The Escape (Open)

[Aelodil]

( If you're to post I'd rather if you were to post as a) A rescue team or b) Empire who wanted/were forced to take Ragdar back, thanks )

Ragdar nervously shook his head. He was leaving the Empire for good. Of course a spy had overheard him as he spoke to Lenora about this. That meant Galbatorix was probably in the mean time getting ready to send an army behind him. The sad part was Ragdar thought that most probably meant that his friend, Ri'Shei, would have to come after him as well as she was held by an oath. At least Ragdar still had his Eldunari. They had agreed with his decision and told him they would come along with him. With a heavy heart Ragdar took what might be his final view of Uru'Baen. Suddenly before he managed to get back to Lenora who was waiting outside the city, he was confronted by a rather strange group of people. They were clad in very dark and black robes with a dark cape on their backs. One of them rasped,"Ragdar... your father is displeased with your choice to leave home. He asks of you to come back without a fight as to avoid having to punish you."

Ragdar's skin tingled. Something about that voice.. it was not human nor elvish. Not even a Spartan or dragon spirit. It sounded suspiciously like a Raz'ac. He would have suspected a Shade, but there was no way Galbatorix would have sent twenty Shades. He knew that even with only one Shade Ragdar would be hard-pressed. Ragdar sneered."I will not listen your lies. If I were to return my father will torture me until I swore to serve him. I will not return!" he growled at them. Then he turned and ran. One of the Raz'ac gave out a piercing screech and suddenly the Lethrblacka were upon him. Twenty of them and twenty Raz'ac. Ragdar knew his only hope was to reach Lenora before they reached him.

He broke out in a sprint towards the gates. If he could just get there! Suddenly one of the Raz'ac threw their knives at him. The knife strangely ignored Ragdar's wards and hit him in the back. He staggered but continued to run, clutching at his chest."Lenora! I need help!" he yelled out in the direction of the gates. What he felt in return was distress. But not for him, but coming from Lenora. As he reached the gates and wheezed he saw what was wrong. Lenora was busy fighting off two of the Lethrblacka herself. Ragdar growled as he felt his energy being sapped by the wards protecting her. He charged into the fray and held Arucane high, threatening the Lethrblacka. One of them immediately flew off but the other charged him. Ragdar held his ground and held Arucane out as if in a stabbing position. He braced himself and closed his eyes.

Suddenly a loud shriek pierced the wind. Lenora had speared the Lethrblacka in the side and mauled it. The Lethrblacka flew up and withdrew while Lenora sat down heavily. Ragdar's breath escaped him as he saw the wounds on Lenora now that the Lethrblacka had ran away. He stood next to her and began healing her. He slumped on her side and reached behind his back, taking out the dagger that had been stuck in his back. Suddenly an arrow hit him in the chest. Lenora growled and looked at the gate. One of Ragdar's own trainees had shot him. The young man, Barret was already notching another arrow on his bow.

Ragdar's mind raced. He looked at Barret and coughed out the words,"Why? Why Barret?" Barret's face was impassive. It could have been carved out of stone for all the emotion it showed. Barret shook his head sadly,"Don't you see Ragdar? We have no choice. We had swore to serve him and serve him we must. I had not the time to attempt to change my true name. That would take months at least. I can resist shooting you another shot as my job was to wound you and capture you, not kill you. But hurry or else he will know it was deliberate. Also, beware, he is preparing a Shade and a team of Urgals to go after you. He honestly doesn't want to kill you but don't give him a reason to want to kill you." he told Ragdar.

Ragdar nodded, feeling the tears in his eyes. He felt betrayed. Suddenly the Raz'ac came up from behind Barret and before Ragdar had the time to yell,"Look out!" they cut him down from behind. Ragdar was traumatized. With rage and desperation in his eyes he unsheathed Arucane and stood his ground."You honor less coward! You cut him from behind. I will make sure that I kill you slowly. You will pay. I will sooner kill myself than submit to you." he snarled at the Raz'ac. The Raz'ac didn't reply but instead suddenly Ragdar was surrounded by them. Their mounts thankfully were no-where to be found.

Ragdar's tears fell down his face and hit the ground. One Raz'ac feinted forward and Ragdar jumped back. Then another Raz'ac grabbed him from behind and put his sword to his neck. It rasped at Lenora who had perched up,"Do not make a sudden movement. It would be a shame if I were to react and accidentally ssssssssslit his throat. Oh yessssssss indeed it would be." Lenora hesitated and then the Raz'ac over-powered her. They surrounded her and the Lethrblacka came back and beat her down. The last thing Ragdar remembered before he was knocked out was the distress from Lenora. Then everything went black and he crumbled to the ground.

Ragdar woke to find himself bound by chains constricting his arms. His feet were connected to a large and heavy steel ball with a wide berth but not too wide. Ragdar looked at his surroundings. It appeared he was back in the city. Then his senses came back to him. The first thing that struck him was the smell. It smelled like something was killed here and left to rot. Then he felt the sorrow and pain. His body was pierced. He had an arrow in his chest. Then he remembered Barret and tears streamed down his face. Then suddenly the smell became apparent to him as he looked up. They had dumped Barret's body inside his room.

Ragdar pulled against the chains on his arms in anger. He gave up. All he could hope for was his father would show him mercy. He snapped back to attention as he heard the door open. An elf walked in and Ragdar was confused. The elf however did seem to do what he was doing with reluctance so Ragdar assumed he had been enslaved."Psst, hey. Mind removing these chains on my hand? I'd rather if I could rest with my dragon." he whispered at the elf. The elf seemed to hesitate but then nodded and unlocked Ragdar's hands. Ragdar mumbled a thanks as the elf walked out the room. Then Ragdar went to lay next to Lenora. That was it. He had tried and had lost. He looked out the only 'window' an opening with iron bars in the way. That may be the only sunlight he'll ever see again in his life. Even if he were to escape, the elves and the Varden would not accept him due to who his father was. He sighed.

[Brenton]

The sound of steel shod boots crashed against the stone floors as two guards dragged the prone body of a young man down the corridor and down the stairs. He looked harmless but his body was anything but. The boy was little more than fourteen years of age but already he had been involved in one prison escape for the Varden and he had done several missions into the Empire to help the Varden. Now he was getting over confident and had gone right by Uru baen when the guards saw him and they caught him but his green dragon had escaped into the air without leaving a trace of where he had been. Now the guards were dragging him into what they thought was going to be his doom but secretly the boy was counting the steps and keeping track of every turn they took while he created a mental map. Under his tongue rested a pair of lock picks and hidden in a pouch on each boot were two knives.

Accursed as they were, the Varden had told Zander that have a pair hidden was always good for times where you were unsatisfactorily checked for weapons. Suddenly they arrived at a metal door that a jailer opened and the two guards dragged Zander in and tossed him unceremoniously onto the ground where he hit the ground with a slight puff of air. He kept a groan at bay and immediately withdrew the two lock picks while he looked around the small cell. Over by the far wall was a padlocked door leading into a second room so he walked that way and checked out the lock. Rust and corrosion all over the metal but Zander figured that he could get through easily enough.

Silently he inserted the two picks and started the process, search carefully and listening evenly more carefully. One false sound and the whole thing would be blown sky high with no chance of escape for anyone, especially Zander. Suddenly the lock hit and the tumblers fell in place. Before the lock could fall though he caught it and opened the door as quietly as possible. When he stepped through, it was another cell but this one was occupied by a dragon and a man.

Zander stopped short but shook his head slowly and walked quietly toward the rider and dragon who were obviously in trouble. "I am not here to harm you. Actually do you know of any other prisoners on this cell block? I have the means to get us all out but we have to act fast." Zander spoke in a low voice as he hid behind the dragon so if the jailer opened the door he would be out of sight.

[Aelodil]

Ragdar's head perked up as he saw the door open. That was strange, the elf had just left about a minute or two ago. He tensed. Could the time have came? Are they taking him to his father and receive his punishment? All these thoughts ran through his mind but suddenly a young boy walked in. Ragdar let out a strangled laugh that came out as a cough. Of all the people, the last he expected was a young lad. However as the boy spoke to him he was confused."My my, what is this? Would my heroine be a young lad? With that aside, no actually, this place is generally reserved for the more 'dangerous' of people. You probably can't see it, but the only reason why I haven't already used magic to free myself of these chains on my legs is because the steel ball itself is made to counter act magic. I cannot cast a spell while connected to it. Lenora is free to move as she pleases but she refuses to leave my side. Oh right, my name is Ragdar." he told the boy.

Suddenly the door opened again and admitted the elf he had seen awhile ago. Ragdar smiled sweetly at him. The elf avoided him and dropped the torso of a deer in front of Lenora and backed out of the room. The stranger had thankfully moved behind Lenora. Ragdar had never felt so much relief as his feet were unlocked of the chains. Ragdar stood up and faced the stranger,"I thank you. Now... do you have any method of getting yourself out or do you need a ride with us?" he asked. In the meantime he moved to a cabinet just outside the cell and retrieved his Eldunari and Arucane. He made an air pocket for the Eldunari and began up the flight of stairs. He hoped the boy had heed his word and listened when Ragdar had told him that no one else was there with them.

At the top of the stairs there were two guards, one at each side. First Ragdar tapped one of them on the side. The man turned to his partner and asked him what he wanted. The other man rolled his eyes and pushed aside the first guard. In the midst of this, Ragdar quickly slit one's throat and punched the other in the gut so hard the man fell to the floor wheezing. Ragdar put an end to his misery and lowered Arucane's blade to his throat. There was silence. Quickly, Ragdar ran outside. Thankfully the prison had been located just next to the gates so they didn't need much running to get outside the city. Once outside Ragdar mounted Lenora once again and flew high up.

Silently congratulating himself for escaping before the guards had even managed to sound the alarm, Ragdar was troubled with one problem: What now? He could go to the Varden but he doubted they would accept him. Turning, he spotted the young boy run outside. He decided he would follow the lad."So, now what? You rescued me, but what's the catch? Am I to act as the Varden's errand boy? Or do you want me to go to the elves and be their shield? Or am I free to roam as I wish?" he asked the boy. He looked back at the city that used to be his home and the memories came back to him. This was his home but he had to abandon it. The man's face was streaming with tears. He would miss many of his friends here, Ri'Shei especially but what must be must be done. He turned his back to the city and closed the lid on that part of his life. What was done was done.

[Brenton]

Zander grinned as he finished the lock on the chains and the guard left without noticing him. It was amazing how idiotic a guard could be when they expected nothing from the man who was chained up. He listened to what Ragdar said and walked out, grabbing his own stuff from the cabinet as he walked out. Already he was contacting Glaeran to get to him but maybe the dragon wasn't in the area. Then he ran outside and slipped through the gates just as the large green dragon landed in front of him with a thump that would have scared any normal man. Zander grinned and mounted the dragon with ease as he felt the land drop away and soon they were next to Ragdar and Lenora. "I have a way out and you can do what you please. I may be of Varden beliefs but that does not mean that I believe someone should be forced to join them. If you are looking for fellow allies then go to Du Weldenvarden and search out the former riders Brenton Bromsson and Emiryal Nyteshaed. They are both in the forest somewhere and the king offers refuge to those who believe they have escaped Galbatorix's wrath. As a matter of fact I am going there now on my own business."

Zander felt the slight movements of Glaeran as the green dragon spun to face toward the forest and they got out of the city as fast as possible. It was strange how they had not had alarms pulled on them an now they were already flying toward safety. With a shrug he felt the air hit his skin and cool the sweat that had started to form on his forehead from the strange escape that he had been ready to pull.