Morden crouched low, adrenaline causing his entire body to shake. She had gone ahead, but Tucker was still next to him. Their little “revolt” had the intended effect, with the escaping prisoners causing a widespread disturbance. The more violent were inclined to make sure their death was swift… but Tucker had other aspirations.
“It’s silent. Forward is clear.” Tucker said, quickly tapping Morden on the back as their signal to run. The prison was cold, and the rough tiles tore at their bare feet, but it didn’t matter yet. The stolen flintlock in Tucker’s hand glinted with a flash of lightning. The prize for strangling their jailer when he came in to investigate the missing person.
Their friend was indeed safely ahead. Even as the youngest, she was the bravest. That they could both maintain composure… to say he was envious would be an understatement. The blood rushing through his entire body made it hard to think, much less hear. She muttered something to Tucker as he nodded. Surely by now her magical aptitude was returning?
Another blast of lightning, but it wasn’t coming in through the obsidian panes.
Magic.
“Shit!” Tucker yelled, pulling Morden around the corner.
The orange haired girl grabbed him too, keeping him on his feet as magical energy flowed around her. It was only now that Morden could feel the beating of the pulse in her wrist. Terror. She was terrified too.
The figure rounded the corner, and immediately Tucker fired the flintlock directly into the man’s face, piercing his eye. He fell dead.
“They know where we are, run!” Tucker yelled, not even bothering to reload the flintlock and opting to simply toss it.
The corridors remain a maze, but Tucker got the path to the exit. Their friend once again took the lead, the only one capable of defending them. An arrow of wind magic pierced a separate guard, though the burst of flame that erupted from his body missed by mere centimeters.
And then, the sky. Dark, shrouded in clouds, and lit by purple lightning.
“The port heads east. We need to leave straight in that direction, if we do-” Tucker began to reiterate, going over the next step of their plan as a new figure emerged from behind them. Morden only noticed him once a glowing brown magic circle lit up in the figure’s fingertips.
Tucker didn’t wait to say anything, he thrust himself in the way of its intended target—in front of Morden. He screamed as the spear of Earth pierced through his abdomen, the shock causing him to double over in agony.
“No!” the young woman yelled, firing back with an onslaught of spells. They hit their mark and incapacitated the magician, but it was too late. Morden could only watch as the blood stained his hands.
His eyes were already lifeless. Green orbs that stared into nothing.
Blood screamed in his brain.
He doubled over. He vomited. It was too much. It was all too much. He hardly had anything to expel, yet his body forced him to anyways. A hand pulled him away, but he refused to be dragged. He hoisted Tucker off of the stone, oblivious to the warmth that was slowly coating his
shoulder back. Two rowboats, intended as secretive ways in and out of the fortress for the inhabitants strong enough to make the journey themselves… they would have to be good enough for the two—three—of them.
Morden set Tucker on his side. He almost looked like he was sleeping. His remaining companion tied the two rowboats together, a way to bring both should one of them pass out from exhaustion.
He started to row. It would have to be enough. It had to be. It had to be worth it. Tucker wouldn’t die for nothing.
A bright glint of magic caught his attention once again. He stared up as one spire of the fortress erupted in bright yellow light.
Someone saw them leaving.
He stared through his fingers as the blinding radiance of Light Magic flew towards them.
Erin, his closest friend, his dearest companion, stopped rowing. Wind Magic erupted at her feet as she thrust herself into the air, and channeled her strength against it. A maelstrom of magic condensed into a tiny force. She was always the most powerful of them.
She was going to get herself killed as well.
Words failed to leave his mouth, all he could do was watch.
And then, as suddenly as it had began, it ended. Erin fell into the water, the blast deflected in midair as it burst apart. He threw himself over the edge of the rowboat, dragging her through the rushing water back onto his own rowboat. He didn’t care if she was alive now. He needed to bring her out.
And so, he rowed, watching as the dark fortress vanished on the horizon.