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I began to plan my escape. I had to escape soon, for my fourteenth birthday was less than a month from now. It would be difficult, especially with Zion watching me 24/7 with those damn cameras of his, but hopefully I would find a way. I had to somehow distract him from his work, and I’d have to distract the real Zion, not one of his stupid clones that everyone sees. People rarely ever meet the real Zion, and if they have met him they probably don’t even realize it. So how would I know which Zion is the real one? It would be difficult to figure it out. Maybe I could spike his drink, but that wont work. He eats alone in his room with food and drink he gets himself. Zion trusts very little people, he especially doesn't trust me.
Damn it, this is pissing me off. I cant think of how I could possibly trick him. He acts like a buffoon, but in truth he’s the smartest person I know. He’s cautious, untrusting, and he watches everything. He knows when someone is trying to kill him, and he would definitely know when I would try to run away from him. He would simply see it. Maybe I should just walk out the front door. If someone stops me I could just say that I’m going for a walk. I am allowed to leave whenever I please, but I have to take one of Zion’s goons with me.
That’s it! While I'm out with one of his lackeys, I’ll knock him out cold before he even sees it coming. Then I’ll run away as fast as I possibly can away from this place, then I will finally be free to do as I wish. Free. That word has a nice word to it. No more demons, no more doctors, and definitely no more Zion! Oh how much I would love to be free, I want it so very much.
Smiling to myself, I left my room where I had been contemplating my plans for escape, and headed for the main lobby. There were a handful of people there, like always. I looked around for someone weak enough for me. None. Of course not, everyone in this facility were way stronger than me, which is why I’d have to take them by surprise. Gulping a little, I moved to the middle of the room.
“Would anyone like to go out walking with me?” I ask.
All heads turn towards me, then most turn away almost immediately. They all knew I wasn’t allowed outside on my own, but that didn’t mean they would volunteer willingly. Who would want to go with a little forbidden child? No one of course. Sighing, I turned to go to Zion’s office, he would assign someone to go with me, whether they wanted to or not. Just as I started out the door, a firm hand on my shoulder stopped me. I turned my head and saw an assassin. I knew him vaguely, his code name was Swift Blade, but I knew not his real name.
“I’ll got outside with you Simora.” he says with a surprisingly gentle voice.
I knew a little about him. He was surprisingly young for an assassin, not even a hundred years old yet, which would explain the gentle voice. He had not yet had much terrible experience in the real world. They say he was very fast and could outrun any opponent, thus giving him the upper hand in battle, which is probably why Zion agreed to hire him. He had dark teal hair that hung loosely around his neck, and he had bright snowy blue eyes, so that meant he was not dark demon. I couldn't recognize what species he was by his scents, but judging my his coloring and the cool hand on my shoulder, he was probably something that had control over ice or something close to it.
I nodded to him, “Thank you, Swift Blade.”
He smiled slightly and led me to the door. The guard let us pass and soon we were walking side by side through the dense forest. He never said a word to me, but stayed very attentive. Maybe he did have some experience of the real world. It would be hard to surprise him, so I tried to get his mind more relaxed by talking to him.
“What’s your real name, Swift Blade?” I ask.
He looked at me for a while, then I guess he finally decided to answer me.
“Draigen.” He replied.
“I heard you were a really strong assassin for your young age. Just how old are you?”
“84, and I'm not that strong, just very fast.”
“84, wow. I heard Zion never hired anyone under the age of a hundred, He says they don’t have enough experience yet.” I say, truly impressed.
“I've had plenty of experience, and Zion knows it.”
“Yeah, he knows everything. So what species are you? I don’t recognize your scent.” I ask curiously, for I really wanted to know this answer.
“You ask a lot of questions. I'm a dragoon, I transform into an ice dragon.”
I smile, “I knew it had to do something with ice.” I say, proud of my own observation skill.
He looks at me again for a while, then looks ahead once more. Not once did his attention ever waver, this was going to be really tough. I make have to take more drastic measures. He was walking next to me on my right, so I turned my head to the left, pretending to be watching something. But it was to hide my eyes from him as they began to glow silver. I knew little magic from what I learned in school, so I hoped this would work.
A sudden noise came from the bushes on our right, but I had nothing to do with it. My eyes stop glowing as we both turn to where the noise came from. I sniffed the air, but I didn’t recognize it’s scent either. It was something I had never before encountered in the forest. Draigen’s hand went to the hilt of his Tanto he had strapped to his waist, but he didn’t draw it from it’s sheath. My hand also went instinctively to my wrist, where I usually kept a dagger strapped there. But I felt only my skin. Great. The day I plan to actually escape and I leave my weapon in my room. Great job Simora, I'm such a genius. I guess I’d just have to rely on my claws and fangs, which I felt lengthen to sharp points at the mere thought of having to use them.
A growling came from the bushes, it was a strange sound though, it sounded like static.
~What is it?~ I ask Draigen telepathically.
~I have an idea, but I'm not certain.~ he replies, his voice clear in my mind. ~Stay here.~ he orders and draws his Tanto and cautiously approaches the bushes.
He peers over them, and I hear him hitch in his breath, then release it in relief.
“It’s a basilisk, but it’s a baby, it’s eyes haven't developed it’s fatal glare.” He says aloud and I relax.
With a movement I barely catch, he cuts the baby basilisk’s head off and sheaths his Tanto again in just in a split second. The baby falls down a second later, lifeless on the forest floor.
“The mother wouldn't be far away. Let’s return to headquarters before she sees her child dead and comes after us.” Draigen says, returning to me.
I ignored him and went to the bushes and looked at the dead basilisk. For I had only seen a basilisk in books, never in real life, and I wanted to see one for myself.
“Lets go Simora. We must leave before the mother returns.” He repeats impatiently.
“No.” I reply, standing up straight and facing him.
“What do you mean ‘no’? Do you want to get killed?” he asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
“No, but I'm not going back to headquarters.” I say, growing serious, “You can either let me go or we can fight until mama snake gets back. Then we’d both be in trouble.”
“You want to run away? Why?” he asks, confused.
“Because I hate it there!” I yell, surprising him. “I hate Zion! I hate everyone there! They all ignore me and look at me like I'm a freak! I hate them all! And I'm leaving forever!”
I felt kind of childish, I haven't had a temper tantrum for years. But I guess all those pent up feelings finally snapped free. I didn’t want to yell at him, but I couldn't help it. He looked at me with surprise and shock, and I felt kind of bad for screaming at him for no reason.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to blow up on you.” I say, looking down at my feet.
I heard him take in a breath as if to say something, but it catches in his throat. The next moment I realize that I'm now on the ground and Draigen is standing above me with the Tanto drawn. But he wasn’t looking at me, he actually has his eyes closed and was facing what I now knew was the mother basilisk. She had returned, and I heard her loud hissing to prove me right.
“Don’t look Simora! Close your eyes and run far away from here!” he yells in urgency.
Without needing a second warning, I shut my eyes tight, jump to my feet, and run as fast as I could in the opposite direction of Draigen and the basilisk, and from the assassin headquarters. Keeping my eyes closed, I used the vibrations I made with my feet on the forest floor to see where the trees were so that I could avoid them. A trick I had learned from watching an assassin train with a blindfold on. I ran for miles without stopping, and too afraid to ever open my eyes, until exhaustion rained down on me and I collapsed, tired and sore, onto the ground.
I would never see Draigen again, for later I would learn that he died in that fight against the basilisk. It had caught him off guard and bit his arm, filling his bloodstream with a deadly, and almost instantly fatal, venom. He died so young and with so much potential, and I know he wouldn't want me to blame myself. He died so that I could have a future, and I’ll never forget what he did for me. He helped me…
ESCAPE.
 Simora Yumoto · Tue Jan 29, 2008 @ 01:19am · 2 Comments |
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