Allies and Enemies

Chapter Thirty: Found

The next few hours were not particularly pleasant. They took turns torturing Legolas and me as we heard each other's screams of pain. It was brutal, but both of us knew the responsibility we had to not give up a single piece of information, despite the agony and having to watch on and not being able to do anything about it. But nothing was worse than knowing that my powers were gone. It was like my soul was gone, my body an empty shell. We were finally tossed back in our cell a while later, a few bones broken and muscles aching and burned. I sat against a wall, groaning. Even throughout the pain and torture, though, I thought, there wasn't much worse they could do to me besides what they'd already done. I wasn't properly seeing or hearing anything. I wasn't in my right mind. All of a sudden, almost randomly, I remembered one day where I'd felt just as lost. I remembered what Rowan said to me that day. No matter what you think, you're not alone. I looked over at Legolas, and realized what we had both been going through.

"We need to get out of here," I said, speaking for the first time since we were brought here. Legolas looked up at me with surprise.

"But we can't get out of here without something. Do you know where they put my powers, how they took them out of me?" It took Legolas a few seconds to process my question, because he was so shocked that I even spoke.

"Your powers were in the shape of a sphere," he said finally. "They locked it in a chest, though I'm not sure where they would put it."

"The safe," I said instantly. Not a single villain knew that we knew about their safe. It was secret, hidden away cleverly. I'd found it in a stroke of luck one time when I was scouting.

"Here's the plan," I said quietly after a moment. "We'll take out the guards outside, then we'll split up. You get out of here; I want you to at least escape here if I can't." Legolas opened his mouth to protest but I continued without giving him a chance to speak. "I'll head to the safe to get my powers and your bow and quiver and leave that way. If all goes well, you'll meet me at the cliff and we'll get out of here before we get shot. If it doesn't... well, I'm hoping you at least get away if I'm killed."

"Listen, this is the best chance we have of at least one of us escaping," I looked at him with pleading eyes. Finally, he nodded, albeit reluctantly. We discussed for a brief while the full details of the plan, and finally put it in action.

"Come on, Kaelith!" I said loudly, so the guards outside could hear. "We've got to get away before they find out!"

"What's going on in there?"

"Hurry!" I called. The guards opened the cell and carefully snuck in, past where Legolas and I hid. I knocked out one of the guards with a hard knee in the gut and a punch on the head. I snatched his pass and peeked out of the cell. I exited, and Legolas followed, me locking the door behind him.

"Kianna —" Legolas started to say.

"Save it for the far side," I said, then softening my voice. "When we're free. May the Force be with you." I sprinted down the hallway and swiped the pass without a second thought. I had burned the map of the base in my memory, so I knew exactly where to go. I followed the imaginary path in front of me, then stopped in front of a blank wall. I felt along the obsidian for a crack, a crack so thin that it was invisible to the human eye. My fingers probably ran over it three times before I found it. I slid the pass through the crack, and the wall parted briefly. I slipped through and started digging through the numerous piles of valuables. I found Legolas's bow and quiver within a few minutes and slung them over my shoulder. All of a sudden, as I neared a pile of numerous treasures, I heard a voice. Kiaaaannnnaaaaa. I ran toward it. Kiaaaannnnnaaa. I dug through the pile with new desperation in my movements. I dug straight through to the middle of the pile, and saw something. A wooden chest, purple light gleaming within. I instantly snatched it up, made my way out of the safe, and took off. As I made my way out of the base, people began chasing me. As I climbed up the cliff, knowing that I might die with one small misstep, I saw curses fly around me. I made my way to the top of the cliff, but as my hand gripped the top, a bolt was shot about a hair from my hand. I twisted weirdly, and I heard my wrist break. I screamed in pain but managed to hang on and barely pull myself up. Holding my wrist to my chest, I ran for my life, zigzagging in a weird pattern to evade the many curses and bolts. As I converged on the cliff, Legolas came into view, running to the cliff from my right, soldiers also chasing him.

"Legolas!" I yelled, and once he was in range, I tossed his bow and quiver to him with my last free hand, and he caught it deftly, starting to disarm the soldiers after us. He made it to the cliff and quickly held up a hand. On the way there, just before the edge, I forgot about the crack in the rock that I normally avoided, and I tripped, twisting my ankle, taking Legolas's hand for support, and throwing the two of us off the cliff as a sniper shot whizzed by us, barely teleporting away.