Young Writers Society

"The merchant caravan headed to Ombrose was wiped out," the guard said, toying with his sword's hilt.

"That so?" The other spat. "I told Lucianus not to go, but he wouldn't hear reason, said he absolutely needed to get... whatever he was carrying, I don't know what, to Ombrose. Now he's dead."

The first guard sat onto the floor heavily, rubbing his brow. "Do we know who did it?"

The second shrugged. "Nobody came back alive to tell, could have been elves, could have been goblins, could have been aberrations, maybe even a dragon. Who can say?"

"Come on now," the one sitting said, "can't have been a dragon, there aren't any dragons in the Trenches. Elves, maybe, but highly unlikely. Elves don't steal cargo, they just butcher us. Bit far from the Deep Woods, too. Goblins is possible, aberrations too." He rose to his haunches, but sat down again, wincing.

"Titus, Quentin!" it was a third voice, deep and rolling: another guard, trudging up the stone stairs. Steel clanged against stone, echoes bounced against booms.

"What is it, Marcus, what is it?" Quentin asked, standing. "It sounds like the guard tower is being invaded. Slow down."

Marcus halted at the landing, breathing heavily and scratching his beard. "We caught another criminal… he had that strange brand on him."

Titus stood also. "They keep popping up this week," he remarked.

The bearded guard nodded, darkly. His brows furrowed, and what little of his face was visible under the mass of dark hair was obscured. "Too advanced to be anything human, it's like the ink is burned into their skin."

For a moment, the room was silent. It was a silence with mass -- the harsh crackling of the torches only moved it around, but did nothing to dispel it. The shadows pooled deep, seemingly absorbing the light.

Quentin sat down again. "They creep me out... is it safe, to put them all in one prison?"

"They've been nice and quiet up until now," Titus said. "I'm going down there to check it out. Can't stand it, cooped up here."

"Careful," Marcus said, "this one punched Primo out like he wasn't even there. Came without protest after, but still. They aren't regular humans, I'm telling you."

Titus walked down the stairs briskly. "I'll take a beating over this, this lack of anything. Maybe it'll remind me I'm alive. Can't stand it... can't stand it all."

Abdiesus

Everything was going fine, better than fine, actually. This was the most promising venture they'd made in the last month. They had the most perfect gather of plants and herbs they'd ever composed. He'd even pocketed himself a few of the pretty flowers, new ones for his collection in his room. When he noticed the group of aberrations approaching, heard their deep growls and saw the take off of a flock of birds, he alerted the leader and they quickly rounded up to go back. But he'd never seen a baby aberration before. He heard the small thing cooing and squeaking, a gentle sound that hung like a feather in the air. Diesus stopped and cocked his head towards the noise. Renner tugged on his arm, urging him forward, his eyes wide with panic, but Diesus brushed him off. He just wanted to see. Just one peak.

The thing was smaller than he expected. It was covered in a fine brush of brown fur with patches of pale skin underneath. It looked wrong, as if it wasn't supposed to exist in their world just yet. It crawled through the brush, away from its group that was setting up camp not too far away, and sat at Diesus' feet. It's eyes were big, too big for its head, and its ears wiggled through the thicker path of curly brown hair that covered its entire face and head. Diesus reached out and touched the tip of the left one and the thing laughed, its small clawed hands swatting at his. Renner slapped Diesus' hand away and began tugging hard on his shirt. The rest of the group wait a few paces away, starring in horror. Diesus turned and pushed Renner into the dirt before lifting the child into the air. It grinned widely, mouth open to show a pointy row of teeth, and let out a loud high whine that could almost be a growl.

Diesus smiled and tossed the thing into the air. He'd never seen a baby anything before. Back on the Cliffs, babies were taken to be taught and conditioned to survive, and weren't returned until their eight name day. The little wolf-human squirmed and giggled. Vaguely he could hear screaming, Renner was pounding him on the back, most of the group had taken off already. Diesus held the child in one of his arms and brushed the soft fur on its face. When the thing started playing with his fingers he laughed out loud. He wasn't expecting it to be that strong, or its teeth to be that sharp. In an instant the baby forced Diesus' finger into its mouth and bit down. The tip of his forefinger came off easier than what seemed possible. He dropped the child. Shrill cries rang through the air. Stomping feet crashed through the brush. Unlike the baby, he'd seen plenty of full-grown aberrations before. It wasn't nearly as exciting.

---

"You don't understand," he whispered frantically. "You can't do this, just listen to me."

Jae just shook his head and continued to force Abdiesus into the prison room. His leader took him captive as soon as they'd made it back to Celate. He would have ran if he wasn't scared of the aberration pack they'd left behind in the woods. He was sure they had his scent. Going outside now would mean certain death.

"I had to, it was the only way," he continued to plead. "Jae, please! What would you have done?"

"Renner was my family. He was your family. I would have sooner tripped myself."

Diesus was pushed forward and stumbled unbalanced into the cell. The gate slammed closed, the sound echoed off the stone walls like an omen. His hands wrapped around the iron bars, blood still dripping from the missing tip of his finger. Jae looked him in the eyes, something akin to sadness sparking in his bright blue orbs.

"I trusted you," he mumbled. "We trusted you and you would murder your own brother."

Abdiesus shook his head and smiled.

"I have no brothers. Out there, in that wild, there is only preservation of self. Once that grass touches your heel, there is no family."

"I hope you rot here."

Diesus watched Jae's back until he could see him no more. Exhausted, he sighed deeply and sunk to the floor of the cell. He tried not to notice the walls around him, but couldn't stop his eyes from darting around. He skimmed over the faces of the others trapped with him, but couldn't focus on one person for more than a few seconds. Above them was a vent, the walls were old and cracked. Diesus' fingers tapped the ground in a quick rhythm and he could do nothing to stop them. He felt the start of a panic at the pit of his stomach and closed his eyes.

"Tomorrow," he whispered. "They have to listen. They can't leave me in here."

Galifridus|The Jail

It was not the first time he had been thrown in jail, Galifridus mused, but this time things were different.
Firstly, this time they were different guards. Galifridus knew the guards where he worked. They took bribes. These guards were offical, dressed in royal scarlet, the kind that had no life outside of duty.
Secondly this was a new prison. Usually he was taken to the district station where he was locked in the cells, and made to pay the fine. This jail was larger, although no more comfortable he noticed.
The most startling difference between he earlier arrests was that this time it had been for a most trivial reason. Spitting in the street of all things. It was only spit and mud that kept the street together where he was from. Considering he had stolen enough pocket hankies to make bridestrain from, spitting seemed pretty trivial.
And there was the other two. The cell was large, and two figures, a young girl and who Galifridus guessed was her mother lay slumped in he corner asleep. The younger lay on the motherly figure, who cradled her in their sleep.
Galifridus had a sudden thought, and silently lifted his tall frame from the floor. Slowly he walked towards the other two, and lifted the older's hair from her kneck...
No. She didn't have the mark that had been a mystery to Galifridus since birth. He was just about to return when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, on the back of her hand the corner of what looked like some kind of mark...
And then her eyes flicked open.

Lasca - Getting arrested
I wrapped my fingers around his wrist gently, flashing another smile as I tugged him in the direction of the room upstairs that Ary and I had rented. "Come on, don't be shy," I chimed, making sure my voice was appealing enough, and then added: "I know how to make someone like you feel wonderful." The stubby man had walked into the tavern about an hour earlier, using his stuffed coinpurse to make everyone there his best friend. Before he had time to drink himself unconscious and get robbed by someone I had taken the opportunity to catch his eye, and now he acted much like a puppy on a leash. A disgusting, smelly and drunk puppy.

I led him up the stairs and into the room, locking the door quietly behind us before sitting down on the bed. As well as I knew that I should never allow myself to feel smug while doing something like this, I couldn't help it. I hated touching them, smiling at them, acting like I cared about them, but the end result was well worth the initial disgust. "Come closer," I purred, reaching towards his pants and making sure he was keeping his eyes on me and not his surroundings.

Before I had even unbuttoned the first button there was a dull thud and he collapsed like a sack of bones, the fresh gash on the back of his head oozing with blood. "Nice work, Ary." This time my smile was sincere, and probably showed more than a little schadenfreude as I glanced at the edged rock she was holding. "Help me empty his pockets, and then we can get something nice to eat. Maybe even some candy."

She crouched down next to him and poked his cheek, putting the rock on the floor by her feet. "I saw a cake in a bakery a few streets away." She reached into his pocket, pulling out a watch on a thin chain. "Oh, this is pretty. Do you think it's really his?"

I searched his other side, glancing up at the watch. It was beautiful, far more elegant than any similar thing I had seen, and stood in sharp contrast to his garish clothes. "I doubt it. I'm pretty sure he just killed someone and took their money and belongings." Probably a woman.. And who knows what he did to her before killing her. "What kind of cake was it?" I hurried to say before I had time to voice those thoughts. I didn't want Ary to become as bitter as I was, if it was possible. She still wants dad to come bad, after all.. Of course, I didn't want her to be completely gullible either, but if she could just keep a little bit of that innocence I'd count it as a victory.

"Hm. A chocolate one..." She untied his shirt and smiled at a bag of coins, tossing it over to me. "But Kaius wants one with cherries.. do you think they have one that's a mix of those?" Ary brought the watch closer to her eyes, observing it. "Do we need to sell this?"

I shook my head slightly, suppressing a sigh as she started talking about Kaius. Her 'ghosts', if one could call them that, had stuck with her for years now, and since any attempt of mine to make her realize that they weren't really there had failed I had simply given up. I'd let her talk to her imaginary friends as much as she wants long as they didn't cause her any harm. "No, you should hold onto that if you want to.. Though if there's an emergency we can use it as backup money, okay?" I fished a broken gold chain out of his last pocket, and then a small pearl that must've been hanging from it. "We'll sell this one though."

I got up with a slight groan, stretching out my legs as they hurt from staying crouched down. "I'm sure we can have them make a chocolate and cherry cake." Which sounds far too good to be true. I chuckled, looking down at the man, half wanting to take his clothes and tie him to the bed just for laughs, but then reminded myself that we should leave as soon as possible. "Lead the way to the bakery. I want an apple tart as well." We probably shouldn't be wasting the money on things we didn't need, but we had been starving for long enough, and we didn't have a reason to hide in the poorer regions of the Saxa Celate.. yet.

***

Of course, our luck didn't last for long. It never did, and I should've known better than to think something else. As we were just about to leave the tavern there was a scream, and even though I managed to keep walking towards the door I could feel myself tensing up and reaching for Ary's hand automatically. Just keep on walking.

We made it out to the street, but right as I was starting to relax I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder, forcing me to turn around. I opened my mouth to tell Ary to run, but as looked at her I realized that a guard had grabbed her as well. "What are you doing?" I said, somehow managing to make myself sound surprised and mildly annoyed. The situation wasn't exactly made better because I recognized both guards from inside the tavern.

"You're arrested for theft and assault."

I tried to object, tried to use my charm and any other thing I could think of, but they were relentless. Not even when I claimed I had done it all on my own did they let Ary go, and eventually I found myself just letting them lead us through the town and into a big cell.

I waited until they had left before hugging Ary, checking her for bruises while doing so. I'll kill those pigs if they hurt her.

"I'm alright," she muttered, frowning slightly at the bars. "I suppose we're not getting the cake, though.." She sighed. "What do we do now?"

I shook my head slightly. "I don't know. Hopefully they'll let us go with a slap on the wrists.." Though gods know what I'll have to do with the guards to accomplish that. "Don't worry. I'll figure it out somehow," I mumbled, trying to keep my voice calm. "Did you manage to keep the watch? I still have the broken necklace.. We could still have that cake." I smiled a little, hoping that it was reassuring enough. "Let's just wait, alright?" I sat down on the cleanest looking spot I could find and patted the floor beside me.

"Sure.." She sat down next to me, taking the watch out of her pocket and running her finger over it. "We robbed a thief. It's not exactly such a bad thing.. or shouldn't be." She frowned and leaned her head on my shoulder. "I know we'll be okay.. I just hope they don't separate us."

That thought scared me. Surely they couldn't do that? It wasn't our first time in a cell, but we had never been separated before. What if I'm executed? How could she possibly take care of herself? When I was that age I'd only had one choice.. No. I'm not letting that happen to her. "They won't. I won't let them. Ever," I growled, making it a vow. "Just.. Just try to get some sleep. I'll figure something out."

Hermina Aparicia - Out of luck

Hadrain was a serious pain in Hermina's rear end, and she was happy to see him go. He thought he had her right where he wanted her and couldn't let go of the sexual fantasies he had in mind. Only those same fantasies were used against him. Hermina drove the dagger into his throat as he let out a scream, as he soon began to choke on his own blood. Hermina's teeth was gritted her eyes shooting daggers into the man she had dreaded the past few days. She was a fool to let him live, a complete and utter fool.

But now the job was done Adrain Ace was dead and once more her hands are stained from the spurts of blood as she pulled her knife out of his throat. Only Hermina's luck ran out as a knock on the door came and a female voice came though the door.

"Sir Hadrain, Sir Hadrain, are you okay Sir Hadrain?!"

Hermina could not get off the body fast enough she could not dress herself quick enough, the door opened and in came a female servant. The servants eyes fell onto the bed where Hermina's dead enemy lies then the servant looked to Hermina and saw her hands are red with blood. A shrill scream pierced the peaceful silence of the stone castle to which she was invited by her dead enemy.

"Guards! guards! come quickly Sir Ace is dead!" the female servant screamed.

By some stoke of bad luck and the impossible timing of a servant who would be just passing by as she killed Adrain. Hermina wished she could move faster she could hear the sound of metal on metal footsteps headed this way the dress she wore was sloppily put on and there was no easy way out of Adrain's room without climbing to the surface and potentially get killed by elves or goblins or whatever else.

"That's her, that's her there!" the female servant screamed.

The guards entered the room and there was simply no way she was getting out of this without dying. She was finally caught.

-Holding Cell 24 hours later-

Unknown to Hermina though her Mark would play a roll in her escaping the guillotine as she sat in a cell with three other people. She couldn't believe how dumb the guards were to mistaken her for some lowly criminal she still couldn't believe her luck in escaping her fate. But now that was behind her, she had to get out of there because she didn't feel like taking the chance for the guards to recognize that they had made a mistake.

The cell was obviously old and dusty moss handing off the walls and the bars of the cell were rusted at the edges. Hermina examined the bars carefully it was possible to break them but by her own strength? she wasn't sure. But she had to try, she had to get out of there and escape a beheading. She walked as far back of the cell as possible turned and ran forward slam her shoulder straight into the bars which didn't budge she backed up holding her shoulder.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow," she groaned.

"What are you doing?" a cellmate asked.

Hermina looked and the first thing she noticed was the hot amber eyes of her cellmate. Then there was the raven curls the angular face. The natural beauty of her cellmate was unnerving. In her five years of experience as a criminal she learned to distrust the beautiful, the graceful, the rich and powerful. Hermina knew she had to be ready to deal away with this woman at a moments notice.

"Trying to break out of course," Hermina said.

"Why? they are not going to hold us long look around this place is old and not meant to hold people for long periods of time." she said.

"Yes, that is true. Problem: I don't feel like seeing the guards coming back and seeing they made a mistake by putting me in here. If they realize that, then I'll have my head separated from my body," Hermina said.

"What did you do to warrant the death sentence?" she asked.

Hermina considered this for a moment she had to get out and really considered weather this girl knew this was a small time holding cell or something else. Hermina knew nothing about this girl and had to take a chance in the possibility she committed a serious crime.

"I don't know what did you do to get your's?" Hermina said.

"Excuse me?" she said her eyes suddenly wide with surprise.

"Don't you know? this is where they hold people who have been given the death sentence they'll come back for us all soon to behead each of us one by one. If we don't escape it'll mean all our lives!" I said.

Auria|In the Midst of a Scheme

Auria contemplated the other girl’s words with cautious suspicion, immediately weighing the options of available choices. Number One: await inevitable sentencing from the guards. Two: quickly formulate a route in which to escape with her cell mate. Possibility One posed problems in itself, all of which she would not be able to maintain control over, while option Two also produced quite a few nasty scenarios Auria imagined in her mind (most of them ending in a harsh beating by guards or even immediate death). However, there was a tantalizing sliver of hope she felt tempting her to attempt an escape.

But once more examining the female cellmate standing abrasively before her, Auria realized breaking out of this detention center was a foolish idea created in the spur of the moment.

A quick shake of the head concluded Auria’s thought processes. “No. Too many unconsidered factors-”

“Then consider them!” the other girl pleaded, though somehow maintaining her quality of power. Despite the darkness in the cell, Auria noted the frantic need for survival displayed across her face.

It was true that escaping and waiting to be collected by guards both proved to hold deadly consequences, so perhaps an endeavor at breaking free would not truly harm the situation any further… “I can hardly trust you,” Auria pointed out as paranoia once again suffocated her senses. “You are a criminal, after all.”

She scoffed. “No more criminal than you. We ended up in the same place, after all.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong. I am no thief or murderer or anything of the sort.” Auria crossed her arms in an attempt to appear larger than she truly was, although she still had to tilt her head upwards in order to see her cellmate’s face. “I was framed by two men who tried to… erm…” she searched for a more eloquent term than ‘rape’, “take advantage of me. They, I assume, wished to hide their own crime by suggesting to authority that I had stolen from them.”

She flexed her jaw before relenting, “Fine. My name is Hermina.”

Auria nodded. “And I am Auria.” They made no gesture to shake hands or acknowledge each other’s names, but she was perfectly content with that. “In the past moments, I believe I have conceived a most suitable route in which to evade the guards’ notice as we flee. Luckily-” She suddenly halted as a slight scuffling noise alerted Auria that the third woman in the cell was awakening from her restless sleep on her pallet. Auria looked to Hermina in a frail glance asking, What do we do?

Arelie - Imprisoned
*

My sister said everything would be alright, but I couldn't relax. I sat with my back against the cell's wall, keeping my eyes locked on the floor rather than looking at the bars. We've been in similar situations before, we've even been locked up before, but there was just something different this time - like those guards wanted to bring us here, and keep us here, and it was more important than the actual crime. They never even asked us to give back what we took from that man in the inn. For a moment I wondered if I had hit him harder than I planned, but I discarded the thought - I knew it wasn't possible. We were always careful enough.

"I don't like it here," Kaius said. "It scares me.. I don't understand. What are we doing here?"

"I don't know what we're doing here," I muttered in reply, taking out the watch from my jacket's pocket. It was a pretty thing - I could imagine it belonging to some wealthy lady, and I wondered if she was wealthy enough to not even notice it gone. "But we're not going to stay for long." I looked up at Las automatically, knowing she heard me and pretty sure she'd at least want to pretend to think I'm talking to her. She didn't like Kaius and the others, for some reason, but I didn't mind - I knew I couldn't comfort them while I was worried myself, and she was the only one who could make me feel safe.

She sighed, kissing the top of my head. "No, we're not going to stay for long." She smiled a small, almost mischeivous smile, which I hadn't seen in some time - though I knew her well enough to know that she was forcing it. "Worst case scenario, we break out."

"Mm.." I took her arm and wrapped it around me, leaning my head on her shoulder. For some reason, I felt strange - just strange, without any other proper way to describe it, almost as if I was dreaming or rehearsing for a performance. The cell was real, everything that happened was real and I knew all that, but still it all felt fake, distant. Wrong. I couldn't stop thinking about the guards, and the way they caught us. Us, out of everyone, just like that, as if they were there in the room with us and could be sure it was us who robbed the thief - and then they didn't even ask us to empty our pockets, they didn't even search us properly or returned to give the thief his stolen goods back. It was as if they wanted us here by any cost, and the theft came in as a handy excuse. But if it was so, what could they possibly want with us?
*

I woke up, not completely sure when or how I managed to fall asleep. I remembered hours of thoughts swarming in my head, but I couldn't quite pinpoint when thoughts had turned into dreams - or for that matter, when we switched to lying on the floor instead of sitting up. Lasca was tense, and hugging me far too tightly. I opened my eyes, looking up and feeling myself tense slightly as well. A man was standing there; not a guard or the man from the inn, or anyone I've seen before. He was taller and thinner, and made that feeling from before return.
He didn't look like he belonged there either - maybe in a prison, for all I knew or cared, but not in this cell at this time. It was hard to explain why I felt like that - it wasn't even that Las and I never ended up in a shared cell before - but if anything, this man didn't seem like the guards or the other people. Not like someone who's really there, although not like the ghosts either. Another one of the actors, just like Las and myself, another person in this dream or whatever it was. And he was too close. I knew how it affected Las to have strange men close, although I wasn't quite sure if she knew I understood, and I didn't like knowing she feels that way.
She pulled slightly away as she noticed I'm awake, and we both sat up, not taking our eyes from the man. He looked somewhat confused, maybe feeling just as worried and lost as myself and Lasca. I glanced at her, finding her keeping her face more or less expressionless, looking like she was planning on keeping relatively friendly tone. For my sake, I was pretty sure. My sister did a lot of things for my sake, even when she wasn't asked to.

I suppressed a smile at that thought and looked at the man again, who was now mostly focusing on my sister. I wanted to tell him what Kaius thought about his appearance - mostly muttered remarks about needing to eat more, and comments on the way this guy's hair hung on the sides of his face, spoken silently as if anyone but me could hear Kaius's words - but I didn't. My sister never approved of me telling strangers about the ghosts, and I didn't want to upset her more. Besides, there was something about this man almost interesting enough for me to just want to observe and listen, possibly the way his eyes somehow managed to stay focused on Lasca while looking at everything else at the same time.

"Who are you, and why were you touching me?" she asked coldly, and I could tell that she wanted to do a lot more than just hit him in the head, even though he probably couldn't. "If you were even the least well-mannered you'd introduce yourself first." Somehow she managed to make it come across like a joke, even though she didn't look particullarly amused.

I found a strand of her hair and wrapped it around my finger, feeling a tiny, not particularly mirthful smile on my face and wondering what would happen next.

Galifridus looked at the two with accute interest. They were very close, that was certain. A flaw on the elder's part, no doubt.
"And, were I the least bit mannered, I am sure I would have done. In answer to your question, I was looking at that scar, just on the back of your hand."
At this the girl pulled her hand out of sight into her clothing.
"Why were you looking at that?"
Galifridus stared at her for a moment before saying simply "It's very pretty."
The smaller girl, who until now had been burrying herself into the older woman's obvious surplus of hair, looked at Galifridus straight it the eye. He took this as a staring competition. He looked straight back, and after about thirty seconds of bloodshot eyes the girl blinked. The elder had just been looking on bemused. After the girl blinked Galifridus bowed and said, "And yet I have forgotten to introduce myself. Galifridus, and I am at your service in any respect that could lead to us getting out of this wretched place.

I raked the small winnings towards me with a grin at the guards across the table. "Nice playing with you, gentlemen." Stacking up the coins, I toppled them into my hands and fed them into my purse, which quickly disappeared into a hidden pocket. "May I suggest not playing half of your wages next time? Your wives won't be too happy."

"You could go easy on us from time to time," one of them muttered sullenly.

"Aww, come on. You know it's my way of showing affection." I patted him on the shoulder as I stood up, tucking a gold coin back into his pocket without him noticing. "And I treat you all afterwards, don't I?" They grinned at the prospect of free beer, albeit bought with their lost money. I snickered quietly as I made my way to the bar. There was no better way to get the guards on my side than to buy drinks for them.
Leaning against the bar as I waited for the drinks to get to me, I eavesdropped casually on the guards talking next to me.

"They've all got them, you know. Those strange brands." I stiffened almost imperceptibly, calling on my game face to stay calm. The Mark at the hollow of my back seemed to tingle.

"The prisoners, you mean?" I slouched in their direction, trying to hear more as the bar tender set the beers down in front of me. I didn't look at him, and he coughed, to draw my attention. Mine wasn't the only one he drew, and the eyes of the guards talking between themselves next to us snapped to him, then me, as I straightened slightly and reached for the beers tensely. I turned back to the table, shining a smile at the guards I had been playing cards with. They muttered appreciatively and started drinking. As I slid back onto my stool, I kept the guards from before in the corner of my eye.

The door slammed open. A burly man, wearing the uniform of a guard, strode in. "Cinna, Dario, come with me. I have something important to attend to."

The two guards looked up from their drinks, eyebrows furrowing.

"What is so important you'd interrupt our drinks for, Titus?" one asked. The other one nodded, looking at his beer again.

His eyes flashed. "I'm going to see the prisoners," he growled. "You'd better not test me, Cinna. I've been having a bad day."

The seated guards stood, grumbling but not meeting Titus' eyes. "Okay, okay." They turned to their comrades, shrugging ruefully. "Don't be losing all your money to Felice without us, aye?" He winked at me.

The three turned and marched out.

I clicked my tongue in mock disappointment. "And I was planning on stripping them of their hard earned money next." Setting down my beer, I pretended to work out a crick in my neck, stood up. "I'm feeling a little tired today, so I'll be going now." I placed a few gold coins on the table. "Treat yourselves, yeah?"

I stood up to a chorus of goodbyes, and left the bar, just catching the departing guards out of the corner of my eyes and hurrying after them. They made their way towards the prison down the most direct route, but I split off down a side road. There were other ways to get to the prison, back roads and alleyways where you couldn't be seen by those on the main path. I didn't want to be seen. Being seen was dangerous when you had black lines curling around your body and you were following guards who had others like you in prison. Scurrying down the hard stone paths, I wondered why we were being... Collected in such a way. I didn't know how or if the other marked are aided, but my unusual luck had only ever threatened a few purses. Though if I thought of all the ways I could use it, I became a little breathless.

I smiled at some of the people I had helped before then as I paced down the streets. They were good people, and my luck had helped them. Surely we could help others. I shook my head. Not everyone thought the same way as me, I knew that from past experiences. I continued down the path, realising just in time that I was about to cross paths with the guards and doubling back, muttering under my breath. I hated feeling threatened. Although maybe a good way to get exactly where I wanted to be was to be captured. I hesitated, then shook the thought out of my head. Too risky. I continued dpubling back everytime I saw the guards ahead of me, cautiously making my way to the prison.

When I saw it in front of me, I sighed. I wasn't sure whether I was relieved, but the knots curling in my gut made it hard to concentrate. I took a deep breath. Keep calm and believe that everything will be okay. That's how it works. Peeking around the corner, I saw the guards further up and came back around. Think. You need a plan. You won't get anywhere without a plan. Just like cards. I pulled up an image of a deck of cards, mentally took out the aces and wrote my possibilities of the back of them. Shuffling through, I read them again, then picked out the ones that weren't viable, like just walking into the damn place, and placed them back in the deck. Out of the two that were left, Ace of Hearts and Ace of Spades, Spades was the best. No one died and there were minimal casualties. I flipped my knife out of my belt so that the blade was resting against my arm.

I heard the crunch of steps next to me and whipped around. I can do this. The hilt of my knife smacked him in the temple and he went down like a stone. Sorry, Cinna. Dario hesitated a second, then seemed to decide that going on the offensive was the best move. A fist to the throat put him down on the floor next to Cinna. The third guard, Titus, wasn't so hasty.

"You," he snarled. "What are you doing? What do you want?"

"Counting cards wasn't really cutting it for me." I smirked slightly. "And the keys to the prison cells would be a good start."

Titus' eyes widened. He drew his sword. "Do you know what you're doing? Those are monsters. Aliens! Are you mad?"

I sighed inwardly. Humans are so adverse to difference it was astounding they had made it this far down the evolutionary line sometimes. "Maybe." I flicked my knife around in response to his blade. "Or maybe I don't think they're monsters. Everyone deserves a chance to prove themselves."

"It would be fine if they were murderers and thiefs," he said, circling around me. His blade swayed slightly. There were flecks of splittle on the corners of his mouth. "But they're not human... not human, I tell you. Those brands are a curse. It said so in the book, too! Demons I say. Demons! Lucianus wouldn't listen to me, and now he's dead!" Giggling madly, he swung his blade down.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an insane believer. The best kind ever. I darted to the side to dodge his blade, but it nicked me on the shoulder still. Titus used his free arm in a quick jab to the face. The blow left me dazed and the knots wrapped around my guts again. You can still do this. He's clearly not quite there, and you can use that.

Titus tottered backward, blade pointed straight at me. "Well?" he exclaimed. "What are you doing? I could have you arrested, you know. Aiding monsters... but nobody will miss a body in the gutter." As he spoke, the blade swung down to the left again.

I sidestepped his blade, getting as close as I could. "Everybody has someone who'll miss them." His frantic, almost crazed eyes met mine as I kneed him in the crotch then caught him with my elbow in his windpipe. As he dropped to the floor, I followed him, already searching his pockets and belt for the keys I needed. They were on a ring around the side of his belt, tucked into a pocket. They jangled as I unhooked them, and I grinned at the sound.

Next to me, Dario groaned, starting to manage to pull breaths again. I sighed. Clearly I was not going to be included in his next card game. As he started to push himself up, I laid him back down again with a swift uppercut to the jaw. "Night night." Standing up, I noticed the manacles on their belts and grinned. I arranged them so that they were roughly in a triangle, then manacled their wrists together, crossing their arms across their bodies so that it would be harder to get out of. Then I placed one key in each of their pockets and ambled off down the street to the prison.

Next step: getting in.

As I stepped closer to the guards on duty, I fiddled excitedly. The keys were safe in my purse and the knife back on my belt. The guard at the door stepped in front of the metal bars, blocking my way in.

"What's your business here?"

I fluttered my eyelashes, and breathed excitably. "I heard that there were monsters here, and I just had to see them!" Edging closer to him so that I encroached on his personal space, I looked up at him through my eyelashes, feeling like a ridiculous teenager rather than a capable adult. Still, it seemed to be working. I could see a slight flush creeping up his cheeks. "Will you let me see them? Please?"

"Little lady, they're dangerous," he said, leering. "I wouldn't want you getting hurt... but if you want, I can show you something else..."

I shuddered as I kneed him in the groin. "I'm sure you could," I snickered as he lay groaning on the ground. I scanned him for another set of keys, and found one large one hanging from a ring around his belt. Comparing it to the others, I assumed that this one was for the main gate in front of me, and the others were for the cells. I tested it, to see, and the grate swung open with a slight creak. On the floor, the guard muttered something. My foot connected with his stomach, and I smiled with satisfaction at the sound of the air leaving his lungs. "Just be quiet, will you?"

Taking the steps as quickly as I dared in the badly lit tunnel, I made my way down to the cells. I stopped at the first door, testing the biggest key on the ring I had taken from Titus. My assumption was that the bigger the key, the bigger the door, and this one was pretty big. My luck held up, and the door opened almost silently, which was a surprise. Stares pinned me to the spot, and I grinned. This was the right place then. Stepping into the corridor between two lines of cells, I held up the ring of keys and jangled them loudly.

"Hello. I was wondering who'd like to take a stroll with me?"

"That said," said Galifridus as an afterthought, "I'm not sure escape is going to be much of an issue..."

A woman, quite young, with short hair and a grin to scare a Cheshire Cat, was marching down the central row of the prison block, waving a bunch of keys and being quite obviously delighted with herself. The first question that popped through Galifridus' mind was who the hell was she? The second was, can I trust her?

Of course he could trust her. She had the keys.

"Hello. I was wondering who'd like to take a stroll with me?"

The cells burst into pandemonium at the woman's suggestion. Only Galifridus stayed silent, watching the prisoners desperate calls with an air of total neutrality. After the calls had partially died down he cleared his throat and said softly "I hope it wouldn't be to presumptuous to ask who you are?"

She paused when he said this, and looked at him with her head cocked to one side. After thinking for a moment she said "The gal with the keys. Probably a friend."

Galifridus' face remained neutral. "There are no friends without reason. Why are you here? I'm guessing releasing prisoners isn't part of your daily routine."

"You ask alot of questions don't you? I came because I was told the prisoners had a certain mark..."

At this Galifridus twisted his head sharply to the right, revealing the spherical black mark on the side of his neck. The mark flickered in the firelight, the flames from the torches in the wall brackets glinting of the sweat on his neck. "Like this?"

"I've got one too." Galifridus span round. The woman with the the child had spoken. They had been so quiet until now Galifridus had all but forgotten they were there.

Galifridus turned again and looked at the woman with the keys straight in the eyes. "I think we'd better take you up on that stroll you mentioned."

When the door clicked open and the person on the otherside offered people to go for a stroll. I was in disbelief when I was offered, no given freedom! I jumped at the chance to get out of my death sentence. Only everyone else did as well, people swarmed to the door wanting to escape I just wanted to get by and get out screaw the woman I could probably find my way out of here on my own. I waited as people trickled out of the cell and I pulled out at the rear of the group mentally I was setting a few key objectives for getting out of the cell.

1. Get my stuff back.
2. Eliminate as many people as possible as to keep them quiet. I just needed my quiver and bow for that.
3. Secure my loot and get the hell out of the city as quickly and little fuss as possible.

"I've knocked out the guard by the entrance," said the one with the keys. "There might be more patrolling. We're going to have to be quick."

"I would deal with the guards, but I need a bow and quiver and a dagger."

"Knock yourself out." Another girl, with golden eyes, handed me a dagger. "Or don't, preferably."

"Where'd you get that?" a third voice, male, in the back.

The girl winked. "My mind."

"Right, seriously now, where did you get the dagger?" I asked scowling at her.

"Does it matter? We have other things to focus on... like getting out of here before someone notices."

"Small talk later." A wild eyed man elbowed his way forward. "We're going to have to flee the city, go above ground..." he licked his lips. "We'll use the hunter's tunnels."

With the dagger in hand we walked up the stairs with some shoving and pushing. I knew prisons were big, but this one was small and rundown, cracks along the walls and water on the ground. Just how far were we from the city? Hunter's Tunnel's? I didn't know of the name we must have been pretty far outside for me not to know the name. We were so close to freedom when we heard voices coming from a room ahead of us.

"Scout the area! Make sure the prisoners are still in their cells!" a male voice ordered.

My turn: I pushed my way ahead of the group and peeked around the corner. Two or three going left or right up the stairs to guard towers. Leaving only two or three at the exit, a head on fight would be pointless and shed a lot of blood. Better to start cutting down the number of people here. Less work for me!

The same girl that gave me a dagger strode forward. She was carrying a spear this time. "These are quite useful when they don't have room to dodge, they tell me." Her grin promised blood.

"Hey idiots, the prisoners are over here!" I yelled.

"What are you doing?!" a male voice behind me hissed.

"Shut up!" I muttered back.

"We can't stealth past them, it'd be better to kill them here."

I bring the tip of my dagger to the tips of my fingers and my training with daggers took over. The dagger spun fast and then lodged itself into the throat of one of the guards. Blood gushed from his throat as he brought his hand to the wound. He keeled over. The dagger vanished as the body hit the floor, as if it hadn't ever existed.

"That's the only one I got!" I said to Auria.

She handed me another dagger, produced from thin air. Her face was strained. "I haven't tried summoning so many so quickly before... I'm approaching my limit. Make good use of this one."

Remarkable, I thought, looking at the dagger.The girl was practically a walking armory. I wish I could do that -- it'd make life a little bit easier!

The remaining guard charged forward and Aurira speared him though the stomach.

"Time to leave, let's go!" I shouted to the others behind me.

I slipped past Auria and went to the body of the guard I had thrown my dagger at. I padded down his body looking for anything thatigt have been useful. I grabbed his sword out of his sheath and made for the exit.

"I'll lead the way." It was the one that had mentioned the hunter's tunnels. "We're going to have to be quick. Don't stumble. Don't look back. Don't stop."

We charged out of the prison. The only noise was the pounding of boots on stone and heavy breathing. As we pushed through the final door to the outside, I heard another noise. Bells. It was bells. I turned back for an instant, and saw the third guard ringing the alarm.

The moment the alarm began ringing I knew my window to get out of here was closing. The moment the alarm got back to the surface it would make it more difficult to get though. The good thing was we had a very small army worth of people here. It might be enough to allow me to slip by and get out unnoticed while they and the guards are fighting.

"After them!" a male voice yelled.

Galifridus|Gaol break


The next minute and seventeen seconds was a veritable maelstrom of clamour and shoving: Prisoners jostling and shouting, banging against bars and stamping on floors. They seemed to think it would get them out of their cells quicker, the idiots. When everyone was out, (with Galifridus in a rather unfortunately cramped position in the crowd,) the whole ensemble moved as a single mass. Galifridus wished the girl had just unlocked his cell, rather than letting everyone out like this. The noise would only attract unwanted attention, besides, it was distracting to his thought processes.

Galifridus was going to have to get past the guards. No real chance for stealth, but Galifridus didn't mind a little bit of fighting, he could use his fists better than most could use a sword, and he kept on fighting when others were too hurt. Apparently, his nerve ends were dead, but any doctor with half a brain could see that wasn't the case. He could still feel things. Only he felt no pain.

After the guards, escape. It was clear to Galifridus they needed some longer term plan: It was no coincidence they all bore the strange mark, and they could just be easily rounded up again. No, they need to leave the city, Gods only knew what they would do then.

Galifridus elbowed his way to the front. This was where the lady with the keys probably was, and she at least had two brain cells to rub together. Half way through the crowd he noticed a girl with eyes like daggers and a dagger like her eyes. She seemed to making small talk with a girl next to her, blissfully oblivious to the perilous situation.

"Small talk later. We're going to have to flee the city, go above ground... we'll use the hunters' tunnels." Well it was a plan at least, seeing as no-one else seemed to have one Galifridus might as well introduce it. The girl stared at him blankly (the eye-daggers now slightly blunted) as Galifridus once again disappeared into the crowd.

Galifridus fought his way to the front, but as soon as he did so a commotion started up. A fight. Galifridus turned just in time to see the girl he had spoken to before kill a guard with her eyes, and maybe a little help from her projectile dagger. Neat move. Galifridus decided to let them lead the way. He was a mean fighter, but when other fighters were keen to die before him, he did not complain.

Once the guards were well dealt with by the woman with the crazy flipping fingers and the girl who somehow had now come by a spear, Galifridus took a place at the front of the crowd. "I'll lead the way. We're going to have to be quick. Don't stumble. Don't look back. Don't stop." Galifridus suddenly felt like a primary school teacher. Of course they shouldn't stop. Although to be fair, Galifridus didn't mind if some people got left behind, it would hopefully slow down any pursuers. That said Mrs. Dagger-Ninja and The Gal With The Keys, (so known because Galifridus couldn't be bothered to ask their names,) could very likely come in useful.

The former particularly useful if a guard were to sound the alarum for instance.

Now it was time for Galifridus to run.

A man can run very fast when he feels no pain.

Titus realized something was wrong at about the same time he heard the thundering of feet towards him.

Five guards, no, six... maybe more. The horde stopped right before him, breathing heavily and sweating.

"What? What is it?" He asked.

"The Marked..." one said, as another bent down to remove his handcuffs, "the Marked have escaped prison."

"Go after them, blockheads! I'd hope you only need one man to get me out of these!" Titus screamed into the guard's face.

He slowly cleaned his face of spittle and nodded. "Sir!"

They charged off again.

I musn't let them escape into any of the houses, or hide by the river, he thought, as he pounded after his men. They couldn't stay in the village, at this point, but what to do? They had escaped from prison, he'd expected that... now he wouldn't be able to talk to them. Sorry, Leon. I'll have to act without thinking again.

Houses flew past. Dust trailed behind. Titus ducked through an alley and vaulted over a very startled cat. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Cinna had reached him. He heard the bells ringing across town now. Torches were being lit inside the homes. Ttitus shoved his thoughts back. They slowed his legs.

Left. Right. Over a fence, under a manure cart. There. The escapees had made good time, but he could catch them. And what happens when you do? He recalled Leon's voice. What can you do to stop them? You can't stop a river flooding. You can't stop destiny.

"There's less of them," Cinna said, gasping for air. "I count five or six."

"Turn left here," Titus replied. "Comb the area. I'll follow them. The others are probably closing in."

Cinna nodded and turned.

Knowing every word had cost him a second, TItus tried to double his speed, but fire shot through his legs. They were reaching their limit. He hadn't run so fast so long in so much, and the Marked were escaping.

"Gods dammit." He cursed, slowing down. They couldn't go far, though... he'd catch them eventually. It was just going to be a game of cat and mouse. Not all was lost. Titus followed the figures with his eyes. They grew smaller and smaller, until he lost sight of them.

He was about to turn back, and started to, until he saw them reemerge, slightly above. Titus wheeled back. They were climbing up the stairs. Up the stairs. To above ground. He collapsed on the ground, rolling and laughing. His men arrived soon after, and stopped, staring at their contorted captain.

"Sir... shouldn't we go after them?"

Titus rose on one knee, slapping the ground in terrible, desperate mirth. "Oh Leon, perhaps destiny can be averted," he whispered. His eyes weren't looking at anything in this realm. "You know what can avert destiny really well? A long, sharp claw." He collapsed to th ground again, laughing.

"Sir." One said, grasping Titus' shoulder.

At the touch, he stood straight with lightning speed,, startling the guard. There was no trace of mirth on his features. "Not all of them made it. Those are still here, somewhere. Search for them. Go!"