It was late at night and the group was still trying to find a way out of the prison. They sat, huddled in a circle, far away from the guard's ears.
"Even if we do manage to get out, that guard is wide awake. We'd be caught in no time," Rowan pointed out.
Jesika shot the guard a quick glare, before looking at Rowan. "I bet I could take him," she argued.
He shook his head. "You know there's no way he's the only guard out there. We'd be swarmed in seconds."
Darryn grunted, raking his hand through his hair. "And we certainly don't have the time to try and create a tunnel out of here... Not that we could do that anyways," he paused, looking at Aquila beside him. "You sure you can't fit through the bars?"
She shook her head. "No way. They're far too thick."
"Do any of us have knives on us sharp enough to try and cut through the bars?" Jesika asked, looking at all of them. She was met by several no's.
"They're freaking steel. They weren't messing around when they put us in here," Rowan said, sounding helpless.
Aquila was gnawing on her lip, gazing down at the floor. "Makes you wonder how the heck Audric ever got out of the prison in Querencia? It was like someone just let him out," Aquila said quietly.
Jesika shook her head slowly, a pained look on her face. "Please don't remind me. Unfortunately, at this point, we may never know how he escaped."
Darryn sighed, leaning back on his hands. "So, what I'm gathering is that we're stuck here. Doomed to die tomorrow."
Jesika straightened, clenching her jaw. "I refuse to believe that, Darryn. I won't stop fighting until the very moment I die. If we can't get out of here now, then we still have the whole journey to where they execute us to try and escape. Hope isn't lost until we've officially taken our last breath. Understood?" she said determinedly.
They were silent a moment, glancing between them. Aquila was the first to respond, a confident grin coming to her face.
"You're absolutely right, Jesika. Until our very last breath, we hope, and we fight."
Darryn and Rowan nodded, simultaneously agreeing, saying: "until our very last breath".
***
Early in the morning, though they weren't able to tell, guards showed up at their prison gates. They grinned wryly at the four of them, and the leader spoke:
"Any requests in regard to your final meal?"
Jesika stood, going to the prison bars, gripping them and looking him straight in their eyes. Her veins were cold, icy with hatred as she bit out:
"My friends and I will not eat anything from that traitor."
The guard rolled his eyes, laughing. "Oh, stop with the dramatics. Save it for when you're strapped to the stakes with fire crawling up the post to devour you. Any-who, we had a feeling you would say that, so we came prepared to take you away now instead." He paused, narrowing his eyes. "One at a time, in case you four have any delusions of trying to escape." He took out his sword, pointing it at her stomach, jabbing her slightly. "I encourage you to back up, lest you get a sword through your stomach."
Jesika backed away, spitting at him as she retreated. His eyes flashed dangerously as he wiped the spit off his cheek. She watched in horror as he grinned, swiping the finger with her saliva on his own tongue. She shuddered, looking away. He opened the prison gates, walking in with two of his guards.
