Short Freedom

Two weeks passed. For fourteen days Nero spent his time in this cold and dirty cell. For fourteen days he watched the body of his sister, the last person in his family, rot.

How slowly the color drained from her face, it turned pale, her lips split open, and then her skin. How she began to stink and rot.

As you can imagine, this was quite a blow to the young mind of Nero. He tried not to look at her and ignore her, but it was impossible to suppress the stench.

And her body was right next to the door, every time food was thrown through the crack, Nero had to pass her body. That's why he didn't eat anymore. He didn't want to and couldn't anymore. He drank only hardly, then if it did not go no more without.

He had given up all hope and motivation, without his sister there was no sense anymore. No drive, nothing that made him go on. But something in him forced him to keep on going and not let him finally give up his life. Something in his subconscious, which gave him the daily strength to wake up.

Guards were now constantly roaming back and forth in front of his door. If Nero were not in such a miserable situation, he would probably be pleased to know that guards were now stationed down there because of him.

On the day when everything was to change again, nothing was special.

Nero woke up as usual with a throbbing head and severe joint pain. He did not sleep in the bed, he did not want to. That's why he always slept on the hard stone floor. His muscles and joints were pulled and aching.

He sat up and looked around. His gaze met the body of his sister in the angle of vision, immediately Nero flinched and averted his gaze.

In the very next moment, the foul smell also rose to his nose. He slumped down and stopped moving.

He heard noises from outside the door, which he ignored. It's probably just the guards changing shifts again.

Then he heard a loud crash as if something heavy had fallen to the floor.

Now Nero finally shifted his gaze and looked at the door.

Suddenly he heard the jangle of keys and then the crack and click of the door's latch. The heavy door swung open and there stood a tall muscular man.

It was Sir Leonard, the priest guard who had carried Nero and Eliza here. Nero struggled to his feet and stood up. His legs almost gave way under him, but he held himself upright.

Sir Leonard stared at Eliza's body and his face stiffed, then he looked up at Nero.

Nero looked at him, his eyes were pale and almost lifeless, but Leonard could clearly still see a little spark in them. He walked up to the little boy and grabbed him. Nero did not even try to resist.

Sir Leonard stepped out of the door and walked down the hall. Nero's eyes widened when he saw the two bodies of the previous guards lying on the floor. Streaks of blood were beside them and they were clearly dead. Leonard walked up the large spiral staircase walking with quick and firm steps.

-What is happening here?- Nero asked himself inwardly. Why were the guards dead? And where was the knight carrying him?

All sorts of questions arose in his mind. More guards now appeared at the end of the corridor, walking towards them with torches in their hands.

There were three of them. The foremost one looked first at Leonard and then at Nero and raised his eyebrows. He started to ask a question, but Leonard was faster.

He unsheathed his sword and rammed it into the man's chest. Startled cries came from the other two and they drew their swords. The man Leonard had hit froze and Nero saw the life drain from his eyes as he fell to the ground and lay motionless.

"TRAITOR!" roared one of them,

"YOU WILL BURN IN HELL FOR THIS." The other.

Sir Leonard just snorted and took a stab with his sword. In this narrow passage, it was hard to fight properly and so the sword of the left knight dragged on the wall and got stuck. Leonard took this chance and immediately rammed his sword into his neck, pulled it aside, and caught the other guard. This one was a bit more skillful than the one on the left, but he was also too slow and was badly wounded by Leonard's sword,

"This is no longer a church of God," Leonard said coldly, walking over the three guards. Now Nero no longer understood anything.

Leonardo ran. He slaughtered his way through the long hallway and finally the exit came into view, but guards were gathering outside the door. There were about a dozen of them.

Leonard slowed down and stopped. He set Nero down and then drew his sword.

The first man, a muscular man with a bald head and a thick beard, looked angrily at Leonardo,

"Sir Leonardo, why do you betray the sacred covenant you entered into with the Church?" asked the latter.

Leonardo laughed quietly and angrily.

"Do you think you're going to get off scot-free just because you're a knight from the Holy City? You attacked and killed members of a church, and in addition, helped a convict escape who was proven to have murdered a priest." Said the man without waiting for Leonardo's answer.

"Of course, I'll get away with it," Leonardo said dismissively,

"For this is justice. The priest, as he dared to call himself, raped a little girl. Day after day. And I investigated, the alleged witch, was deliberately executed by him because she refused the priest's advances and would not share the bed with him. This disgrace of a church was corrupt and debauched, just like its followers." Said Leonardo, his voice quivering with hatred and disgust.

The man looked at Leonardo angrily for a while and then opened his mouth to say something again, but Leonardo seized this chance again and attacked without warning. It caught the bald man off guard and he died.

Nero struggled to his feet and proceeded slowly.

He saw Leonardo fighting alone against 12 full-grown men and even seemed to have the upper hand. Nero bent down and picked up one of the swords scattered on the ground. It was too heavy for him to fight with it properly, but he didn't care.

He lifted it and looked at the fighters. He gripped the hilt tighter and then ran toward them. He used the sword, point first, as a lance and rammed it into the back of one of the men's knees. The man screamed and fell to the ground. Leonardo immediately took this chance and decapitated him with a deft cut.

He looked briefly at Nero and then continued to fight. About ten minutes later there were seven corpses on the ground and the other four ran away. Leonardo did not chase them, but only lowered his sword and sheathed it.

"Come on boy! Let's go." He said to Nero and then started walking. Surprisingly, he didn't even seem out of breath. Nero briefly thought about escaping, but when he thought of where to go, he simply followed Sir Leonardo. He had no other choice.

They walked silently down the big street when not even 20 minutes later a small army of people surrounded them.

Among them were three carriages. From one of these carriages, a beautifully decorated one made of dark wood, came a scrawny and elderly man.

"Sir Leonardo Hifrago, Knight of the Third Holy Order of the Roman Catholic Church, you are hereby charged with treason. Voluntarily lay aside your sword and follow us to the Holy City, or we will have to resort to drastic measures."

"No need," said Leonardo, throwing away his sword, "I surrender willingly. I have acted in the name of God and stand by my actions, but let the boy go. He has nothing to do with this."

The man looked briefly at Nero and shook his head,

"Unfortunately that won't be possible, not only is he suspected of a serious crime, but he's also a prime witness. Arrest them."

With that, several of the knights slowly and carefully approached them, but Leonardo and Nero did not fight back.

Nero wanted to fight back, but he had no more energy. He sank to the ground and let himself be put in chains without retaliating. He was tired and hungry and completely exhausted. When the guards put him in the carriage, everything went black and he lost consciousness.

He was still just a child.