As Alunis finally regained consciousness, she could hear the clashing going on outside. In spite of her efforts to deter the conflict and save lives, it had all been for naught. She had let Alua down, it seemed. And, what was more, she found herself in a cell with an odd throbbing coming from her head. The last thing she remembered was speaking to Commander Sorfell about the needless bloodshed, but the lump she could feel even without touching was a sign that somewhere during their conversation, he had heard enough of her and had her knocked out and dragged here. It made her heart sink, knowing that her most earnest efforts meant so little. But then, she was hardly a figure of authority, and she spoke on behalf of the Dhast, for whom Sorfell and his ilk cared little. Alunis could not help but fear this would be a slaughter, regardless of how confident the war chief of the Dhast felt. Creatures of the wilds simply could not stand up against the steam-powered army, she thought. Even when speaking with the commander she had felt this way, and expressed it strongly. After all, if her little sister was concerned for the small tribal nation, then she would be a fool to disregard such concern.

Alunis had no way of knowing just how long the fight had been going on outside, but it still seemed to be going strong enough regardless. Perhaps the Dhast were not so very weak after all? No, she shook that thought from her head and focused instead on how she might get herself out of this situation. You know… being bound up like this doesn’t bode well for either of us. I cannot break restraints I cannot grasp. And if you cannot grasp them, then surely I cannot either. Rang the voice of Alune inside her head, to which she sighed heavily and gave a few weak tugs at the chains. It seemed quite hopeless indeed. She had no real options, and every moment she spent in this cell was costing her more and more of those whose blood should not be shed. It was upsetting to say the least.

Nearly ten minutes of waiting provided little comfort, as the fighting yet raged on. Her heart cried out to the lost lives on the field behind her, but still there was nothing that could be done. However, she soon noticed a bit of ruckus outside her cell. Had the Dhast truly managed to push this far in? She watched the hall for any activity, but could not see much, chained to the wall as she was. But the noise grew louder and louder until finally she could hear the soldiers guarding the cell block calling out to one another in panic. A few shots were fired, but then, silence. She could not hear the guards, nor could she hear any fighting save that seeping in from her barred cell window high above. She looked around carefully, worried for what might have happened, until a rather surprising face indeed came into view, looking a bit worse for the wear, but un-injured. “Alua! What in the Creator’s name are you doing here!?”

Her younger sister was panting a bit, but disregarded the question, instead turning to look down the hall where Alunis could not see. “She’s in here!” She called out to an unseen figure whose footfalls could be heard approaching. Alua then looked back to her sister quite desperately, but with some measure of joy stirred within her at the sight of her sister alive and well. “We didn’t hear back and Balmuda got impatient. She ordered the Dhast make their move. We couldn’t stop them any longer.” She said, deep disappointment in her words. “When we didn’t hear from you, I got a bit worried that something like this had happened. I feared worse, in fact. All things considered, I’m glad you’re here and that they didn’t just execute you outright for standing out against them. I suppose I should thank Balmuda for that… if the Dhast hadn’t attacked this place… Creator only knows…” Her eyes welled with tears at the prospect.

Alunis’ attention at the person approaching was drawn to her sister instead, offering a soft, comforting tone, “I’m fine… a bit of a rough bump on my head, but… I’m alright.” She returned with a soft smile.

It was then that the man accompanying Alua made himself known, coming into full view and standing before the door, not wasting time with keys and simply brandishing a wide-bladed sword that looked to carry a bit of weight behind it’s natural cutting force. He quickly slashed at the cell door and busted it in one blow. He then moved into the cell for Alunis, once more lifting the blade and severing the chains from the wall, “Unfortunately we don’t have the time to remove those bindings. I can get ‘em off once we get back to the village, but right now it’s not safe to be here and we need to warn them that the attack on this fortress does not look promising. We can’t have Sorfell and his men launch a counter-attack on our un-suspecting and un-guarded village. We need to go NOW!” He ordered.

Alunis could only imagine that this young man was the Adrian her sister had mentioned while they spoke a few nights back. He seemed strong enough, to say the least; and had an otherwise good head on his shoulders as well. Alunis admired that a bit, but nodded in understanding as she was cut free, following after the two of them as they made their way back through the cell block to escape. At the entrance was another more familiar face, for whom Alunis was deeply relieved to see, smiling a bit as the boar looked to them from his place against the door frame, “Gurta! You’re here too!?” Alunis asked, honestly a bit surprised in spite of her relief.

Gurta merely grinned to the question before righting himself in the doorway, “Jailbreaks are some of my men’s favorite things to do! Come on now… you really expected something less?” He said with a bit of a chuckle. “Sides, the Dhast are payin’ us good money for this job… and better that than bein’ out there.” He said, motioning in the direction of the battlefield.

“The Dhast are paying you for my rescue?” She asked him, a bit confused.

“Well… your sister fronted most of the money… but that Balmuda chick decided to pitch in a bit as well. Figured I’d just tie it all up as payment from the Dhast in general. You know… keep the ledger a bit cleaner. Drives Asta nuts when we get lotsa payments for one job.” He laughed a bit at the thought of her getting upset with him again, but then Adrian piped into the conversation again, “You know, as lovely as this little reunion is, we really need to be getting out of here.”, he insisted.

The girls simply nodded and Gurta’s face grew stoic once more as he turned and looked outside for any on-comers before motioning for them to follow him. The group moved swiftly through the areas that were no longer guarded due to the rescue, but Alunis was pleased to see none of the soldiers had been killed. Even if they were the enemy here, nobody deserved to die. But then, she knew her sister wouldn’t allow the boys to get TOO violent here. She had an even more pure heart than Alunis did, after all.

Cannon fire rang out as they made their escape, as well as the sound of the wyverns of Dhast, and even some of the other feral creatures. Alunis marveled at just how long the tribal nation had been holding out, “I’m surprised… I figured Sorfell would have taken them out without trouble at all.” Said Alunis to her sister as they ran.

“It’s not pretty out there…” Alua said sadly back to her sister. “We took the longer route after glimpsing the chaos. It’s… it’s terrible.” She spoke, the heaviness of her heart carrying into her speech. Alunis felt guilty for having brought it up and simply left it at that, remaining quiet for the rest of their escape.

As the group passed the rampart where Alua had eyed the battlefield before, she looked away, following Adrian blindly for a time. Alunis, however, could not keep herself from looking. Dead bodies covered the field like a bloody mat of flesh and fire, and the smell of death was clear even from their position. It was truly a horrific sight indeed. Even as she looked, one of the wyverns dropped a soldier from high above to crash fatally to the ground below, bending in a way that was un-survivable. Alunis was mortified, but could handle the violence far better than her young sister. Even so, they did not linger there and continued out of the fortress to the forest a short distance away. From there, they blended into the trees and made their way back to Amberwalk to warn the villagers of the battle being waged a mere hour’s travel on foot away.

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I toldja I'd be doing more of these! Unfortunately, inspiration did not pit me at the beginning of this tale. I am somewhere down the line a ways. Hopefully the dis-jointedness of this piece does not bother anyone, or make the read any less interesting. I will, of course, be writing out the whole thing sooner or later, of course. This is just how I'm doing it for now. I may do it somewhat Pulp Fiction style in that regard... come up with a few important events and then weave the story together from there. :3 Far as I'm concerned, it makes the experience more entertaining. I only hope those of you reading this agree. x3 Additionally, SHOUT OUT TO GURTA FROM PILLARS OF SAND AND SEAS OF BLUE, EVERYONE! WEWT WEWT! <3 Hope you guys enjoyed the read, and are looking forward to more of my work, as much as I am to writing it! ^w^

Story and Characters ©  setzan