Prince Of Vengeance

A Not So Sane Saviour

'Trust was a dangerous emotion yet he didn't hesitate to reach his hand out to her'

*****

I was on the run. The streets were empty since the news of my escape and the people who'd dared to go out were tense and nervous. Of course they were, a cursed dark elf was on the run after just threatening to kill the king. They should be scared. I tried to keep in alleyways and backroads since I couldn't blend into any big crowds. Normally I would of just used magic to escape this type of situation but breaking out of those magic restraint chains had used at least half my magic up and before I could escape from the palace someone had shot two poisoned arrows into my back. It wouldn't kill me but I couldn't do any high level magic like teleportation.

I could hear them closing in on me. There were guards everywhere I went, it seemed like there was no escape. First I had to get out the capital then I'd figure out where to go from there. Although getting out the capital was going to be harder that I had first thought.

Distance was all that mattered. All I needed was to lose them only then could I rest. I forced my feet to keeping moving to the point I was practically dragging them across the ground. I kept on running, taking twists and turns but I could feel my body was about to give out. I had lost too much blood.

I saw a stable ahead and decided I could probably hide there for a couple hours and head out when it was dark. I also really needed to do something about my wound. I hid myself behind a stack of hay and started ripping a piece of my shirt and attempted to bandage my wounds. I reached up to pull out the arrows that were stuck in my back but before I had the chance to take them out I heard soldiers on horses heading my way.

I made sure to be perfectly still and didn't dare say a word. They slowly approached the entrance and they looked around a bit. They certainly weren't being polite, they completely trashed the place but luckily they didn't think to search where I was. I let myself relax a bit and let out a sigh of relief. That was a mistake. One of the soldiers turned around and called out to the rest of them.

"Hey I think I heard something down there. I'm just going to check it out." The soldier told the rest of his team and then proceeded to walk towards my position. I had to move but there was nowhere I could go. There was only one exit and they rest for the soldiers were there and I couldn't kill him since the others would notice pretty quickly if he didn't come back. I was going to get caught.

While I was trying to think of a way to  escape my situation, I noticed a little girl had walked up to the guards. She seemed to be asking what them were doing in the stable that she worked in. They explained the situation and then she started to turn her head in my direction. Our eyes instantly met. Her eyes widened at the same time as mine. We stared at each other for a long time. I was caught. It was over. I couldn't keep my promise.

She turned back to the soldier and said something which I assumed was that she had found me but what happened next was something I could never have expected. The girl said something I couldn't quite hear and then started pointing the other way. The leader of the soldiers pulled back the soldier who was just about to find me then they thanked the girl and took off the other way. I was utterly confused at this point that I didn't even realise that girl had ran up to me.

"Mister we have to go now! It won't be long until they find out I sent them in the wrong direction." She said pulling on my arm. What was this child doing? Didn't she know the consequences were for helping me?

"Hey wait. Why are you helping me?" I questioned. She sighed obviously annoyed that I was not moving fast enough.

"There's no time for questions . Just come with me." She urged. Well it's not like I had a better plan. I started to move but then my back flooded with excruciating pain. I fell back on to the ground.

"My back hurts too much. I can't move. I think the wound is infected" I said in agony. Regardless of me being in great pain she continued to try and pull me on to my feet. She was quite an impatient child.

"Mister, for such a strong person you sure complain a lot. Try and just and hold on until your on the horse ok? Then you can be grumpy all you want." She told me still trying to support me despite her small frame. She was quite straightforward but I liked it so I ignored the pain stumbled over to the horse.

She helped me on the horse being mindful of my wounds and the got on in front of me. She made sure I wouldn't fall off then took hold of the reins.

"You know how to ride a horse?" I asked surprised. She only looked no older than 13. She was way to young for anyone to offer to teach her.

"No but I'll learn on the way. It'll be fine." She said not very convincingly. The roads on the way out of the city were rough. She'll get us killed.

"You're joking right? At least a dozen of the King's men will be hunting us down with expert skills and you don't even now how to ride a horse! We'll be killed for sure." I said with the panic clear in my voice. She just looked back at me with a unimpressed expression like I was the crazy one.

"Geez Mister you're totally overeating. I'm a quick learner. Horse riding can't be be that hard and I promise not to get any of us killed...probably." She said with a smile I couldn't quite trust. Then she kicked the horses side a bit to hard and we set off. Don't get me wrong, I was every grateful to her for saving me but why did my saviour have to be so reckless?

We went through the main road since it was the quickest way out of town. Her riding skills were worse than I had ever seen. She wasn't even trying to control the horse. We were crashing into markets at every turn and nearly hitting every poor unsuspecting pedestrian we came across. I'm sure my face looked absolutely horrified throughout the whole journey but the girl looked like she was totally loving it. There was big grin on her face as she recklessly steered the horse while she let her long silky red hair into the wind. At one point she even let go and waved her hand in the air. Then she turned around and started teasing the guards who were catching up pretty quickly for being too slow. If there was one thing I was I was absolutely sure of  it was: She was crazy.

Maybe I should just let myself be caught.