The Blade of Dawn

Chapter 8

Easton holds his finger to his lips, signaling to me to be silent.

He pulls a key out of his pocket and opens my cell door.

My pulse quickens. I am getting out of here. I don't know how Easton got the key or how he got down here but I don't care. I waste no time and rush out of the cell.

I glance back at Madge, still sitting in her cell.

"She could have walked out of here herself if she wasn't so stubborn," Madge snorts. "But I suppose if you have a key, you might as well use it. Go on, get out of here."

Easton's eyebrows knit together in confusion.

"Ignore her. Let's go," I say, dragging Easton with me up the staircase.

"The old woman-" Easton protests.

"Leave her. She doesn't want our help." I say.

At the top of the staircase there are three guards passed out on the floor. I jump when one of the guard's releases a heavy snore.

The guards are in a deep, unnatural sleep. Easton must have used some sort of enchantment to get past them.

I hold my breath as I step over the guards, afraid that any noise might wake them and I will be thrown back into the dungeon.

Easton and I rush through the hallway at the top of the the stairs, past a kitchen, a laundry room, and several sparse living quarters. Slaves fill many of the rooms and mill through the hallways. A few of the slaves look our way, but no one makes any attempt to stop us.

Easton leads me into an empty storage room and closes the door. Behind an old empty barrel is a door.

Easton pushes the barrel aside, then spins around to face me and grips my shoulders."This door leads outside. We will emerge behind the castle. The guards in grey are Tykilian. Xander paid several of them off to get the key to your cell. The guards in black that wear the helmets are Dark Soldiers from the Capitol. They are stationed here on order from Kronos. They cannot be bribed and they are incredibly dangerous. It is important that we avoid them at all costs. Do you understand?"

I nod and Easton pushes the door open.

The night is cold and dark. The only light comes from a few torches mounted on the castle walls.

Easton moves expertly through the shadows, his footsteps nearly silent.

I struggle to mirror his movements, following closely behind him. We are moving quickly along the perimeter of the castle when Easton stops abruptly and curses under his breath.

Lying in front of us is the body of a guard in grey. His throat is slit open and a pool of blood has formed around him.

"Kronos' men know you've escaped." Easton whispers.

"How do you know?" I ask, trying not to look at the gory scene at my feet.

"Because, this is the guard that gave me the key." Easton replies.

My stomach twists.

This guard died because of me.

"New plan. We need to get outside of the city walls as soon as possible. There isn't time to go through the underground route." Easton says, more to himself than to me.

He guides me out from the shadows of the castle walls and directly onto the main street.

He threads his arm though mine, as if we are lovers taking a casual night stroll. This is a bold risk. If anyone comes to close to me they will see that my shirt is covered in blood. We pick up our pace as we get closer to the outer walls of the city.

Freedom is only a few paces away.

We reach the gate and press against the heavy wooden door. It creaks as it slides open.

"Stop," a deep voice commands. A soldier in all black appears next to Easton. He is brandishing a sword. "The city is on lockdown by order of the high guard."

Without missing a beat, Easton elbows the soldier hard in the stomach, pulls a small knife from his boot, and throws the knife to me.

The soldier doubles over and grunts in surprise.

"Run!" Easton exclaims.

The soldier recovers quickly from his initial shock and kicks Easton's knees, sending Easton crashing to the floor. Easton groans in pain.

The soldier sneers and turns his attention to me. I pick up the knife Easton threw me.

My hands are shaking.

The soldier charges towards me. There is no time to think. I hurl the knife at the soldier as hard as I can. The sliver blade of the knife flashes as it cuts through the air.

The soldier dodges the knife easily.

No. The knife is all I have. I must stop him.

The knife should have continued gliding past the soldier but instead it circles back and plunges into the soldier's throat.

The solider drops to his knees and there is a sickening gurgling sound.

I feel the force it took to plunge the knife into the soldiers neck in my fingertips, as if I had been holding the knife in my bare hands.

Madge was right.

In this strange world, I do have magic.

I just killed a man.

My stomach churns and a wave of nausea washes over me. I fall to my knees and vomit.

"Get up. Hurry. More soldiers will be here any minute." Easton grabs my arm. I hear shouting near the castle. The soldiers are mobilizing.

Easton pulls me to my feet.

We duck into the shadows, slip through the city gate and disappear into the desert.