Chapter 26: Escaping the prison!

"Oh shit! The prisoner has escaped, get him!" One of the guards shouted after a moment, drawing his sword from his hip.

The others quickly shook the shock of their teammate's death off and also drew their weapons. All of the guards had a basic iron chest plate that covered their upper body, with leather trousers, and iron boots that rose above the shin, different from the town guard Lucian had seen before.

"They didn't say he could use magic!" One of them said as he turned to the others.

"We dont have time to argue about it now, get him before he has the chance to use it again!" The leader said.

Lucian watched as both a man and a woman both charged towards him. They both seemed like low-level guards, so he wasn't worried. Now that he had destroyed the remote and broken free of his chains, he had nothing to fear from them.

Lucian charged in and used one of the steel shackles that was around his left wrist to block the first strike from the male guard. Lucian planted his feet and thrust his right hand, slamming it into the guards iron chest plate.

Lucian's punch dinted the iron chest plate and sent the guard flying back before he crashed into the table where they had been playing cards.

The female guard was next as Lucian didn't waste any more time. Quickly, closing the gap between them while she was still stunned by her comrade flying through the air.

Lucian grabbed her sword hand, twisting it around, resulting in her flipping to the ground. Lucian disarmed her with his free hand and stabbed the blade into her back without mercy.

The only one left was the guard commander. He was an older man with grey hair and a large moustache.

"Y-You bastard!" He shouted as he sheathed his sword and turned on his heel to run away.

"Is he running away?" Lucian thought, a little surprised for a moment.

"Hold on, I can't let him get away, I need answers!" Lucian shouted as he quickly ran after him.

"Hey, wait, dont forget about me!" Hornby shouted as he gripped onto the steel bars of his cell.

Lucian stopped looking between the fleeing guard and Hornby, who he had made a promise to.

"Damn it," Lucian said as he grabbed the door of Hornby's cell, pulling it as hard as he could.

"Hey, wait, you need the key. You can't just break it open..." Hornby said as he watched Lucian rip the cell door off with brute force.

"Or not..." He then said.

"Come on we, need to catch that guard!" Lucian said as he threw the door to the side and quickly burst into a run.

"Ok, you go on ahead, I'll be right there," Hornby said as he started routing through the dead bodies Lucian had left.

Lucian didn't have time to stop and say anything as suddenly the door burst open with the sound of footsteps clanging off the floor.

"There he is! Subdue the prison otherwise, Lord Gilbert will have our heads!" The old guard commander said.

Another ten guards had burst through the door, and all stood with their weapons drawn.

"Oh shit," Hornby said as he pocketed a few coins he had taken off one of the guards.

"So, any more bright ideas?" Hornby asked as he picked up a sword that was on the ground, taking a shaky stance.

Lucian had to admit he didn't like his chances. With no weapon or armour, he felt almost naked. The only thing he had was his enhanced abilities, but in such a close-quarter fight, things could get rather dangerous for him.

The only thing that would help him now was running away, but that didn't look like it was an option.

Lucian knew now that his only choice was to use magic, he only hoped it would work.

"Alright, men, get him!" The commander shouted, getting all of them to charge towards Lucian and Hornby.

"Oh shit, if you have something planned, now would be the time!" Hornby shouted.

Lucian raised his hand, pointing it towards the guards with his fingers pointing to the sky.

Closing his eyes, Lucian pictured Hestia and how she had shot fire from her hands with such ease.

"Draw on the source of my magical energy, and let my imagination do the rest..." Lucian said to himself, remembering the words of the demon lord.

"Take this!" He shouted as he opened his eyes.

Lucian's magic suddenly burst to life as fire ignited from the palm of his hand. The fire raged to life and engulfed all of the guards, who could only watch as their last moments flashed before their eyes.

The fire magic was so powerful that it disintegrated all of the guards who stood before it, bursting through the wall at the end of the hall, and causing an intense explosion.

Hornby was shocked as he watched from the sidelines, shielding his face from the intense heat that the fire magic gave off.

"I thought you said you couldn't use magic!" He shouted after a moment.

Lucian was extremely surprised himself as he looked at the aftermath of his magical attack.

"I'm not even sure how I did that..." Lucian said, looking at the burnt corpses on the ground.

Suddenly the sound of voices shouting and alarm bells ringing in the distance got both of their attention.

"We can talk about that later! But for now, we had better get the hell out of here!" Hornby shouted, already heading towards the exit.

Lucian agreed and followed Hornby, making sure to step around the dead bodies he had left behind.

"He looky here!" Hornby shouted as he pointed to a door that was cracked open.

It was the guard's restroom and also where they kept the prisoner's belongings.

"We looky here," Hornby said as he turned to Lucian with a smile.

"I believe this belongs to you." He said as he attempted to pick up Lucian's warhammer.

"By Ises, this thing is heavy." He said as he was only just able to lift it off the ground.

Lucian took the hammer off of him, easily lifting it with one hand.

"Oh wow," Lucian said as he took a good look at his weapon.

"I never thought I would miss a weapon so much." He said.

"And looks like the rest of your gear is here. Be quick getting it on, it won't be long till this place is swarming with the town guards." Hornby said.

Lucian nodded and quickly dressed back in his armour, making sure to strap all his gear on as he did.

"Ok let's go!" Lucian said once he was ready.

"Alright, let's move," Hornby said as he poked his head out of the main door to see if the coast was clear.

Luckily for them, there were only bystanders who had gathered around to see what was going on, with no sign of the guards arriving yet.

"Ok coast is clear, let's go," Hornby said as he walked out of the door.

Lucian did the same and followed him, both of them disappearing into the growing crowd as they gathered to watch the fire that was growing larger.

Hornby and Lucian easily slipped away into an ally so that they could rest and reflect on what was going on.

"We made it," Hornby said as he fell back onto his behind, sliding down the wall first.

Lucian nodded as he turned his head in both directions, not letting his guard down.

"Where are we?" He then asked.

"We are back in Dragonfront. Once that bastard knocked you out, he threw us both in the back of a wagon bringing us back here." Hornby said.

"But why did they take you?" Lucian asked.

"And I thought your leg was broken?"

"Yeah, it was, no thanks to your friend..." Hornby started but remembered to watch his words.

"That creep said something about me being good cannon fodder for the pits. Once they got me back here, they gave me a healing potion and locked me in that cell." Hornby said as he waved his hands about, explaining the whole thing.

Lucian remembered that it was Colin who had stabbed him and taken Hestia. Gilly's face also came to mind as Lucian's rage started to boil.

"I'll kill both of them..." Lucian said under his breath.

"Look pal... I know you're strong. But there is no way you can fight some as corrupt as Lord Gilbert Gorestar. He's not someone you mess with, trust me!" Hornby said.

"Gorestar?" Lucian asked.

Hornby gave him a questioning look.

"Boy, you really know nothing, do you? Have you been living under a rock or something?"

Lucian didn't look pleased and so Hornby carried on talking.

"Lord Gilbert Gorestar is a member of the Gorestar family. They run things around here. And when I say things... I mean everything."

Lucian was pretty surprised at finding this out.

"I thought he was just a monster trader." He then said.

Hornby started laughing.

"Damn. You really have no idea who you're messing with. Honestly, I'd say your little monster friend is already gone, best thing you can do is get out of Dragonfront and disappear so they dont find you."

Lucian wasn't pleased with Hornby's response and gripped his collar, pinning him to the wall to Hornby's surprise.

"I want you to tell me everything you know about him. Understand." Lucian said as his eyes started to glow i anger.

"Alright, alright!" Hornby shouted as he tapped on Lucian's wrist for him to stop choking him.

Lucian didn't realise until the last second and dropped him to the ground.

"Jeez... All you had to do was ask, you know." Hornby said as he got his breath back.

"I'll tell you everything I know, alright. But after that, I'm out of here, you got that?" He said.

Lucian nodded in agreement.

"Alright, tell me everything you know."