Suoh's Seals

Chapter Five: The Great Escape

The shabby ex-toolshed had surprisingly proved to be a useful asset. As Nell sat up in bed, she used one of the many holes in the walls to peer out, watching for any further movement from the Willard house.
The dark of night was making it difficult to gauge since the lights inside the property had now all been extinguished.

Willard almost always went to bed early, with the window from Sawyer's bedroom darkening not long afterwards. But Nell could not be sure about Gareth as his quarters were positioned on the opposite side of the building. The last person she had actually seen was Julia carrying in firewood to keep the house's fire tended.

With soft moans of the wind and Fiona's sleep-induced breathing the only noises Nell had heard for a while, she nervously gathered herself to put her plan in motion.

Nell shuffled into her boots and then draped her blanket over her head and around her shoulders to protect herself from the night chill. As quietly as she possibly could she unlatched the solitary bolt on the door and tiptoed out.

Clicking the door shut, she at first hesitated against it. Nell wanted to make sure that it was still quiet before she determinedly headed towards Willard's house to retrieve the long-forgotten bolt cutters. It had been what she had discovered in the thorny bushes earlier that day, and she would likely need them to accomplish her plan.

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Nell's heart anxiously sunk with dread as she approached Suoh's cage. There was no glowing this time. And no bright green eyes to greet her. Suoh was still in there. But lay motionless. His body was twisted around itself into a loose ball.

"Please don't be dead," she whispered as she followed the lining of the cage to locate the gate.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the usual way in was not feasible. There was no padlock or chain keeping the structure locked, but a thick slab of concrete had been pushed against the metal and it was simply too heavy for Nell to budge on her lonesome. And that was not from lack of trying.

After fruitless efforts to move the blockade, Nell tried a different approach to get inside. She tested each of the metal pipes' hold, eventually choosing a particularly damaged spot. And attempted to slip her shoulders through the gap.

The bars crunched loudly as she squeezed her body against one of the looser bars. When Nell had almost squeezed her backside through, that bar dislodged and came away, clattering to the ground.

Nell's head snapped to the creature she was now inside with and then froze. She warily watched for any movement. But Suoh did not even offer a twitch of an ear.

Nell raised the old bolt cutters that she had retrieved on her way up the hill, proceeding to gently prod at Suoh with them to prompt a response.

As the rusting metal made contact with his face, a strike of pain screamed from Nell's marked hand. The bolt cutters clattered to the hard floor as she clutched her hand hard against her chest and waited for the burning to subside.

As a hiss escaped her lips, the pain abruptly simmered away and a soothing glow replaced it. When Nell looked back to Suoh again she noticed his head had not risen, but rolled slightly attempting to reposition. Suoh's eyes were groggily open and watching Nell. But most surprisingly parts of him radiated fluorescently to match the glowing scars of her palm.

The shackles attached to his rear ankles, the thick metal collar, and his rope muzzle were all outlined blue with a strange influence of magic. And it seemed like Nell was able to understand what she was looking at to some degree. It was as if the blue translated in her mind.