Glyph

Part Seven

As I felt the castle shaking from the combat above me, I wandered the dimly lit corridors that led to the dungeon. I had yet to figure out Keld’s intentions for the girl, but I didn’t have time to argue. The walls were close around me and conformed to nothing but right angles. I wound around one more corner and found myself in the prison block.

There were no guards; they were probably concerned with the fighting overhead. It made it easy for me to search the cells. With no interruptions, I found who I was looking for. She was dressed as she was before, but had a large bruise on her arm now, probably where the guard caught her.

“Hey.” I called in. She rolled over and seemed to have been asleep. I took a seed from my pocket and pushed it into the lock. I raised my arm to the key hole and soon, the lock was forced apart by a massive pumpkin.

As the door swung open, the fighting seemed to stop. Everything was quiet again. I didn’t like it. I scooped up the child and ran down the hall I had just come from, hoping to find a quick exit without being seen by Gideon. It didn’t work out that way.

As I pushed back into the main hall, the girl now on her feet and right behind me, a guard caught sight of me and gave chase. I ran through the still open front door and through the still quiet town. The guard was quick to lose, but I still wasn’t out of trouble. Being seen meant being known. With the king dead and no heirs left, chaos was sure to follow. All I could do now was find a reason to Keld’s orders.
We fled from the capital and didn’t look back. The night was quiet, as were we. The running didn’t stop until we made it to an outer village. There, we took a room at the inn for the night. The innkeeper had a look of peculiarity when we walked in. We looked like we had been through a great deal.

Once up in the room, we cleaned up and sat to talk. She fit into my extra pair of traveling clothes loosely. It was for the best that she dressed this way to dilute suspicion. With a moment to breath, I watched inquisitively. She observed me in a similar fashion. I was the first to speak.

“What’s your name?” I asked, skipping any idle banter.

“Legna. Yours?” She asked shrewdly. I was surprised with the forward nature of this girl.

“Rosh.” I replied. “Aren’t you going to thank me for breaking you out?” I asked.

“Why? Now I’m running from them again. I had a bed and three meals a day there.

"Now what?” She replied, obviously agitated. I couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“I see.” I answered. “Well, then I am sorry. But, you are going to be very important in the near future. Unless you think it would be better otherwise, I want you to come with me.” I suggested.

“Where?” She asked. I stopped and realized I did not know where to go from here. I couldn’t return to the castle with the guards after us and I no longer had a lead as to where Gideon could be.

“For now, we can stay here. In the morning, we can figure out where to go and what to do.” I explained.

“So, you broke me out and you have no idea why?” She asked. “You sound hopeless.”

“For your information,” I began.

“Save it.” She interrupted. “Let’s just get some sleep.”

Before I could add a last word, she rolled over and fell asleep. She was proving to be more trouble than I had asked for. However, I still found it best to listen to Keld’s wishes.

With that, my thoughts turned back to the throne room. The king had vanished in an instant. With such a power, did Keld even stand a chance? Likely, he died shortly after we parted. My doubt drove me from my sleep and soon, I was back on the road towards Evvrét. The night was still thick, and the town was now alive with activity. Guards and Reavers were running across the streets.

I followed a path close to the shadows and scaled the castle walls with a few grapevines. The inside wasn’t much different from the outside. Guards still ran about. A group was gathered around where the throne and Phalen’s charred remains sat. Another was examining a pile of ashes nearer to the portcullis. That was all I needed to see. Everything was gone again, and my world was destroyed by Gideon again. I was on the verge of leaping down and driving them away from Keld’s remains. However, a sudden conversation caught my attention. Another Reaver entered, decorated with a dark brown armband. It was obvious he was an officer.

“Report ensign.” He stated curtly to the nearest other Reaver.

“Two victims. One is a former knight that his majesty recently reinstated. The other we believe to be the king himself.” He answered with a swift salute.

“Who’s the killer?” The officer inquired.

“He’s the renegade we sighted a few days ago at the son and daughter’s crime scenes. All information on him is currently being kept at HQ.” He answered.

“What about the other incident? Same person?” The officer continued. I leaned closer to try and catch the conversation better.

“Nothing but a jail break sir. The perpetrator is unknown, but we do have a witness giving us a description.” He began, indicating across the room to where a guard was speaking with another Reaver. “The former prisoner was only the peasant girl we caught yesterday. We don’t currently know why she was broken out, but we aren’t taking any chances considering the recent happenings.”

“Keep up the investigation and report everything to HQ. I’ll be there as soon as I can to look up more on this renegade.” The officer commanded. The Reaver he addressed saluted and turned to continue the investigation.

I retreated from the city quickly, not wanting to get caught. The night was growing short and I needed to get back to the inn before Legna woke up. This trip was becoming something much more than I had expected. I only hoped, or prayed, that I could see it through to the end.