"Ohhhhhhh." Vallum said as he stretched out his stiff body. He woke up before the sun, got Raef up and started preparing for when Vynn would arrive. He had a small bag with food that he had saved from his meals after the banquet. He used some rope to attach the bag to Raef and then focused on waking himself up so that he would be ready for action.
Around sunrise, the door cracked open and a tiny frame slipped in.
"Sari! Great, you made it." Vallum said while stretching his arms.
The girl pulled out a parchment from her shirt and laid it on a clear spot in the floor.
"This is the warehouse that we need to check first," she said, pointing to a feature on the map.
There were several landmarks on the map as well as important buildings.
"How will we know we are going the rig-" He trailed off as he watched Sari plunk a compass onto the map.
Vallum looked up at the girl who was in business mode. She didn't make a peep as far as pleasantries go, and she had no familiarity with him. The two of them sat in a stony silence as they studied the map and decided on the route they would take. After they finished with the map, Vallum explained his plan for escaping the compound. He highlighted the route they would take and prayed that they wouldn't run into the court mage. No matter how much he thought about it, he could not think of any good countermeasures. The magic that the court mages use is simply too unknown.
By the time they had gone over their plans the sun was still stuck partially behind the horizon. Vallum put Sari on Raef's back and peeked out his door. He had tied ropes to Raef so that the girl would have something to hold on to. There was a lone guard sitting asleep on the wall opposite of his room. Vallum trembled when he looked at the man. He moved his gaze down to his shaky hand, strengthening his resolve. He had decided that there was only one way for them do things if they were truly trying to escape. It was something he had never done before, not even in any of his fights: animals or humans.
He looked both ways outside and then quickly made his way to the man. He gritted his teeth and cocked his fist back. He rained his monstrous blow down on the man's temple... with enough force to kill him. The man's skull cracked under the blow and Vallum became a murderer.
Hurriedly Vallum told Raef to come outside, and they began their escape. The small group made it most of the way out without incident. They passed several lone guards and Vallum fell on them like a savage animal. He closed the ground with a brutal leap and ended them with a single blow to the skull. They didn't have enough time to process what happened, much less react. With each person, Vallum's scowl got darker. He was ending life so quickly and abruptly. It was a completely jarring experience for someone who had pointedly avoided taking life all of his existence. It was something that he argued with himself countless times it wasn't the only way. He could try to incapacitate each of them, but that would slow him down and make his fights more dangerous. On top of that, each would turn into a witness. There is no telling what would happen to them if they were caught, and he would not let Sari get caught. He dragged her into his escape plan, so he could not let it fail... that meant taking things deathly serious.
Thanks to the time, the people in the watchtowers were not vigilant, and they let the slaves slip under their noses. The group made it all the way to the wall where a figure cloaked in red stood in the middle of the gate.
Vallum grunted and scowled even deeper at the sight of the mage, but he didn't slow down. Approaching the wall they suddenly found themselves surrounded by animals: lions, tigers, bears, and several others, including some birds.
'Raef, charge. Don't stop or slow down no matter what happens. Charge right past that man.'
The bull sped up at Vallum's words, leaving Vallum trailing behind. The lowered horns fended off most animals, and the ones that tried to attack the bull's flank were caught by Vallum's fist. Raef and Sari were right at the gate when a monstrous lion charged out from behind some crates. Vallum saw the creature leaping toward Raef's exposed flank, it was twice the size of any normal lion. With desperation, Vallum torpedoed himself at the beast and cracked his head into the lion's ribcage.
Vallum fell hard to the ground and the lion was knocked off course enough that it missed its target.
"Big bro!" Sari called, as Raef charged straight past the mage, who dove out of the way, and into the free world.
Vallum looked up and outstretched his hand. He went to jump up, but was pounced on by a tiger. Throwing the cat off he started to sprint toward the exit. He was getting leapt at from behind and in front of him was a beast of a lion. He tried to skirt around the lion but was hit from the side by a panther that was hidden nearby. Vallum did his best to scramble still, the gate was mere steps away. He almost made it free of the panther's claws when he felt the huge paw of the overgrown lion press on his back, flattening him to the ground. There were already several gashes flowing with blood, and he could feel the claws of the cat digging deep into his skin. He threw his body weight around and tried his best to escape, but he felt a needle pierce his skin and he went still.
'Ke... nra...' Was his last waking thought.