CORE

Chapter V - Creating a Chance

Out of the cell that once held him just 10 minutes prior, Acel broke into a sprint down the dark hallway. Behind him, Zanil began to run as well and the two sprinted into the unknown. Their bare feet making a slapping noise on the stone floor that echoed throughout.

They sprinted for no longer than 3 minutes before they could see the light from the main connector room. Acel stopped suddenly at the doorway peeked his head into the room. He couldn't see any of the bandits that were here previously, confirming his prediction that they left to find the runaway Driver. Zanil had caught up and looked into the room exclaiming to Acel,

"You were right, they've all left".

Acel walked out from the hallway and with a final look of the room, strolled straight in the direction of the storage room he saw them put his clothes in before. Zanil tailed right behind keeping his eyes on the staircase to the surface.

Acel entered the storage room and saw a room packed from floor to ceiling with all manner of objects foreign and local. There were dresses of the finest silk from lands to the far west, the tools of craftsmen well worn from a lifetime of work, and so many buttons and buckles that they littered the floor like sawdust at a carpenter's shop. Fourth-alks and half-alks fell from pant pockets as the two men entered and disturbed the unstable hoard of items.

Zanil rushed to the center of the room and began to turn in every direction as if he was trying to see everything at once. His eyes rested on a large rucksack haphazardly placed under some other items in the far corner and he darted towards it. 

He began to mumble to himself "I swear if they threw this thing around we would have all died". 

Looking around the room a glint shone from in large pile of clothes in another corner of the room. Hoping to find his chainmail, Acel moved to rummage through the pile of clothes.

Rather than his chainmail, he pulled out an elaborate blue coat with silver metal filigree on the shoulders and forearms with dark velvet fingerless gloves attached to the coat, a current fashion trend among the nobility.

"Seems a nobleman got caught by these bandits. Recently as well, judging by the gloves" thought Acel.

He stared at the outrageously extravagant coat for a while before he threw the coat in anger against the wall, making a dull sound despite its grand design. 

"If only" he grumbled to himself moving to look for his actual clothes.

After a while of digging and sifting, Acel found his clothes which had been carelessly thrown into a different pile entirely and he put them back on. The familiar sound of chainmail rustling when he moved now echoed throughout the silent room. Acel looked behind him at Zanil and saw that he was wearing clothes of thick animal hide with a loose flowing garment over top, a curved sword lay at his belt. He had begun to stuff some of the exotic silks into his rucksack and was eyeing up a small jewelry box in the corner.

Zanil walked across the room to Acel and took his rucksack from his shoulder, holding it open in front of him.

"Take a look at this Acel" Zanil said angrily pointing inside to a square object wrapped in some kind of thick paper "if some idiot threw this pack on the ground and punctured this it would have blown this whole damn place up. The nerve of some people, just throwing around what they don't know."

"Destroy this whole place?" Acel asked bemused. "You mustn't joke in situations like this, lest you start to believe it. This place is encased in stone that has lasted for hundreds of years. How can something that small do what time cannot?" Acel remarked.

Zanil smiled "Oh you'll see" he responded somewhat ominously. "Besides aren't you going to take any of these valuables. It will give us something to sell when we get out of here".

"If we get out of here," said Acel.

"I just got out of my cell okay, let me be a little optimistic." Zanil said as he put the jewelry box into his rucksack "It might help you out if you were less pessimistic you know Acel".

"Not pessimistic, just realistic. Expecting too much will only leave you disappointed. How else do you think I have survived in this hell of a country" said Acel as he left the storage room. Zanil followed him, his rucksack rustling noisily alongside him.

As Acel began to walk towards the staircase out he noticed Zanil was going the other way, back to the prisoner cells.

"Where are you going?" asked Acel,

"I'm freeing all the other prisoners," said Zanil.

"We don't have time to do that, the guards could be back any moment now," Acel said with urgency.

"I have to free them, they have no other chance of escaping".

"With all those other prisoners with us, how are we to escape undetected? Our only chance is now!" said Acel as he tried to convince Zanil.

"And leave them here to suffer? I know you want to help them Acel; you helped me didn't you? If you're worried about another chance, don't worry" Zanil pointed to his rucksack, "I can create one".

Acel sighed, "Fine, but I want that chance right now" he responded.

Zanil smiled and pulled out his rucksack, taking the square object wrapped in paper he showed Acel earlier along with a roll of what appeared to be a string. He walked towards a wall of the room, put some strange liquid on the back and plastered it to the wall. Measuring out a long length of the string he cut it and opened a small hole in the object, sticking the string into the hole.

"This is our chance?" Acel asked confused.

"It will be once we light it". Zanil reached back into his rucksack and pulled out another paper-wrapped object like the first. He handed it to Acel and before Acel could say anything he said "I need you to take this into in the castle proper on the surface for our chance to work. Do you have a weapon?"

Acel clenched his fist, "I did, before one of them wretched it from me".

"Perfect" Zanil responded, "If it's not here then it must be in the castle above. You can find it as well as light the Infijarun in there, spear two birds with one throw".

Acel held the foreign object carefully, "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Just put a flame to the string and get back here as fast as you can, speaking of flame" Zanil ran into the storage room and yelled out from within it, "I swore I saw some firesticks in here".

Zanil came back holding thin pieces of wood with a white tip.

"Firesticks" he said, "Just strike them against a rock and you will have a flame. I'm surprised that some ended up here, I've used them only once before and my guy I got them from was from some country in the far west. I'll free the other prisoners now so go and take back what's yours".

Zanil handed some firesticks to Acel and retreated to the prison cells. Acel put them in his pocket and turned around beginning to make his way on the stairs as fast and quietly as possible. 

After going up so many stairs he forgot count Acel came across a sturdy wooden door. Opening the door as quietly as the iron hinges would allow, he slid his body through. Stepping outside the sun greeted his face once more, he was outside and thankfully, no one else was.