The Barbarians' Lover

Chapter 23

The day turned to night. Sawyer paced the cell he was confined in. He was greeted by the king, Willow's father, just before the sun started to set. The King had questioned Sawyer. And he answered what he wanted. After the questions, the king had told him that by sunrise the next morning he would be killed. Now he waited for Willow to return so they could escape together. But as the seconds turned to minutes Sawyer's nerves were getting the better of him.

The door to the dungeon opening caught his attention. Did the king change his mind and wanted him dead now? Did a guard want him dead before anyone else had the chance to kill him?

"Pup?" Willow whispered.

Sawyer walked to the end of his cell. Where the bars greeted the hall.

"Still alive," Sawyer said.

He heard her walking. Then he saw her. She was wearing all black and had a small black backpack settled on her back.

"Sorry for the wait, I had to wait for Jason to leave my door before I could sneak out," Willow said with an apologetic look.

"It's alright," Sawyer said," we just need to get me out of here."

"I have a hairpin but it'll take me a while to get the door to open," Willow said.

"Did you bring any water?" Sawyer asked.

Willow gave him a confused look before pulling out a water bottle from her backpack. She handed it to him and watched as he used his power and pulled some water out of the bottle. Moving the water to the lock he listened as the water unlocked the door. Letting the water fall back into the bottle Sawyer pushed the cell door open.

"That is very convenient," Willow said.

"Only when I have water nearby," Sawyer informed.

Quietly the two made their way up the stairs and into one of the many halls. They hugged the shadows as they made their way slowly out of the castle. Willow led the way to know which hall to take. A few times they had to stop and wait for some of the guards to pass by. Some took longer than others.

"At this rate, the sun will be rising," Sawyer whispered.

"I'm doing my best, but my father has ordered more patrols for tonight," Willow whispered back.

After about two hours of sneaking around the halls of the castle, they finally made it outside. Sawyer took a deep breath. He was finally outside. Now he just had to get back to the ocean to feel at ease.

"Okay, now we just have to run along the shadows on the streets, and then hopefully someone with a wagon will be on their way to Embervale and get a ride," Willow said mostly to herself.

"Kitten we need to keep moving," Sawyer said," and it's best we don't get a ride from someone."

As they ran along the streets making their way to the fields that would lead to their freedom, Sawyer's ears perked. He heard yelling. Grabbing ahold of Willow's arm he pulled her behind some boxes that were stacked beside a house. He quickly covered her mouth as she began to question what he was doing. He placed a finger on his lips indicating for her to be quiet.

"The prisoner has escaped," a man spoke.

"Search everywhere," another man said," the king has ordered if we find him, kill him."

Quietly Sawyer pulled Willow with him as he made it into an ally and waited for the men to leave. Once it grew quiet again he released his hold on her arm.

"Great that makes things ten times more difficult than they already are," Willow said quietly.

He could tell by the sound of her voice she was agitated. He was too.

"This just means we have to be even more careful now," he said poking his head out of the ally.

The street was empty. They slowly made their way down the street. As the open field came into their sight they heard the sound of many metal feet running. Then shouting followed. Glancing behind them Sawyer saw what looked like twenty guards running at them. Some held swords in the air, a few held bows and arrows. The ones with the bows were actually shooting the arrows at the two.

"Run," Sawyer said as an arrow flew at them.

He moved behind Willow making sure that none of the arrows would hit her. But in doing so he felt one puncture the back of his shoulder and one in his leg. Not liking that the guards were getting louder and closer, Sawyer picked Willow up bridle style and with a grunt took off. Once the trees surrounded them he made a sharp turn. Seeing a bolder in the distance he ran to it. Once hidden behind it he sat Willow back on her feet.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked him.

"I'll be fine," Sawyer said huffing," just let me catch my breath."

As he catches his breath he pulled out the arrow in his shoulder. The one in his leg he thought about just breaking the stick and leaving the arrowhead in his leg for now. But it burned, which meant he needed to take it out before it caused real damage to his leg. With a grunt, he pulled the arrow out of his leg.

"Are you okay?" Willow repeated her question.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said through clenched teeth," just didn't realize that your men had arrows that would burn."

"That means they used a firestone when making them, right?" Willow asked.

"Yeah, pretty much," he said tearing part of his shirt off and wrapping it around the wound on his leg.

"Are you two okay?" A male voice asked.

They snapped their heads in the direction the voice came from. Standing behind them some distance was a young man with what looked like reddish-brown, shaggy hair.

"Do you know a way to Embervale," Willow asked," without getting caught by any of the guards?"

"Sure, I've lived in this forest for a good while," the man said," the names Dino."

"Lizzy," Willow said," and this is-"

"Luca," Sawyer said cutting Willow off before she could say anymore.

"Well, we should go before they come this way," Dino said.

He gestured for them to follow as he walked back into the trees. They glanced at each other before following Dino into the trees.

"Just so you know it will be a two-day trip on foot," Dino informed," maybe a little longer since one of you is hurt."

"That's fine, as long as we aren't caught," Willow said.

"So what did you two do to have the king's guards after you?" Dino asked.

"Let's not worry about that right now," Sawyer said.

"You two aren't killers, right?" Dino asked.

"Piss me off and I will be," Sawyer informed the man.

"Haha, I'm good," Dino said nervously.

Crack!