There was a palpable tension in the air after the prison director, Fury, struck the cage of a prisoner with his fist, which he had transformed into a hammer.
And not just any cage.
It was the one where Luz and King had chosen to hide.
Okay okay… no need to panic. If I remember correctly, he will not hurt her.
Even knowing that, I could not stop myself from fearing the worst.
Right at that moment, just like I expected, the prisoner next to Luz reacted.
The girl who looked like a ball with hair shouted at the prison director, "We will not submit. Unity is strength."
She shouted with conviction.
But at that moment, the prison director moved away from Luz's cage and approached her instead.
There was a lever near the cage that could release the prisoner.
The director pulled it immediately, then grabbed the ball-shaped girl.
"You will be a perfect example to show the others what happens to rebels."
He disappeared with her and left the area.
As soon as he was gone, Luz lifted the bars of her cage and hurried out.
She quickly went to the girl with long ears.
"He is gone. I will free you before he comes back."
She approached the lever of the closed cage.
"Come on… open."
Ah damn it.
The prisoner sighed.
"Listen, forget it. Use this chance to escape."
"But what about you" Luz said.
"Leave us. Go."
At that moment, Luz felt a deep sense of helplessness.
She could not help them.
Her hands slowly let go of the lever as she prepared to leave, head lowered.
Suddenly, she heard fast footsteps approaching.
She turned quickly and saw a hooded figure walking toward her.
"Luz, it is time to go" King said, still perched on her shoulder.
Luz began to step back.
The hooded figure stopped near the cage of the long-eared girl and took out a card from their pocket.
They placed it on the ground and tapped it.
A moment later, ice appeared and destroyed the lever of the cage, disabling it instantly.
Seeing this, Luz was confused.
This was not a guard.
Luz narrowed her eyes slightly while observing the hooded figure.
"Who are you" she asked, cautious but curious.
The hooded figure did not answer immediately.
Instead, they slowly straightened up.
Then turned toward her.
For a brief second, silence fell.
"Relax" I said, slightly raising a hand. "I am not your enemy."
King narrowed his eyes from Luz's shoulder.
"That is exactly what an enemy would say."
Not wrong.
"I just opened the way for you" I added, pointing at the destroyed lever. "You are welcome, by the way."
Luz glanced at the broken mechanism, then looked back at me.
She hesitated.
For a moment, she did not know what to think about the situation.
Whew… looks like I need to change the plan a bit.
Not a problem.
The original plan was to free a prisoner and then get myself captured.
But now there is no way.
Luz, King, and Eda arrived too early before I could get arrested.
So I changed the plan at the last moment.
It changes things a bit, but it does not matter.
If I want to leave a strong impression, this is definitely the best moment.
Luz was still looking at me. It seemed like she was about to say something.
But right at that moment, the guards were alerted by the noise of the lever breaking because of my spell.
Damn it seriously… they could not have chosen another moment.
I sighed, then told the long-eared girl to run.
She wanted to say something, but when she saw the guards arriving, she looked at me once, thanked me, and ran toward the nearest exit.
I hope she will be okay, I thought.
But now is not the time to worry about others.
I am in danger myself.
"STOP RIGHT THERE" the guards shouted.
Yeah… that is not happening.
"Alright" I muttered. "We are doing this the hard way."
I quickly took out another glyph card from my pocket.
My hands were shaking a little.
Okay… maybe more than a little.
"Stay behind me" I said without taking my eyes off the guards.
Luz blinked in surprise.
"Wait, what are you—"
Too late.
The first guard rushed at me.
I slammed the glyph onto the ground.
A wave of ice burst forward.
The floor froze instantly under his feet.
He slipped.
Violently.
His body hit the ground with a loud crash.
"YES okay it worked."
The second guard jumped over him and swung his weapon at me.
I stepped back just in time.
The blade passed right in front of my face.
"Too close" I whispered.
I pulled out another card and activated it while moving.
A flash of light burst between us.
The guard stepped back, blinded for a moment.
That was all I needed.
I pushed him with all my strength.
He slammed into the wall.
Behind me, more footsteps.
A lot more.
"Yeah… we really need to go" I said.
Luz nodded quickly.
"Okay."
King crossed his arms.
"I said that from the beginning."
Another guard appeared from the side.
I reacted instinctively.
I threw a glyph at the wall next to him.
Ice spread instantly, trapping his legs.
He fell forward, unable to move.
"Okay I am starting to like this" I said with a smile.
But then…
The air changed.
Heavier.
Colder.
Oh no.
Slow heavy footsteps echoed again.
Not normal guards.
Him.
The prison director.
"Well…" a deep voice echoed through the corridor.
"You are quite troublesome."
I froze for a split second.
Bad idea.
Very bad idea.
"RUN" I shouted.
I grabbed Luz's wrist and started running.
King held tightly onto her shoulder.
Behind us, a massive crash echoed.
I did not even turn around.
I did not want to see.
We ran through the corridor as the alarms screamed even louder.
Doors slammed. Walls shook.
This place was falling into chaos.
A perfect cover.
Or a perfect trap.
Still fifty fifty.
I turned sharply into another corridor.
"Left" I said quickly.
"How do you know" Luz asked while running.
"I do not."
"…Great."
We kept running anyway.
Because stopping was no longer an option.
Not anymore.