The Escape of Something New

Overview

The Escape of Something New is the very first story in The Grateful Six fiction; while also beginning the main story arc of the world. It is associated with the two people who come up with the idea of founding the Village of She'edu and recruiting the other members of The Grateful Six in The City of Bliss. Twitch and Bean escape the Village of Oxbow towards the city of Bliss when the twins are separated...

Short Story

Twitch and Bean run frantically in the night. Dogs giving chase, the light of lanterns and shouts of men are close behind. They are slaves. Escaped slaves of the the Nation of Thul. Now enemies of the state, they will be forced back to the labor camps to await their deaths should they become unlucky enough to be captured this evening by the agents of the nation in pursuit. The pair run full speed across a short clearing and down into a ravine. The tall grass on the side of the slope angles over, the dew creating a slick. Bean slips and begins to slide uncontrollably down the hill, struggling against slope the entire way down. Twitch is far too focused on the task at hand to have even had a chance at noticing his sister’s peril. He continues to run, focused on freedom, angled away from his sister.

They are split up now; the Region of Acre is not friendly one. Especially not to two recently escaped slaves. The punishment of capture more sever than death itself; death at least offers release from the pain of the toils of forced labor, or worse… the breeder camps, where new slaves are bred from the old and punished. A place of hellish nature, long denied by Thu’l officials. But the slavery continues, and the slaves keep coming, despite no raiding parties taking place since the early years hundreds of decades prior.

Bean no longer slides.

Twitch spots a small river off in the distance and begins to make his way towards it, men and snarling beast close behind. As he enters the water, an arrow screams past his head, “howler bolts, not good”, Twitch thinks as he enters the water and begins to swim. He ducks beneath the cold, crisp water. The men giving chase stop at the water’s edge as the dogs enter the river. They’re catching up. The men wait in anticipation to see their beloved creatures in action. There’s little entertainment in the labor camps, even for those who are not forced into service.

A dog suddenly vanishes beneath the surface as the men watch helplessly. They couldn’t possibly enter the water with the weight of their armor and equipment, and even if they tried, a war-hound just disappeared. This was serious. This was real now. Not a night of entertainment speeding across the countryside like so many chases before. This was different. Twitch was different. It was never any secret back at his station in the camp.

The creature’s last breath comes to surface of the water in the form of bubbles. The water goes a deep crimson. The pursuers go silent. The second dog plummets below the surface just as it gets half way across the way across the river. The immediate threat is gone. Twitch puts the shiv he made for the escape back into the lining of his burlap slaves rags that barely pass as leg coverings.

As the men begin to realize what has just transpired, Twitch appears from the water on the other side of the river. The men erupt into a furious rage, hurling insults and threats across the now still water. Haphazardly firing arrows in his direction that fall short and into the now dark red water. Twitch is unphased as he slowly works his way up and out of the other side of the ravine, knowing full well that Thul bows and arrows have no range to meet him this far away; not even howlers. He’s safe for a moment. He’s found what he sought after. As he crests the top of the hill, he heads towards the warm glow of the City of Bliss at the bottom of the foothills of the Northern Aleyn mountain range. His thoughts turn to his sister. He hopes she is safe, but turning back could put them both at risk. Weighing the options, he continues on to Bliss.

Bean wakes up to the drizzle of a small stream of water peppering her forehead. Dazed and confused, she struggles to stand, hardly able to gain her bearings and figure out where she is. Her entire right arm is sore, and she can feel a bruise beginning to form on her upper thigh and rib-cage. It’s hard to see, their air is cool and calm. It hurts to breathe.

Trying to grasp the hazy events that have transpired in the last few hours, she stands and notices a beam of light entering from above her. “Of course,” she thinks to herself, “this is one of those cave systems I was warned about as a child." The region of Acre is known for being porous, it’s why it’s so easy for the Nation to extract the valuable iron reserves from the ground. They simply utilize the cave systems to access the iron, rather than spend time, manpower and lives on expensive mines. She and her brother had grown up working in a mine fashioned out of one of these such formations.

Bean begins to move around the cavern she fell into in her pursuit. Thoughts racing as she tries to come to terms with what has happened. Flashes of disjointed forms and emotions overcome her. She falls to her knees in pain, remembering the people who had died for their escape, what it took to make happen. The conditions of the labor camp they were stationed at, hauling the logs used in the upkeep of the kingdom’s walls. Her friends and family are all on her mind as well. What would become them for her and her brother’s treachery?

She remembers the site of her mother being cut down by Jared, the Captain of the Guard, the leader of the pack that gave chase once the alarm was raised. He reveled in his abuse. Enjoyed it. Thrived in it. Sustained by it. A man not fazed by war, he stood tall and strong with a heart of black and a gaze of steel. A veteran and survivor of the Noble Wars, he knows his work well. He is not a man known to give up. Bean finally notices the vine hanging from the gap in the ceiling the light is beam of light is breaking through. She gives it a tug. It seems firm enough to hold her weight while she pulls herself out of the dark cavern…

Twitch nears the main gate of Bliss. Once opulent and made of white marble, it is now barely even a memory of what once stood. The walls once elegantly carved by the highest artisans of the land, now stand smooth with only the passage of time and poor upkeep to blame. Overgrown and near desolate, only thieves and denizens of darkness roam the streets of this City in the Far. The guard stops him as he nears the gate, raising a hand as he approaches. “What business do you have within the City of Bliss, stranger? The lands grow dark in these times. How are we to know you have intentions of gold and not crimson? “

“Business? Oh no, my friend, I have no business here. I only intend to rest and relax before heading on up the road in the morn’”, Twitch hesitantly responds. His rags called clothes a potential giveaway for his current status as a recently escaped slave. The guard looks puzzled, his fingers running through his thick beard, he gazes upon Twitch. He speaks up, “We have no homes of ill repute here, heathen. Take your leave or see my axe.” Twitch steps back, ready to defend himself, fingers resting on his pant lining and the hidden, homemade blade inside. He’s ready. “Now, now sir! There is no reason to become threatening! I only want to rest up at the inn for a few nights,” Twitch lies. If they discover his secret, he would be at a breeder camp by morning.

The guard now noticeably disgruntled gets into Twitch’s face, nose to nose, “Do NOT play around with me, boy. I know your type. Keep your nose up and stay out of trouble or-“, Twitch cuts him off, “-or I’ll get to meet your axe?” he says, taunting. The guard of the gate slowly takes a step back and signals the gatekeeper up on the wall above him. As Twitch enters the city, he feels a sense of relief. He’ll be able to disappear here, he’ll be safe. His thoughts turn to his sister, knowing that their two paths are no longer truly intertwined, he’s become his own person in the last few days.

END.
v 2.1