Escape!

<UNKNOWN>

LV: ???

HP: ???/???

MP: ???/???

Cond: CRITICAL

******

Midnight...

In a humid and odorous cell, an adult woman wearing tattered clothes is restrained with cuffs by her feet. Cuts and bruises are all over her body. She could not move as the pain would writhe when she moves a muscle. She can only lie down on the cold and dirty wooden floor of the cell.

Her breath is panting, trying to ward off the pain that struck her. Beside her, there's a child wearing the same messy clothes and cuffs, crying over the woman who got terribly hurt.

"Please... don't die...!"

The child cried, worrying the woman's wellbeing.

"Ah... sunshine... It looks like... I can't... hold on much longer. I did a grave mistake..."

"Please... *sob*... please... don't go..."

The woman reaches the little girl's cheek. Blood is seeping out of her veins. It trails down over her skin, but she cares little for that.

"Girl... you must... go. You must NOT rot in this hell hole. You are still a child... your future isn't gone, yet. You must leave. Don't let these bastards exploit you.

...Don't let... them make you end the same way as I am now..."

"...*hic*..."

"I love you, my dear. Though, we've met only for a few weeks, yet you're the only person that made my hellish life felt a little like heaven.

That's why... I want you... to escape."

"H-Huh? Why...? I... I don't want to leave you behind!"

"..."

Silence befalls upon the woman. Shortly, the woman smiles, caressing the child's cheek as her tears run down on her arms, mixing with her blood.

"I'm so sorry," she said poorly. Her life was already on the edge.

"I... I wish we could be together forever.

But it appears only you can go.

I've done a blunder while searching a way for us... to escape. But that became somewhat an advantage...

Heh-heh... those bastards only knew that I'm the only person trying to find a way to escape. But they don't know about you...

...That's why... using that map... and my notes... I want you to do it.

Will you... do it... for me?"

The little girl doesn't spoke a word but whimpering. Her tiny crying voice flows to her ears.

"...*hic*...*hic*..."

The little girl grips her bloody hand, not wanting to let go.

"...*sigh*... I've suspected as much... in the end... it's impossible for us to run away. I couldn't do anything, let alone you...

I'm sorry for burdening you with such ideas..."

"...No, I'll, I'll do it."

"...eh...?"

"I'll ...*sob*... do it." The little girl forcibly held her tears, giving certainty in her words. She tells her what she feels.

"I... I don't want your hard work end in vain... It's my fault that you ended up like this... that's why... I'll go, no matter what obstacle is ahead of me!"

The adult woman is stunned by that gallant speech of hers.

"...heh... heheheh... it appears the Goddess blessed you a will of steel, huh...

Well... if you really want to go, then take... this."

The adult woman reaches her neck and gives the little girl an amulet.

"Take this with you..."

"But... isn't this... yours?"

"Indeed. ...*cough*... I want you to take... my precious thing to the outside world with you."

She had coughed blood several times. The little girl knew that she'd die anytime soon. By taking the amulet with her means that the woman wants her to bring her will as well. She wants to be free, even if her flesh couldn't make it out. Knowing so, she cried silently.

"Hold yer head high, baby... Don't cry too much.

...heh... I wish I could see you grow... But these few weeks are already like forever. I'm glad I've met you.

Now... go through the passages I've... drawn on the map. Don't be scared, okay?

...You'll be fine.

You will... be just fine...

The Goddess... is... forever... wi...th... y...o...u..."

Her arm rests on the cold floor. Her breath ended there. Her eyes are closed, forever.

The little girl puts on the amulet around her neck. She reaches the deceased woman's forehead and gives her a kiss.

"Goodbye..."

With that, the little girl checks the map. There are red dots on the map. She remembers that they're indicating the guards that patrol the camp.

The safest route to escape is going around the slave base from the west, then south, and then to the east where the path of the mountain goes down. From there, she'll began her escape to the nearest village, seeking help.

She carefully cuts the rusty iron bars in the back of the cell. It's facing west so it's convenient going through there instead of going through the front.

The bars are successfully cut off. She takes care not to make any noise and leaves the cell. Her legs hurt a bit. The injury of her being whipped is still hurting her, but she's not going to give up now.

In the clad of darkness, she sneaks through tall grasses past the first set of guards near her cell. Her petite body is completely shrouded by the grasses.

Although...

"Hey, did you hear something?"

"Huh... nope? Must be your imagination."

"I'm sure I heard some rustling..."

"You're dozing off, man. Keep it together."

"Yeah... I guess you're right. I might reconsider picking the coffee pot... or perhaps the sleep-prevention ring."

"Geh! A mere level 15 like you couldn't even buy a sturdier armor, let alone an expensive accessory!"

"Gee, man, let a guy dream."

Lucky for her, the guards didn't notice her.

She manages to get past them and crawls down a pit. Since the slave base is surrounded by palisade walls, she can only get out through a crevice located in the western section of the wall.

The little girl eventually gets there. The map the woman gave her proven to be really accurate. She manages to avoid all trouble so far.

"Yes...! With this... I can make it out...!"

Just when she got past the wall, she couldn't see what's on the ground. There's no lighting at all.

"I just have to go straight a bit, go left, then go right... then I'll be facing east..."

When she begins her move, she mistakenly steps on a weak wooden branch, which snaps afterwards.

"Hiyah!"

She accidentally let her voice out. That triggers several guards at once.

"Who's there!?"

"It's coming from outside, man!"

"Shit, we got a runner?"

"Get out there and check it out, you fools!"

The little girl tries to avoid being spotted. She does her best to not panic. But having four guards wandering around with a torch in their hands makes her scared.

Then...

"Sir! There's a hole in the western wall! I saw footprints here! It's still new!"

"Ah, hell, seriously?"

The guards circle around the base like vultures. The little girl knows she'll be found no matter what. But she doesn't want to go back to that hell hole. With multitude of guards armed with spears and swords swarming about truly made a fearful scent out of her.

When some of the guards are getting close, trailing behind her, the little girl finally loses her patience. Her fear ruptures intensely, sending her to panic.

The guards spotted her.

"There!"

"Go, go, go! Get a move on!"

Panicking, she runs straight as fast as she can.

The little girl sprints despite the spraining injury in her legs. She doesn't even care the rocky grounds she's stepping on. Her tears run down profusely. She feels that her goal is getting further from her hands. She just keeps on running away.

"It's a girl?"

"Tch! It's that silver-haired kid that sticks around with that bitch from before. So, she's also an escapee, huh?"

"Disable her!"

The path goes down. The little girl doesn't care where she goes. She just wants to run as far as possible. But to add more panic, she overhears grumblings that resemble the sound of wolves. She began to imagine being eaten alive by monsters. But she closes her eyes and keeps on going tirelessly.

"Haah... haaah... haah... haah..."

The path then goes straight. The terrain is even at that point. She sees tall trees around her now. She escapes with all her might, trying to shake off the chasers in the forest.

Suddenly...

"Aaaagh!"

The little girl falls, rolls on the ground and crashes into a rock headfirst.

She's losing consciousness. Her head is incredibly hurt. She can feel blood coming out. What's more, that her left leg is hurting her so much. When she checks it, there's an arrow sticking to her calf.

But she's not ready to give up. She remembers what the woman told her, to bring her precious thing together into freedom. She doesn't want her efforts to be in vain, too. She had sacrificed her life for this moment.

The child forces herself to stand up. She walks slowly while dragging her injured leg.

She goes forward. Surprisingly, there's a bit of lighting in the area. It's coming from some stones on the ground. She realizes that she's entering a huge cave. With that in mind, she goes deeper inside, hoping to shelter herself.

"Hohoh, it appears your shot hits home, man." One of the guards said.

One of them brings a crossbow at hand, while the others bring different types of weapons.

"Lookie here, there's blood trail going to that cave," the guard pointed out with his spear.

"Shall we follow it?"

"Absolutely. If any of our slaves are capable of doin' some crazy stunt like this, I believe they'll sell big money. Come!"

The little girl ends up facing a giant rocky wall. There's no other path she can take.

She cries in desperation. But there's still hope, though only for a tiny sparkle. She tries searching around the gigantic chamber, hoping for a place to hide.

Then... she collides with something. She falls to a pit by her back. She faces upwards, only to see a gigantic creature before her.

"Haaa... aaah...!"

She's scared. She can't move at all. Adding the fact that her pain is gathering, hurting her to the point she's feeling convulses all over her body.

That gigantic creature didn't realize her being there, however. But she can feel its breath is as hot as steam. Its eyes are blazing white. Its motion looks like it's ready to feast upon her.

The little girl realizes that the creature is a dragon.

"..."

Eventually, her psyche doesn't hold out. Her eyes went blank. Her hopes have flickered away from her grasp. Pincered from two sides, one is the slavers, while the other is a giant dragon.

She gives up. Her mental is as good as shattered glass.

"I'm so sorry..."

The slave guards then arrive.

"THERE!"

"There's the little slut!"

"Go get her!"

The giant dragon suddenly lifts its front foot and stomps where the little girl lies, producing a minor earthquake in its wake.

"Oh, shit! I-Is that..."

"A DRAGON!?"

The dragon roars deafeningly. It spews fire from its mouth. The flames spread out wildly, burning those who are unlucky to be in its wake. The chamber is lighted by the shining crimson blaze. An inferno has let loose in that cave. Screams of dying men is heard as fire engulfs their bodies.

That group of chasers are immediately dispersed. Some are lucky enough to survive the unforgiving fire. They desperately cling to their remaining energy, trying to escape the raging dragon, leaving their fallen fellow friends behind.

From twenty chasers, only four survived and escaped the dragon's breath.

The dragon stops itself, allowing the fire to flicker out. When the fire is gone, the dim cyan light of the stones on the wall accompanied it once more.

The dragon lifts its front leg, only to find a tiny human beneath it.

The little girl survives. The pit that she fell into saved her from being squashed.

Even so... with the chasers gone, she still believes that she'll die anyway. After all, she believes there's nothing she can do to escape the dragon with her current condition.

The dragon groans. Soon, it gets its snout near her.

Suddenly, the little girl hears some faint echoing voice. But it gets clearer by the second.

It's scary, as if those voices are trying to pierce directly into her brain.

The dragon keeps on groaning. But soon, its groan began to sound like... an audible voice.

The little girl resists, but she's powerless. Soon, she can hear those echoing voices very clearly.

"Can thou hear my voice?"

It feels otherworldly. She's scared, but she answers that voice.

"W-Who... who's... s-speaking...?" she says in a weak voice.

"It is none other than the very being in front of thee, child of man."

"Eh...?"

That voice she heard just now is from the dragon.

"I applaud thy bravery for answering my voice."

"..."

"I didn't notice thee underneath mine foot until a moment ago. Thou art but one resistive little human, however."

"Wh-Who are you... no... what are you...?"

The dragon lifts its head, gazing at her with its blazing white eyes.

"I am the Silver Dragon, Faruk. And this... is my domain."