Escape


    Endless. No end. End less. No end. End. No. Less. End limb. Limbless. The End. - The scrawled inscription on the wall of the slave cage under Hreb.


    Gloomy continued his hard work, sweating as usual. Dust settled on his wet face, and he couldn''t take a deep breath. As he struck the pickaxe again, Gloomeye heard a new sound. In his circumstances, such an event could not be ignored, and he paused to see what was going on.


    It turned out that a slave''s pickaxe broke during the swing and the metal part landed in the neck of a guard. He collapsed to the ground, and the unfortunate slave was surrounded by other guards and impaled on all sides. It didn''t help that he held his hands out in front of him.


    One of the guards ordered:


    "Put them in the sack and get them out. And cover the corpses with earth, we have a secret operation, they must not be discovered from above".


    Gloomy continued his work. A few days later, he picked up four small stones from the ground and hid them under his clothes.


    In the evening, Girl began calling for help. A guard came to the sound and saw Gloomeye and Splinter lying lifeless.


    "What happened here?" the guard asked as he entered the cage, but he already understood.


    "They fought and strangled each other," the small slave explained, whimpering and crawling away from the newcomer.


    The guard waved a hand in front of the slave''s face, examined the neck, which was beginning to bruise, and then checked the pulse in both hands. There was no pulse, nor on the slave girl.


    "If this happens again in your group, I will invite Master Astoro here. Is that clear?" the guard glared at the slaves, then threw Splinter at Gloomy and dragged him out of the cell by his legs.


    He dragged the bodies for quite a while before another guard called out to him:


    "Where are you taking these slaves?"


    "Stuff them in a bag. They''re dead."


    "Did you check?"


    "Yes, no pulse."


    The guard who had called him crouched over the fallen slaves:


    "And it didn''t bother you that this slave was wearing the master''s old clothes?"


    "I''m new here and I''ve only ever seen Master Astoro in his cloak."


    "This is the special slave, and he and the master have a common history. You''d better take him straight to him, but first let''s make sure they''re really dead."


    Gloomeye opened his eyes and looked at the guard with his sword drawn.


    "What happened?" Gloomeye asked curiously.


    "You tell us," the guard slid his sword back into its sheath.


    "I just lost consciousness, and I don''t know what happened next. Here, I woke up, I look at you," the guy sounded like innocence itself.


    "Okay, back to the cell. And you, rookie, learn to determine death," the wise guard might not have believed Gloomeye, but he didn''t show it.


    When Gloomeye and Splinter returned to the cell and the door closed behind them, the guy pulled out stones he had hidden under his armpits to stop the pulse in his hands. Then he had to pull the stones out of Splinter''s armpits because she didn''t do it herself and went to her favourite wall. His throat hurt from being hit by a stone, but it was necessary for plausibility.


    "It didn''t work," Girl said disappointedly.


    "You''re playing with fire, kids. You might not be so lucky next time," a slave with a half-shaven head tried to shame them.


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    "If we don''t play with fire, we''ll be in the dark forever," Gloomeye said some nonsense, but he was beginning to get annoyed by the slaves'' apathy, and each time it became harder to shake it off.


    ***


    After a few more days of hard labour, Gloomeye volunteered to go to the toilet. As the helmeted guard approached, the guy pointed at Splinter:


    "That girl wants to go to the toilet too."


    "Can''t she say it herself?" the walking guard asked irritably.


    "No. She''s been working here for so many days and you don''t know her condition?" Gloomeye said indignantly.


    "Exactly. My brother is the same. Just like our parents died, he just sits there and doesn''t say anything. He doesn''t do anything unless he''s asked to," another guard suddenly supported Gloomeye.


    "All right, let''s go," the volunteer guard reluctantly agreed.


    He led the group to the bucket, and when he turned his back on Gloomy, Gloomy attacked him. He pressed his hand to his victim''s throat until he lost consciousness. Gloomeye then changed into the guard''s armour. He waited for a man wearing a helmet (honestly using the toilet with helmetless guards) so that the stolen helmet would hide his face. His eyes, nose and mouth were all visible, but it was better than nothing. Splinter made no comment about what had happened.


    Gloomeye dragged the stripped guard onto his back. If anyone saw it, it would look like a guard carrying a slave somewhere and leading a slave girl. Finding a corner that might have been a toilet at one time, Gloomy threw the body off and squeezed the neck tubes again, just in case. Then he took Splinter by the hand and went to find the place where their things had been taken.


    On the way, they met Girl, who was dragging her pot of food. Gloomeye guessed that she had dragged her load all the way from the Mourneer''s camp so that the smoke wouldn''t build up in the caves and attract the madmen''s attention.


    "Hey, you! You''re coming with us," Gloomeye ordered, for there were guards nearby.


    The girl looked up, recognised the guard (which is bad. Disguise is needed for lack of recognition) and nodded happily.


    There was no need to wander for long; there was only one fork in the tunnel. It led to the guard''s resting cave. There was real furniture there: boxes, tables and chairs where the guards sat, ate and talked.


    "Wait for me here," Gloomeye ordered, and stepped into the slavers'' den. There he began to examine their crates.


    "Hey, newbie! What are you looking for?" one of the resting guards asked good-naturedly.


    "Where do we put the slaves'' belongings?" the "newbie" asked.


    "In that trunk," said the good guard. "Where are you taking the slaves?"


    "To see Master Astoro. They tried to escape by knocking out one of us," Gloomeye explained, opening the right trunk.


    The guard whistled:


    "I don''t envy them. I''m not in the habit of envying the slaves, but these - especially. Apparently, one of them doesn''t envy herself either."


    Gloomy found his bag and reached in, trying to be discreet. He found his sling and his father''s dagger. He tucked them, and some other item, under his clothes. Splinter''s clothes were there too, but he decided it would be too suspicious to take them too.


    Gloomeye held the bag in his hands as if it exuded a miasma of disease (for greater believability in the acting) and led the slaves into the corridor. Together they came to another fork in the road, one way down and the other straight ahead, and there was a light breeze. The guy decided that this was the best sign of the way to freedom. And it turned out to be true (in a way). There was an opening to the sky and a sheer cliff with a small mountain path. Astoro''s green slave was also there, he was sitting beside her at a table with many piles of parchment and stones on them.


    "Successful slave escapes spoil the necessary atmosphere in the team," the master of the Humanists informed. His face was just lazy again. "You took your friend with you, of course, Gloomeye. But why do you need this child? Children are very inefficient, believe me."


    "I decided there was no need for her to wait for me to return for the others," Gloomeye drew his father''s dagger and held it between him and the enemies.


    The orc was instantly at his side and Gloomeye''s weapon was clenched in her fist. There was a cracking sound and blood flowed from her fingers.


    "I don''t like punishments, they reduce the effectiveness of my goods," Astoro sighed. "But without punishment, the effectiveness drops even further. This child has been here longer than you, so he is responsible for your little rebellion. Ten good strokes of the cane on his back and you''ll be working off the time you spent trying to escape. But it''s you who''s going to strike, Gloomeye."


    Astoro took his cane from under his cloak and held it out to Gloomeye, and his personal slave grabbed Girl. Gloomeye took the cane and weighed it in his hand. Heavy. Splinter stood with her hands and eyes down.


    " Whether this is a good strike or not is up to me to decide. I advise you not to be a sadist and only give ten strokes," the Humanist grandmotherly advised.


    At first, Gloomeye was about to comply, but then he saw the look on Girl''s face before the orc turned her back on him. The girl was about Giggler''s age. And what if it was Giggler? Gloomeye turned to Astoro and slammed the handle of his cane into his face. It came off the cane''s frame, revealing that it was the handle of a stiletto hidden inside. A long green hand immediately grabbed the rebel by the throat.


    "Well? A good one?" Gloomy croaked.


    "I''m sure that was the worst strike of your life, slave," Astoro said, regaining his balance and pointing a finger at Girl.


    Without looking, the orc struck the child with the back of her free hand. The blow landed in her throat, there was a crunch of broken spine, and the girl flew into the pass.


    She didn''t scream, and neither did Gloomeye. Just like Splinter. No one screamed at that moment, everything was quiet and ordinary. Gloomy just froze, not believing what was happening. He didn''t notice Astoro picking up the stiletto and walking straight towards him.


    "I''m going to have to increase your punishment, but don''t worry, it won''t stop you from making up for your lost time, slave," Astoro said, driving the stiletto into Gloomeye''s right eye.