Negative 2’s deep raggedy breaths finally slowed, and he sat up to get a better look at their surroundings. Gentle moonlight bathed them in a subtle red glow, allowing his eyes to pick up some slight details of the terrain. The blood-red colored trees of the forests, warped by the vampire’s magic over the centuries, cast a menacing red glow on the boys’ faces. Subtle fog refracted the moonlight off of the ruby-colored trees, giving the illusion that the forest was expunging a bloody mist.
He didn’t recognize the location where they had emerged out of the caverns. The crop fields and animal pastures that the humans were required to tend to during the days were nowhere in sight. Furthermore, he couldn’t see the fields where the humans were required to exercise to remain healthy and get a full dose of vitamins from the sun.
They had chosen this shaft for a few reasons. First, it was closest to their cell. Second, it was the only shaft that had enough natural grooves in the stone to make the climb possible. And finally, the release point of the shaft was the closest to the edge of the vampire’s territory. Even so, they had hours of running through the forests before they would get to the outskirts.
He couldn’t spot any of the guard shacks that were located closer to the main opening of the caverns and near the numerous private exits that only vampires had permission to use.The vampires would never tend to their humans or guard the territory. That was a boredom best suited for their thralls.
Truthfully, the guards were for attackers from other territories, not to keep the human slaves imprisoned. Ignorance served as the greatest means of control and as the greatest deterrent to escape. Some human slaves lived and died without ever once thinking of escaping their fate. They were unaware that the world outside of the caverns offered them anything different from their own putrid existence, so why would they risk death and torture for the unknown? Only luck and the eavesdropping of 125 sparked the boys’ desire for a life of the countless possibilities that they now knew existed.
He strained his eyes to see the glow of a lantern that would indicate a thrall patrol was out there in the darkness, but saw none. Thralls were as strong as two men and could venture out into the sunlight without any penalty, but they were mortal. Any injury could kill them as long as it was fatal. The boys would take the odds of a hundred thralls over one singular vampire. At night, at least.
“Which way should we run?” Negative 2 whispered to 125 and shuffled closer to him for comfort. The older boy scanned the horizon, illuminated by the moonlight, and bit his lip.
“We don’t know Negative 2. We don’t know which way will take us to a human territory. If we run the wrong way and end up in the Shifter or Fae territories, we are as good as dead.” He narrowed his eyes as he continued the scan of the forest and pointed in one direction.
“That way. Our first priority is to get out of the vampire’s territory. I would rather brave the Wilds than stay here. At least that way, our death will be quick.”
125 took off into a light jog, conscious of saving stamina, and Negative 2 did his best to keep up. They stumbled over rocky terrain, falling and scraping their knees more than once. The roots of the trees seemed to have a life of their own, and that life was malicious, constantly snagging their feet and slowing them down. The crisp autumn breeze rustled the long grass poking up in between the boulders and forest floor. They ran for hours without coming across a single thrall patrolling the woods.
He was exhausted and his legs were shaking. No matter how deep or fast he breathed, he couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen to satisfy his lungs. A splitting pain in his side made him whimper as he tried to keep up with 125. The older boy was faster and stronger, and he was slowly but surely pulling away from Negative 2.
If he was left alone to escape this foreign forest, he wouldn’t survive. 125 was the mastermind behind this entire escape, and Negative 2 would be lost without him. He redoubled his efforts and pushed his body to the brink of failure to make up the lost ground on 125.
125 finally came to a stop, gasping for breath, and bent over to prop his hands on his knees. He held out a shaking arm and pointed. “Look Negative 2! It’s the border. It’s marked exactly like they said it would be. We made it!”
Negative 2 strained to raise his heavy head and peered into the moonlit darkness to discover what 125 was so excited about. Up on top of a rocky hill was a twenty-foot-high ornate sculpture bathed in a blood-red glow. The sculpture, made entirely out of old-world steel, announced to any other race that the lands behind the hill belonged to a vampire coven. It was the vampire ankh. A vampire coven would scatter smaller ankhs around the miles of perimeter, but there was always one that they would build elaborately for intimidation. Just like this one.
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“Come on. We almost made it.” 125 scampered up the loose rock toward the top of the hill and headed directly toward the Ankh.
Negative 2 scrambled to catch up with him, and they got closer and closer to freedom. During their scamper, they kicked bits of rock free, and cuts appeared on their hands and knees from sticks and jagged rocks. The boys paid no mind to the minor injuries, for what was pain in the face of victory?
The Ankh towered over the young boys and the metal symbol mesmerized Negative 2 as they got closer and closer. It looked like an upside-down dagger with a three-pronged hilt. The tip of the oversized dagger penetrated solid stone and made the ankh immune to the wind seeking to blow it down. Around the top prong of the hilt, a massive circular band of steel connected to the hilt and wrapped itself above the rest of the dagger.
The moonlight gleamed and glinted off of the smooth metal of the steel, and Negative 2 could see his reflection. He was skinny, with pale sunken skin and green eyes. His shaved black hair was stubbled atop his head. He turned slightly to catch sight of the grotesque scarring on his neck and gazed, for the first time, upon his brand. It marked him as property instead of a unique existence. He stared silently for a few seconds before moving on. That reflection was his past now. He no longer needed to heed it.
They finally closed the distance to the massive territory marker and walked up right next to it. Negative 2 looked up and up until he could see the top of it. His eyes widened and he wondered how in the world the vampires had placed such a large piece of metal. It was a testament to the strength of the vampire coven to any who sought to test their resolve. 125 inspected the ankh with smoldering eyes and spat on the tip of the dagger.
“If we make it to a human settlement, I will make it my life’s mission to eradicate every last vampire and thrall in existence. They will never escape my bloodthirst. I will track them to whatever hole they seek sanctuary in and hunt them down one by one.”
125 stared at the ankh with such hatred and violence in his eyes that Negative 2 shrunk back instinctively. The tinge of blood cast from the ruby trees illuminated his face, painting a menacing sight. 125 spat one last time on the metal sculpture and then began his descent down the other side of the hill into the Wilds. They took their first step of freedom into the even more dangerous unknown.
125 stopped as soon as they reached the bottom of the rocky hill. For the first time, Negative 2 saw the soft browns and greens of a natural forest and teared up at its natural beauty. The slight breeze blowing through the trees comforted him with gentle caresses.
“Do you feel it, Negative 2? Our first steps outside of those bastard’s territory. Our first steps outside of their prison. Our first breaths as humans instead of livestock.”
125 took deep breaths and raised his clenched fists into the air. “No matter what happens from this next step onward, we did it Negative 2! Whether we die in a day or one hundred years, we will live and die as free humans.” Tears streamed down 125’s face as his lifelong dream was fulfilled.
Negative 2 clenched his little fists and painfully bit his lip. There were not even rumors of anyone escaping the territory, but they had done it. They had put their lives on the line and had bested fate. They basked in their achievement for a few minutes before once again beginning their trot into the Wilds, which wouldn’t and couldn’t be held as territory by any one race. There was no protection outside of the territories and death could find you from any race and in any manner. Wild and untamed danger sounded better than certain systemic torture to Negative 2.
They used the moonlight to guide their way for another two hours until they finally collapsed, every last ounce of strength drained from their young bodies. Negative 2 lay limply on the forest floor as sticks dug into his back, but he was too exhausted to remove the sharp wood trying to puncture his skin. He could hear water from somewhere in the distance and wondered how big of a stream would create a roar like that. Maybe it was a rumored river that was said to be many times wider and deeper than the stream they used to hydrate the animals.
Negative 2 rolled over onto his stomach to ease the poke of the sticks and laid face first on the earthen soil. The smell of dirt and plants was so much more welcoming than the mineral smell of the cavern’s stone walls. He opened his eyes and glanced up. Through the sparse trees that fought with each other to find purchase in the sporadic soil, he could see a glow.
“Look 125! The horizon is getting brighter over there!” He pointed toward the horizon as 125 shifted to glance in the direction he was pointing.
“Less than twenty minutes, Negative 2. Twenty more minutes, and the vampires won’t be able to track us down anymore. We can’t stop now. Freedom or death.” 125 groaned as he struggled to lift himself into a sitting position against a tree. He pulled a broken branch from beneath him that he had sat on and started to twirl the branch between his fingers. Negative 2 crawled toward him and leaned weakly against the tree.
“We need to rest 125. Daybreak is coming and it will be the safest time for us to sleep and regain our energy,” Negative 2 whispered in half a yawn, his eyes already beginning to flicker shut.
125 shook him roughly and jolted him awake with bleary eyes. “We can’t stop Negative 2. I know you are tired. So am I, but we are too close to the territory still to be safe. Patrolling thralls or vampires returning to the territory late at night might still come across our path.”
“He’s right, you know,” a soft voice answered 125 from the cloak of the trees.