The Forgotten Prophecy

Chapter 43

'Someone, please! We need help!' Ines screamed her lungs out.

A guard immediately dashed in the cells' room, his eyes darting around the room in panic. 'What's wrong?' he sharply snapped at her.

That was all Ines needed. With a swift move she seized his neck through the bars and slammed his head on the hard metal. The soldier collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Ines took the keys that were tied on his breastplate and quickly opened the cell door. 'Come on,' she carefully pulled Matthew on his feet.

Every step they took towards the exit was a harder than the last one. Matthew could barely stand on his own, her supporting him making small difference, and Ines was sad to see him hurt so much. Her guilt was gnawing at her conscience, but she didn't voice her distress. Right then, they had to save their asses.

Little by little they reached the great yard of the camp which was oddly quiet. A few soldiers stood on guard for something Ines didn't know, and didn't want to know, while the others were nowhere to be seen.

'Where has everyone gone?' Matthew wondered out loud.

'No idea. Let's go.'

The guards spotted them before they could make it out of the camp and orders to arrest them were given out. Ines threw the vial Matthew had given her for that purpose, and it smashed on the ground before them. A thick mist quickly obscured their surroundings. That would save them a few minutes.

Ines and Matthew didn't wait to see if it had worked. They rushed out of the camp and entered the deep forest that covered the area around the city lake to hide from their pursuers. They treaded for a while over the snow with their senses on high alert. When they deemed they were safe, Ines helped Matthew lie down next to a tree trunk and began checking his wounds again.

'Are you kidding me?' Ines heard a familiar voice say. 'Is this what you came for? Trying to save your necks?'

She groaned in frustration, but she bit her tongue and managed to remain calm. 'Why are you here, Landos?' she glared at him.

'To deliver this poor man from his misery.'

'So, you're like a team now?'

Landos ignored her and approached Matthew. He knelt down beside him, took out his herbs and his vials and started cleaning his wounds. Ines, wanting to give him some space to work, walked towards Inerma with a frowning expression.

'You are lucky we got here on time,' the elf said.

'What did you do?'

'Let's just say we had some fun with the dispatch they sent to take you.'

'I wish I could tell you I'm not happy about this, but I would be lying to myself.'

'Are you okay?' she asked, touching her shoulder lightly.

'Yeah, a bit tired perhaps.'

'We'll settle somewhere to rest.'

'How did you find us?'

'We followed you. The old elf ordered us so.'

Their conversation was interrupted by a nervous-looking Landos approaching them, and Ines found herself anxiously waiting for what he had to remark.

'I have healed his wound,' he informed them, 'but I had to put him out in order for his body to overcome the shock. He will be fine in two or three days.'

'Thank you,' Ines said with sincerity.

'You should leave him out of any danger next time, 'cause someday his kindness will kill him.'

'I know.'

Ines glanced at Matthew who was unconscious, his face relaxed. She should have driven him off, stop him from coming with her and getting hurt once more. She had drugged him into that mess, making him become a fugitive of the army and lose the only place he had known in his life. And all that for what? So that she wouldn't feel lonely?

Ines let out a deep sigh in distress. Landos was right; she had to do what she was too afraid to do so far and ward him off the dangerous path she had taken. It might be painful, but it was the only way for him to be safe. He deserved more than chasing her around and carrying the weight she ought to be lifting on her shoulders.

'Leave that for tomorrow,' Inerma advised them with quiet empathy. 'For now, we need to stay low.'

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Phrase of chapter:  alea iacta est / the dice  is cast  - Caesar