Chapter 5: Letting Go

As I finished putting on my gear to get out I thought about how I would make my escape. Truthfully I wanted to slip away quietly and not get caught. Of course if I did, I still had a way out, I thought looking down at my gauntlets. I wrapped my cloak around my body and then thought I should leave a parting gift. I ripped my second in command badge off of my armour and then pinned it to a wall using one of my knives. That would be sufficient enough. I walked over and opened the doors to begin my ascent.

As I walked up the stairs, I made sure to keep my footsteps light because of the echo. I kept my back flat against the inner wall as I ascended to make sure that I wouldn’t be seen if anyone did come down. When I reached the the top of the stairs I pressed my ear against the door to see if I could hear anything. I listened for a few seconds and upon hearing no sound I swiftly opened the door and shut it behind me. Now that I had left the dungeon I needed to figure out how to escape.

I could throw the explosive orb down the hall and make my escape from the back end. However, that would alert everyone I was leaving. Although it was not like I could just walk out the front door. They always tightened security on the first three nights when a new prisoner was sent into the dungeon to prevent any escape. All of the exits would be blocked by many soldiers. If possible I wanted to escape without taking anyone else’s life. I could use my bracelets to scale the wall most likely, but I would still get caught. Under that circumstance it would be best that nobody finds out I’ve escaped until I’m ready to make my exit.

I made my way to the front entrance of the castle remembering the path that had been taken to the chambers. When I got to where the door of the front entrance was I found myself greeted by a wall instead. The only way out now would be to blow up the outer wall of the castle. That would ensure that the troops not only knew I was attempting escape, but they’d know my position the second that I used it. I of course could also simply wait for the soldiers to come for me. They would have to enter somewhere and while they were in here it would be simple to escape. I didn’t want to draw a lot of attention immediately so I decided waiting on the soldiers was the best course of action.

I waited many minutes for the soldiers to come right next to the wall where the door originally was. The wall turned and the door was revealed. I heard the soldiers approaching the door and got behind it. There were four of them. The first three headed down the hallway and the fourth straggling behind was in charge of shutting the door because he had the key. As he closed the door he saw me and yelled for help. I grabbed the key from his hands and kicked him in the side which caused him to go flying a couple feet down the hallway. I then closed the door and locked it behind me. As I slipped the key into my pocket I heard a voice.

“Security was tightened because we figured you’d try to escape. We’ve got you surrounded Ruthven.” Captain Gen said without remorse. “I wasn’t expecting you to escape as soon as you did, but never the less I was prepared for it to happen. I do however wonder how you got your gear back.” He said trying to discern how I got it.

“A friend dropped it off.” I said turning around. I was greeted by at least fifty soldiers with drawn weapons approaching me as Captain Gen sat back and watched. “I’m amazed that you aren’t even going to attempt apprehending me yourself. You just want the grunts to do the dirty work don’t you?” I jeered at him. He didn’t respond to this statement, but his brow wrinkled and he blew out a very heavy sigh.

“Soldiers, capture him and take him back to the cell. If he fights back you are allowed to use force to get him. If he kills anyone here use lethal force and kill him. Make sure he does not escape under any circumstances! Captain Gen yelled out at the soldiers. They kept their weapons ahead of them and slowly started approaching me. I would have to find a way out of here. I could take on fifteen soldiers by myself, but anymore than that and I would end up getting caught. I saw the front entrance had a large glass window pane to let light in on the king, who currently happened to be absent from his throne. That would be the quickest way out, but they’d still end up being right behind me.

I ran towards them and then jumped up and grappled to the window pane. I looked back with a smug expression. I couldn’t help it. I was starting to enjoy my escape. I looked down at the Captain and said “Well I’ll have time to play around in the future. I should probably make my escape now. Later.” I said as I shattered the window with a kick. I jumped out the window and looked for another tall building I could grapple to. The clock tower was tall enough to grapple up to, but it was out of my current range. I would have to get closer.

I turned around in mid air and threw one of my grappling hooks into the wall. When I reached about halfway down the wall I slowed my descent and ran the rest of the way down. Once I reached the ground the large doors to the castle behind me swung open and the soldiers rushed out.

I ran down the steps of the Carlisle Castle with all of the soldiers in hot pursuit. When I made it to the base of the castle I saw soldiers emerging from the alleyways to stop me from going any further down the street. Instead of stopping I grappled up the top of one of the nearby buildings. Once I got up on top of it I realized it would be hard to move around on the roof freely if they pursued me up here which they did. Around five soldiers grappled up to the top of the roof and they immediately started trying to surround me. I pulled out my sword and charged at one of them.

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The soldier directly in front of me swung from the left horizontally to keep me from deflecting his slash. I blocked the hit and then did a leg sweep to knock him off his feet. He landed on his back and nearly rolled off the roof trying to regain his balance. While this was happening I decided to grapple over to the next building and start running away. Ahead of me the soldiers grappled onto the buildings in front of me to prevent me from getting any further on the roof tops. If I went to street level however, I was done for. While I decided my next course of action the soldiers that were pursuing me from behind were rapidly catching up. I had no choice, but to fight the soldiers.

I grappled forward onto the next building ahead of me and ran forward towards the soldiers. The first one got ready to attack me while the others moved around my sides. As I ran towards the first soldier the others started to attack. The first attack was a diagonal slash aimed downward at my leg. I jumped up and kicked the owner of the sword in chest. He flew backwards and slid off the roof. The next soldier ran at me and brought his sword up from below the waist trying to slice my throat. I moved just out of range to dodge it and then shoved my sword through his sternum. The next soldier approaching me came from my right side and did a cut at my head. I simply moved the already impaled soldier into the way of the attack and then shoved them both backwards.

The fourth soldier came at me and stabbed down at me. I rolled out of the way in the nick of time and then stepped on his blade. I punched him in the gut and then dropped him by slamming him in the back of the head. He would be stunned for some time so I wouldn’t have to fight him for a bit. The last soldier started backing up because he knew he stood no chance. I was not about to let him off the hook, however.

I ran at the last soldier and grappled directly behind him. Once I hit my mark I flipped the sword and ran it through his back. I then pulled up on the blade and his body slumped on my sword as he coughed up blood.I pulled the sword out him and roundhouse kicked him in the back. This resulted in his body flying forward a couple of feet and then ragdolling as he hit the roof.

I walked over to the guy I had knocked down and shoved my sword through his dead friend on top of him and pierced his heart. As I turned around an arrow pierced my shoulder and completely destroyed the ligaments in my sword arm. I didn’t want to get hit again so I pulled up my left arm and aimed for the next building. Mid grapple another arrow hits me in the thigh, and I accidentally squeezed my left hand trying to cope with the pain. The hook returns to me and I miss the roof. I smacked into the alley wall and fall two stories.

When I had hit the ground I landed on my ribs and heard a few of them crack. During this process my sword fell out of my hand and clattered to the ground sliding away from me. I pushed myself up using my left arm and both my legs. The pain pulsed through my body and my blood felt like it was on fire. I got to my feet and shoved the arrow in my shoulder all the way through and pulled it out of my arm. I did the same with my leg and then focused on trying to heal it. I stumbled over and picked up my sword with my left hand and continued heading through the alleyway.

When I reached the end of it where it met back up with one of the side streets I heard the soldiers behind me closing in. I couldn’t risk grappling up to the roof because I might get shot again. I was already in a pretty bad state until I could heal. This reminded me I still had Henry’s potion from earlier. I pulled out the potion and drank half of it. That would be able to heal my current wounds.

The soldiers were running after me now through the alleyway. The ones behind me were catching up and the others were making their way to me. I didn’t have time to fight any of them. If I did right now I would definitely be caught. I ran forward through the alleyway directly ahead of me. Two soldiers came out from an alley further ahead to my left. I decided to avoid them and go down the path they came from. I ran up part of the alleywall and angled a shot behind them. Once I passed them I continued running. I was fairly close to the Business District right now. That meant I was close enough to escape from here.

I couldn’t risk grapple up to the clock tower right now like I wanted so I would instead have to grapple directly up to the wall and try to scale the wall. Once I entered the Business District I jumped up and grappled up to the wall. The archers took aim at me, but I luckily got off the wall in time.The soldiers following me grappled up as well. I hooked into part of the wall and did a dive off the wall. Once I got as far as I could down the wall safely I ran down the rest of the way. I pulled the hook back to me quickly and then started taking off towards where I told Mira to meet me. Before I got more than twenty feet I felt another arrow pierce my leg. I tried to keep moving, but it was difficult. The next arrow hit me through the sternum and I started coughing up blood. I fell to the ground in a pool of my own blood. I was going to die right here. I heard the soldiers that had followed me closing in.

The soldiers surrounded around me pulled out their swords and got ready to stab me in the back to finish the job. Before this happened everything around me froze and I heard Inferos’s voice. “Ruthven you have everything you need to escape. You just need to let loose.” He said laughing. “You accepted my curse because you wanted to live didn’t you? You broke your chains. You are free from the life of a mortal. You no longer have to worry about staying alive for your dearly beloved because nothing can permanently kill you. You will always revive by moonlight because that’s when you’re the strongest.” Inferos explained. “What are you waiting for Ruthven? A written invitation? Let loose and destroy them. Show them your newly acquired power.”

I felt my hand pulse and looked down at the clock. It was now two O’clock. Before anything happened the first sword pierced me, and then the second, and the third. Before I felt anything else my body went numb and I passed out. A few moments later I reawoke and my body was burning with a black flame. Although it appeared to be burning it was not directly affecting me. All of my wounds were closed. My right hand started pulsing and I felt a need for bloodshed.

The flames disappeared as my wounds closed. I felt something deep down clawing its way out. I felt my blood pulse and could feel the power coursing through it. The soldiers all started backing up with fear. It made me feel powerful. I wanted to crush them under my hand for inflicting pain on me. I cracked my neck and walked forward. At that point in time my vision went black and all of my built up tension was gone. Whatever had been inside me found its way to the surface and I didn't even resist it. I didn’t feel anything and as I sat in the darkness, the only thing I heard over my own thinking, was the screams of those around me.