Once Upon The Life of The Wise King

The Escape

ONCE UPON THE LIFE OF THE WISE KING

Volume 1

The Birth of The Wise King

Chapter 12 - The Escape

King Wenhart, together with General Calver, stood in front of the palace surrounded by fortified fortress and gatehouses. Facing them and standing in lines were the palace soldiers and guards. General Calver announced the news about their fallen comrades, and he called out their names one by one. When called, they had to go and stand on the other side. After some time, the General finished calling everyone, but only one name did not appear, which he encircled.

"Gio Kifer is missing," General Calver said. His suspicion grew, but there was no solid evidence yet.

"We need to strengthen our defenses against possible attack," the King said. "Have you already assigned them their posts and executed round-the-clock surveillance?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. I already stationed them to their posts," the General replied.

Meanwhile, the witch and Prince Colin managed to get past the patrolling black-hooded men. The Prince was surprised that the witch had built secret tunnels between thick walls that nobody knew. As they crawl in the small tunnel hidden in the walls, the Prince asked, "How long have you been here?"

"Not long," the witch replied. "It has been a few months since we came here, but I have been with Lord Azazel long before those puppets came."

"Puppets?"

"Yeah, they call me witch, so I call them puppets because that is what they are. They can't move without his orders."

"And, how long have they been with you and that goat?"

"I don't remember," she said. "We are here." The witch pushed against the stone wall. It created a squeak, attracting the person who passed by the narrow hallway.

"Who is there?" the man spoke, looking in the direction of the noise.

"Shoot." The woman narrowed her eyes. She looked over her shoulder and asked the Prince to make a noise that sounded like a startled rat. The Prince did as told, trying his best to imitate a startled rat noise, which seemed to work as they heard the man said, "Tsk. Rat," and went on his way.

"That was close." Prince Colin sighed.

The witch cast a spell on the wall silently, so it won't make a noise when moved, then pushed it open. She jumped down and looked left and right before gesturing for the Prince to get down and follow her. They walked to the left, going slowly, as they listened for any movements. Once they neared the intersection, the witch stopped and hid behind the wall. Then she peaked out and saw that more people were rushing across them from a distance. "Looks like they knew we're missing now," she said. "We need to make it out fast. Let's go!" Without looking back, the witch walked ahead. But after a few steps, she did not hear the footsteps of the Prince, so she looked back, and to her surprise, Prince Colin got caught by Lord Azazel, who was holding his nape.

"Where do you plan to go?" Lord Azazel growled. "Did I not warn you? If you help him escape, I will take your eyes next!"

"Sorry," Prince Colin said to the witch.

The petite woman narrowed her eyes, contemplating what to do next to help the Prince get away from Lord Azazel's hold.

"Did you think you can escape from here? Why don't you try then?"

"Your Highness, please close your eyes."

As soon as Prince Colin closed his eyes, a bright light flashed, blinding the masked man.

"Damn it!" Lord Azazel felt in his hand that the Prince disappeared. Humiliated, he yelled, "You imbeciles!!!" which caught the attention of the black-hooded men who rushed to his side.

"My lord!"

"i***t! Go get them!!!"

The witch was able to teleport themselves to the corridor, which was farther from the exit. They decided to run and try to avoid the enemies whenever they encountered them instead of hiding in the walls. While running, the witch held a ball of light on her right palm close to her chest.

"You can teleport, but why did you not teleport outside?" Prince Colin asked.

"Because I can't teleport out. There are barriers here that restrict my teleportation."

"Then, can't you teleport near the exit?"

The witch ignored him.

"Hey! stop!" One of the black-hooded men found them and started chasing. His shout attracted the others, and all of them also rushed to the scene.

"If I have a sword or my bow and arrow, I can shoot them down," Prince Colin muttered under his breath.

"You can't hurt them, or even kill them, because they are puppets. They look like any other person, but they don't feel pain. Even if you cut their heads, they can sew it back, and they are good to go again."

People were blocking their way in front, so they sharply turned right to escape.

"There is only one chance to escape from here," the witch said. "We need to find Lord Azazel."

"Find him? Are we not running away from him?" Prince Colin asked in confusion.

"We are. But trust me. Once we find Lord Azazel and I caught him off guard again, we can finally escape from here."

"Are you going to throw that light ball on him?"

"Precisely."

The chase continued for another half an hour before they found Lord Azazel. "Get back at least two meters from me," she told the Prince, who followed her instruction and hid behind the wall.

"Did you change your mind and think that you really can't escape from here?" Lord Azazel came rushing to the witch. "Traitor!" He went to grab her neck.

The witch threw the light ball to Lord Azazel before he could get half a meter closer to her. When it collided against the man's chest, it exploded and released a powerful blast that caused an earthquake within the lair. The witch got pushed back due to the force, and she slid back to where the Prince was.

"Are you okay!?" Prince Colin crawled towards the witch while avoiding the debris that fell. Helping the woman up, the Prince was startled to see that the witch, whose mask got torn from the blast, had no mouth. "You... You don't have a mouth!?"

The witch sat up and replied, "Yes, I don't. Lord Azazel took it away. If he ever sees me again, he's probably going to take my eyes as well."

Prince Colin looked to where Lord Azazel was but only saw empty black armor, cloak, and goat skull mask on the ground. "Where is he?" he asked.

"Lord Azazel doesn't have his own body. He's composed of energy, which I disperse with that spell just now. With him like this, those men will prioritize searching for his energy over catching us. Now, this is our chance to get away from this place," she said, stood up, and dusted herself.

"You could have escape before with this powerful spell."

"I could, but I did not do it."

"Why?"

"For a prince, you like to ask why." The witch looked down at the Prince, her eyes showing laughter. "The reason why I did not escape before is that I was waiting for this chance to meet you."