Chapter 10: Prison Break III

Leo scrambled back as much as he could with his limited movement, but he didn’t move his eyes off the warden. The man kept approaching at a slow and steady pace, movements brimming with confidence. Everyone in the hallway knew there was no need for him to rush.

Finally, he came to a stop just in front of Leo, and the [Thief] had to crane his head up to meet his gaze.

He was acutely aware of his own position, the opening just behind him, the continuing sounds of clashes, and Spade leaning casually against the wall a few feet behind the warden. He glared daggers at the [Executioner], who simply raised an eyebrow. He should’ve known.

“I’ll admit, you’ve managed to cause quite the ruckus for a mere slum rat.” The warden’s eyes narrowed. “Though from the state of things, I find it difficult to believe that’s all you are.”

He leaned closer.

“Tell me who’s responsible for this mess, and I’ll let you die with your organs intact.”

Leo narrowed his eyes, the fingers of his left hand clenching into a fist.

His personal skill lets him halt the movement of anyone he looks at, Spade had said back when they were planning the details of the escape. It was true that the warden hadn’t looked away from his legs once since activating his skill, but could he really trust any information the [Executioner] had given?

“I don’t know,” Leo grounded out. The warden raised an eyebrow.

“I find it very difficult to believe that someone would happen to stage a break in at the exact same time as you escaped your cell.” He sighed and shook his head.

“Well, if you really wish to make this difficult, then we can always resort to other means.” Spade’s presence nearby was a stark reminder of what he meant. Leo had seen the public floggings. The [Executioner] was every bit as proficient with torture as she was with killing.

Leo heard a loud shout from one of the side rooms followed by the sound of something being smashed into the wall. In his peripheral vision, he could see a few more prisoners fall to the ground as more and more guards appeared. The tide was quickly turning, the escaped prisoners unable to hold up against the growing numbers.

The warden waited for a response. When the [Thief] didn’t give him one, he sighed and flicked a wrist in Spade’s direction.

“You.”

The [Executioner] simply lifted her head, not moving from her current position. Her sword remained sheathed at her side.

“This will count as an extra charge.”

“Yes yes,” the warden said, a bit of irritation filtering into his voice. He was nervous, Leo realized. He was a relatively new warden and had never dealt with a break-in of this scale before. They had yet to find the main perpetrator, which was why he was so impatient to get information out of Leo.

The [Thief] eyed the man carefully, taking in all the little cracks in his otherwise calm demeanor. For a brief moment, his hazel eyes moved to the side, meeting Spade’s grey gaze.

In a subtle movement so small that Leo nearly missed it, the [Executioner] raised an eyebrow and silently jerked her head in the warden’s direction. Leo’s shoulders tensed. Was she telling him to trust her? How could he?

He heard more yells. There was still no sign of Allan. Leo gritted his teeth.

Just before Spade could take a step forward and make good on the warden’s order, he blurted out, “Don’t you want to know who let me out of that cell?”

The warden paused at that. Careful not to draw his attention, Leo silently moved a hand closer to his pouch, loosening the strings just enough to get his hand inside. He didn’t move his eyes away from the warden, but in his peripheral vision, he saw the [Executioner] come to a stop just behind the man.

“I mean, I didn’t have my lockpick, so obviously someone let me out from outside,” Leo continued. His fingers wrapped around the smooth glass vial he’d taken from the office, and he worked to pop the cork off.

The warden narrowed his eyes. “Are you implying one of my guards betrayed me?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Leo snorted at that. “I’m doing a lot more than just implying.”

He heard a faint pop as the cork came loose, waiting with tense muscles for a reaction. Thankfully, the sounds of fighting behind them seemed to have masked the noise, and he quickly covered the open top with his palm.

“Ridiculous. I have no reason to believe a petty thief.”

The [Thief] smiled, the edges sharp. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask the executioner?”

The warden paused, and in that brief opening, Leo flung his arm out, spraying the vial’s contents onto the man’s face. His aim was off, but that was fine. All that mattered was that the warden jerked back, and during that momentary, instinctive reaction, his eyes shifted away.

A rush of feeling flowed through Leo’s legs, and he sprung up, pushing off his injured hand.

He activated [Sprint] and shot forward, swinging at the man’s eyes, but he sidestepped the attack without missing a beat. Cursing, Leo tried again, adrenaline thrumming through his veins.

The warden sneered, and Leo’s arm froze midswing. The man whipped out a knife sheathed in his belt and lunged forward, and Leo struggled to twist his body out of the way.

The schwing of metal sounded just as something dark and warm splashed onto Leo’s clothes.

The [Thief] froze, watching transfixed as the warden screeched and hunched in on himself, hands flying up to his face.

His face, where a deep cut had slashed straight across his eyes, gushing red blood.

Behind the convulsing man, bloody sword drawn, was Spade, whose scarred face remained impassive.

For a second, Leo didn’t move. And then, he rushed forward.

“Hold him down!” he yelled. The warden was still thrashing and clawing at his eyes, red leaking between his fingers. He tried to elbow at the [Thief], but his movements were clumsy with pain and easily dodged. Spade grabbed the man’s arms in a tight grip, keeping him in place while Leo rapidly scanned him.

The [Thief]’s mind churned, aware of the yells of nearby guards. Every nerve in him told him to get out while he could, but this might be the only opportunity he had. Where was the fragment?

His eyes landed on the ring of keys looped to the man’s belt. People carrying multiple valuables usually kept them close together. They were easier to keep an eye on that way.

Leo hurried to grab the pouch beside the keys, praying he was right.

“You’d better hurry up,” Spade said. Those flat grey eyes watched him keenly. “Once the shock condition wears off I won’t be able to keep him in place.”

Leo gritted his teeth. I know, he didn’t say, instead moving to yank the knife out of the warden’s hands. For now, the [Executioner] seemed to be on the same side as him. Whether or not that could be trusted to last, he would deal with later.

It would take too long to untie the bag, so he opted to cut the loop that the pouch and keyring were both attached to. His fingers grasped the two objects, and a quick notification flashed in his vision.

[You have successfully stolen [1] prison keyring and [1] minor fragment]

The [Thief] didn’t bother reading past that. He sprang to his feet. [Sprint] was still active, but it would run out soon.

Around them, guards and even some prisoners were rushing into the hallway, having heard the warden’s screams. Leo ducked under a swinging axe, leaping over a piece of rubble and bolting towards the opening. He could hear Spade behind him, clanging metal ringing as more guards drew near.

Leo spun around, stabbing the knife into the next guard who came charging at him. He didn’t stop to see if it had connected, too busy focusing on getting away.

The opening was so close now, light streaming through and lighting up the broken, jagged edges of the wall. Leo pushed himself to go faster, to weave around the scattered debris. He could feel the wind on his face now, the warmth of the sunlight.

Behind him, clanging footsteps sounded. He spun around just as two guards closed in on him, nearly knocking him off his feet. Leo’s shoulder slammed into cold metal armor, and he barely managed to duck under a rapid punch.

The guard’s arm smashed into the hard wall behind him, and Leo used the opening to slice the dagger into the guard’s neck.

She stumbled backwards with a gurgling sound, and the second guard let out an enraged yell. He charged forward. Leo was cornered.

Crack.

The guard stumbled, and a second blow sent him to the ground in a limp heap.

Leo stared. At the back of the guard’s head was a bloody, deep dent in the skull where someone had slammed a blade into it vertically. He looked up, and his eyes landed on a familiar face.

Dark hair a mess, covered in grime and sweat, Allan panted with exertion, but his grip around the axe in his hands was firm. He met Leo’s eyes and hurried forward, grabbing the [Thief]’s uninjured arm with a bloody hand.

“Come on!” he urged, yanking Leo away.

Snapping out of his temporary daze, Leo hurried forward, aware of the growing chaos around them.

The two ran for the opening in the wall, and Leo saw Spade kick a guard back before turning to follow.

They burst out into the dusty street, and a crowd of murmuring onlookers gasped and reeled back. The [Thief] glanced behind him, noting the growing sea of prisoners being pushed away by the guards. The desperation clinging to hollow, starved faces. He hesitated.

“What’re you doing? We need to go!”

Leo ignored Allan’s words, instead quickly asking, “Whatever you used to make that explosion, do you still have some of it?”

The [Rickshaw Puller] looked confused, but he pulled out a vial filled with scarlet liquid. Later, Leo would marvel at how the man had managed to get his hands on the explosive potion, but at the moment he simply snatched it out of Allan’s hold.

Squinting, the [Thief] reeled his arm back and hurled it at the prison’s perimeter.

The ground shook as the vial exploded, and Leo heard several guards yell as they were thrown off balance by the blast. Leo followed it up by tossing the prison keys into the chaotic wave of prisoners. A few used the opportunity to shove past, but Leo didn’t stay long enough to see how many made it out.

He turned, the fragment and crests secure in his bag, and bolted away from the prison.