Luck in escape 2

When Shane opened his eyes, he was completely worn out. His whole body ached excruciatingly, he felt as if a herd of horses had run over him, and for a moment he completely forgot where he was.

He didn't feel like getting up. It took some time before he recognized the room, where Nielle had dragged him yesterday to have some fun with him in a different environment. Shane didn't even know how long Nielle had been toying with him before he stopped, but it was more than he could consciously take.

Shane never thought he was physically weak. In reality, he considered himself a person who could endure a lot, but he obviously overestimated himself. Because three days in Nielle's vicinity was all it took for him to be completely blown to the point that even his usually unstoppable luck wasn't helping him. Shane felt he had enough of it despite how much Nielle was stealing from him. Depleting his supplies was practically impossible, but that didn't change how shitty he felt.

He slowly sat up and hissed loudly as his ass hurt. He gently leaned against the bed, took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he wanted to continue sleeping. Shane knew he needed a break…every Lacrisan was generally weakened for at least the first week after arriving in Rinsel, but going through what he had to was truly unbearable in combination.

However, as much as he wanted a break, Nielle wasn't going to give him one, and from what he said yesterday, he had something else planned for him today.

Shane wondered if Nielle was aware that he was going to kill him like this before getting the information out of him, as he assumed was his goal. Of course, he didn't intend to reveal anything to him, but he was beginning to doubt that he would even get a chance to fulfill his duties.

When the door to his room opened, Shane just looked up slightly, trying to keep Nielle from seeing how incredibly exhausted he looked. Luckily, it wasn't Nielle who visited him in the morning, but one of the soldiers sent by the prince.

Shane barely registered what he said, but he understood that he should get up and follow the soldier. His head was spinning, every step reminded him of last night, and after the guy led him to the bathroom where Nielle had started with him yesterday, a new dose of anger filled him.

Feeling a little better after a cold bath, he let himself be led to Nielle, who sat contentedly outside by the training ground, watching the soldiers in their morning practice. He seemed quite energized, which only made Shane's mood worse. He wanted to take one of the swords next to the table and cut his throat, but he knew he couldn't…at least not yet.

"Good morning Lacrisan…how are you feeling? Ready for today?" Nielle smiled after noticing his irritated expression.

Shane would have said something, but he felt that his words had no effect, so after a while he just sighed deeply. He walked to the stairs leading down to the training ground and slowly sat down on them. His ass hurted, but it was better than standing, so he stayed on the stairs and just silently watched the soldiers in front of him. Overall, he was interested in the training of the Rinsel Army, so he didn't mind it.

However, Nielle saw it differently, "Are you sulking?" he laughed.

Shane ignored him and leaned back trying to see better. He didn't feel like talking with the moronic prince, and as suppressing the urge to kill him every time he looked at him was getting harder and harder, he tried to pretend he wasn't there.

"If you keep quiet, you won't help yourself," Nielle joked and slowly got up.

"Like if talking would," Shane said irritably as Nielle leaned in gently from behind. The mere touch of Nielle's fingers on his neck was enough to evoke an instinct of self-defense and a surge of fury that he couldn't suppress, and so he clenched his fists in an attempt to punch him.

However, Nielle simply grabbed his hand and smiled, "I wonder how you'll handle the fight with the soldiers today," Nielle laughed, "I promised them that whoever defeats you today will be able to take something from you." he whispered.

Shane stared blankly at him for a moment and jerked out of his grip. He scrambled to his feet and gave Nielle a look, "What do you mean?" he knew, but he asked anyway.

"What do you think, Lacrisan?" Nielle was amused.

Shane looked at him in disbelief and glanced at the many soldiers behind him, "You're not serious," he growled.

,,Why not? Motivating the soldiers is important…and you're acting more rude every day…be grateful…you'll help the army to rest and me to have fun." he laughed.

Shane continued to stare at him in disbelief before saying, "Are you sane? Even a dump spoiled kid like you, should realize that I've had enough," he took a step towards him angrily, "Maybe you're having a good time and no one is stopping you, but I'm still Lacrisan sent by the king," he growled,

"I knew I was going to be with some jerk of yours, but the agreement doesn't say that you can throw me to a bunch of soldiers for fun...I'm-not-a-toy," he spelled out and shoved Niella hard, how upset he was, "I'm human and this," he nodded at the soldiers, "will kill me, you piece of shit!" he raised his voice.

Nielle laughed softly and dusted off the clothes, "Well, that's very unpleasant," Nielle pointed out and he walked closer to him, "because you're not human for me." he pointed out.

Shane laughed with disbelief and shook his head, "You are the one who's not a human," he grunted in irritation and stormed off.

The soldier tried to stop him, but Nielle signaled them to let him go, laughing amused at how helpless Shane was. He looked behind him contentedly and returned to his seat thinking about how much fun he was having.

He had to go to the capital tomorrow, but today he was going to have some fun. First he wanted to finish the duties he came here for and when he had nothing more to worry about, he planned to entertain himself with the theater he had booked for today.

In truth, he didn't plan to let any of the soldiers have fun with his Lacrisan. It was enough that Shane believed in it and was properly afraid. Niella thoroughly enjoyed watching the Lacrisan's fear he instilled in them, though he saw more anger in Shane.

Anyway, he only planned a simple fight with a few soldiers. He wanted to see what kind of fighting Shane was good at, what kind of fighting he preferred and how his skills were doing. It was clear to him that it wouldn't be the most accurate since he was nowhere near his full strength, but a cornered beast could do wonders and Nielle wanted to see them. Especially after the former promise that someone would take his luck after every loss, he assumed that he would try.

So he knew that as soon as he planned which soldiers he would transfer to which places in Alycante and which ones he would move all the way to Dycae in case the Infey got there, he would spend the rest of the day having fun.

However, until that moment, he didn't care where Shane would wait for the program. Because Nielle was going to find him anywhere.

***

Shane wasn't going to stay at camp a minute longer. If it wasn't Nielle, he would have thought that he just wanted to intimidate him, but knowing this sadistic prince, he had no doubt that he wouldn't survive here. And so he made his way to the other end of the camp to the exit, from which the report won't get to Nielle right away.

Luckily, no one was following him and it didn't look like anyone was interested in his movements, so he was able to get a sword. Despite how exhausted he was, he wasn't weakened enough to sit and await execution. So after he told one of the guards that he was given prince's permission to eat in the mess hall by the back exit, he was close enough to steam out of it to the fenced section. He walked a few meters unnoticed before a pair of guards on patrol spotted him.

However, Shane was close enough to the exit and since there weren't many soldiers, he let them come to him.

,,What are you doing? Does Prince Nielle know you're here?" they asked.

"He didn't say I can't be here. I'm taking a walk," he said and continued walking.

However, the guards stood in front of him and looked at him suspiciously.

"I can't even walk?" Shane asked monotonously, although he would rather have murdered them.

"We were told not to let you out of the camp," they said, "where did you get the sword?" the soldier didn't know if Nielle had given it to him.

"Prince Nielle gave it to me," he said, "why would I go out of the camp? I don't even know where we are." he stated and took a few steps forward before he was stopped again.

"It will be better if you come with us," they said.

"Oh," Shane sighed deeply, "I understand." he nodded and after the guards approached, Shane didn't move.

When the guard on the right was close enough, he bent down sharply and before either of them could react, he yanked the man's sword from its sheath. The metallic sound of the drawing blade made the soldiers react in a second, but it was too late as Shane already possessed two swords.

With a swift swing, he cut the chest of the soldier in front of him, and before the latter could decide whether to injure him as Prince Nielle had forbidden or not, Shane had already stabbed him in the stomach with a second sword.

The guy grunted, Shane drew his sword out and kicked him hard. The soldier fell to the ground and after Shane made sure he wouldn't go after him again, he threw the bloody sword towards them. Then he just ran to the gate, as he expected that someone would soon notice the soldiers.

He was near the gate, where several guards were standing, so he was prepared for a more difficult fight. However, he didn't intend to go easy on them, as he wanted to get out of the camp as soon as possible. Basically, he didn't even have a plan. All he wanted was to avoid what Nielle had promised him.

Therefore, when he reached the exit of the camp, he didn't even try to hide his intentions any more, and as soon as a group of five soldiers walked towards him in confusion, he put his hand on his sword. When one soldier was close enough, he swung at him violently. However, the soldier was able to draw his sword in time and block Shane's lunge.

Shane cursed under his breath as the other four caught up to him and his escape attempt became more complicated. He was clutching one sword in his hand, intending to use it to fight his way out, but he wasn't sure if he could do it against the Rinsel soldiers in his current state.

He was starting to realize how wrong he was, if he thought it would be easy and began to regret not thinking of a better plan. The soldiers in full force, moreover from a military country, were something different than anyone he had met.

Luckily he had one advantage. While he didn't care if he killed any of them, the soldiers couldn't seriously injure him in case they pissed Nielle off. Shane realized this pretty quickly when one of the soldiers missed a clear opportunity to slash at his unprotected back. In the end, he had the upper hand, and when another soldier ran to inform Nielle, even his number of enemies dwindled.

After he was able to get a second sword from one, his superiority paid off. Shane stood panting, looking at the four guys and the ground that had given him a hard time. If he was at full strength, he wouldn't be as exhausted as he was right now, and the four soldiers might be nothing. However, he was not at full strength and the soldiers in Lacris were no match for them. That's why he was finally glad that he somehow defeated them.

He considered for a moment whether to keep the sword in case Nielle and his men found him, but decided it would be better if he concentrated on running. That's why he left the camp. He didn't know how long it would be before Nielle found out about his escape, but he intended to get as far as possible.

When he was finally outside of the camp, he was able to think as he ran, what he would do now. He had no idea where he should go, but he had to return to the capital. Whatever danger he was in, it still didn't change the fact that he had nowhere else to go and Lacris wasn't open to him until he fulfilled his duties.

He knew that the most ideal would be to find a horse or meet someone who travels to the capital by carriage. If he had all his luck, he was sure he would meet someone at the first turn. However, he currently assumed that he would walk around a lot before meeting someone.

If he even managed to get away from Nielle and if he made it to the city…he intended to sort things out as he went…however, his current goal was not to get killed in a disgusting way by a group of soldiers.

He ran for quite some time before he decided that it would be a good idea to change the direction of the road. He took a random turn, thinking that he might have hit the right direction from which they had come here, and kept walking. He wasn't going slow, but he still felt like he should pick up the pace.

He walked maybe ten minutes, twenty, when he started to lose his breath. Everything in his body hurt. Although he won the fight, the soldiers hit him a few times, and Nielle's games didn't help his energy either. That's why when, after another few minutes of walking, when he clearly passed the distance of the village they visited first yesterday and heard the sound of bubbling water, he decided to stop at least for a while.

He knew he should go on, but he was really exhausted . And so he changed direction again and walked towards the water. The beautiful clear river without control lifted his mood a little, which still lingered at the freezing point and he slowly reached it. He took a deep breath and knelt on the ground trying to drink from it.

Nielle didn't seem at all interested in taking care of his basic needs. No food, no water...although he wasn't denying him any of it, nor was he giving it to him, and Shane had the impression that perhaps the king had given him an order to assassinate him.

He took a sip of water and dipped his hands into it. He enjoyed the icy stream for a moment before refreshing his sweaty face and drinking again. He wanted to curl up here and sleep, but he knew he couldn't. He had no idea where the soldiers were, but he was sure Nielle knew he had escaped. Therefore, after enjoying the touch of the cold water for a while longer, he pulled out his hands and tried to slowly stand up.

But as soon as he straightened up, a whistling sound hit his ears. Too fast to turn, too fast to react. Knowing the sound all too well, all he could do was duck slightly to the side just before a paralyzing pain hit his shoulder.

He just stood there for a moment before falling to his knees again and moaning weakly, "Aagh-"

He flicked his fingers to his back where the arrow had hit him and felt the long part of it. However, he didn't have time to break it, nor to tear it out, when his vision began to blur. He landed on all fours in surprise and gasped. He blinked a few times and shook his head, but nothing helped. His muscles trembled slightly, he felt his shoulder begin to burn, he felt the sensation begin to spread further. A mixture of fear and confusion hit his mind at what had just hit him.

It wasn't the first time he'd been hit by a poison arrow, but it was definitely the first time he hadn't even noticed the shooter's presence. He was really out of it, he knew it, and he was starting to blame himself for underestimating Nielle. Until now, he only believed that he wanted to murder him, but now he confirmed it

And although he had no idea why he wanted to do that, when he didn't find out anything from him and when the king let him know that nothing could happen to him, it didn't really matter. Because Shane knew he was screwed.

A mocking smile appeared on his face as he hit the ground paralyzed, as his eyelids closed and all the events that he had yet to do happened before his eyes. On the one hand, perhaps in relief that this disgusting life is ending, on the other hand, perhaps in amusement at how pathetic the whole time was.

And somewhere in the depths of his soul, in regret that he didn't really return his treatment to Nielle.