Chapter 9
Escape
Now, pick locking handcuffs. Simple.
Escaping from a chain and ball while being trailed behind an animal. Easy.
Escaping from a jail cell, complicated, but can be done.
Escaping from spread-eagle chains 4 feet off the ground in a cell with no way out except one way that is locked, which when opened, opens into further enemy territory which holds more foes with phenomenal electrical power.
Not simple.
Not easy.
Not even nearly possible.
As far as I could see, we were stuck. But that didn't stop my brain from beginning it's minor calculations.
They would be back around dawn. What time was it now?
Would they bring more men than just two?
What were they doing to Argenteus, anyway?
I glanced over at her. She lay, gasping on the table, her wrists still attached heavily to the sides. Her legs completely merged, but something unnaturally twisted about the way her fish tail flapped. There was something wrong, like some internal wrestle. I felt truly sorry for her. As if transforming out of water wasn't bad enough...
It was then Corr woke up. At first it was just restless shifting in his handcuffs as if he couldn't get comfortable. Then his blue eyes fluttered open. He looked around and took in the situation considerably well. The expression on his face did not seem to be alarm or surprise. He seemed to take it all in. His blue eyes met my warm brown ones all the way across the room. He hadn't said a word, but I could already tell he was waiting for instructions.
As if on cue, Coral then snapped awake, but a lot less gracefully than Corr. Her head shot up and she screamed out, “FIRECRACKER!!! HOLY HARPY EAGLE!!!! FIRECRACKER!! BACK OFF!!! WATCH OUT!!!” Then her gray eyes seem to take everything in. She looked up at the ceiling, down at the floor, tugged at her wrists, and then found Corr. She looked at him, then followed his gaze to me. But instead of the calm gaze Corr gave me, Coral yelped, “YO! VOLICLA!? ORDERS, HERE!?”
I was at a loss. I had been observing the room. Corr broke his glance form me to help me look for a way out. I heard a mumble from beside me. Artemis was fidgeting in her sleep, calling out someone's name lovingly, though I couldn't make it out.
I looked in Artemis' dark brown boyish hair that bobbed from her head. In it, was it what I thought?
With my teeth, I carefully got very close to Artemis and grabbed the pin from her hair. A little bit of her hair fell out of place, but I didn't notice. I was too busy reaching my wrist with the pin in my teeth. I knew it would be a complete failure if I got this wrong. I could feel everyone in the room's eyes on me, especially a specific pair of particularly dark green ones...
In a single instant, as I could only see Magenta's eyes flash in front of mine, the pin dropped from my mouth to the floor below. A small clink was heard from far below. I spat out an elven curse. The elven girl next to me sighed exasperatingly.
“Perfect.” Coral yelled across the room. As if I needed her criticism right now.
But then another strange thing began to happen. I saw Magenta's green eyes flash in my head. Just a slight unnatural sparkle. And then the pin was back in my mouth.
Too surprised to keep it there, I spat it out and gave a small yelp of alarm. Wide-eyed, I shot a look at Magenta.
She was staring intensely at me with her green eyes. There was another flash in them, and the pin was back in my mouth.
I sat there stupidly for a moment. It was back in my mouth? I had voluntarily spat it out back onto the floor! What was it doing back in my mouth!? Magenta, from across the room smiled a satisfied smile.
“She's using magic Vol!” Coral was shouting, “Just go with it!”
I didn't have back talk for that one. I dropped it one more time, but Magenta easily got it back in place, and before I knew it, one of my wrists was free. If I had done my other hand right then, I would've swung forward and broken both of my ankles. So, I picked one ankle holder, the other hand and then the last ankle.
I was free. I dropped to the floor, trying to use my best pad-foot motion. I made hardly any sound as I landed. Coral cheered, Corr smiled, Magenta gave a small gasp of exhaustion.
I started on our new friend, considering she was the closest conscious person close to me. Using some chains on the wall, I managed to clamber my way up to her side. It was simple to just pick one handcuff and then the other. As I worked at it, I began talking to her. “What's your name, kid?”
“Koraca.” She said, her dark eyes watching my hands at all times.
“Volicla.” I said, “What tribe you from?”
“I'm a Hifo.” She said. I noticed her perfectly trimmed ears. “What about you?”
I pointed to one of my own ears quickly and then picked the lock, “Lekilian.” I said bluntly. She swung free.
It didn't take long at all for me to get half of the people free, even if the people whom were unconscious didn't land as gracefully as the others. But those who were awake helped catch them. Though, most woke up immediately as soon as out of those chains, as if they were comfortable enough to fall in sleep in, while our arms where not.
Natalia spent an entire half an hour, while I worked diligently on Jaco's chains, looking for her stick. After a fruitless thirty minutes wasted, she began helping me ease Ammie down.
It wasn't until Coral that my pin broke. Magenta was on the floor, tending to those who were not yet with us. Corr was by my side, helping me ease people down off the wall as quietly as possible. But the pin became so straggled by the different locks, that it was pretty much unusable.
I showed Natalia the problem. She insisted if she had her stick, she could just hack everyone free. But I suggested a better plan.
“Is there any possible way, that you could use your....” I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to have to spit out that stupid word. “MAGIC.” I did it as fast as possible, “To help pick the locks?”
Natalia looked sincerely surprised. I, the leader, whom, hated magic, was asking her, for assistance, using her unwanted gift? I heard something inside of her brain shatter. It took her a while to get the hang of it all. “You want me to...” Something fell off of a table in back of her. “Use my...” It crashed to the floor.
“YES.” I shouted through clenched teeth, which was not easy to do. “THAT.”
She was still quite shocked, and the thing she had knocked to the floor with her magic lay in back of her. She shook all I had said off and smiled a rather large grin. She then immediately held up her hands at Tailan and twisted her hands through the air. Her wrists swiveled, and she clawed sideways at the air. Both left side holders clicked off, and Tailan hung painfully from one arm and an ankle. Natalia switched sides. More weird motions, and soon Tailan's ankle holder creaked open, and I dived just in time to grab him as he fell. He looked like he was having some terrible dream, as he was in a cold sweat and pale, and quivered every now and then.
When I turned around, Natalia was, surprisingly, looking exhausted. She was panting as if she'd just run here, and her face looked rather red. But despite that, she had a determined look about her and set about on the next chains.
I held Tailan in my arms. What else could I do? My pin was broken, and I couldn't pick anymore locks. He muttered something, and his face twisted in a small painful expression, then released. I noticed Natalie looking extremely tired from the last person she had just freed. The men could be back any minute.
I put my head down next Tailan's ear and slowly and desperately chose my words. “Release us.” I finally whispered softly. Something tugged at my hand, but when I looked at it, nothing was touching it. I let my hand go where it was being called. I found it in his own hand. His own hand curled around mine, I felt an energy burst into me, like water out of a hose, and then fill me up. I could see nothing but a deep rich shade of purple. His hand slumped to the ground.
I was confused. What had just happened?!
But in amazement, behind me, all of the remaining prisoners dropped to the ground.
