Red Roses

Chapter 4 (Introduction Arc)

Being tossed into the holding cell after a search, Ardit got up on his feet. The guard closed the cell gate and tied it with thick rope, making sure that the side of the knot was facing outside the cell so that he could not untie it. She also made sure that he couldn't turn the rope to his side to untie the rope. He looked to the guard that was put in charge of watching the cell and called to her, "Do you really have to take my bag? I promise I won't do anything with it!" Looking at him, she scoffed, "Your empty promise means nothing human, keep it down and your transfer will be quick. If you try anything however, your time here will be over sooner than expected." Tapping the fire symbol on her left hand, her fingernails glow a radiant red orange. Snapping her fingers, a bolt of fire zipped past Ardit, scraping and burning his cheek as a warning. Ardit flinched, rubbing his cheek. He questioned with a hypothetical intent, "So.. you're a combustionist?"

The guard went to sit down on her chair, leaning back on it and looked at him, explaining, "I don't make small talk with humans." Ardit clenched his hands, he made an attempt at the very least. Looking at one of the uncomfortable looking beds of the cell, he sat down on it. He then moved his legs up onto the bed so he could lie down, staring at the ceiling he started to think about how he'd get out of here. He considered the important things to note around him. The beds were very uncomfortable, the guard liked to lean on her chair, and the thick rope kept him from opening the gate.

Ardit had his plan in his head, but it was a matter of time before he was transferred. The wait felt like a few hours. Eventually another person, what looked to be a superior, entered the room. Calling the guard to step out of the room with him, He discussed with her the hours that she'd be on guard and for which days for her shifts. After a while of eavesdropping, Ardit rested his back against the hard bed. He thought to himself, "In two nights that lady will guard this cell, it's best to wait until then and escape at night where there will be less people in the department in general." Eventually, a new guard took her shift, since the first guard was important to his plan for escape, he waited for the next night to come for her to come back on her shift.

Two nights had eventually passed, the only way that Ardit knew this was because the guard that was there when he first came to this place entered the room to take her shift again.With a jolt, Ardit stood up and approached the gate bars. He gave a teasing remark, "Hey! Where were you? I was starting to miss you." Rolling her eyes, the guard took her seat to start watching him. After a while of impatiently walking around the cell, Ardit approached the rope, shuffling it. The guard looked up at him and clenched her fist. She stood up and roared, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?!" He looked up at her and explained, "I'm trying to loosen this rope, a little help please?" She seemed very offended, tapping the back of her left hand and activating her magic. "Step back from the bars or I'll be forced to attack!" she growled. Ardit kept messing with the rope.

This heavily infuriated the guard. reaching a climactic point of stress she snapped her fingers and a quick bolt of fire zipped across the room, Ardit knowing full well of her attack, shifted the rope upwards into the path of fire. This caused the rope to burn off, "Yes!" Ardit exclaimed, pulling the gate open and cracking his knuckles. Before she had a chance to prepare an attack, Ardit rushed to her, clenching his fist and thrusting it against her jaw. Grabbing her shirt collar, Ardit pulled her and knocked her into the wall. She stumbled and zipped a beam of fire through her finger directly into Ardit's chest, it singed him, causing him to grab his chest on the burn to put it out before it could severely damage him or ruin his only outfit. He swung his arm to her to grab her arm, the arm still in position to fire. She tried to fire but his hand latched on her wrist, pulling up and causing her to miss. Ardit took this opportunity to yank her arm to get her close to him and away from the wall. She felt herself gasp as she stumbled and almost fell. She felt something against her hair as Ardit grabbed onto the back of her head and slammed her face into the wall.

Ardit, realizing he had not much time before help arrived, snatched his handbag and bolted out of the building. He could just hear a loud "Stop!" From a distance, he could only assume without turning to look behind him that he was being chased. The guard with a broken nose and a cracked jaw followed close behind, each snap that could be heard was another bolt of fire that either missed him or singed his back, slowing him down. Ardit felt his breath hitch as a cough escaped him. Fortunately due to the guard's injuries, she was somewhat fatigued and couldn't run very fast, however it wasn't enough to outrun her.

After careful consideration, Ardit had an idea. Once the guard closed the gap enough, he checked for where she was. Once the gap was closed, he came to a sudden stop. With a heavy thrust of his elbow, she ran directly into his hit. This staggered her breathing and knocked her to the ground, unconscious.

The clever thief took deep breaths as he felt his heart racing. Ardit realized he should probably get out of here and hide again before he would be found again. He sprinted out of the area with the energy he had left so that when the guard woke up it would take a while to be tracked. As he walked, he looked up to the stars and thought to himself, "It's a beautiful night, shame it took a lot of effort to see it."  Eventually he realized, "Sometimes the effort is half the reward."