Elusion of justice

The days were mundane enough that any deviation was enough to attract Corbin’s attention. When food was brought, for the first time it wasn’t just a single guard, but two. They were talking to each other and laughing. One of them pointed to the inmates and the other laughed even harder. Corbin had a bad feeling about it. They placed the tray on the ground, but instead of leaving with the empty one, one of the guards began relieving himself on the bread. With a vicious smile on his face, he didn’t break eye contact with the group of inmates. They didn’t react, but Corbin felt something in the air. The other stood behind him, laughing along. Then as if slapped, his expression changed to a mixture of determination of disgust. He produced a dagger and drove it into the back of the other’s neck. The only sound the guard made was breath leaving his body in a gasp. He was quietly laid down.

“Abzar,” he hissed to the inmates. They all immediately jumped to their feet and were at the gate just as he unlocked it. They took the dead guard’s sword and one of the men began changing in his clothes and armour. It was a gambeson with jack chains on the hands and a helmet. Even this was probably mostly worn to intimidate prisoners. Even so, whether to serve as protection or for deception, it was very much better than the potato sacks they had worn for who knows how long. The saviour distributed more of the daggers that he had hidden on his body. They all whispered in excitement amongst themselves. Corbin on the other hand didn’t know what to do. Do I just go along or stay here? No, if I stay, they will probably kill me. The group began moving and Corbin hurried after them. Some of them looked back at him, but nobody said anything. Corbin took it as a sign that they don’t really care as long as he doesn’t do something to inconvenience them. They all waited near the gate leading out of the hallway, taking care to not be visible from the outside.
Just as Corbin began wondering what they were waiting for, it felt as if an earthquake occurred. It was followed by a loud thunderclap. Distant muffled screaming could be heard. Even more explosions seemed to rattle the entire building. Their rescuer took that as a sign to start. He unlocked the door and the group was on their way. As they made their way forward, they took advantage of the confusion and waited behind corners for guards to run towards the chaos outside. Just as they avoided one group however, they ran straight into two more guards. They jumped them before they could get as much as word out. Now all of them were armed with swords, maces and axes, but they didn’t bother with armour except helmets. The younger woman took the chance to hurry back to Corbin and gave him the dagger she had used thus far. She nodded to him with a small grunt and he returned the nod, taking care to bow slightly more than her. But I’ve never even used one before. Could I just kill? The memory of the hunting shop came back to him. I might not have a choice. They will kill, regardless of my feelings. In the end having a weapon is better than having none. He took a firm hold of the handle, which still carried warmth from the previous hands. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

They continued onward, taking care to avoid large groups and ambushing the small ones. After many winding corridors they made it to a staircase. Corbin’s heart thumped he didn’t even know how long it had been since he had last seen sunlight. As close as it might have been, it was also impossibly far, since three guards in full plate armour stood guard, weapons drawn one was even holding some kind of a halberd or perhaps a fauchard. All the inmates screamed together and charged towards the men without a second thought. The men took point and the women tried circling around the enemies to flank them. They had all seen many battles and were in perfect coordination without as much as a word exchanged between them. To Corbin’s amazement, it seemed that the guards were retreating towards the stairs. He took a glance around and to his horror saw that more guards were coming behind them.

“Behind us,” he shouted. Luckily one of the former inmates looked back and passed the information on to his companions. They made one last push towards the guards and managed to knock one over. The women were immediately on him, stabbing in the weak points of the armour and ended by raising his visor and planting a dagger in the exposed face. One of the men picked up a shield and went to protect their back, on the way he gave a slight shove to Corbin, who went to follow the others up the stairs. Another of the guards was felled and the last took off running. The older woman let out what was most likely a curse, but no one followed the guard. Still they made it up the stairs as fast as they were able to.
Down the hallway they were able to see a foyer and the blinding light coming from the large wooden double doors. Freedom. Could it be? They were running down the last hallway, but as soon as the first man reached the foyer, he threw himself backwards to the ground. A blink of an eye later, arrows rattled against the stone wall. Two of them took shields and looked past the edge of the hallway. They nodded towards the others, saying something. They all stood behind the shields. First the two baited another small volley of arrows then everyone sped forward. The archers were positioned in a different hallway that ran perpendicularly to their own and ended in the same foyer, so that they only needed to pass the width of the hallway before they were again clear of the line of sight.
Despite their efforts, as they passed two more arrows thudded against the shields and one found its way into the shoulder of one of the men. He roared with pain and his knees buckled, but he was pulled forwards into safety by the others as they ran past. No! We are so close. The clatter of footsteps and armour was audible from the stairs behind them. They all hurried along the foyer to the exit, but as they were about to pass the centre of the room, a group of armed guards, a group of humans and goblins appeared from one of the other hallways, that connected to the foyer, blocking the way to the exit. They stopped there, making a circle by instinct.

We can still make it past. Maybe if we just run for it. Corbin thought what to do, but since no communication was possible, he was unable to contribute to the plans they whispered. They had apparently reached the same conclusion and dashed forwards, but from the other hallway in front of them, across from where the guards just came, a new group arrived. There were more guards, but also a shift in the air. Following behind was the robed figure that Corbin had seen upon entering the portal. It felt as if lightning was about to strike, the air was oppressive. Corbin was petrified to the spot. He glanced at the others and to his dismay found that the wizard had a similar effect on all of them.

That’s it then. It’s all over. For some reason he was calmer now that he knew the end was here.

“Hir!” The guard who saved them screamed and darted to the newest foes. They on the other hand didn’t react and looked bored. The wizard raised his hand and a bolt of red lightning shot out from his hand and struck the man, making scorch marks on the ground as it zipped by. He was thrown back by the powerful blast.

The group gaped in horror. He just died. Just like that. We’re next. The moments of silence were broken, as one after another they began screaming in rage. The wizard was once again preparing to attack. He raised his hands and Corbin threw his hands up to protect himself, as if it would help. At that moment another explosion shook the building. This time it was so near and potent that Corbin was thrown to his back and his ears were ringing. The dust in the air sent him into a fit of coughing. The hallway where the wizard was coming from was collapsed and part of the wall was even missing, letting in the sunlight and a light breeze. The wizard and his guards were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully they are buried under the rocks.

As he stood the furthest from the blast, he was shielded from some of it by the other former prisoners. They were even more disoriented after having been throw around further than Corbin and were just about to start picking themselves back up. They had. Corbin saw movement in his peripheral vision. One of the guards from behind them snapped out of his stupor and was charging towards them with an axe held high. Corbin stumbled and fell to his back. Fear found its way back to him. But instead of coming for him, the guard was headed in a somewhat different direction. A feeling of relief briefly crossed Corbin’s heart, but was swiftly replaced by shame and then horror. The guard was heading towards the woman, who had been kind to him. She had given him food and tried talking to him. She even gave him the dagger. He looked at it. His grip had been tight even though he had long since forgotten about the weapon. I have to do something. His legs wouldn’t move. The image of the old man in the shop resurfaced in his mind. No, not again. I can’t. I can’t do it. No. I can’t let it happen. The first step was a stumble, the second was firm and by the third, he was running with all his mind. He was still unable to hear anything, but it seemed to only strengthen his determination. He was behind and to the left side of the guard. He didn’t seem to be aware of Corbin. He had his axe raised. The woman was below, unaware of her imminent death.

“No!” Corbin shrieked and launched himself at the man just as his axe began moving down. He crashed into him, without any sense of grace or even a plan. The surprise was enough to knock them both to the ground. Corbin was on top of the guard, his knees pinning him down. He drew back his hand to punch the guard, but stopped. His hand was covered in blood. In the crash, he had accidentally stabbed the dagger into the neck of the guard. He stared at his shaking stained hands. His breathing was ragged.

Corbin was pushed to the ground. He gave a grunt at the impact. Looking up he saw the woman that was about to die. She is alive. I … saved her? It was a strange notion. A life was changed. One taken and the other spared. But why did she drag me down? The answer came in form of arrows that rained into the foyer right above their heads. These however came from the outside. Some rattled off the walls, but the sounds of screaming men were louder.

Through the hole in the wall and door several people in robes and armour came. Others with bows stayed behind, firing freely upon prison guards. The ones that came forward dragged the inmates to their feet and even half carried those who couldn’t walk on their own. The woman grabbed Corbin by the forearm and dragged him behind her to the hole in the wall. People were still shooting arrows from outside, keeping the guards at bay. They jumped over the rubble; the Sun was blinding. Has the air always been this fresh? Corbin liked nature, but he hadn’t spent much of his time outside in the past few years. After the imprisonment however, he wouldn’t have minded spending the rest of his days outside.

The prison was situated in a forest clearing in a valley between two hills. Mountains were visible off in the distance. Corbin was dragged along towards the trees straight ahead. More people came riding horses from there. There was also a lot of horses without riders. The first rider dismounted in front of them and clasped hands of each of the freed prisoners. Only then he noticed Corbin and pointed at him while asking others something. The older woman just shook her head and one of the men said something back. The woman who brought him along cut into the conversation. After each exchange, she became angrier and louder. Soon she was pointing and shouting. The rider relented and it looked as if he shrunk a little despite being possibly over two meters tall. The woman also calmed down but there was still a fire in her eyes.

The rider motioned to his companions, who brought more horses. The freed inmates all mounted their horses and the woman pointed to another, while looking at Corbin. He shook his head and made wild gestures to tell her he couldn’t ride horses. He never had. She rolled her eyes and held out her hand. Corbin climbed onto the horse behind her. She took his hands and put them around her. The next moment they were galloping towards the forest.