Ch 10 - Prison Break

Nayla stood in the middle of the bare, stone room. Her arms had been chained to the ceiling and her legs were likewise secured to metal rings embedded in the floor. This cruel arrangement forced her to stand in an awkward, spread-eagled position without a moment of rest. Her head hung limply forward, her long dark hair obscuring her face. Her threadbare white gown had been torn and pulled aside and when Rin saw this he clenched his fists so hard that blood welled from his palms.

At Rin's entrance, Nayla raised her head and said dryly, "Picked up another girl, have you? Why am I not surprised?"

Rin shrugged uncomfortably. "She was a prisoner here… I couldn't just leave her to whatever tender mercies they had planned."

Nayla nodded slightly and said no more.

In a few quick steps, Rin closed the gap between them and immediately began studying her manacles. After a few moments, he cursed quietly.

"I don't think I have the keys for these, the lock looks somewhat special." Rin hesitated for a moment as he thought.

[It's too risky to try and use the Oblivion Orb's power here, at worst Nayla could be severely injured or even die if I screw up badly. But do I have any other options?]

At that moment a sound caused Rin to whirl around to face the doorway. The little girl scampered up and hid behind him. Behind her stood the second guard, sword in hand, wearing an extremely ugly expression on his face.

Rin cursed inwardly and hurriedly prepared himself for combat. Without the element of surprise, his chances of victory would be significantly diminished. And having seen the fate of the other guard, this man would surely not hesitate to ruthlessly crush him.

Rin focused intently, gathering a stream of energy and matter in his hand. Seeing this strange technique, the guard was momentarily taken aback but this hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second. The man roared as he threw back his arm and charged, readying a great swing that would separate Rin's head from his body.

Rin whipped out his arm in a panic, tossing the still unformed matter into the soldier's face. The semi-solid cloud of dust blinded the man, but it was not enough to do serious damage. Taking advantage of this momentary lapse, Rin stepped forward half a pace and firmly planted his palm on the man's chest. He channelled all of his fury into that strike and felt the flesh and bones begin to rip apart beneath his palm, compressing into a single point. In an instant, the soldier's heart was crushed and he coughed out a tremendous amount of blood before collapsing to his knees and finally falling to the floor.

Rin grimaced as much of this blood splashed across his cloak. Bending down, he retrieved the keyring from the guard's belt. For a moment he considered taking the man's jacket as well so that Nayla would have something to wear. Unfortunately, the jacket was now completely soaked as blood continued to leak incessantly from the man's destroyed chest. Quickly, Rin dismissed the thought and turned to unlock Nayla's manacles, catching her as she sagged against him.

"Let's get you out of here," Rin said, placing a comforting hand on Nayla's back.

He was aware that they didn't have much time. Even if nobody had heard the commotion, it was likely that these guards would have been relieved of duty at some point and he had no idea when that shift change might occur.

However, Rin was also unsure where exactly they should go next.

[Exiting through the main entrance is still too risky… Probably even more dangerous now.]

At that moment, Rin heard a small squeak and looked down to see the golden Divine Mouse at his feet.

"Little mouse you did well!" Rin smiled happily, feeling enormously grateful. "Do you think you could help me with one last thing? We need to leave this place, but we also have to avoid the guards. The men in blue coats." He gestured towards the bodies on the floor.

The mouse seemed to understand and before long Rin and the others were following it down a series of twists and turns. Every so often, the mouse would squeak in alarm and dart into a side corridor or room. In this manner, they were somehow able to avoid running into any guards. Rin couldn't help but feel awed at the golden mouse's extremely keen senses and sharp intelligence.

Eventually, they arrived back at the juncture that had led to Rin's cell block and towards the front entrance.

Rin stopped here and frowned with concern.

[Why have we come back this way? Perhaps there is only one entrance and exit to this place? If that's true we will need a bigger distraction than a mouse... Or maybe there is another way out that I didn't notice?]

After contemplating for another moment, Rin suddenly had a wild idea. He quickly sprinted down the cell block, stopping at one of the occupied cells closest to the back. Rin crouched down and clapped his hands loudly, getting the attention of the cell's occupant. A skinny, gaunt-faced man in his mid-twenties stared back at Rin with confusion. Rin shook the ring of keys in front of him and the man's eyes grew even larger.

"Listen." Rin spoke clearly and coldly, "I'm going to give you a chance at freedom today, but if you want to survive you have to do what I say. When I unlock this door, I'm going to give you these keys. See this big iron key?" Rin pointed. "Use it to unlock the next cell. Then tell that person what I'm about to tell you."

Rin made sure the man was giving him his undivided attention before continuing, "If you alone make a run for it now, you will be captured and killed without a doubt. There are at least four guards at the entrance, and who knows how many in between. The only hope that any of you have is as a group. If you all rush the exit together, it will be impossible to hold you all back. A few of you will probably die, but most will have a good shot of making it out."

The man slowly started to nod. His eyes were now filled with fervent energy, a stark contrast to the dull sheen they had displayed moments earlier. Without further delay, Rin unlocked the man's cell door and tossed him the keyring before sprinting back to his companions.

While the delay hadn't cost them more than a minute, the Divine Mouse was clearly agitated. It chittered nervously and ran about in circles until Rin reappeared. Then it quickly scampered off ahead and the others jogged to keep up.

Rin was relieved when the mouse did not turn towards the direction of the main entrance but unfortunately, after that, they ran almost directly into a guard. The man was shocked at their sudden appearance and reeled backwards, falling on his behind. Rin wasted no time in rushing the man, swiftly driving a boot under his chin.

Though he was fast, Rin's physical ability was still not very high and the guard managed to shrug off most of the damage. Enraged, the soldier spat and clawed at Rin's throat. As Rin desperately backpedalled, a stream of water unexpectedly appeared over his shoulder and shot directly into the soldier's open mouth.

The man stopped trying to choke Rin and instead started to choke and cough. Frantically he opened his mouth and heaved, trying to expel the water. A horrible gurgling noise began to emit from his throat and a moment later, pink forth started to drip from between his lips. Rin was momentarily astonished and stood staring at the dying man until Nayla grabbed his shoulder and urged him forward.

"The prisoners are loose!" a shout echoed out from some distance behind them.

Rin didn't wait around to see if they were talking about them or the other prisoners. Soon, the mouse stopped at a door and turned to Rin expectantly. Rin stepped forward and tried the handle. Unbelievably, it turned without resistance and the door swung open, letting the cool, refreshing night air wash over them.