“Psst, hey, hey, are you okay?”

  Clyde opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and crawled towards the crack, not knowing who or what awaited him.

  “Who are you?” Clyde asked nervously.

  “I’m Ferra. Who are you? I don’t recognize your voice.”

  “I’m Clyde, Clyde Freeborn…”

  Before Clyde could say anymore, he heard a large group of Ruffians talking louder and louder as they walked closer to Ferra and Clyde’s position.

  “Listen, Ferra, I’ll tell you all you want to know, but right now we need to get out of here, and fast.”

  “Okay, here, I’ll help you lift the wagon.”

  With Ferra’s help, Clyde lifted the wagon up enough to crawl under. After getting out from under the wagon, Clyde stood up and looked over his new companion.

  “Come on! Let’s go!” Ferra said before bending down to pick up Clyde’s sword.

  Clyde too his sword and gave Ferra a firm nod in agreement. They slowly and sneakily made their way into a nearby building that looked like it had already been ransacked by the Ruffians. They quickly hid in an area of the house away from the windows. As they hid, they could hear the screams and pleas from the people of Knoll being rounded up by the Ruffians.

  “I wish there was something we could do to help them,” Ferra whispered.

  “I know, me too, but what could we do? There’re hundreds of them,” Clyde replied.

  Ferra let out a disappointed sign. “Okay. So, what’s the plan now?”

  “I think our only choice is to wait until they leave and then make a run for it.”

  “Agreed,” Ferra replied. “But where are we going to go? Do you have any family near here?”

  Clyde shook his head no. “How about you?”

  Ferra paused for a moment, her expression saddening. “No, my mother died a few winters ago. I was living with my father, but…” Ferra took a moment and quietly gazed off into space.

  Clyde understood what Ferra was not saying. Instead of pushing her to answer he moved the conversation back to the task at hand. “Why don’t you try and get some sleep. I’ll stay up and keep watch. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.”

  “O…okay,” Ferra said teary eyed. She then laid down and turned over, trying to get some rest.

  ***

  After the Ruffians finished capturing all of the survivors, they put chains on their ankles and wrists before connecting them to one another. Blight approached the captives and thoroughly examined them, praising his men for their work in selecting such fine specimens.

  “Yes, these will fetch us quite a good price indeed. Fine work.”

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  Blight took a moment to look over his men when he suddenly realized something was wrong.

  “Where is Clyde? Has anyone seen him?”

  The Ruffians frantically looked around at each other in search of answers, fearful of what Blight’s reaction would be if they could not locate his favorite foundling. Finally, after what felt like hours of agonizing silence, one of the Ruffians stepped forward.

  “I believe I saw him fall from his horse at the start of the fight.”

  Several other Ruffians amongst the group also spoke up in agreement. However, as they feared, this did not please Blight, and he grew visibly irritated.

  “Many of you saw this and yet not one of you decided to help him!” Blight yelled.

  “But sir,” the first Ruffian said, taking a step forward. “We…”

  A loud bang rang out as the Ruffian’s body fell lifelessly to the ground. A large hold having been blasted through his chest. Blight spit on the Ruffian’s body before holstering his black powder hand cannon.

  “No excuses! Go find him!” Blight then stared at the Ruffians with a ferocious gaze. “And for those who saw him fall from his horse, you better pray to your gods that he’s unharmed.”

  ***

  Listening from inside the abandoned building, Clyde’s nerves were on edge. Oh no, he thought. Knowing that Blight would not give up the search until he tore the entire village apart looking for him. Damn, now what do we do? I thought with the confusion of the battle and rounding up the captives that they would have forgot about me. Clyde crawled over to Ferra and gently shook her until she awoke.

  “Ferra, we have a problem,” Clyde said frantically. “The Ruffians are researching the village for survivors; we have to leave now! Do you know how we can escape without being seen?”

  Ferra wiped the sleep from her eyes and thought for a minute, but nothing came to mind.

  “We don’t have any secret passageways or anything if that’s what you’re thinking. The only way we can escape without being seen is to sneak out and hope we’re not caught.”

  Clyde let out a frustrated sign. “I was afraid of that.” He took a deep breath. “Okay, get ready and let’s go.”

  Ferra quickly collected her things and gave Clyde a nod signaling she was ready. Clyde closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

  “Okay, well, here goes nothing.”

  The two of them then quietly exited the building and started making their way to the edge of the village, while the remainder of Blight’s Ruffian clan searched for Clyde.

  ***

  They crept as silent as a mouse down a path between two buildings, the edge of town within reach. Once past these buildings they only needed to cross one more house lined street before they got to the fields near the village. The wheat in those fields grew tall enough that they would be easily hidden, and past the fields was a forest they could disappear within. Ferra had told Clyde of a path on the other side of the forest that led to the main road. From there they could cross the border in Hal?n and hopefully find a peaceful settlement. All they had to do was make it past this last street without being spotted. Their nerves, already on edge, were not helped by the ruckus made by the Ruffians as they fervently searched the village for Clyde.

  “You ready?” Clyde asked as he and Ferra reached the end of the path. It had grown dark, and they could not see any Ruffians patrolling the road.

  “Let’s go,” Ferra replied.

  They joined hands, and quietly they began to cross the road, crouched down as to not be seen from the windows of the surroundings buildings. The street was roughly twenty feet wide and as they slowly crept across; they could see the remnants of the skirmish strung about. Debris and corpses covered the street, and they did their best to avoid walking over anything. They had almost crossed the street when the door of one of the buildings in front of them violently flew open.

  “Down, down!” Clyde whispered frantically.

  Clyde and Ferra immediately dropped to the ground and did their best to play dead. Out of the building walked two Ruffians, each carrying a lantern.

  “Nothing!” One of the Ruffians exclaimed.

  “Now what?” Asked the other.

  The first Ruffian thought for a minute while shining his lantern over the corpses in the street.

  “We should probably check these bodies and make sure he ain’t one of ‘em.”

  Clyde quietly cursed under his breath and prayed they would not find him.