Once they had left, Jon quickly unbound the girl and removed the gag around her mouth. She was not the prettiest gal around but not the ugliest either. Her forehead was marred with a bruise. Probably the result of a feeble attempt to fight back those animals, Jon thought. Jon grabbed a washcloth from his chair and dabbed away the dried blood. He wondered how distraught she would be feeling now if she was conscious. There was no way he was going to add more to her anguish and fear.

He poked his head outside and saw that there was no one there. So they’re too busy getting drunk to watch him. He sat back on his chair and wondered aloud, “What should I do?”

“You can let me go,” a clear voice said.

Jon leaped back in surprise. He looked and saw the girl looking up at him. He noticed that her eyes were the uncommon color of violet. Clearly, she was awake.

“How long have you been awake?” Jon asked. Then he quickly added what he felt that he should have asked first: “Are you hurt?”

 “I’ve been awake for a few minutes. And yes, I’m fine except for a few bruises,” the girl said with surprising calmness.

“What? They didn’t do anything to you?” Jon gaped in surprise.

“They didn’t rape me if that is what you’re implying,” the girl looked at him with a mischievous grin. “You could say they were the ones who were fucked instead.”

There was a moment of awkward silence as Jon tried to understand the situation.

“I told them I was touched by the miasma,” she said after the pause grew too awkward.

“What?!” Jon shouted as he backed up. “But they said they …”

“They were lying. You were going to be the guinea pig to see if I was lying. If you touch me and you don’t die by tomorrow morning, they’re going to have their turn,” she said.

“Those lying bastards!” Jon gritted his teeth.

“Yes, and since clearly they don’t seem to care much about you either how about we get out of here?” the girl calmly suggested.

“But I thought you have the miasma?” Jon hesitated on being so close to a girl who was infected.

“Are you an idiot?” she sighed. “I lied.”

“I don’t understand. Why would they believe you just because you said you’re infected?”

She explained with an impatient wave of her hand as if she had said the same thing a million times before, “The gods, or excuse me it’s the Goddess now, must have either blessed or cursed me. I have a dark birthmark the size of a watermelon on my tummy. Anyone who isn’t a healer or herbalist would confuse it with a symptom of the miasma.”

Jon let that sink in and simply said “wow”.

After realizing that he was staring a bit too long, he turned away and awkwardly replied, “I don’t know how we can escape. Even if we get out of the cave, they will just catch us by tomorrow morning or we’ll be torn apart by wolves in the woods.”

“I’ll rather risk that than be raped and become a slave,” her voice trembled with a mixture of anger and fear.

Then, she chuckled, “Well, you bandits did one good thing. They killed my master at least.”

“Huh? That wasn’t your father?”

The girl continued, “No, he wasn’t my father though he liked to pretend he was. My parents died in the war and I was on the streets for a while. This old lecher saw me several moons ago and decided to take me in. He tricked me into thinking I would be a servant but really I was treated like a slave.”

Jon nodded in sympathy and asked, “Where are you from?”

The girl continued, “Since it seems like we will be carrying a conversation for at least a little while until you make a decision or your friends make one for you, can you at least untie me?”

He hesitated briefly before deciding to go ahead and untie her. There wasn’t much she could do to harm herself or him in this room. While he was untying her, she answered him, “Eiyre. As you probably know, your kingdom used to be a lot smaller before your wars of conquest or as your angels would put them the ‘Liberation Campaign’. We were simple townsfolk doing our daily affairs. The next thing we knew your angels and mages arrived at our town gates and demanded us to give them all children below the age of nine. We refused and were obviously overpowered. They didn’t take any prisoners and just killed the adults who had resisted. My parents were among those killed.”

He had finished untying her. Jon was stunned and didn’t know what to say.

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“Are you naturally this speechless?” the girl asked curiously as she stood up and stretched. “Ugh, it’s disgusting how thoroughly brainwashed everyone in this kingdom is.”

“I don’t have any love for the angels but I never thought they would do anything like this,” Jon said hurriedly defending himself once he found his voice.

“Once again, an idiot as I suspected. My name is Adria by the way,” she said and bowed.

“My name is Jon so you don’t have to call me idiot.”

“I’m still going to call you idiot. It suits you better.”

“Alright, call me whatever you want,” Jon said. “Let’s get out of here. Can you walk?”

The girl nodded.

Jon grabbed a cloak and tossed it to her. He quickly grabbed a few items including the book and enough food to last them a few days. He hoped she was a light eater since he knew he ate a lot for his age. Grabbing his own cloak and a torch on the wall, he cautioned her to walk fast but stay quiet.

---

Sneaking out of the maze of corridors was easier than anticipated thanks to the excessive inebriation that has now led to loud snoring for all the bandits. None noticed the two youngsters walking at a brisk pace through the passages. After a few minutes, they were far enough away from everyone that they relaxed. The girl started speaking but Jon quickly put a finger up to her mouth and shushed her. Voices in the cave passages carried and he didn’t want to take the risk. She closed her mouth. Neither spoke for a long time and the only sound they could hear were their own breathes and soft footsteps.

When they were near a cave exit, Jon finally spoke up, “We can talk freely now. What did you want to say earlier?”

“I was wondering how much further,” Adria replied and then smiled. “I don’t think I need to ask that anymore.”

Jon smiled back at her. “Well, we only have to get out of these woods in the next hour and hope no beast attacks us.”

“Let me borrow an extra knife. That can slightly even the odds,” Adria said.

Jon was about to ask her if she knew how to use the thing but decided that would be another reason he would be called an idiot. He unsheathed the knife attached to his boots and handed it to her.

“How well do you know these woods?” she asked.

“Pretty well actually but that doesn’t mean any of us were foolish enough to wander out here at night,” he said with a shudder.

“Wolves? Bears?” she inquired on the danger.

“Yeah,” he glumly replied. Then as an afterthought he added, “On the bright side, no angels or the infected.”

“Aside from me, right?” she laughed.

Jon merely smiled. He wished he could have her level of nonchalance. If he was in her shoes right now, he would probably be crying instead of laughing. But maybe that’s the way she deals with trauma or maybe she was just glad that she was free from her master.

Snap! Jon blinked and saw Adria snap her fingers in front of him. He had apparently grown quiet and zoned out.

“Hey, are you alright?” she asked. She stopped walking and looked at him with concern. Her previous lightheartedness was gone now.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I was just thinking about what you must be going through. Are you alright?” Jon said.

“Honestly, it’s a mix here. I’m glad that the bastard is dead but at the same time I can’t help but think that everyone around me just ends up dying. Why am I the only one who continues to live?”

“A good question. Maybe we’re just lucky? I don’t know if I’ll consider living this kind of life lucky though.”

“What? You didn’t enjoy living with a gang of cutthroat outlaws?”

She broke into a smile again. She does have a nice smile, Jon thought. He smiled as well. “You’re teasing me again but really I never felt that I fit in. I didn’t have any other choice when I became an orphan. This was the first thing that came my way and I took it.”

“We’re both survivors. That’s what it is. We’re trying to find our way in the world and live as best as we can.”

At her last words, they both fell into silence. It wasn’t awkward but it stretched too long for Jon’s liking.

“Let’s start moving again,” Jon said, breaking the silence. “We still have a ways to go.”

They started moving again and a few minutes later found themselves at the entrance. Outside was pitch black and they couldn’t see a thing. As they waited for their eyes to adjust to the darkness, Adria spoke up, “I never thought I would get sentimental around someone who was just trying to kill me several hours ago.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill you,” Jon said defensively.

“It’s a joke. I know. I doubt you would have had enough guts to murder an innocent girl,” she said.

“I’m not sure you’re that innocent. You seem to know the way of the world pretty well,” Jon replied smiling.

They bantered until they were both ready to leave. At an unspoken signal, they fell silent once more and Jon started leading the way. Adria gripped her knife tightly and followed him. He was familiar with these woods but at night, everything seemed completely foreign. The insects, birds, and other nocturnal creatures created a disjointed symphony adding an eeriness to the scene. They slowly walked, avoiding the tree roots and thorny bushes. At this pace, dawn would come before they left the woods, Jon thought. But they didn’t have a choice. Running would mean constantly tripping over tree roots.

In silence, they trekked through the woods. Surprisingly, they didn’t encounter any large creatures except deer and rodents which ran away as quickly as Adria and Jon noticed them. Shortly before dawn, they reached the last few trees and could see the meadows ahead. The leaves of the canopy were turning slightly golden as the sun rose. A few minutes later, they were completely out of the woods and stood there looking at the rising sun.

“What now?” Jon wondered aloud.

“I have an idea. Let’s head towards Tiere. That’s where the master and his wife were headed in the first place,” Adria suggested.

“What’s happening there?” Jon asked curiously.

“Wow, you must be truly out of touch with the world. I thought you might know since it’s clear there are a lot more merchants on the road than usual.”

“No, I was mostly confined to kitchen duty this week and last week actually. Nobody in the gang told me anything.”

“The blessed angel of Tiere is holding a celebration of her five-year anniversary of ascension,” she emphasized the word “blessed” with clear distaste.

“What does that have to do with us?”

“I heard they’re hiring a lot of people to help set up for the event,” she said and then added. “And they’re going to pay well too.”

“Well, I don’t have any bright ideas so that sounds like the best plan,” he said. “Let’s take a break though.”

They sat on the grass and enjoyed the goat cheese and salted meat Jon had packed – food courtesy of the recently deceased merchant. They talked excitedly about what they would see in Tiere. Neither of them had been to the largest city in the western provinces. They knew little about the ruling angel as well. Most of what they said was speculative. A short while later, satiated and excited, they set off.