The Beast and The Brain.

My eyes shot open in the dead of night. The wind was blowing hard, a storm, I swung my feet over my bed, the cold floor made my feet ache. The chains clinked together as they moved across the floor. My senses were telling me that the storm wasn’t the reason I had woken up, I moved to the window. Everything was wet, the rain must have come and gone, but the wind still howled. Below the torches of the watchtowers and the wall flickered and waved with the wind.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I was about to pull the wooden shudder close when something caught my eye. Far below on the wall there was a shadow, moving. I focused my eyes, the wind picked up even more and my hair moved.

It was a person, dressed in black, moving stealthily over the wall and down the other side near the horse pastures. A guard turned around and began to walk back; the person stopped and remained still until the guard passed. The shadow ran across the pasture, zigzagging with the grass when the wind moved. If I hadn’t had my eyes already on this person I would have never seen them.

As they got near the prison I lost sight, I strained against the chain on my ankle to get further into the deep window, but to no avail. I pulled away from the cold wind and dropped back on the bed. The chains holding it to the wall creaked when I did. Who was the shadow? As far as I knew there was nothing of worth within these walls, even if there was, no one would be able to get inside the prison.

A half hour went by, I wrapped the blanket round my shoulders. I had shut the wooden shudder to keep the wind out. I suppose I had a nicer prison cell then most, others didn’t even have a window, and if they did, they didn’t have a shudder.

I heard something shuffle against rock, I lifted my head. The wind picked up and drowned out any noise, then I heard it again, this time it was closer. Then, the shudder opened slowly and someone dropped stealthily to the floor like a cat. The eyes behind the slits in the fabric met mine I stood frozen.

In a blink of an eye the shadow had a thin sword the length of my forearm to my throat, they placed a finger to their covered lips. “I won’t yell out.” I told them quietly. They looked into my eyes, as if searching for my soul then pulled the blade back, content with my answer. The blade slid silently back into the baldric attached to their back. They looked around the room in one silent gaze then headed for the steel door.

“Its locked.” I half whispered, I didn’t know if they heard me above the wind. They ignored me and squatted down to where the little door for the food was. They slid it to one side and looked down the hallway to see if anyone was coming. Then they did something incredible, they fit through the hole. My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. I jumped off my bed, the blanket falling to the ground, I dropped to my knees and looked out the small hole, how could anyone fit through that? But then again, my window was small as well.

“Hey! Come back! Get me out of here!” I didn’t yell, but I wasn’t quiet about it either. “Psstt!” I called out. No sound and no reply. Great my one chance of escape and it was gone.

I pulled my head back, fell back onto my butt, and stared at the door. Then I heard the metal bolt slid back and the door opened slightly. I scrambled to my feet, the shadow moved back in and closed to door. “Where’s the gold?” The voice was jumbled in my mind, high and low pitched all at once.

“What gold?” I asked.

“The gold that was supposed to be here!” They hissed waving their arm around the room.

“There isn’t any…I’m a prisoner here as you might have guessed.” I said quietly. The door wasn’t locked, I had half a mind to push past this person and make a break for the courtyard. If I got outside…well I’d be free. No walls could stop me.

They let out a soft curse and smacked the wall with their hand then left the room. I stood for a few seconds then walked for the door, my ankle jerked back and I fell to the floor with a painful thwap. I grunted and took a deep breath of air and looked at my ankle, I had forgotten about the chain. My one moment of freedom and it was ruined because of this chain. I wanted to cry.

A few seconds later the shadow came back, the peeked their head in the door. Took one look at me then saw the chain. They stepped forward drew their sword and brought it down hard, breaking the chain with one powerful swing. Then they disappeared back out into the hall. I stared at the broken chain, nearly whooped in triumph, then ran out the door. The hallway was bright with torches. The stairs were off to my right, where a guard lay unconscious at the top, they were there, dragging the body towards my cell. I helped them place the guard inside and slid the bolt home, let’s see how they like peeing in a bucket.

I turned, the person was already at the stairs, I took quick steps to catch up, the chain jingled lightly as I moved. They looked and my ankle then looked up at me as if to say, ‘don’t be so loud’. I shrugged silently then followed them down the steps. We reached the bottom when they shot out an arm and pushed me back against the wall where it was darker. I didn’t need to be told to stay silent. A guard passed us not two feet without a glance and continued down around the corner.

They moved as soon as it was clear, I stayed on their heels. My heart pounded painfully in my throat, adrenaline ran through my veins, I was escaping! Numerous times we stopped in the shadows and watch a guard pass, every time they came feet from us but never turn to look. I felt as if my luck would run out soon. They pulled me down more hallways, I was lost, I had never seen the inside of the building before, I had always been blindfolded. It was plain, damp in most places, and gloomy. Torches set off an eerie glow about the walls and I often heard people beyond the doors whimpering in their sleep. Some even cried out. One thing I did notice was that these doors weren’t made of steel.

Finally, we came to a door, guarded by two men. It wasn’t the main entrance, it wasn’t large enough to be, but I assumed it led to the courtyard where the kitchen was. The person watched with careful eyes and waited to see if anyone was coming. No sound, no movement, they were like a statue. They turned to me where we were squatted in the shadows and motioned for me to stay put and stay silent. I nodded my head once. In a flash they moved to the opposite wall of the hallway and crouched. They were only about fifteen feet away now. Their level of stealth was amazing. Then suddenly the guards slumped against their long spears and they were asleep.

The shadow stood up and motioned for me to follow. I jogged to catch up, they opened the door and I looked at the sleeping guards as I passed them afraid they would wake up. Then they shut the door, and we were outside. The wind wasn’t as violent as it was up in the tower, instead it was warm and it lifted my spirits. I yelled out, screamed with joy, and laughed. A hand slapped over my mouth and pushed me to the ground. Too late, “Over there! Intruders!” I realized my mistake, the shadow glared at me and pushed them off me and took off running for the wall. They weren’t going to make it in time, the guards were already running for us, and the wall was seventy yards away. I got to my feet quickly and ran for the wall, and for the first time in two years I let myself be free. I let myself turn into the winged beast.