Escape
"Every person has free choice. Free to obey or disobey the Natural Laws. Your choice determines the consequences. Nobody ever did, or ever will, escape the consequences of his choices."
– Alfred A. Montapert
Declan hurried down a small tunnel, continuing to blindly run into the walls. He gripped Rosie's hand tight enough that she kept pace with him but not hard enough to actually hurt her. He peered ahead into the darkness. His only indication that they might me heading towards the surface was the slight inclination of the path.
"Declan, where are we going?" When he didn't reply she asked again. "Declan, where are we going?" she pleaded.
Declan paused. He turned around so he could face her. "I'm not sure where we're going yet. Hopefully towards the surface." He smiled slightly, trying to reassure her. He still wasn't sure if this child was his sister.
The continued down the slightly winding path, their hope of escape slowly diminishing. They kept stumbling along until they could see a small pinpoint of light at the end. Their hope was reignited and they practically ran towards the light.
Unfortunately the light that they had seen did not lead to the surface. Instead the tunnel opened up into another large cavern. At the far end they could see five or six large cages, all full of the girls who were kidnapped from villages. Large wooden contraptions filled the rest of the expanse of the room. A scattering of creatures guarded the room armed with nothing more than their own claws. They shuffled about, oblivious to Declan and Rosie.
They ducked behind a nearby crate, careful not to make too much noise.
"What are they doing with those girls?" Rosie asked. She stood slightly behind Declan, no longer terrified but still more scared than she had ever been in her life.
"Nothing right now." Declan analyzed the situation. He wasn't just going to stand back and let the girls suffer. He was going to do his best to save them. He scanned the walls, searching for more tunnels. He saw three more for sure but he didn't want to just blindly walk back into the labyrinth. Beside each tunnel entrance there were small marking, the language of the creatures.
Over the years Declan had been hunting Demonica he had been able to pick up some of the language. He knew enough to figure out which tunnel led to the surface. With that in mind he crept farther along behind the crates, closer to the cages.
"What are you going to do?"
"Get them out." Declan looked at the cages. They did not have a bottom but instead were just sitting on the cold ground. The top was attached to a large pulley system so the creatures could easily lift them up when the need arose. The lever was large, so large it required at least two creatures to operate.
"Stay here," he commanded Rosie. "And be quiet." He tore his gaze off of her. His sister...alive. He still couldn't believe it.
Declan crept up to the closest cage. He caught the attention of the closest girl and told her his plan. She quietly spread his idea to the rest of the girls in the cage before returning to him.
"Thank-you," she whispered. She wrapped hands around the bars. She was wearing a night gown like most of the girls were. Her hands and face were streaked with dirt and her hair all tangled, with leaves and twigs weaved in it.
"Don't thank me yet, you all are still in there. Remember, wait thirty seconds after you see me leave then start. If you don't wait you could compromise everything." He placed his hands on hers for a moment. He felt a lump form in his throat. Her hands were so cold.
Declan crept back to where Rosie was waiting. He took a couple deep breaths before he dared to speak to her.
"Rosie, I'm going to save those girls. What I want you to do is when I say so; make your way over to that tunnel entrance over there." He pointed across the cave. "Go down that tunnel and don't stop until you reach the surface. Even then keep going until you are far away from this place. I will find you but if I don't go to the nearest village and tell them your story. The people there will understand and take care of you. Do you understand?"
Rosie nodded. "Why won't you find me?"
"I will." He took her hands in his and held them firmly for a moment.
A cry from one of the cages broke the moment. Declan turned around and watched.
"Help! Help me! I think she's dead. Oh no, she's not breathing! Help me!" The girl was screaming at the top of her lungs, drawing the attention of the creatures.
They sauntered over to the cage. "What's wrong?" one rasped.
"What do you mean what's wrong? This girl just collapsed, that's what's wrong. Why are you just standing there? Help!" the same girl screamed.
More girls began to pick up the cry until the creatures had no choice but to open the cage. To do this a couple creatures went up to the large lever and began turning it until it was high enough that they could easily slip in and out. They placed a rock in the lever to keep it open.
Declan turned towards Rosie. "Now, go." He pushed her towards tunnel, not waiting for a reply.
He stood up from his hiding spot and ran to the lever. Beside it there was a platform. Declan jumped onto the platform and grabbed his bow. He quickly knocked an arrow and shot one of the creatures that was near the back of the crowd. The continuous shifting of the crowd and the loud chatter of the girls masked its dying cries. The older girls quickly shifted to cover the body, hiding it from the view of the other creatures.
Declan continued on this way, slowly taking the creatures down one by one. Some of the older girls near the edge of the crowd were ushering the younger girls towards the tunnel entrance. He was glad the creatures weren't any smarter.
One of the young girls screamed when she ran into one of the creatures on her way out of the cave. Declan quickly jumped from the platform. He was quick enough that he was able to intercept the blow that was aimed towards the frightened little girl. The claws dug deeply into his chest, large gashes that tore his clothes to shreds. He doubled over from the pain for a moment. While bent down he grabbed the dagger from his boot and stabbed the creature.
"Run!" he yelled at the remaining group of girls.
Declan's appearance slowly dawned on the creatures, as well as the disappearance of the majority of their prisoners. They began to lash out at those nearest to them. Declan winced as he listened to the cries of the girls who were within reach of the creatures.
He took his bow and shot at a creature across the crowd he raised its arm to hit a small group of girls. It paused for a moment. It looked at the arrow in its chest before collapsing onto the ground. Girls were screaming and running around all around him, some in pain, and others in terror.
Declan was grabbed from behind by a creature. Another grabbed his legs, knocking him to the ground. He rolled onto his back, kicking out with legs. The creature that had grabbed him staggered backwards. Declan's right arm flew across his body, stabbing the other creature in the leg. He used the dagger to pull himself up. He pulled it out of the creature's leg before slitting its throat. Declan bent his arm back and through the knife at the creature who had grabbed him. The knife hit the creature directly in the forehead, stopping it cold in its tracks.
Declan ran forward, sidestepping a couple crazed girls in the process. He bent down and pulled the dagger from the creature's dead body. When he glanced around he noticed that a couple of the older girls had found weapons of their own and were using them to protect the younger girls. Declan grabbed the dagger from his other boot. He gripped both hilts tightly in his hands. He started across the room.
A passing creature slashed at Declan. It's talon snagged in the flesh of Declan's arm. He grabbed the creature's hand. He took the dagger and sliced the hand off. The talon was still lodged deeply in his arm. Nothing I can do about that now. The creature was staring at the stub at the end of its arm, screaming. The sound was worse than nails on a chalkboard. Declan was sure his ears were going to start bleeding. He kicked the creature. It fell onto its back. Declan bent over and slit its throat.
When he looked up he realized that most of the girls were already gone down the tunnel. He turned to follow them but realized that there was still a small group of girls in one of the corners. One of the girls was the one Declan had originally spoken to. He grabbed his bow and shot at one of the creatures that had cornered the group. It squealed briefly before it fell over. One the girls broke away from the group, trying to run towards the tunnel.
Before Declan could react, one of the creatures lunged at the girl. Its arm swung around, swiping at her back. She hit the ground hard; she slid a couple feet before she stopped moving completely.
Declan felt his heart hit his stomach and keep falling. His hands began to shake but he managed to shoot the creature square in the head. The shock quickly morphed into anger. He shot at one more creature before he slipped the bow over his shoulder. He grabbed his daggers and ran at the group. In a blur of fur and talons Declan managed to kill the remaining creatures.
He stood for a moment, taking deep, calming breaths. He looked at the small group of trembling girls. "Come on, let's get out of here." He directed them towards the tunnel entrance. He walked over to the girl that was lying motionless on the ground. A small pool of blood had grown on the ground around her.
Declan carefully picked up her body. He followed the girls as they went down the tunnel, away from the cave that had been their prison.
***
"What do you mean you are not going after them?" Demonica demanded.
"He killed all those who were guarding the girls." A creature was standing before Demonica's throne, trembling.
"So, go after him in vengeance, do not just stand here."
"But..." the creature began.
"Fine, I have to do everything. Just stay here and do nothing." She stood up. Her dress swooshed around as she walked down the tunnel. She stopped suddenly. The few creatures that had chosen to follow her ran into each other as they tried to not stumble into her. They had arrived in the large cave that contained the cages and the bodies of the creatures who had been killed by Declan. "I guess I underestimated our little archer friend." She surveyed the scene for a moment. "Clean this up. I will be in my chambers, do not disturb me no matter what happens."
"Mistress, what about the archer and the girls?" a creature rasped.
"Let him have this one. It will make him overconfident and maybe he will slip." She turned back down the tunnel.
LW