Mand pushed the door open a crack and looked outside into the hallway, it was empty.
She closed the door again and signaled for everyone to get ready. Mand would go first, followed by Hida, and then the boy would follow with Claire piggybacking.
They lined up one behind the other as best they could, all of them crammed in the narrow walkway between the bunks that lined each side of the room. Seeing everyone was ready, Mand brought her hand to the door latch.
"Another quick turnaround," a sudden voice could be heard outside the door. "Haven't gotten much shore leave on this trip."
"I'll be glad when were done with it," another voice. Footsteps could now heard be approaching in the hallway. "These freaks creep me out. I'd rather we toss them all overboard and be done with it."
"Might be doing them a favor."
"Maybe. Who knows what's happening on that island?"
All four stood frozen behind the door as the footsteps approached. The hand that Mand had on the door latch was white knuckled. They all held their breath.
The footsteps continued. Mand tensed up, getting ready to fling open the door and make a run for it.
"The whole lot of them are creepy, especially THOSE two. The way that they refer to each other as brother and sister sounds a little bit too crazy for my liking."
The footsteps stopped right outside the door.
"You better be careful with that talk. The captain doesn't like us shitting on his paying customers."
"I wonder what they actually are paying him, I doubt he's been truthful about the cut that we're getting."
"Has any Captain we've sailed for ever been truthful?"
Laughter then. The footsteps started up again and could be heard moving further up the hallway.
There was a collective sigh as the voices faded. The four relaxed a little, but only a little.
Mand looked back to the other captives and whispered, "Ready?"
The heads nodded.
Mand pushed the door open slowly and stepped into the hallway. She only had a vague recollection of the route to get back to the upper decks, as when the sailors had dragged her here, she was struggling to stay conscious.
Luckily, Clare had paid close attention when she had been taken to their cell, and had given Mand clear directions on the route to take during their breakout.
They weren't that far from the stairs that would take them above. The trick was not getting sighted for as long as possible to give them the best chance of making it ashore and away from the crystals that blocked their power.
They moved down the hallway, stepping as lightly as they could. They could hear voices and laughing coming from the decks above. The most dangerous part would be when they got into the open air.
Mand poked her head around a corner. She could see the stairs leading up. Nobody was in that section of the ship.
They creeped forward. The voices from above got louder and louder. Mand could now smell the salt air drifting in from the outside.
They were then at the foot of the stairs. Mand looked back, ensuring that all of her companions were still present. The other three accounted for, she looked upwards through the hatch. She could see a glimpse of blue sky above, a number of seagulls circled lazily in the air.
"Come on you lot, keep it movin'!" A voice could be heard barking commands.
Mand crouched down, placing her hands on the stairs. Keeping as low as possible she took one stair at a time, stopping and listening for anyone approaching. Finally, she poked her head out of the hatchway and looked onto the deck.
A group of sailors were gathered at another hatchway further up the deck. A large net hung over the hatch, filled with boxes and crates of what Mand thought to be supplies. On the left side of the ship, a single guard stood by a ramp that lead down to the docks.
Mand backed down a step and turned to face the other. She held up 1 finger to indicate the guard and then pointed left to let the others know what direction they should run.
She then held up three fingers. Then two fingers. Then one finger. The signal to run.
Mand burst onto the open deck, pumping her legs as fast as she could, heading straight for the gangplank.
The guard looked wide eye as he saw them approach. "STOP!" he yelled as he positioned himself to block their escape.
With the guard's yelp, the other sailors turned and started running towards the escapees.
The guard drew a pair of swords. Mand reached out with her mind, this was make or break time.
"Melt!" she thought. The swords shimmered slightly, but nothing happened.
She continued to run, when she got closer she tried again. "MELT!"
This time, it felt like she had pushed through some sort of barrier. She could feel herself connecting to the metal of the swords. Both began to droop slightly, and turned red.
The guard screamed and tried to rid himself of the burning hunks of metal. He couldn't, the burning had fused his skin to the handles.
The other sailors drew closer, shouting and cursing. A man shouted orders in the back "GET THEM! I WANT THEM ALIVE!"
The guard, desperate to stop the burning, turned and jumped into the water between the ship and the dock.
Mand was suddenly at the top of the gangplank. She descended as fast as she could, stopping at the bottom and turning.
Hida came down, followed by the boy with Claire on his back. Not far behind was a sailor, reaching out with a hand to grab the last two escapees.
As soon as the boy stepped on the dock, Mand flung the metallic gangplank into the harbour with her powers, dumping the pursing sailors into the water below.
"RUN!" She shouted. They had to get as much distance as possible. The hunt for them would now begin.