I wasn’t much of a fighter. I did a quick search for my favored weapon, tossing the bejeweled mace aside. Nope, no kitchen knife here.

The staff would do in case the guards come back or the spider gets hungry again. Before I went toward the smoking corner, I grabbed a dagger, the most expensive-looking one with the most jewels, to store in my pack. This would be a good bargaining item. Better than sitting here collecting dust. The spider was still twitching above as I snatched the staff off the floor.

“Take the broken staff with you and I will help you get out of here,” the spider’s pained inner thoughts grated at me, taking sandpaper to my heart.

What the.. My eyes narrowed at her briefly. As much as I hated spiders, it was frustrating not being able to read the spider’s face. Sure, now that the prisoners have escaped, I could leave while the guards were distracted. But no one does anything for free. What's in it for her?

I gripped the metal staff hard. I had to disappear. I had to do this. Not for myself, but for Grandma Rina. It would have to be a large rescue to get her out of this prison. My mother June and my sister Sadie, now eight, could care less about me, but at least they would take care of Grandma when I was out of the picture. I wanted Grandma Rina to be seen by a doctor soon.

Just then, the staff’s gem pulsed and casted out a large puff of smoke. The spider shrill-shrieked out in pain. Startled and suffering a massive headache, I swung back the staff as if it were a baseball bat, ready to strike the spider. A couple of good whacks would put us both out of our misery.

“Hurry! Take it out of here!” The spider sent another vision, a pathway from the prison camp to the entrance of my hometown, and marked the houses that were taken over by the new soldiers. The spider seemed to know Steel quite well.

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I relaxed my stance. I miss my hometown.

“I’ll keep the guards here busy.” The spider sent an illusion of the guards being cocooned and hung upside down as she raised her front arms threateningly.

Spiderzilla didn’t have to tell me twice. I mean, thrice. It all makes sense now. The spider only wanted the staff out of there.

Although she said it was broken, I could tell the staff wasn’t really damaged. Only the purple jewel on top. It was all because that jewel pulsed out smoke that caused her pain. That staff, already a little taller than me, was the only one my size anyway. The other staves would just make me look ridiculously short.

My brain was overloaded and my breaths were erratic and shallow. I took a couple of calming breaths. This is as ready as I’d ever be. I moved the crates aside and peeked out of the shed. My escape route would be towards Billy. Thankfully, he held no taser this time.

I ran with the broken staff and bag towards Billy. As I neared, he smiled a crazy grin. He readily approached.

Time for revenge.

Instead of hitting the legs in the front, I tried swiping at the back of his legs using as much momentum as I could muster. He tried to dodge to the side, underestimating the long reach of the staff. When metal hit behind his left kneecap, he didn’t go down as I’d planned. It still felt good though. I followed the low blow with a quick jab to the gut. As I hit him, the broken jewel pulsed with energy that caused us both to fumble back.

I recovered quicker than Billy did. He had been hit directly by the purple blast. I thought back to how Spiderzilla was pained by the pulse. Before he could get up again, I brought the bottom end of the staff onto his chest. Take that!

The other guards were nearing. I had to get away. No more risks. I ran before I could show Billy just how I felt about his cruelty. All I could think of while running was, I should have blasted him with another purple pulse, like he zapped Wanda to death.