"Rey Reed Smith!" Garry called out, his voice fading away. He was in distress.
Rey could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he reached the top of the castle landing and finally heard where the scream was coming from. He turned to the left door and charged down the hallway. After a minute of running, he spotted an open door at the end of the hallway and raced for it.
Rey burst into the room and saw Garry. The scene left him speechless, and he knew he might lose him anytime soon.
Garry's hand was bound behind him, and he saw a soldier grabbing him roughly and pushing him toward the open window.
"You will pay for what you did to my lord," The soldiers seethed in rage, and Rey could guess what the man was trying to do. He was preparing to throw Garry out of the window, sending him plunging to his death just like Rey had done to their master.
Rey did not hesitate. He summoned all the speed his body could offer and dashed at the man. Before the soldier could throw Garry out the window, Rey appeared behind him, blocking the window exit.
"You're not human?" the soldier asked, bewildered. "You're something else, aren't you? You're a werewolf."
Rey smiled and said, "Yes, I'm something else." He unsheathed his claws and said, "I'm your doom."
In a harsh swing of his claw, he slashed the man's throat. The man holds his neck, gasping for air, and his eyes widen in terror. Before he could blink, Rey yanked him up and threw him out of the window. He watched in satisfaction as the man plummeted down, head first.
"You saved me once again," Garry whispered, and he hugged Rey tightly, wrapping his hand around his neck. "Despite the hard journey, you didn't give up. You came for me."
Rey held him tightly as if he might disappear anytime soon and ruffled his hair. "I made a promise to your brother that I would find you or die trying. I'm just doing what I thought would be right."
After a while, the two of them disengaged from the hug. "We need to get out of this place quickly," Rey said.
He leaned forward and looked out the window, and what he saw made his heart skip a beat. It was a sight he did not like. More than a dozen knights were charging across the castle bridge. They were pouring in from all over the countryside.
Even from afar, Rey could see that they were beginning to pry the gate open and force their way inside. This lord had powerful men within his reach, and they started showing up to avenge their master's death.
"I know another way that can lead us out," Garry said, standing beside Rey and looking outside. "I noticed a back door when they were bringing me here. They made the mistake of not covering my eyes."
Rey knew better than that. They didn't make the mistake. They knew that no one had the guts to break into the castle of Lord Savannah or escape; that's why they didn't bother covering his face.
"Lead the road," Rey said.
Garry ran down the corridor, racing all the way to the opposite end of the castle, while Rey followed closely behind. The path leads to another corner with a window. Rey moved to the window, and he could see the back of the castle leading to an open desert with no soldier in sight.
Moreover, the back entrance was also blocked with a huge iron gate. Then, Rey realized that if they could make it past the gate, they would escape from this castle and also avoid confrontation. Though he wasn't afraid to fight the soldiers. It's a challenge he will gladly accept, but he fears for Garry. He's still a young boy, and he lacks the skills that Rey possesses.
"Now, how do we get down?" Garry asked, looking at Rey with curiosity.
Rey looked around the room, hoping to see something that might help them. The wall was too high for him to jump. Even if he did, there's no way he will take Garry alone. He was sure that he would be scared of heights, and there was no way he could carry him and jump at the same time.
"We're running out of time," Garry said, looking behind him. By now, the fast-approaching footstep of the soldiers could be heard clearly.
Rey ransacked his brain, looking for a way out, but he found none. He looked around the room for any sign of rope or pieces he could use to climb down the window. Nevertheless, he found none.
"We have to jump," Rey said, and Garry gave him a suspicious look. "Yes, we're jumping! That's the only choice we had." Rey repeated.
Garry opened his mouth to respond, but Rey interrupted him by yanking him up and jumping out the window. Together, the two of them came plummeting with incredible speed, and they could feel the air gushing past their faces.
As the two beings descended toward the earth headfirst, Rey held Garry by the arm with his left hand and used his right hand to clasp the wall of the castle, his claw piercing it, and it slowed down their speed.
They kept sliding down the wall but in slow motion. Their speed has reduced drastically, too. When Rey saw that they had come a few feet away from the castle's huge gate, he supported the weight of his body with his toe claw and leaned closely on the huge gate.
When he was sure that he was no longer sliding down again, he gathered all the strength in his body and leapt to the other side of the wall, jumping past Lord Savannah's castle gate and heading for the other side of the wall.
Rey twirled his body in the air, his body going first, and he made Garry lie flat on him. A few feet away from the earth, Rey closed his eyes and braced himself for the impact. With a loud thud, Rey's back hit the earth, and Garry lay on top of him, free of wounds and injuries.
Rey groaned in pain, his rib bone making a creaking sound. He could feel his body vibrating and his head aching. His world spun, and he could swear that he saw a twinkling star from another dimension.
"Rey!" Garry called, shaking him vehemently. "Are you okay? Can you stand?"
Rey groaned as he managed to drag his body up: "I think I'm fine. My body is healing already," he assured him.
Slowly, he rose on his feet and whistled, more like a whisper. A whistle that only his horse could hear. Immediately after he finished whistling, he heard the galloping of his horse.
As soon as the horse stood beside Rey, he helped Garry up before mounting.
"I knew a route that could take us to Isengard within twelve hours," Garry said, snatching the reins of the horse before Rey could. "It's the plain of Eos, between Moab and Ajax."
t.b.c