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19: Escape

The cage door is unlocked.

I stare at the cage in awe, unconvinced that I'm not seeing things after all the blistering mental pain I experienced. Surely the lock isn't open. I'm imagining the fact that my leg moved so easily against the metal. It didn't move at all...did it?

I press my fingers against the cool metal bars and slowly push.

The cage door opens wider and my heart skips a beat. Could it be that Vylek was just so tired after exerting himself interrogating me that he didn't lock the cage properly? Could I be that lucky?

I press the cage open further, staying mindful to not move it too quickly in case the hinge bellows out a squeal. My chest swells. He truly did leave it unlocked. Maybe I'll make it out of here, after all.

My muscles still ache from Vylek's interrogation as I slip out of the opening and move quickly through the cave, keeping my back pressed against the rocky walls and sticking to the shadows. 

Listening carefully, I lean my head against a corner and perk my ears for any noise or voices. There's only silence. I slip around the corner and trod as silently as possible across the slippery floor and twisting rocky corridors.

I can't remember Vylek dragging me such a long way to the cage, but I was disoriented after the interrogation.

Every corner I reach, I crane my neck and barely peer around it, making sure I don't see a glimmer of movement before I continue through the cave.

If the Draconians were to catch me, I would probably either be dead or in a nightmarish amount of pain. I'm not sure which would be worse.

I rack my brain to try to remember which way Vylek dragged me, but my memory is fuzzy. Was it a left here or a right? Am I hopelessly lost? After several wrong turns to dead ends, I gasp when I see natural sunlight streaming in from outside up ahead.

The exit. Is that actually the exit? Can I really make it out of here?

A yell from the rear of the cave startles me. Fear pulses through my system, igniting my legs to propel me forward. The exit to the tunnel is in sight - so close I can almost feel the brisk mountain air on my cheeks - and I pray for my aching muscles to move me faster.

At the cave exit, my eyes grow wide. 

Cold air stings my face and brushes back my hair. Before me is a vast array of sparkling black mountaintops, chiseled beautifully by nature's hand, and between the mountains rests a lush valley spilling over with fertile bright green vegetation. Ash floats through the air and a plume of black smoke crawls toward the sky. Clouds swirl above, spiraling around the mountains ahead with vibrant shades of pink and blue and mixing with the dark twists of smoke.

The Draconian's home is beautiful, ominous, and like nothing I've ever seen. I could stare for eternity at how vastly different it is from my village in the forest and Master Synn's home beneath the mountains, but I know whoever screamed may be right behind me.

My foot wobbles as I step onto the slippery dark rock edge of the cave's entrance. I peer down at the mountainside below me. I must be halfway up the mountain, if not more, and I'd hate to fall. I've never been exposed to heights before, but I'm quickly realizing I am not a fan.

I slowly turn, eyes scanning for anything to grab onto.

Maybe this splintered out rock beside my foot here? I'll have to lower myself for that, though.

I don't trust my weak arms to hold me if I attempt to climb down and I'm uncertain if the splintered rock will do, either. But another scream from the tunnel gives me no other option.

My hands tremble as I lower my body. My fingers dig into the splintered rock and my body hangs over the edge of the mountain. Fear seizes my heart and I struggle to quickly find something, ANYTHING to put my foot on against the mountainside before my stinging arms give out.

My foot hits something. I press my weight on it slowly, still holding so tightly to the splintered rock that my aching hands must be bleeding. 

It's solid. Steady. I hope it stays that way.