The Enchantments: Book 4 - The Key of Mulastef

Chapter 1: Escape

He could hear the turmoil that was happening outside the main walls, and to his relief, he knew the others had finally come back to stake their claim. There was that young kid he saw who had let the old woman and the small child named Sarah from their cell. He was only two prison cell away when the two were taken and knew that his hope of being released was beyond anyone's grasp. That is until the remaining wall between him and the destroyed cell suddenly crashed to the ground.

The minions on the other side of the wall stared in awe at the view of the emaciated man standing with nothing between them but freedom, at first he hesitated but that he realized he was never going to get a better opportunity. The minions saw the look in his eyes and began to rush forward.

Dimitri Murray was through the gap in the wall faster than he realized he had. He fell to the ground at exactly the right moment and watched as the minions flew harmlessly past him, then taking the initiative, he propelled himself down the crud covered floor as fast as his shaky body would let him.

He knew the minions would be on him fast, so he didn't bother to look back in hopes of gaining those precious few seconds on his captors. With his heart hammering in his chest Dimitri skidded around the far end of the corridor as another minion took the corner a little too wide and collided into another wall with a bone-crunching thud.

The way forward was a maze of destroyed walls and a multitude of cloaks that strewn of those minions that had lost their fight in the battle. Dimitri pushed forth to the large door that loomed like a dark monument in front of him. He skidded to a stop and with every ounce of strength he had left he pushed forth on the door to the freedom he knew beyond.

He felt it begin to loosen and a new hope began to build inside. But as all good hopes for him in the past year were few and far between the door exploded inwards sending him and a few of the minions from outside skidding across the ground like wet noodles.

Dimitri came to rest amongst the debris with his head swimming from the shockwave that ravaged the complex. He lifted his head up with some difficulty and stared blurry-eyed at the may lay that was occurring outside the confines of the door. Large contingents of minions were rushing into the complex to escape what was happening out front. Few of them swung over him and knocked him farther down the hall. He tried desperately to stay in the present, but he could feel it becoming a losing battle as the number of minions increased. They knocked him senseless as terrified creatures rushed from the battle ensuing outside the doors.

Dimitri felt helpless as his head and body were bounced around like a pinball, images of his life before he unwittingly ran through the portal to try and destroy the Soul Shadow were only a long distant nightmare now. He had made a mistake, and he knew it, in fact, he had been paying for it in this sludge hole for a year now. It was time to put the past behind him now and get on with life.

With determination, he never knew before Dimitri pushed himself up to his knees and began crawling through the mass of unconscious minions towards the freedom that awaited him. He willed himself past the injured minions and discarded cloaks to an area just before the grounds of the complex began when all of a sudden he stopped and stared ahead in horror.

"You've gone as far as you will ever get!" A deep resonating voice came from just beyond the door.

Dimitri followed the voice up, and with a face dripping fresh blood, he swallowed hard and stared into the scarred face of Sly, a thorn in the side of more than one person looked menacingly down at him.

"I will not live like that again!" He shot back, spittle spraying everywhere.

The laughter was infectious to the minions as they began laughing in earnest, a laugh that would haunt his dreams for years to come.