guards could do to her. Lily lets out a laugh as she roughly kicks a nearby bush.

Finally one of the guards snaps as he lunges forward and grabs her.

“What the hell are you doing? Are you insane?” the guard hissed into her face, his face pale as he tried to keep his voice down.

“Afraid?” Lily asked not bothering to keep her voice down.

“Shut up, do you want to be eaten?” the guard hisses again in reply as his eyes dart all over their surroundings.

Lily pauses as she gets an idea. The guards will probably face some form of punishment if she escapes. But if she tries to run and they decide to chase then imagine the noise they would make…

“Yes…” Lily replied with a smile as the guard’s eye’s widened in surprise at her suicidal response.

Lily then looks down at the cuffs on her wrists and more importantly the heavy chains that held her wrists together. Getting an idea Lily swings both her arms at the guard, the chain hits him hard across the side of his helmet. The guard falls to the ground clutching the side of this head while the other guard shouts in alarm.

Lily turns and begins sprinting deeper into the forest. She hears the guards sprinting after her, it looks like whatever consequences they will face if she escapes was worse than them risking the ire of that beast. What is to fear more than the potential fangs of a monster? The certain death by a noose…

“Please stop!” Lily heard one of the guards shout, desperation in his voice.

Lily laughed as she ran, she could feel the exhilaration of it. The fear in the guard’s voice, the knowledge that for once in her life she had power over another person. The fact that these men abused her for weeks only made it sweeter…

However, at the end of the day, Lily was still just a common farmer. She didn’t have the stamina to outrun trained soldiers. So eventually she slowed and she felt one of the guards tackle her from behind. She was rolled onto her back and she saw an enraged but pale guard raise his fist. She felt the fist slam into her face, she felt her nose shatter and two of her front teeth come loose.

“STUPID SUICIDAL BITCH!” the guard roared.

Lily let out another weak laugh as she felt her mouth fill with blood, she blinked the stars out of her eyes and she saw the guard on top of her being pulled off by the other one.

“Calm down, keep your voice down…” the other guard hissed.

Lily then spat a mouthful of blood up at the guard on top of her, splattering her blood on the side of her face. The guard winced and he turned a dangerous edge in his eyes. He raised his armored fist again and Lily smiled in defiance.

Then she saw the area around them light up with a blue magical glow…

In an instant, she found the scenery above her change. The canopy of the trees was now gone, replaced by a clear blue sky. The guard on top of her got off in a panic as the pair both drew their swords and looked at something behind her.

Lily sat up unsteadily as she felt blood dribble down from her mouth and down her chin. She saw the two guards take two shaky steps back. Then Lily felt a warm hand on her shoulder, she turned to see a beautiful woman with flaming red hair and eyes like rubies. The woman gently helped Lily to her feet. The woman raised a hand next to her bloodied face.

[Heal] the woman intoned as her hand glowed gold and Lily felt a warmth engulf her body and the throbbing pain in Lily’s face faded. Lily touched her face and felt no pain, just the wet warmth of her own blood. The woman took out a small white handkerchief and handed it to Lily. Lily took it with uncertain hands as she felt the fine silk in between fingers. The blood on her fingers already staining the white cloth red.

Lily just looked at the woman blankly, a minute ago she was ready to die. But now, here she was in front of this beautiful woman. The situation was so strange it temporarily broke her rage and grief.

“It’s ok, use it.” the woman said gently.

Lily mutely nodded as she used it to wipe the blood from her face. Lily felt her heart race as she looked at the beautiful woman, she was easily the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

“Who are you?” Lily asked in awe. Considering the circumstances she almost seemed like an angel.

“I am Cecilia Averlon, heir to the throne of Averlon.” Cecilia replied and Lily heard the guards behind her twitch in surprise, their armor clinking from the movement.

Princess Cecilia? THE princess Cecilia? The one that died those years ago? Lily furrowed her brows in confusion and she saw Cecilia smile at her expression.

“I will explain later, but for now…” Cecilia said as she shifted her gaze to the gobsmacked guards behind her.

Lily saw her eyes turn to ice as she glared at the pair of guards.

“Big strong men aren’t you? Beating a defenseless woman.” Cecilia spat as she approached them, her eyes beginning to glow blue as she channeled her magic.

“You can’t be Princess Cecilia, she died four years ago.” one of the guards stammered as he took a step back in fear. Their fear was warranted, as Lily gazed at Cecilia she noticed that her magic was strong, strong enough to electrify the air around her. Lily has met mages before but none thus far seem as strong as her. The air felt heavy around her as her magic washed out from her like a wave.

“Did I? Did any of you imbeciles see my body? Or did you just listen to what my pig of a father tells all of you.” Cecilia hissed as her right hand shot out and blue chains flew from her fingertips and wrapped around the swords of the guards

Cecilia calmly yanked the swords out of their arms and into her waiting hand. [Rubigo] Cecilia intoned and the swords began to rust until they seemingly disintegrated into brown powder.

The guards took another shaky step back as Cecilia advanced.

“Well? Nothing to say? You soldiers who beat a defenseless woman?” Cecilia said her tone like ice.

“Princess we only did as your father commanded.” the guard stammered in reply.

“Did he? So he ordered you to knock two of her teeth out and break her nose?” Cecilia snapped in response.

“I…” the guard stammered in reply.

“Save your protestations, you are a pair of brutes.” Cecilia said as she waved her hand and a wave of force knocked them off their feet making them land hard on their back.

“But you have your uses… you will tell me everything you know of Averlon…” Cecilia said as she held out a hand and clenched her fist.

Blue chains appeared and bound up the guards stringing them up like puppets. They gazed at Cecilia in fear as she approached.

“You will tell me everything or I will end you…” Cecilia said as she tightened her fist and the chains began pulling on their limbs, sending the threat that if they disobeyed she would rip them limb from limb.

“You would kill us in cold blood princess?” one of the guards asked in terror.

“Of course not…” Cecilia replied with a smile as she unclenched her fist and the chains released the guards.

“I’m not going to kill you… I’m just going to have my friend eat you…” Cecilia said as her mouth curled into a cruel smile.

Lily’s eyes widened as she saw a massive white form materialize behind the guards. The creature had a smooth domed head and towered five meters tall. Then she spotted on its shoulder the same spikes that she found in that bandit camp…

This was the beast that killed those bandits…

It looked oddly majestic in a terrifying sort of way...

The guards turned around when they saw Cecilia and Lily looking up at something. They turned and their faces blanched pale as beheld the beast in all its terrifying glory.

“I’m surprised Cecilia, I never knew you had a soft side...” the beast said with a bestial laugh.

“I have a tender spot in my heart for the downtrodden.” Cecilia replied with a smirk.

“Well these two are about to become the downtrodden.” the beast said as it leaned its massive head forward and bared its fangs. Lily looked on and saw rows upon rows of serrated teeth…

“Princess, if you let us go we can bring you back to your father. He will be overjoyed with your return!” one of the guards shouted trying to bargain with Cecilia.

At those words, Cecilia let out a laugh as if the guard said the best joke she has heard in years. As far as Lily could tell from her mirth it might as well have been…

“So… you want to be a hero? Rescue the princess from the great beast?” Cecilia said as she stifled her laughter and wiped a tear from her eye.

Then her eyes went cold again, colder than the darkest of winter nights.

You will tell me all that you know

If you want to be a hero

Then you will die like one….