Chapter 78: Prison Broken (Patreon)

Hesitantly, I pat Dendra on the back. “Good job. Let’s get moving.”

She turns to me with the same smile, making me shrink back slightly.

At the reaction, surprise jumps on her face before she shakes her head and goes back to being shy.

Without a word, she nods and follows the others.

I watch her for a second.

She’s got something in there.

Not sure what it is, but it’s there.

Shaking out the loose thoughts, my legs bend and I rush to the writhing soldiers, who don’t even know the fire is gone.

Instead of getting stuck in an endless fight, I pull my arm back and slam my fist against the doorway, adding Companion’s Assistance.

The bricks blast apart, raining down as shrapnel on the soldiers.

Sadly, the structure holds.

I have to strike the surrounding area twice more before the ceiling starts to give way.

At that sign, I flip on my heels and take deep strides back down the hallway.

The sound of collapsing stone follows me as kicked-up dust fills the hallway as I catch up to the group, who are waiting for me.

“Move! Move! Don’t wait for me!” I swing my arms, gesturing for them to move.

They bustle into action.

After the next bend, salvation arrives.

Next to another door, a window, or more like a window in the wall, shows a tiny glimpse of the night sky.

“That way!” I point, leading the way.

One man falls, and the others waste no time helping him to his feet, continuing the push.

I slam my shoulder against the door, but it doesn’t budge.

Quickly, I yank the ring which acts as a doorknob, but it doesn’t pull open either.

My brows furrow.

Fine, I’ll do it my way.

I pull my arm back, thrusting it at the center of the door while activating companion’s assistance.

Wood crunches and splinters as the door explodes off its hinges into heavy chunks.

“Haha!” Laughter comes involuntarily as I enjoy my own power.

Damn! That’s fun!

Shaking my head, I focus on the mission.

The group and I exit outside. 

Fresh, cool air gently blows on my skin, granting a reprieve from the hot, stale air of the torches inside.

Thankfully, the courtyard seems mostly empty.

A few hundred feet of grass extends to a thick wooden wall manned with two archer’s towers.

Wait, archer’s towers!?

Danger.

I slip to the side when a prickle of it appears on my shoulder.

Realization hits, and I stick my arm out in front of Yugo.

Plink

The arrow bounces off the white metal and falls to the ground.

“Everyone! Huddle together!” I yell.

They do as I say.

My mind races as One Mind/Two Bodies activates.

I could rush the towers and dodge the arrows, but that would leave the group vulnerable.

Can’t use the bow, it would wreck my body.

Another arrow speeds by over my shoulder.

A woman screams in pain behind me.

Damn!

I can’t intercept them unless they’re targeting me!

My eye flickers, searching for a solution, but nothing comes up.

I’ll just have to become the most pressing issue.

“Let’s go! Move!” I wave forward while bending my legs and launching myself at the archers’ towers.

My head bends to the side, an arrow flying past.

The grass blurs below me as I pull my fist back.

I bend into the blow, an ethereal arm joining my gauntlet as it slams into a supporting beam.

The log bends to the side, then snaps open with an explosion of splinters.

I jerk to the side, avoiding an arrow that buries itself at my feet.

The entire tower creaks, leaning to the side.

I can’t even watch as another arrow forces me to duck.

Bursting into motion, I repeat the strike on the other tower, the supporting log blasting apart the same as the last.

A mighty crash shakes the ground as the first tower finally falls.

Chime

That killed the archer?

I rush back to the group as the second tower hits the ground.

Before I can speak, I see more soldiers in various states of armor running out of the door to the stronghold.

For the first time, I observe the place we just left.

Like a ziggurat, it builds up in stories as it reaches farther away, boasting an incredible width.

The lead soldier locks eyes with me as he draws his sword.

In one motion, I leap over the group of slaves, landing and springing myself at the enemy.

The soldier’s eyes widen as he stops and swings into my path.

I brush the attack off with my left gauntlet and transfer the momentum of my dash into a right hook.

The man’s chestplate groans and collapses inward as he’s blasted backward like a bullet, knocking down his comrades as he’s thrown back into the building.

Chime

Turning back, I see the group navigating their way through the destroyed archer towers.

Two men help Yugo and his father over a large beam.

The sight makes me smile.

Then, movement to the left.

A slight motion in the darkness, hidden in the wreckage.

A tiny glint of steel.

My eye widens. “Behind you!”

Time slows down as I force the entirety of One Mind/Two Bodies into perception.

It’s too late.

The entire scene moves like molasses, the arrow moving inexorably through the air.

“NO!”

My legs burn as I toss myself forward.

My body bends, my fist coming down like a guillotine on the archer’s head.

Fucking piece of shit!

Your last fucking breath and you used it to kill a slave!

I tense even further and watch as the man’s head explodes in a burst of gore, splattering against the wood.

I’m on my feet before I know it, lunging and sliding to a stop at the Yugo’s father’s feet.

He looks kind.

Like a man you’d pass on the way to work every day.

Only a nod and a smile, but he would give it every day.

Now, that smile is leaking blood.

His eyes dart around, searching for something.

For an escape.

He tries to speak, but only gargles and coughs of blood come out.

My mind spins.

What should I do?

What can I do?

My hands hover uselessly, searching for a way to help.

If I take out the arrow, he’ll bleed to death.

It’s not possible.

I don’t think he can survive.

One of the women trips over a piece of wood falling next to the man.

Everything spirals.

The man’s eyes flick between me and the woman.

His body convulses.

She screams, tears running down her cheeks.

His eyes flutter, jaw shaking.

Someone grabs the woman and pulls her away.

Why?

I should have taken heal.

I’m such an idiot.

I could have helped.

Something pulls me from the side, but it feels muted.

I should have checked.

If only I had-

A hand comes in fast, but the danger is so low that I don’t bother dodging.

Smack

The world comes back, if ever so slightly.

One of the slaves waves their hand in front of my face. “Kevin! Snap out of it! They’re-”

“Kevin, don’t feel trauma.” I whisper.

The pain, the weight in my heart fades, drains away.

Crying still echoes through the night.

Yugo’s father still suffers, growing weaker with every movement.

But everything else is gone.

My mind is empty.

The sight of Yugo’s father brings up nothing.

Thoughts stutter.

Something’s wrong.

I should be going through with the pain.

I shouldn’t be avoiding it.

It’s unnat-

smack

This time, the world slams back into view.

Groups of soldiers pour out of several doors spread over the stronghold.

The woman continues to struggle against the men holding her back, tears streaming down her cheeks.

I don’t hesitate.

Jumping to my feet, I grab the woman and toss her over my shoulder, looking to the men that tried to help.

“Move! Go!” I point at the only exit, a gate that stood between the two archer towers.

They nod, sprinting to join the rest of the group.

The woman thrashes like hell, but I keep her secured.

Deep, lunging strides carry me past the group and to the gate.

With one hand, I hoist the giant log holding the gate closed and toss it to the side.

I clench my teeth and grab the thick chain holding it shut.

Muscles tense and strain, but the gate slowly creaks open as my feet dig into the dirt.

I really need some shoes.

The group catches up just as I open the gate enough for a person to fit through.

They shuffle through single-file as I pull my fist back and throw force energy from my gauntlets at the soldiers.

It doesn’t hold them back much; the size of the army grows as they pour out of the stronghold.

As soon as all the slaves are through, I fit out as well.

I grab the edge of the gate and dig my heels in as I pull it shut.

It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing.

Peeking over my shoulder, I make sure the slaves are running.

A couple of them look uncertain, as if they should help me.

“GO! Don’t wait for me!” I yell.

That’s enough of a trigger, forcing them to turn and run with the rest.

Something pulls against the gate, attempting to open it.

I resist.

The pull grows stronger as more soldiers act against me from the other side.

It’s only when I feel danger on my fingers that I let go, a spear piercing between the gap as I pull my hand back.

With nothing else to do, I bend my legs and leap back to the group.

Ten feet, fifteen, twenty.

Even with the woman weighing me down, it’s not nearly enough to slow me as I push with both feet, adopting the same leaping movement I use in the dungeon.

The group comes into view quickly.

One man trips, stumbling behind the others with Yugo in his arms.

I sweep in and grab Yugo without a word, holding him in my other arm.

The woman doesn’t thrash anymore, only crying and sobbing.

Yugo is the opposite, eyes blank and glued to the stronghold that we just left.

Even when my body blocks his view, he simply climbs up my arm so he can get a good view.

Without a word.

My heart… is empty.

Like a drug, the command takes everything away.

The weight in my stomach, gone.

The tightness in my chest, gone.

It feels wrong.

I should be experiencing these things, but I’m not.

All that’s left in the hole is emptiness and cold, hard logic.

The rest of the group doesn’t speak.

They are too focused on controlling their breathing as they push themselves to their limits running.

Even I’m starting to feel it, light panting coming out of my throat.

The use of my new skill doesn’t come without cost.

With the light of the torches gone, the only thing guiding us through the forest is the light of the moon.

No, moons.

Three stand in the sky. Two are large with a greenish-hue, while the last is small with a reddish-hue.

It’s beautiful.

Even so, Yugo’s father doesn’t leave my mind.

My vision is filled with the night sky, but all I can see is him.

The blood leaking from his mouth.

The shuddering as his mind fails to process what’s happening.

I could see it all in real time.

What was he thinking?

Beneath all the panic, all the pain.

What was going through his mind as his eyes swayed left and right?

The run continues for several minutes, but eventually, the weakest of the slaves start lagging behind, so everyone slows their pace.

When it becomes apparent that we aren’t being followed, the urgency settles.

Which is good, because I don’t think all of us could have kept our speed against the soldiers.

Even after walking for a few hours, no one speaks.

Yugo sits on my shoulders, holding onto my head, while the woman is carried in my arms.

She’s asleep, while he just sits silent.

No crying, no questions, no rage.

Just silence.