Chapter 11

"Daniel is still back there! I can't leave him!" Scott spat.

"Anna is back there, too," I said.

"I didn't mean to leave them. I mean, should we all just make a break for it before they get closer? The longer the wait, the less time we'll have. Once they realize we got out, and they start looking for us, that's it." Simon explained.

Carriages, soldiers, and work horses all made their way down the path towards the landslide. If anyone tried to move now, there wasn't even a question of whether they would be seen or not. In the distance, a group of soldiers entered the prison building. It was only a matter of time before they found the bodies and came back up.

"Damn it! RUN!" Scott screamed.

He was the first up over the edge, over the main road, and towards the mountains. Simon and Betty followed. Daniel and Anna didn't bother crossing to our side; instead we all just ran, spread apart towards the mountains.

They didn't pursue us immediately for some reason. Maybe they were confused and thought we were civilians, or maybe they just didn't know how to react at the moment. It didn't last forever, though. Scott was maybe 20 feet away from the mountain when the shouting began. They yelled for us to stop. Obviously, none of us listened. Keeping an eye on Scott, Betty, or Simon was impossible. The mountain was a mixture of large rocks, overgrowth, and steep ledges. I had to follow using the sounds of them breathing, cursing, and stumbling. I wondered how much energy you got from stale bread and soup that was 99% water, as I pushed on through the exhaustion I was feeling. Things only got worse. The ledges became steeper, gorges split the mountain open into hundred-foot drops in places, and loose rocks caused me to slide back and lose time. I used the spear where I could, but it felt like much more of a liability. I debated tossing it aside.

"HELP!"

Someone behind me yelled. I forgot about Daniel and Anna. Did they get caught? How many guards were there? They didn't sound too far back, but the more time I wasted, the more there would be. Were the others close enough to hear them, too? Would they even come back if they had?

"Please! Help!"

The voice was Daniel's, and it didn't sound as powerful this time. Simon said to stop overthinking. Just act. Whatever, I decided it would be better than wasting time here.

Moving toward the sound took me east. Not the path I had taken up. They must've fallen too far behind and couldn't follow us. I made it to the spot the calling came from and saw them both surrounded by tall ledges similar to the one I was on. The only way for them was back, but from my vantage point, I could see guards making their way up.

"Up here!" I shouted to Daniel and Anna.

"Anna's exhausted. I think her spell really messed her up." Daniel said as he held her up under her shoulder.

"Just... leave me. I can... take down a lot of them. Slow them down." Anna said between haggard breaths.

We ignored her.

"I can pull you both up."

I laid down on the lowest point of the rock and held the spear under the head with the handle end pointing down for them to grab.

"Anna, you first. I'll push you." Daniel said as he walked her over.

The guards were mounting the top of the ledge in the distance. It wouldn't be long till they got here. Fortunately, Anna didn't protest. She grabbed the handle of the spear and used her legs to kick off the rocks. She was weak, though, and hardly made any progress once she was too high for Daniel to push her. Her wings flapped, but not nearly fast enough for any meaningful difference. I worried she might lose her footing or her grip, or just run out of strength. Leaning back, I pulled the spear with her higher, and got my legs in front of me until I was squatting down to slowly lift with her holding on. She wasn't heavy, but I was so tired.

It worked. She grabbed the ledge and I set the spear down to grab her arms and pulled her up. She collapsed next to me, breathing heavy, but I grabbed the spear again and did the same thing for Daniel. He leapt up and grabbed higher on the handle. The leap gave him less to climb, but it was a surprising burden on me. He wasn't that big, but he was much heavier than Anna, and it took everything I had not to drop him. The spear started to slip down between my hands until the blade began to draw blood. I held my breath and squeezed tighter, because if it slipped anymore, I was going to lose fingers and drop him anyway.

Anna reached over the edge of the rock and held out a hand for him to grab. He did with one hand and grabbed the ledge with the other. The guards were shouting and running into the clearing. I threw the spear behind me and grabbed the hand he had on the ledge. Together, Anna and I pulled him up. The two of them started back up the mountain. I took a moment to assess things. My hands were cut and bloody, but they didn't hurt. The guards were shouting, and it felt nice to see them angry. I didn't see Lawrence here. He had been further back, near the prison building, so hopefully he was still near the bottom.

I picked up the spear and quickly caught up to Daniel, who was dragging Anna along. A shadow of something big passed over us as I got under Anna's other arm. The ground here had evened out a bit and was covered in grass. In the distance were larger, jagged rocks, but it looked like we could maneuver between them.

"Ah, Nice to see the sky again. If we die, at least it will be somewhere beautiful. Hopefully, that's one of The Dread getting ready to attack this rotten place." Daniel said winded.

"What's The Dread? Something else to mess with us?" I asked.

"Dragons… Group of dragons… Not a dragon, though... Too small... Wyvern…" Anna responded in winded gasps.

I learned about wyverns when I was till a hero. They were considered magical beasts and could be dangerous. Extremely dangerous in groups.

"Is there a chance they might attack the guards?"

Daniel answered, "Wild ones might, but they're not stupid. They'll attack the easiest targets. If we're separated too much, that will be us. Might not be wild, though."

That was right. Some of the knights had wyvern mounts. Ryan had one too, though.

“It might be one of the heroes. If it's Ryan, he would help us." I told them.

Daniel gave me a look of doubt. "You think one of the heroes would help escaped prisoners that just killed a bunch of guards?"

"W-well, I could make him understand. If I could talk with him and tell him everything, he would help us."

Neither of them said anything. Whatever. I knew I was right. As soon as he saw that I was still here, he would start to question anything the princess had told him and would want to hear my side.

We made it to the rocks. Daniel went first. Anna was starting to move more on her own, but we kept her between us, just in case. There were no sounds of other people climbing, and the shouting from the guards was fading into the distance. However, none of us knew where we were supposed to be going. Once we made it through the rocks, it was back to climbing. Before that, we waited and caught our breath. Daniel and I leaned against the rock walls. Anna sat on the stones. The peak was high above us yet, hidden in clouds, or we could head more left. That was closer to where I had come from when I was following the others. That path would be easier for the guards to climb, though. I laid out the options for the others.

"We can keep heading up and try to put as much distance as possible between us and the guards, or we can go left. I think the left is where Scott was heading before, but I'm not sure."

Daniel answered, "The landslide came from further up the mountain to the right. My sister shouldn't be far from it, but I doubt she would just wait right next to it. You're probably right, we should go left. Thanks, by the way. For coming back for us. I thought that was it."

"Yeah, I mean, you waited for me in the prison and convinced Scott to help us, so just returning the favor. Don't worry about it."

I felt embarrassed, but happy. Or maybe I was embarrassed that it made me happy to be thanked?

"Stupid. The both of you. I'm slowing you down, and you almost died for it. If I weren't here, you would both be with Scott and the others, probably already safe. Idiots." Anna huffed.

"We made the choice to help you. We're responsible for our own actions, and we'll deal with the consequences. Or something like that. Right?" I said to her with a smirk on my face.

"You're quick to be there for others, but always make a big deal about being helped yourself, you know. Even though you try to act tough you can let others help you." Daniel said with a similar smirk.

She blushed, "I-it's different for me! I shouldn't be alive. I can't go back there... my magic is dangerous. I can't let anyone else know how to use it. If it means dying... then I'm ok with that."

Her words hurt to hear. She wasn't holding out for herself; she was holding out so she wouldn't hurt others. They hung heavy in the air.

Finally, I spoke. "I'm not ok with it. I don't like the idea that you have to die because they want to use you to do something bad. Don't you want to get back at them?"

"Of course I do! I hate them! They killed my friends to get me, they tortured me for months, they took everything from me! But... revenge is selfish, isn't it? I should take these spells to the grave. They're the reason for all my suffering. If I had never made them, I would've lived a happy life. Now if they take them, they'll use it to kill so many, and it will be my fault." Anna said as she started to cry.

Daniel didn't know what to say. He looked away and scratched his head.

I was pissed, though.

"Who cares... Who cares if revenge is selfish? I came back for you because I was selfish. I wanted to save you, I wanted to be thanked for it, I wanted to see the guards that I hate, angry over it. I want to see them punished by the people they hurt. Isn't it what they deserve after everything they've done? What's wrong with wanting that? Isn't that justice for the bad guys to face punishment? If someone doesn't stand up to them, they'll just keep getting away with it. Doesn't it... Doesn't it make you sick to think that they can do this and never face consequences? It pisses me off. I'm sick of it. I'm done with letting people walk all over me, and I won't let them hurt my fr-... friends. You shouldn't have to die for them." It was embarrassing to say out loud.

Did they even consider me a friend? Whatever. This was me being selfish. It's how I felt, and I was being honest about it.

I held my hand out toward Anna. "Let's both be selfish. Even if it's for revenge or out of spite, whatever. Please, don't give up on yourself."