Kingdom Chronicles: Awakening

Chapter 2.1 - Escaped

Mara held out her right wrist over his shoulder. "Unchain me."

Elias did as he was told, but before Mara could catch the chain, he threw it on the ground with such force that the chain banged against the ground, bounced in the air, and hit the back wall before falling on the ground again. Mara froze, listening for the shouts and march of guards, but none came. She waited and took many long deep breaths. Her arm itched to quickly pull the dagger from its place on Elias's neck, but he hadn't fulfilled his purpose yet.

"I said no tricks," Mara said much louder than necessary directly in Elias's ear. He flinched against the noise but made no other motion or sound.

With her dagger still on his throat, Mara shoved him forward through the open cell door, and he wobbled out, struggled to keep his balance while avoiding more pressure from the knife. The passageway outside the cell was just as dark as it was inside. There was only one torch directly outside her door, and she couldn't see where—or if—the passage ended to her right or left.

"Here's your chance to save your worthless skin," Mara said. "Which way out of here?"

"Right," Elias rasped.

Mara turned her body and his to the right and headed down the corridor blind. Her only protection against traps, holes, or other guards was Elias going before her, and she knew, if it came to it, she could easily hide her slender frame behind his oversized one and use him as a shield.

Elias continued to lead her each time they came to an intersection, and Mara had no choice but to trust that he was leading her in the right direction. After half a dozen more turns down equally dark passageways, Mara no longer believed herself capable of even finding her way back to her own cell. She wasn't made to live behind walls of stone. She was more and more convicted of that with every brush against the harsh, impersonal creation and with every moment she spent still trapped within it.

After what Mara could only guess was close to an hour of walking, Elias finally stopped. They were still shrouded in darkness, and Mara's adjusted eyes could only make out a vague outline of where she knew Elias's bulbous head was supposed to be. She needed light again.

"Where did you take me, Elias?"

"Exactly where ya said."

Mara looked to her left and right and then in front of her and back the way they came. "We are still in the prison. I want out!"

"If ya'd move that knife of yers, I'd get ya out."

Hesitantly, Mara slowly slid the dagger away from Elias's neck and moved it down to press against his right rib where she had cut him earlier.

She could feel that Elias stepped forward, and she tried to follow him but met with a fist in the stomach. Her body reacted by doubling over and gasping for her air, and she frantically swung her dagger in every direction. She felt her blade make contact with something and heard Elias curse and slam into one of the walls. She brought her blade down in the same place, but she only sliced through air. She heard the clanging of boots against the stones back the way they had come, and they were quickly growing fainter.

Thirty-five different ways that Mara could scold herself for letting Elias get the upper hand passed through her mind before his footsteps were out of earshot, but she didn't have time for that now. She shoved her dagger in her trousers and blindly felt the walls around her, starting with the one opposite the way she had come.

She felt stone after stone in front of her, and she heard more and more footsteps and shouting as she searched. Elias, if you've led me to a dead end, I'm going to kill you.

Everything in front of her was cold and rough, except for one spot. She felt where the surface became warm against her palms, and it was smooth, not like the coarse stones that made up the walls. She moved her hands up and down the warm area, and suddenly, a light was cast against it, revealing an iron door like the one of her cell. Mara risked a glance toward the light behind her, and it burned her eyes. The guards were almost on her.

She turned back to the door and reached into her pocket where she had stored the key Elias gave her. She realized too late that she had not considered the possibility that he had given her the wrong key. Mara held her breath and plunged the key into its hole and turned it. The door gave a satisfying click, and she swung the door open.

Bright white light poured in from outside, and Mara heard the painful cries of the guards behind her that mimicked her own. She heard them scramble for her and felt one of her arms brush against her calf. She jumped out into the light without knowing what she might land on. Her feet hit a hand surface and took off half walking, half running, her hands stretched out in front of her like a blind woman trying to find her way. She didn't know where she was and couldn't see where she was going, but she had to get away.

Fast.

**Mara is finally free. So, what do you think she will do now? Will she be able to get away before getting caught again?**