The Thorn in My Shed

Chapter 82: The Great Escape

Eilownia and Marix’s feet dragged as they searched for a new hiding place. Their eyelids felt as heavy as led as exhaustion overtook them. There was no time for sleep while they hid inside the vent and that unexpected hiccup in their plan had caused, what felt like, devastating consequences.

She covered her mouth with her hand as she stifled a gag. Her body was protesting every part of this ordeal. The lack of food, the lack of sleep, the cold, the constant walking. She needed rest and a meal desperately.

"Are you alright?" Marix whispered as he raised his eyebrows high to keep his eyes open.

"Mhm-HMM!" She gagged again.

"Just....try to hold on...I’ll find you something to eat...we’ll rest...it’ll be okay."

He stumbled, catching himself on a nearby wall as Eilownia quickly reached her hands out to grab him.

"Mar....let’s just give up. Hmm? We aren’t going to make it out of here."

He let out a yawn and stood upright.

"Never. I will never give you or our child up. Ever. You of all people don’t get to say ’let’s give up’."

Eilownia’s eyebrows knitted as she gazed deep into his determined as before giving him a slow nod.

He cupped her face and gently rubbed it with his thumb as he stared at the dark bags that had formed underneath her eyes. He was sure he probably had the same.

As they turned the corner, he spotted a shed in the distance. freeωebnovēl.c૦m

"There!" He pointed, "We should be able to get some rest there until night!"

He grabbed her hand and with the last bit of his strength, hauled her forward as they ran to the small wooden building.

A keyhole below the handle came into view as they approached, causing Marix’s heart to sink.

Eilownia looked around to make sure no one was coming up on them as Marix gently pulled the handle.

To his relief, it opened.

"Inside, quick." He said as he stepped in. She followed right behind him and he shut the door, clicking it in place.

There wasn’t much room save for a small area on the floor. The rest of the area was taken up by cleaning and farming supplies.

Marix slid down to the ground. There was just barely enough room for his legs, causing him to have to lean his back against the wall.

He lifted his arms up, "Come here, lay on me. Let’s rest."

Eilownia nodded and slowly lowered herself into his arms. She rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

Before they knew it, the shed was flooded with light as the doors to the shed were yanked open.

It was clear it was already morning time again, meaning they’d slept the rest of the day and through the night, although it hardly felt like it.

Marix and Eilownia squinted against the harsh sun as they faced the three silhouetted figures.

He gritted his teeth as he heard one of them chuckling and quickly rolled Eilownia to the side.

"Well, well, well. If it isn’t the two runaway prisoners. Congratulations on making it this far, but your little escape plan ends here!"

They pulled out their cutlasses and smiled, "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Eilownia covered her head and sat there kneeling as Marix grabbed a sack of grain. It was heavy but nothing he wouldn’t have normally been used to, except this time he found his muscles were shaking underneath its weight. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

However, he wouldn’t let them know that.

"I pick the hard way." He smirked as he threw the bag at one of them. It hit them square in the chest and forced them stumbling backwards.

Marix used the chaos from the surprise of the sudden ’attack’ to grab some of the farming supplies and Eilownia as he ran out of the shed.

"H-Hey! Get him!" They yelled.

"Stay behind me!" He shouted to Eilownia as he turned around to face the pirates. He knew he couldn’t outrun them in this state. The best option was to fend them off or distract them until they could escape.

He threw the pitchfork and hoe he’d grabbed from the shed at one and charged him, bringing out the glass shard from his waistband that he’d grabbed earlier.

With one swift movement, he slashed the pirate across the stomach, causing him to scream in pain and grasp at his wound.

The other two rushed him at the same time and Marix ducked, causing one of them to fly over him.

Marix slammed the second one in the abdomen with his shoulder before reaching down and slicing his thigh with the glass shard, severing his tendon.

The man plummeted to the ground with a blood curdling scream.

"Don’t think you’ve won!" Said the man who had flown over him as he circuled his cutlass in style that was meant to be threatening but looked more like a fancy show.

Marix picked up the discarded pitchfork and used it to parry the cutlass before twisting it and prying the blade out of the pirate’s hands.

He then flung the sword towards himself and discarded the glass shard as he slashed the man’s arm.

As the three lay on the ground injured and screaming, Marix grabbed Eilownia’s hand and ran. They reached a small barn that was sitting atop a patch of grass. Outside were cows, chickens and pigs grazing.

Marix lifted Eilownia over the fence before following behind her. His body was shaking from overexertion, and he knew deep down he couldn’t keep this up for much longer.

He guided her inside where a stack of haybales lay. He picked her up and placed her ontop before climbing up himself.

"Let’s rest a moment....." He panted as he leaned back and closed his eyes.

"Marix!" She gasped as she grabbed his arm, "You’re bleeding!"

"Uh-huh....." He said quietly, not bothering to care.

She pulled the torn, bloodied fabric apart to get a better view of the injury and gasped. It was jagged and looked deep. Blood bubbled up from it, coating her fingers and soaking the fabric around it.

Eilownia gasped and rolled her eyes to look away as her own unwanted memories began to flood into her mind.

She shook her head and tore off a piece of the bottom of her dress before wrapping it around his wound tightly, trying to avoid looking at it at all costs.

"This should be okay for now, but we need to get medical supplies. This is a really bad injury."

Marix shook his head, "No. You don’t need to worry, I’m fine."

She hugged him tight after tying the makeshift bandage into a bow, "Mar. It’s a serious injury. You need medical attention. You can’t continue on like this."

He rubbed her back, although he had barely any strength to do so, and she could tell.

She gripped him tighter as she nuzzled him, tears pricking her eyes.

"We can’t waste time. Once night falls, we’ll get the essentials. I have a weapon now, we’ll take a crew member from the docks and a ship. Somehow we’ll get back to our ship. Don’t worry."

Despite his words, his tone made it obvious that he was convincing himself more than he was her.

They rested a while, although Eilownia was up most of the time throwing up. She was so hungry she felt nauseous, and combined with her pregnancy, she needed food and fast.

"I’ll find you something to eat, as soon as we leave here." He whispered as he barely rubbed her back, his exhaustion not allowing him to do much.

That night, she shook him awake.

"Marix, the moon is out." She whispered as he opened his eyes.

He blinked a few times before rubbing his face and nodding. He jumped down from the haybale stack and stumbled as dizziness overtook him.

"Are you okay?" She asked from above.

Marix nodded and blinked again before shaking his head, tossing the feeling away as he lifted his arms to help her down.

Hand in hand, they walked out of the barn, ready to start the next part of their plan when a huge net was tossed over them.

The weight of it brought them to the ground as Eilownia let out a scream.

"Thanks for leaving us a little trail." One of the pirates, who had a bandaged arm, said as he pointed towards a line of blood leading up to the barn.

"Tsk." Marix gritted his teeth as he lay there. He had no strength left to struggle.

"Let us go!" Eilownia demanded, but they just laughed.

"Let us go~ She said." They mocked as they picked the two of them up and tossed them into an ox cart.

"Let’s get them back to Captain Deka. I’m sure we’ll receive a great reward for this delivery." Another said as they smacked the ox on the flank.

It mooed and the wheels began to roll back towards Captain Deka’s manor.