The Fall of a Kingdom

Escaping The Town

After walking for what felt like forever Polaris was ecstatic to finally see the lights of civilization. She peered over at Gabriel to make sure he was still okay. About a quarter of the way to the town he had taken over carrying the Princess and had not uttered a single complaint carrying her the rest of the way. She knew he was hurt but she was not strong enough to carry her the whole way and had been struggling even before he had met up with her in the woods.

As the neared the edge of town she turned and looked at Gabriel, "I know the routes that can get us there the quickest, but you will have to trust me. Not all of it is safe for regulars to travel, so we must do it quickly."

Gabriel did not know what she was talking about but quickly agreed as the girl had also been putting her life on the line to save the princess and he felt that he could trust her.

Leading the way through town as they dodged guards walking around with torches, Polaris started to feel the same rush she used to feel when she would have to slink through town to survive. This part was the easy part, it would be when she passed over into the slum part of town that she was worried. She had only been gone for 2 years, but she knew that once she no longer lived on the streets she would never be considered one of them again. They may even try to harm her thinking that she is there to snitch on them.

The slums had been governed by a man named Niles the last time she had been out here. Taking one look at him you could tell he grew up in a rough part of town, as he only had one eye and probably only one tooth as well with as many fights as he got into. However, if you paid your dues, he was known to be fair. She hoped that he was still there as she could at least talk to him, he had kind of raised her, even if his form of raising was teaching her the best pockets to pick, and how long she can go without eating before she passed out. If she meets anyone else they probably wont even have a chance to speak.

Getting to the slums Polaris kept her eyes open and constantly looking around. She knew that by the time you saw someone it would be too late. She felt that it was too quiet, especially with this much guard activity around town. They could not stop though, she just had to make it to the end of this alley, take a right and then it was a straight shot from there.

Their luck was not that good though, as they neared the end of the alley a young boy close to maybe 8 dropped down in front of them. He had hair that was darker than the darkest obsidian, and eyes as green as jade, and even with a dirty face Gabriel was shocked at how attractive the boy was. "Hello, sister." The boy sneered, "Did you come back to beg for a home again, Niles doesn't want to see you, you left us."

Polaris kept her mouth shut waiting for said man to arrive, there was no way that she could get out of seeing him at this point, especially if Kieran was right in front of her already. They had grown up together in a way, as Niles had taken both under his wing. Kieran had looked up to her as an older sister but felt betrayed when she left to serve at the castle.

"Kieran, that is enough. Return." That is all the man said, but just hearing those words Polaris was 5 years old again learning the cruelty of the world. Looking behind her she saw the man that gave her a roof over her head, when her own family was murdered. He never showered her with affection, but she knew he would not have taken her in at all if he was a bad person. He could have simply let her starve, but he taught her how to survive.

"Am I right to assume that the guards now swarming the town are because of you girl?" Niles asked. He never raised his voice, but she knew better than to lie to him.

"Yes, but is not exactly me that they are looking for. There was a Coup and the Royal family has been killed.. all but the Princess whom we have with us." Gabriel was shocked that Polaris was telling this man all of this. Was she not worried that they would just take the Princess by force and use her to gain money? These were the lowest of the low.

Niles looked at the two in front of him, and knew that what Polaris spoke is the truth. He could see in her eyes that she had been through a great ordeal that night, and that things from here on out would not be easy for her.

"If you have her where are you planning to take her, surely you did not think you could hide her here in town?" Niles figured they were on their way but was hoping to stop her from ruining her life.

Gabriel spoke up before Polaris could answer, "We are taking her away from this town, out of the reach of her murderous Uncle. For surely she will be hunted until she too is killed." He did not want Polaris to tell them that they were taking the girl up on the mountain. She may trust them, but he does not.

Niles had wanted to hear the answer from Polaris and was mad at the interruption from the young soldier. "I did not ask you, boy. You may have been a soldier, but here you are nothing, and will always be nothing. Remember that before you open your mouth."

Polaris, worried for Gabriel's safety wanted to stop them from interacting. "We will pay if you let us be on our way!"

Looking over at her Niles contemplated her offer, "What would you be willing to pay? Would you be willing to stake your own lives if it meant we let the Princess leave here tonight?" As he spoke a plan formulated in his mind, one he knew that Polaris would concede to with little argument. Especially if he threatened the boy a little, she had always been soft like that.

"Would you stay here, if I were to let the boy and young Princess leave? Promising to never leave this town. To always put the group first and foremost." He had originally been grooming her to take over for him when she got older, but when the chance for her to leave and have a better life came up, he had to let her go. He would not being making that choice again. "Or I could just kill the boy here and now, and take the Princess back to the castle... I am sure we would get a nice reward, dontcha think."

He did not want her to hate him as it would make having her around difficult, but if this is what he had to do to keep her here, he would.

"I will." She spoke so steadily, that you would almost believe that she was not scared or worried. Gabriel was shocked, there had to be another way, a way for all of them to get out of here.

"You cannot be serious, if you stay in this town they guards will eventually find you! You have to leave with us." Gabriel was panicking, he could not just leave her behind.

Looking into her eyes he was surprised to see determination, not even an ounce of remorse. He knew then that no matter what he said, she would not be following behind him. Finally he nodded, accepting defeat.

"Good Good! Now time is of the essence, soooooo get out of my town, yeah?" Niles was surprising quick and gave him a little shove in the direction of the end of the alley. "You will just go right and head on out. If ya come back here, you wont be leaving again." He said it with a smile, but Gabriel could feel there was no warmth behind it only the promise that what he said was true.

As he got to the end of the town limits he looked back one last time to see that there was nobody standing there. He was worried for Polaris, but now without her he needed to get to the dragon even faster. Even walking was becoming difficult and he had a long road ahead of him to reach the top of the mountain. Escaping the town was one thing, but the trek up the mountain would take at least a days walk.