Chapter 38

Emeric's ideal escape plan would have resulted with him and Kedo exiting the cell hall silently. They would have used the shadows of the halls to hide them until they made it out of the Dome. From there they would have maneuvered through the dark alleys to leave the city, and finally they would have escaped into the forest where no one would ever find them again...

However, as Emeric had learned early in life, nothing ever went as he planned...

The second he and Kedo stepped out of their cell, the other prisoners started banging at the bars and yelled at Emeric to let them out as well. Emeric winced at the horrendous noise.

"Come on." He softly commanded Kedo as he rushed down the cell hall. It was only a matter of seconds before the guards would come. Emeric knew that they wouldn't make it of the noise wasn't quieted.

"Alright, listen up." he yelled loud enough for the other Domers to hear him. Gradually, their pleading cries died down.

When the cell hall echoed silence, Emeric hastily stated, "If you guys keep it down I'll give you the keys. But getting out of here will be up to you." The other prisoners nodded consent. With that said, Emeric tossed the keys through the bars to a Domer who happened to be Nedes.

Emeric met his gaze, "Give they keys to your neighbor when you're done." Nedes smirked, "Yeah whatever, get out of here."

Emeric didn't wait to be told twice. He silently opened the door that lead out of the cell hall. The cell keeper sat in his office, fast asleep. Emeric gave Kedo a confident smile. He could see that the young boy was stressed, yet he was evidently excited. Because for the first time in years, he was going to see the outdoors.

They moved down the hallways in utter silence. Emeric froze when he heard voices up ahead. He grabbed Kedo's arm and hastily dragged him around a corner. Kedo watched Emeric with wide eyes.

Emeric placed a finger over his lips as the guards walked past them without noticing the two Rogues. Emeric waited until he couldn't hear their footsteps anymore before he continued down the hallway. They didn't get far before a loud cry stopped his progress. It sounded like a battle cry coming from two dozen voices. The other prisoners had gotten out.

Emeric knew they were all killers and would cut down anyone who got between them and their escape. He broke into a run with Kedo on his heals. They had to get out before the other prisoners could catch up with them.

Emeric rounded a corner, but couldn't stop in time before he crashed into a guard. They both went tumbling to the floor. Emeric however, reacted faster than the sentry. With a swift strike, Emeric left the man unconscious. A second later, he and Kedo were on their way once more.

They came across a few more sentries on their way, but Emeric made swift work of them, leaving them either unconscious or worse. They were nearing the exit when Emeric sensed trouble. It was his nose that alerted him first. The hallway up ahead reeked of smoke. He continued forward with caution. As they rounded the corner, the entire hallway was alight in flames, blocking their escape. The other prisoners were planning on taking the whole Dome down.

Emeric swore under his breath and turned around. They would have to find another way out, but he feared that a war would be raging between the Domers and guards at the other exit.

Kedo followed Emeric wordlessly. He trusted him with his life and would do anything the older Etreshian told him to do.

The sound of another raging fire met Emeric's ears as they neared the next corner. Emeric peaked around and saw a room alight in flames. Darius and a few of his guards stood outside it with distressed expressions on their faces. Emeric strained his ears to catch their words.

"She's still in there, we can't leave her." Darius protested. The other guards spoke in softer words, that Emeric couldn't put together, but he had heard enough to grasp what was going on. When the enormity of it sank in, he turned pale...

Aire was trapped in the burning room. Whether she was alive or not wasn't clear, but Emeric couldn't just walk away without knowing. Looking around desperately, Emeric searched for a place to hide Kedo. He spotted the door that lead to Aire's medical room. "Go in there and hide. Don't go anywhere until I come and get you." Emeric instructed quickly. Kedo looked doubtful, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to help Aire. She's in trouble."

At that Kedo nodded and ran to the room. He too was fond of the physician.

When the door shut behind the young Rogue, Emeric ran around the corner as fast as he could manage. Getting a running start, he sprinted towards the doorway that was lit up with treacherous flames. Darius and the other guards turned towards him in surprise, but before they could do anything to stop him, Emeric leapt through the flames.

He was blinded the second he fell into the smoke consumed room. He had gotten through the flames unscathed, but he couldn't see nor breathe. Emeric pulled and arm over his nose and mouth as he started coughing uncontrollably. He blinked desperately until his vision recovered into a hazy blur. He stumbled towards the other side of the room. He stayed in a crouched position where the smoke wasn't as thick.

He could just barely make out a form in front of him through the thick smoke. He dropped to his knees beside the still body. Fear leapt into his heart when he saw Aire unconscious. He places a finger against her frail neck to feel for a pulse. To his relief he felt a steady beat. He didn't waste a second and he picked her up bridal style. Without an arm over his nose he couldn't prevent himself from taking in smoke.

He coughed without relief. Breathing seemed the last thing he could manage. As they neared the door, Emeric contemplated their escape. If the tried getting through the flames, they would suffer harsh burns. Without the speed of a running start, the flames would do harsh damage.

Fighting for his breath Emeric made his decision.

"Darius!" He yelled as loud as he could manage, but his throat was raw and scratchy. His words didn't have the desired volume behind them. He faintly heard a voice on the other side of the roaring flames, however, he couldn't make out the words.

"Catch her!" Emeric yelled hoarsely. He could barely hear Darius's reply, "Alright."

Taking a few steps back, Emeric did his best to get a running start. He managed to build up speed over four steps and when the reached the flaming doorway, he hurled Aire through with all his might. He fell to his knees wheezing for breath, but as the smoke poisoned his lungs he was decreased to another coughing fit.

He faintly made out a voice, "We got her." Relief washed through Emeric. 'She'll be alright.'

Just as the thought crossed his mind, a crumbling sound met Emeric's ears over the roaring of the flames. With weary eyes, Emeric looked up at the roof. He paled when he saw the cracks spreading across the roof. And at that second, the structure collapsed...

Kedo tensed when he heard the door of the medical room swing open. He peaked out of the cupboard where he hid in a crouched position. He expected to see Emeric, but instead he saw Darius and two other guards carrying Aire. She was unconscious and covered in ashes. They took her through to the treatment room.

A few minutes passed before they left. They all were carrying their weapons in hand. Kedo knew that they were going after the other prisoners who had gotten out. He fearfully thought of Emeric. The older Rogue had been gone for a long time, and he was supposed to be the one who was going to save Aire, yet the Chayrans had brought her to the treatment room. "Where are you Emeric?" Kedo whispered softly, fearing the worst.

Five minutes passed, then another. With each second that went by, the urge to go out and search for Emeric only grew stronger in Kedo. But Emeric had told him to hide until he came for him. Kedo wasn't going to disobey Emeric yet.

When Kedo counted 20 minutes, he climbed out of the medical cabinet. He hesitantly gazed into the treatment room at Aire. She was breathing, but was still unconscious. Kedo said a silent prayer for her. He could only hope that she would be alright. He had grown close to her. Each time Emeric had been training, Aire had stayed by Kedo, teaching him all her medical knowledge. He wished she had told him more about fires. Right now he felt pretty useless.

"What are you doing?" A hoarse voice asked from behind him. Kedo fearfully spun around, thinking that one of the guards had spotted him. However, relief washed through him when he saw Emeric standing in the doorway. He was covered in soot and blood speckled his left shoulder. Kedo rushed at him, "I wanted to come look for you. I thought..." He trailed off, not wanting to voice what his mind had conjured.

Emeric held Kedo in a comforting hug. "It takes more than a little fire to get rid of me." He said with mild humour. "Good to know." Kedo said, but his words were muffled as he talked into Emeric's torso. Emeric couldn't help but grin.

"What happened?" Kedo questioned accusingly.

"The roof collapsed. It blocked my exit, so I had too go the long way round." Emeric explained. He felt he owed Kedo an explanation for taking so long. "Your shoulder is bleeding." Kedo pointed out. Emeric shrugged the fact away. "One of the stones hit me, but I'm fine. Enough worrying for one day."

He spotted Aire and quickly made his way to her side. Kedo joined him. "Is she alright?" Kedo asked fearfully. Emeric wasn't sure either, but reassured the young Rogue that she would recover quickly. Despite his unfathomable will to stay by her side, Emeric knew that their window of opportunity was growing narrower by the second.

He softly kissed Aire on her brow before leaving the treatment room.

The hallways went by in a blur as they ran for the exit, but as they reached it, they saw that battle that was transpiring. They wouldn't get out that way. If they were lucky, the would have a swift death. Emeric grit his teeth and ran down a different corridor. After a few feet, they reached a window. He curled his hand into a first and smashed the window. Emeric ignored the blood that trickled form his knuckles. He had more pressing matters.

He gazed down. The window overlooked a mournful alley. The floor seemed to be about three meters from where they stood. He had jumped from that height before, he could do it again. "I'll go first. Then I'll catch you, alright?" Kedo swallowed nervously, but nodded his head. Emeric climbed out of the window and onto the windowsill. Taking a deep, calming breath, he leapt from the thin ledge.

Too late, Emeric realized that he had miscalculated the height. He hit the ground with a pained grunt and rolled to soften the fall. But despite his efforts, Emeric's breath was knocked from his lungs and he lay on the ground blinking through a pained haze. He groaned, but didn't move.

"Are you alright?" Kedo called from the windowsill where he stood perched, ready to jump. Emeric gave Kedo a frail thumbs up, but still didn't move. It took him a few minutes to recover before he managed to stand up. To his relief, nothing seemed broken, but his body still complained against each movement he made.

"Alright Kedo, don't think about it, just jump." Emeric called up at the young Rogue. Kedo gazed down at Emeric, but didn't make a move to do as Emeric had told him to do. He heard voices in the corridor and gazed back to see three guard running his way. "He's getting away." One of them shouted, pointing at Kedo. The young boy froze in fear.

"Jump Kedo!" Emeric yelled. Kedo broke out of his fearful trance and leapt off of the ledge just as the guards reached the window. He thought he had escaped, but one guard grabbed his arm and jerked him back. Kedo cried out in fear and pain as he hung midair. Emeric paled. He couldn't do anything. Kedo struggled against the guard's grip, but the man was much stronger than him.

Emeric realized that the guards were going the drag Kedo back in, and then there wouldn't be any way of rescuing the young Rogue. Emeric searched the wall for any way of getting to Kedo. His eyes landed on a crevice of stone that stood out of the tall wall. He sprinted forward hoisted himself unto the crevice with a strong push of his legs. From there he leapt up and struck out at the guard's wrist. There was a sickening crunch and the bones snapped under the forceful strike.

With a pained cry, the guard released Kedo. Emeric, having gotten an increased knowledge of the drop beneath him landed more gracefully than before. He rolled to soften the landing. He cradled Kedo to protect him from the hard fall.

It only took a second's examination to conclude that the young Rogue was unharmed. Emeric gazed up at the guards who glared at them from the window. Emeric smirked. They were in an alley that would hide them from the main streets. The hardest part of the escape was over. Now they only had to get into the woods...

They swiftly ran down adjuring alleys, going as fast as Kedo could manage. In their haste, Emeric heard a threatening sound. It was the thundering of hooves on the cobblestone road. Emeric spun around and spotted a Dome guard charging at him with a pale grey stallion. The guard held a spear, angled precisely to drive it through Emeric's chest.

Acting at the very last second, Emeric dodged the deadly weapon. He grabbed the shaft and jerked it savagely. The guard was wrenched out of the saddle and fell from his horse with a hard thud. Emeric swiftly rendered the man unconscious. The horse, not having anyone to spur it on, had come to a halt a few meters away.

Emeric quickly took hold of its reins before the elegant beast could gallop away. He hoisted Kedo into the saddle and then mounted up behind him. Not wasting a second, Emeric set the horse off in a whiplashing gallop. They expertly weaved through the alleyways as they raced onwards.

They flew through the gates of the city before anyone could stop them. And just like that, they raced out of Scoalgeoc...Out of captivity...And into newfound freedom.