A Disaster of Fugitives - an MCYT D&D AU fanfiction

2: Grian

'Your trial's at dawn tomorrow.' Is all the guard giving us food explains late that night. 'Get some sleep.'

It's been only a couple hours and I'm already deeming Scar as equally the best and worst cell-mate I've had. Best, because he's incredibly funny and friendly. Worst because he's incredibly stupid too.

'Dawn. Ok.' He murmurs as the guard disappears. 'So I divert their attention and... Grian?'

'Mmm?' I look up, halfway through my portion of stale bread.

'Which one of us is distracting?'

'You are. I'm cutting us free, you're distracting, then you find a deserted cart, and I'm grabbing supplies from home. And you don't have any supplies in your home?'

'I'll grab them before I find a cart... Oh, thanks.' Scar accepts the bread I toss to him, eating quickly. 'Is that it?'

'Yep. Now sleep. We need to get a good rest before tomorrow... We'll be doing a lot of running.'

He grabs the blanket on the bed nearest him, not moving off the floor. I crawl onto the other bed, staring at him... He's fast asleep instantly. Clearly used to bad conditions.

I stare over for at least half an hour before falling asleep myself.

'Wake up! Up you get! It's morning!'

I groan as I sit up. Scar's confused, eyes half closed, staring over at the open prison door's. But it'd be impossible to run. And besides, we have the plan. The plan that can either go perfectly or end in us both being executed. 

I stand, letting the guard handcuff me, lead me out behind Scar. I know who it is from the alliance between Dryadalis and the dwarven kingdom - Skizzleman, the lead guardsman and best friend of the leader Impulse.

'No stalling, buddy.' Skizz snaps as my pace slows from not recognising the route. Where are we even going? Will we be able to escape?

The walls around us change from stone to wood, and then we emerge in an unexpectedly fancy corridor.

I swear under my breath.

We're inside the castle.

'No stalling!' Repeats Skizz, giving me a jab with the blunt end of his spear. I fight a snappy remark back. Scar glances back, eyes full of questioning

Is the plan still on?

I nod back.

Yes.

We reach another pair of guards at a set of doors ahead of us. I struggle against the ropes. Will I even be able to get free? With every step, success seems less and less likely... The doors open and we're forced into the side of a huge hall... along towards the main path, lined with tree-like pillars, green carpet leading to...

Queen Pearl.

We have an audience with Queen Pearl.

The elf queen sits, eyes narrowed, staring down at me and Scar, stroking an almost-familiar ginger cat on her lap. Next to her, Dwarf-king Impulse glares. I glance over at Scar, still walking next to me before...

He stumbles, falling over.

The signal. 

'Oh, sorry... sorry...'

'Get up!' Skizz runs over, dragging him to his feet as I fight free of the ropes, letting them drop to the ground. There's a knife in his belt, easy enough to snatch up before... 

'SCAR RUN!'

Kicking Skizz away, he breaks into a run behind me, stumbling... I slow enough to slice the rope around his hands off. Everyone shouts for guards. Footsteps follow us. The door's already blocked by guards. 

But the windows aren't. 

I grab Scar's hand, clawing up the walls towards the open windows, trying to pull him up after... with just a glance to check it isn't a huge fall, I jump out. Scar's behind, and then the cat I saw on Pearl's lap, shapeshifting into a bird form.

Shapeshifting?

'GEM!' I realise too late. 

'What?!'

'Gem! It's Gem! The heir Gem! The leader of Pearl's guard! She's a druid! She can change shape!' I babble as I drag Scar through the gardens, over the stone walls and into the streets...

'Split up! She can't follow us both! Get a cart, get to the edge of town!' I yell. 'Meet you there!' 

Without waiting to see if he listened or understood, I cut sharply right, towards my home. Well, not really my home. Mumbo's home I stay at most of the time. Every time I look up, Gem's still there, flying overhead. I've still got the knife I stole from Skizz... if she attacks, I can easily strike back... through crowds of people, confused by the chase in the early morning. But it's impossible to shake her off. 

I reach Mumbo's house, hammering on the door. No reply, so I force my way in, not even noticing Iskall there. Up to my room, heart racing, grabbing a bag of stuff...

'Hallo? What's going on?'

'Iskall... hey... might've gotten into trouble with Pearl... but it's ok, because me and my cell-mate are going to get back the stolen dragon egg.' I reply quickly. Iskall frowns.

'What?'

'Tell Mumbo and BigB not to worry about me... might be a few weeks until you see me, or I get killed on the way... bye!'

And I jump from the window. 

I know my way out of town well, and it looks like the pause at Mumbo's house got Gem off my tail... still, I keep at a sprint as I race away, towards the main path out and...

'Grian! Keep going!'

'I- SCAR YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO FIND A CART!' I snap as he appears next to me.

'I'm doing that! I'm doing that! I was just getting my stuff!'

'ON ORDER OF QUEEN PEARLESCENT MOON, PLEASE STOP RUNNING!' Comes a yell from behind. Skizz again. I glance back. He's on horseback. I grab Scar's hand and lead him down a cut-through too small for the horse to get down... around a longer, but safer, route, towards the exit...

'There!' Scar breaks free from my hand at the sight of a horse-drawn wagon at the side of the road. We climb onto the front, waking the horse with a flick of the reigns. I cut the rope tethering the cart where it is.

'Come on boy!' Scar calls. The horse snorts, but starts forwards, walking, then trotting, then cantering out the gates of the town and away into the forest. After a moment of nothing, guards appear charging after us.

'FASTER!' I scream, taking control, almost pushing Scar out the carriage. 'FASTER, WE CAN OUTRUN THEM!'

'HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!'

But the yell doesn't come from outside.

It's from someone in the wagon. 

We forgot to check it was unoccupied.