22nd Bethas, 2720
VIENDA GAOL | LATE EVENING
VIENDA GAOL | LATE EVENING
“You understand this will be no simple gaolbreak. The cell that these officers keep him in is inside the guards barracks. Damen has the only key to the cells, and there is a guard there too. Beyond that, the locked cell.” Red muttered, tugging her collar up against the chill of the Bethas weather, breathing on gloved hands as they stood between the walls of two buildings, eyeing off the gaol walls that towered skyward just beyond. A misty fog had developed over the city, clinging in the late hours of the evening, street lanterns wisps in the muted scenery.
“That’s why we need to be quick, and purposeful. Getting into the barracks, picking the lock, dealing with the guard…they aren’t the hard parts. The hard part will be getting Jon out of there, not knowing what condition he’s in.” Alyssa said flatly, fixing her Seventen uniform and looking at the woman next to her with a frown.
“How’s my look?” She asked firmly, looking at the galdor with blue eyes and a stern face. Her black hair was tucked firmly under an officers cap. The other offered a critical glance.
“If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t know you from the next stranger on the street. It’s quite a good get up, even if it’s unbelievably risky.” The Assassin shrugged.
“Risk comes with the territory. Right. Shall we then?” Red’s brow drew together, her nod short, before drawing her field to encompass them both.
“If we die tonight, know that you’ve always had my respect and my loyalty.” The red head said flatly, her outfit so fashionably Viendan that it felt out of place on the usually trouser bound woman.
“Stay with me as long as you can, or they’ll notice right away you’re magicless.” With little more than that, the duo proceeded without sneak or ceremony towards the entrance of the Viendan gaol.
It was without incident, taking the first few guards out with a little Perceptive spellwork and clever acting. Red was good at her part, pulling together a ruse with Alyssa accompanying her to make a report about suspected Resistance connections and some official looking paperwork was enough to get them through an interview room. Shutting the door, Red turned to Alyssa.
“Right, so further down, to the left. There’s a hall. Get past the guard, and you’ll be in the standard security cells. I’ll give you ten minutes, then—well then we’ll see if everything works.” The galdor said with an out of place smile, before approaching the door with an exhale.
“This is where we part ways, sir.” Red said with a nod to Alyssa, thanking the so-called officer for their help, before coughing to clear her throat and storming from the room towards the cells.
“Excuse me! I’m not about to put up with these accusations, find me a superior!” She shrieked unpleasantly, much to the shock of the young officer at the watch room. As he stood to placate the hysterical woman Alyssa made her way confidently past with a sympathetic nod, moving past the standard cells, towards the door she had memorized on the stolen plans brought to the How. Acting as though she belonged there as much as anyone else, the Wisp slipped a pick from her sleeve and positioned it in the keyhole. One, two, a second and click! The lock turned and she stepped inside, closing it behind her.
The darkness was consuming.
Standing still for a moment, the human let her eyes adapt, hands reaching for the walls as she silently made her way downwards on the spiraling staircase. As she went, there became a light that came closer and closer, brightening her way. Sounds of movement beyond the end of the staircase indicated someone was down there, a cough and a cleared throat. Holding her breath, Alyssa crept downwards, drawing a blade from her hidden holster, till she could see the situation before her.
A desk, with a watchman, in a rather bare receiving area. Beyond that, a locked grated door. A hallway. Cell doors on either side of it. Two a side. Four cells. And one at the end.
Inhaling deeply, exhaling slowly, the disguised woman straightened and lifted her chin. She inhaled again, breathing all the pompous self import of the erseholes that once wore her stolen green clothing, before walking into the room.
“Great Ali—you scared the bollocks out of me! Don’t know what they’re teaching you lot in Numbrey nowadays but give a man a shout before you spring out of the dark!” The watchman exclaimed with a jolt, the press of his powerful field sickening in her stomach. Alyssa chuckled, looking over his clean shaven face and unusually dark uniform.
“Maybe you need to go in for a refresher.” She teased, moving towards the gated door to the hallway as though it was her destined purpose.
“Maybe. Hey, hey! You know you lot aren’t allowed in there. Blackcoats only. Commanders rules.” He said with a frown, standing from his spot behind the desk. The assassin tsked and looked through the grate with a curious movement.
“Was the Commander that sent me down here. Paperwork, for the Judge. Something about a welfare check on—” She stopped herself, looking back at the galdor with a short laugh and a tap of her nose with her finger.
“—well confidential business. You know.” The man narrowed his eyes.
“I know. Of course I know. I’m here, aren’t I?” He moved closer to look through the bars, pointing his finger at the end cell on the right.
“Commander moved him to that one, so we could clean cell five. No one wanted to go back in there with the stench of shit and vomit. Once it’s cleaned up, I’d say he’ll go back in.” Alyssa swallowed the bile that rose in her own throat, letting another rough chuckle out.
“Morde builds you lot soft then.” She said, watching the other smirk, sensing the shift in that strange aura that galdori wore like an oozing sore.
“Commander D’Arthe doesn’t though.” It happened so fast, Alyssa felt like it wasn't even of her own volition. An act of the Gods. She snapped her hand out to grab the galdor by the wrist, twisting to shove the hidden blade upwards through his lower jaw. He made a sound, a squerk, before falling in a boneless heap.
“Shit.” She said, searching his pockets for a key to the door. Opening it, she pushed it aside and dragged the bleeding body with her down the hallway, towards the smell of death.
“Oh Gods—” The human breathed, opening the door to the cell at the end of the hall and stood in shock, looking over the room. There was a chair, and a small work table. The table was metallic, housing various sorts of implements and gadgets she wasn’t sure she was aware of. Crystals and rocks and even a couple of knives. The chair was wood, blackened by grime and age, and fashioned with leather buckles and straps. The ground was sludgy in parts, rotten bodily waste compounding into something horrific. It stank, of everything she never wanted to smell in her life.
Dumping the body, she left the room, resisting the urge to empty her stomach as she glanced towards the last cell on the right. It was dark within, but she could make out the shape of a person on the ground. A hump of clothing in the low light. Approaching the door, Alyssa wrapped a thin hand around one of the metal bars, peering at the prisoner with her heart in her throat.
“Jon?” She whispered, not entirely sure she was ready for the response. The figure groaned, and a strangely sluggish voice responded.
“Stupid...” Even before the words were complete, the Wisp was unlocking the door with shaking hands, tearing it open and rushing to the fallen man. She coughed, the stench of cell five overbearing on his tattered clothing.
“What have they done to you? We have to go Jon. Come on.” Alyssa reached for the older human, hefting him to his feet and leaning him on her shoulder. Jon groaned again, muttering in pain and shock. He was filthy, bloodied and thin. Stumbling on bare feet, his head drooped and his breath was ragged. The Wisp grit her teeth.
“We just have to get to the top of the stairs. I’ve got a plan.” She said more to herself than the barely coherent man. It was frightening how light, how frail he was. He wasn't even a shadow of himself. He was nothing. The woman half dragged, half carried him up the dark and winding staircase, slipping and panting in the darkness. As they reached the top, she stopped, leaning against the wall.
It was impossible that she was going to be able to get him out unnoticed. Not like this.
Grunting and shifting, Alyssa carefully sat him down on the stairs, making sure he wouldn't go tumbling down again, and reached to very slightly crack the door open. Sounds of yelling and fighting came to her ears, and she opened it further with a frown.
Chaos was perhaps the most appropriate wording for what was, she could only assume, Red’s doing. All the cells had been opened wide, and the prisoners had funneled out into the main offices of the gaol, attacking the guardsmen around them. Humans, and wicks alike, throwing punches or their scrappy magic where possible. In return, galdori aunties and uncles were trying to cast fast and uninterrupted in the madness. Alyssa didn’t waste the moment, moving to pull Jon to his feet and dragging the man out with her. The cell hall was eerily empty, whilst attentions were focused on taking out or capturing the prisoners working their way through to the exit.
The Wisp reached the end door, glancing around, choosing her pathway back the way they had come.
“Stop!” A voice shouted, and the sick feeling of a field lurched in her stomach. Turning sharply, Alyssa looked at the officer who’d appeared behind her, the woman’s forehead bleeding but still standing firm. The spell caught her like once large punch, shoving her back bodily, Jon falling in a heap on the ground as the Wisp was thrown. She landed with a breathless thump, scrambling to her feet even as the galdor gathered for another spell, blades slipping into her hands.
“Imposter!” The officer growled, a crackle in the air and the acrid smell of burning sulfur as a quick charge of lighting snapped from her hands. The human rolled, hairs on her skin standing to attention as the deathly bolt seared past her. Already she could feel it building again, and there would be no dodging this one. Throwing her blade blindly towards the Seventen, the Freedom Fighter heard the clatter of metal on stone.
A sudden scream, and intense heat came instead of the electrical burst, and Alyssa snapped her head up to see the Seventen batting at glowing chunks of molten rock clinging to her body. From the madness, Red emerged. She looked a mess, hair wild and clothing torn. The Wisp didn’t pause to consider her companion, moving to lift Jon again, ignoring his weak cry of pain.
“About time Red.” She growled, though the galdor didn’t quip in return, panting and holding herself at the ready for another attack as they moved quickly to the doorway. Around them, it was clear the Seventen were quickly taking control of the situation, and eyes were on them.
“There! The woman, take her down!” A man shouted, fields rising around them. Red stopped, turning even as she gathered her own field together.
“Get out of here!” Red yelled, the barrier she’d thrown up across the way behind them shimmering against bursts of flame and magma. Another person might have yelled something in return about not leaving a friend, or protested everyone should get out together.
Alyssa had no such fantasies. She knew the cost of their work.
Shoving the door open, the Wisp was faced with the dark of the night and the fog of Bethas, and more people. More officers.
“What are yo—” There was a sound, loud and sharp, like an intake of air in a mad rush, before a violently loud BOOM!
Darkness.
Alyssa opened her eyes suddenly, coughing against the dust that hung in the air. Her ears were ringing, and she could feel the sticky sense of blood on her forehead. It was dark, and she couldn’t make out where she was. Around her, rubble of rock and brick and wood was strewn. Smoke clung to her nostrils, and slowly her eyes picked out small fires here and there. Groaning, the Wisp moved to get up, gritting her teeth against the searing pain in her arm. Rolling on her back carefully, the human looked at the offending limb, seeing the obvious bend in the forearm where the bone had twisted and broken under the skin. Cradling the limb, she sat up and looked around at the scene.
The whole front of the gaolhouse had been destroyed, as though something powerful had exploded from the inside. People—both human, wick and galdori—were strewn through the wreckage. Some were alive, injured or in shock, others out cold. Others still were never coming back from this.
Forcing herself to her feet, the Wisp looked around. Everyone was covered in rock dust and blood, only a fleeting glimpse of green here and there identifying the Seventen in the rubble. She coughed, and started moving through the disaster to look for Jon.
“Help me.” A voice croaked as she walked past, causing the human to glance down. It was one of the officers, half buried under a large piece of wall, surely only clinging to life out of willpower than anything else. The woman blinked, her brow coming together, before turning her face away.
“No.” She said flatly, continuing on.
It felt impossible, and Alyssa couldn’t help the tears that blurred her vision. There was no way she was going to find him in this. What had happened? Why had everything exploded? How was this any better than—
There.
“Not like this.” She said, her voice cracking as she moved towards the body in the street. He’d been thrown further, missed by the larger pieces of rubble but not entirely clear. His patch was gone, exposing the scar where his eye had once been, but it was absolutely impossible not to recognize him.
“Jon.” The brunette croaked, crumpling to her knees and openly sobbing now. She doubled over, wracked with the grief of Yaris all over again, pain of her arm throbbing across her whole body.
“Alyssa.” The voice was so quiet, so weak, that she almost missed it.
“Alyssa, you came for me. You…you stupid girl.” Jon whispered, coughing against the dust. Gasping in mouthfuls of air, Alyssa lifted her head to look at the one brown eye that glanced back at her from his dust strewn face.
“Of course I did. I knew you weren’t dead. I knew it in my heart you weren’t that body in the river Jon. I—I’m so sorry I didn’t come sooner.” The man swallowed audibly, grunting at the pain in his body. His lower half was under bricks and wood, though it was impossible to see what that meant.
“Don’t be sorry. Don’t. I’m sorry. I should…have told you about…Frances. About…Emelia. I—” He coughed again, and she reached to brush a thumb across his cheek. Jon reached his own hand for hers, and sighed.
“You have to go Alyssa. I…I don’t think…I can…” Frowning and shaking her head, the Wisp straightened.
“No. Not like this. You’re not dying like this. Not after everything. You don’t get to die.” She growled, forcing herself to her feet. Moving the sash of the uniform she still wore, the brunette fashioned a makeshift sling for her arm, tucking it inside of the half buttoned jacket, before reaching down and hooking her other arm under his own. She tugged on him, and Jon cried out in pain.
“I’m sorry.” She breathed, and tugged harder, ignoring his protests. He was moving, she could feel it. The rubble shifted, rolled and bounced, but he wasn’t pinned under it. People were gathering now, and in the confusion of the dusty wreck, they moved to help.
“Officer! What happened?!” A man said as he rushed forward, a baker and his wife, dressed in their evening clothes. An upstanding citizen of Vienda, serving his galdori masters with piety deserve of his cast. He reached to help her, moving what brick and rock he could to free Jon as she tugged on him. As the broken man slid out, Alyssa looked at him.
“Gods.” She said again, realizing the extent of his injuries only now. The baker’s wife gasped, her hand to her mouth, whilst her husband paled.
“Don’t worry sir, medical teams are on their way. I’m sure—” The brunette didn’t wait for the rest of his words.
“Go and help the others. I’ll deal with this.” She growled, waving them away. The humans looked concerned, but nodded. Obey, no matter what. Looking down at the man, Alyssa glanced around. More people were gathering, more gawkers, more help. Moa drawn carriages with their passengers hanging out the windows with eyes wide and mouths open.
“You there, I need that vehicle!” The Wisp said firmly, approaching the nearest one with an elderly galdor staring out.
“What? No, this is—” She grasped him by the caveat, and snarled.
“This is a crisis man! I need to get my partner to the hospital. Don’t you know who he is?! Who I am?!” Covered in dust and blood and grime, wild and violent, the elderly man didn’t pause to question her lack of field or his position of potential power. Instead he moved, opening the door and almost falling out with eyes wide.
“I—I—I…” He stammered, even as Alyssa grunted and moved Jon to the carriage.
“Help me get him in you old fool!” She roared, running on confidence and pain, her heart rattling in her chest. The galdor did as he was told, confused, standing back as she slammed the door shut and banged on the roof. The driver flicked the reigns, turning the bird and rattling the carriage along the street at breakneck speed. Alyssa fell back, catching her breath as she looked at the now unconscious man strewn on the floor in front of her.
His legs…oh Gods his legs.
“Driver!” She shouted, moving to tug the wooden slat aside so she could speak to the man guiding the bird. A human, no field she could sense.
“Yes Sir, to the hospital Sir, I heard!” She shook her head, swallowing against the pain that threatened now to overtake her.
“No. I need you to take me to the Book and Bell.” The driver frowned.
“But, that’s all the way across town Sir. And it’s not—” Alyssa took a risk, pressing her head against the cool wood.
“I’m not an officer. And neither is he. But…I need help.” She said quietly, voice breaking under the weight of it all. The driver slowed his bird, brow creased and frowning, mind clearly working to make sense of her words. He stopped.
“I had family in Dorhaven.” He said finally, not looking back at her. The assassin sighed, sniffing thickly against the emotions rallying in her.
“It wasn’t us. I swear to you, on my life, it wasn’t us.” The human was silent, for a long time, before he sucked on his teeth.
“I know.” He said in return, before flicking the reigns. The carriage turned, and Alyssa saw the path he’d set them on. She closed the slide and moved to sit back again.
The fate of their lives was in this man’s hands. And for now, she just wanted a moment. Just a second. To rest.
She closed her eyes….
“Alyssa?” The soft concern of a man’s voice roused her with a slow fogginess, though she couldn’t bring herself to fully awaken. Hands on her, hands on Jon. She protested weakly, sweat on her brow and her arm feeling hot and tight.
“Carefully Stu, carefully. She’s—wait…oh my Gods. Oh my—” Ginny’s voice was shocked, and shaking. Alyssa, felt herself lifted in strong arms, reaching out to try and stay in the carriage, fingertips slipping uselessly off the wood.
“You gotta burn this carriage. I can’t be part of this. My master will be expecting me back.” The driver was speaking quietly, fright in his voice. The Wisp tried to fight against the arms.
“Here, take her. I’ll get him.” Stu spoke to someone else. “Burn the carriage and see this fellow off. Proper like.” The tone of his words carried volumes, ones that Alyssa didn’t know he’d had the strength to carry out. Proper like.
That poor man. She’d condemned him.
More hands took her, and the brunette cried, reaching back for the bloodied form on the carriage floor.
"Quickly. This stays between us for now."
“Is he…”
The voices faded as Alyssa felt the dark embrace of unconsciousness slip over her.
