He had a tiny bit of the money from selling the cart left, and used that remainder to purchase a cloak. Concealing his appearance seemed a good precaution to take as he had only seen 2 other truans in his time around the city. That taken care of, he started to scope out the jail. It seemed to be a rather plain little building, and as far as he could tell would be rather easy to break into. Running the risk of being noticed he made a few closer passes to the building only then seeing the rune work carved into the building. It would seem when people had superhuman abilities, superhuman solutions were needed to contain them. Wyatt moved away from the jail to try and come up with some sort of plan for how to proceed. He started brainstorming, and the ideas that rolled in were mostly not feasible with the time he had available. Tunnel his way in, find animals that could bash the wall down despite the runes, cut a hole in the roof, were just a few of the ideas he came up with. Just as he started to feel a bit discouraged, the spear and Joy simultaneously seemed to reach out to him. Or perhaps Joy was using the spear to reach him; it was not entirely clear.
Wyatt paused, and then leaned into the feeling of connection. Moments later it blossomed in a way he hadn’t felt the previous time he attempted to connect. The spear had definitely done something to strengthen his connection to Joy. A musical voice that seemed to have a growling reverb effect sounded in his head a moment later. “Power is sometimes the best way to overcome power. Stone house meant to keep in rather than out.” He couldn’t help himself, and had jumped in the air when he first heard the voice. After he took a moment to listen to what was actually said he understood what she meant. He was certain some of the runes were for generally reinforcing the structure of the building, but he was also certain Joy was correct most of it would be tuned to reducing or absorbing attacks from the inside. Most people wanted criminals to stay inside, and he imagined if it was for something more dangerous they would bring in dangerous people to guard them or perhaps they would just kill the dangerous person immediately. “Thank you, Joy. I think you are right. Sometimes the direct approach is really the only viable option.” He whispered as well as trying to project it in his mind. He still wasn’t clear if she could hear his thoughts, and was a little embarrassed to try and ask.
Deciding what to do with Su was going to be a challenge all of its own. He couldn’t leave her with someone else because they would need to escape immediately once the plan went into motion, but he also didn’t want to have her right with him in case things were to get dangerous. Having her stand nearby also seemed dangerous in case she was captured. Ultimately he decided that having her come with him would be the only real option. He scouted out the best path out of the city, and waited for nightfall. Once it was dark he placed the bags at a spot on the route he had selected earlier to leave them. Hopefully nothing would force them to take another path. He would have his pack, and Su had the small pack he had for her worst case scenario. His earlier scouting had led to the determination of a wall that faced a small back alley and also seemed to have a bit less intricate runic work. He had also taken the time to examine the claw a little. It was interesting that he didn’t even really need to try to channel Qi through it. Almost like it was an extension of himself.
Everything in place, Wyatt walked to the spot he had chosen with Su in tow. As they arrived he brought the tip of the spear near the wall, and then let the connection open up. He felt the tug of his Qi flowing into the spear, and then he pushed down with the claw. Feeling the resistance as the blade pierced into the wall. He fed a bit more energy and really felt the drain as he started to drag it down through the wall. As he approached the bottom he moved back to the top, dragged it sideways and started to cut. He was making a square hole large enough to get the family through. Once the cuts were made he used the spear like a lever to pull the block out towards him until it was far enough that he could grip it with his fingers. After sliding it out he poked his head inside, and saw the family. They had chains connecting their wrists. He quickly got their attention, and then used his spear to shear through the cuffs. As the chains fell away they stepped outside. Ugrand couldn’t help but ask “how?”
“We will talk about it later for now you need to follow me. We need to go quickly.” Wyatt whispered. They took off on the route he had planned out. Everything seemed to be going without a hitch which was making Wyatt more and more nervous.They recovered the 2 bags without incident, and that was when things took a turn. 2 men with swords belted to their sides showed up seemingly out of nowhere. “Good now they can die in the escape, and there will be no need to look into anything further.” Hearing those words Wyatt had no qualms about becoming the aggressor. He launched himself forward with a speed that should have been beyond him. Apparently he was fully in sync with Joy who was lending him what strength she could, he could feel her agreement with his aggressive move. Their fang pierced the heart of the first enemy, who died with eyes wide in surprise. The other man was already in motion counter attacking. Wyatt felt drained as a large amount of his Qi flowed into the fang it seemed to know how much it needed to counter the sword blow to the shaft. It was enough to keep the weapon intact, but it still sent Wyatt sliding across the ground. The man appeared enraged as he completely ignored everything else and rushed after Wyatt.
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Something primal awakened in Wyatt, and for reasons he didn’t fully understand he roared. It seemed to temporarily paralyze everyone including their would be attacker. The moment the roar had sounded out Wyatt put himself into motion. His spear pierced the throat of the unknown man, and then a moment later he slammed the tip through the base of his skull up into the man’s brain. Wyatt felt like he was extremely ill. There was an ache in his bones, and joints, a slight shakiness, and on top of that he also felt a bit dizzy. The two Ugrands managed to support his weight, and he gave them directions in between his bouts of nausea. In no time they had escaped the city. Wyatt still wasn’t able to really walk on his own, and from here he didn’t have much of a plan other than as far away as possible. They moved as quickly as they could. Wyatt fell asleep as he was at this point being brought along in a combination of dragged, and carried. When he came to it seemed they had made some good progress. Before he could even get his thoughts in order he heard an echoing slap, and then a moment later the pain in his face registered. An involuntary “ow,” rang from his mouth. He had no chance to say anything else before Argana was talking. “You idiot! You could have easily gotten yourself and Su killed. We had accepted our fate. How could you put Su in that kind of danger? I know you don’t understand the intricacies of our world, but when someone important dies someone has to pay for the crime. They won’t stop looking for us. How could you be such an idiot?”
Wyatt was about to defend himself when she started again. “The entirety of your plan also seemed to consist of cutting a hole, and running. You couldn’t come up with anything better?You could easily have been attacked. It’s a miracle none of us died.” The last was accentuated with huffing as if she was out of breath.
“Are you done? Can I defend myself now?” The intensity of Argana’s glare was almost a palpable thing. He knew he made the only choice that he could live with, but he still felt almost compelled to apologize. Argana had that mom magic that could completely amplify the smallest amount of guilt into something overwhelming. She didn’t say anything though so Wyatt took that as permission to continue. “I did what I could to prepare. The packs have travel rations, and extra water bottles. I examined the jail as much as I could, and I did think about ways to keep Su safe, but keeping her with me seemed the only viable option. As far as someone paying for the death, and chasing us forever I believe we will be ok. I met a mysterious old man that told me as long as we are gone before daybreak we should not be pursued. He is also the one who provided me with my weapon.”
Argana started on him immediately. “You couldn’t think of anywhere Su would be safer than directly in the line of fire? She could have waited outside town for us. She could have waited somewhere else and we could have gotten her later. You brought a child into something that had a high probability of getting us all killed.” Before Wyatt could try to defend himself, Ugrand the 2nd surprisingly spoke up. “You know there was no other way. It is clear that with the limited time, resources, and information he had that he chose what he believed to be the best course of action. If they do not pursue us then his plan worked, and if they do pursue us we will have to deal with it. We are all here, and with no real injuries. There was limited time to make a choice. I believe he made the only choice he could make.”
Ugrand the 2nd so infrequently added to conversations that everyone had to pause, and consider what was said. It was the perfect deescalation. Argana deflated; she knew Ugrand was right, but the past several days had sent her on an emotional roller coaster. Rather than acknowledge that anything had changed they all just continued in silence from that point on. Wyatt was lost in thoughts about how off the rails his adventure had gone. Ugrand was wondering what he would do without Argana, Ugrand the 2nd was thinking over what he said, and wondering if Wyatt had indeed made the best decision. Argana was just trying to remain calm. She had found another family member in Wyatt, and then almost lost everyone in just a couple weeks. It was just too much. None of them had any idea where to go next, and that was when Su spoke. “I know where to go.” Everyone stopped walking and gave her their full attention. Su didn’t talk, at least not that much. “I have a map.” She pulled a small map out of her bag. That seemed to be all she had left to say. She just pointed at a spot marked on the map, and then left everyone else to discuss.