She shuddered convulsively. It was so cold out here, and Julie had to force her mind to the task at hand. She had to forget about all she had just seen and lived through and focus. It was hard, but she shoved the images back, the awful images. She was nearly to the switch and then the rest would have a chance to escape as well. Julie didn't have time to get all teary-eyed over the ones that would never get that chance. Never again would they set foot on free soil, but the rest still had a chance. She set her jaw determinedly and crept forward, avoiding the cruel eyes of the guards, laughing together at each other's crude jokes at their prisoner's expense. The young man they now had cornered faced them with stubborn defiance. She'd seen it before. Unless he broke first, they'd end up killing him eventually, or worse, they'd lead him into the tower. Those screams had kept her awake at night, haunting her dreams, but only once had someone escaped from there. That's when the loose boards of their cell had come in handy. They hid him the floor, but no one asked the questions they were all thinking, and he didn't tell. He only said, that no one ever died, and then he kept silent on that subject. They had hid him there for two weeks now and the guards were getting suspicious, so to save all of they're lives they had to formulate an escape plan. At least to get him out. So here she was clinging closely to the ground as she eased her way forward, hoping the guards wouldn't notice the way everyone was holding their breath with worry, or notice the smallest girl missing. Julie forced herself to focus and ignore the beating the young man was getting at that moment. Two loud voices neared her, and she held her breath, hoping they wouldn't see her in forbidden territory. They kept on going to the rowdy group surrounding the young man. She heard them issue a few orders about a truckload of new prisoners, and then the young man was left lying in the dirt, barely conscious. No one dared touch him until he either picked himself up, or the guards ordered him taken away. With the work for the guards, and his condition, neither was going to happen any time soon. As soon as she threw the switch, the prisoners wouldn't have to be afraid anymore. They could all run to freedom from this awful place. The fence was just before her. All she had to do was squeeze through and there the switch was in the little shed, made to protect the generator from the weather and keep them under control. Julie shivered as the wind picked up and the little freezing droplets of rain sprinkled down. She prayed it wouldn't snow; her dark hair wouldn't blend with snow very well. She pushed the boards apart just enough for her to get through as she heard the planned distraction behind her. Glancing at the guard towers Julie climbed through the window into the shed. There before her was the switch to turn the generator off. Once that was done every one of them would be free to call upon their bonded dragons. Not many could bond with a dragon, but once it was done, whether on purpose or accident it was forever, and if anyone found it, they'd take the dragon bonded to these terrible prisons, while the dragons were used as labor animals, with their vacant stares, missing the person on the other end of the vital bond. Only the fact that the person was still alive kept the dragon breathing and eating. She suspected it was the same for many of the people. Grabbing the switch she pulled it to the off position and gasped with delight as she felt the mind of her dragon, Alaster. He had been dragging something heavy she knew and as soon as their minds touched, he blinked at his own yoke and flew to meet her. For him it was like waking up from a long sleep. Now with the vital connection renewed his thought were free again. She heard the flap of wings and the shout of terror from the guards and cheering from the prisoners. Although Alaster wasn't here, Julie felt relief to hear the sounds of the dragons once again as she climbed out of the shed window. Now there was hope. Somehow they'd find a place to live in safety, away from the ones who feared and hated them. The prison was utter chaos. Julie smiled to herself as she enjoyed the sensation of the wind whistling past Alaster's lithe body. He was nearly to her, and more dragons were arriving every second; half the guards had already fled in terror. When Alaster finally arrived, he glided down to her side, and Julie climbed onto his back and they flew with the rest to a safe haven in the mountains.
Angelo drew himself up tall, ignoring the pain of his back. No matter what, he was determined to not show any weakness to these jerks. He had only known the joy of sharing a bond with Syja for a few days, and already he missed it; longing for her mental touch that he had just felt the day before. Somehow, Angelo knew he would escape this place and find Syja once again. The other prisoners here looked weary and subdued, and he wondered just how long they had been trapped like animals. He wouldn't let himself get that resigned to this life, never! The guards were getting impatient, trying to get him to just cry out, but he wouldn't--couldn't let himself show any pain. Only his anger expressed itself on his face. They laughed at his anger, throwing insults carelessly.
One day he would make them eat those insults, taking them back, begging him to forgive them. One day his day would come.
The guards continued to attempt to make him react, but Angelo was trained as a soldier. They wouldn't crack him with just a few hours like others, and soon they grew tried and their eyes followed the passing women still new to this prison. Still pretty with life. Some drifted off after the women their eyes followed or to more amusing sport, while the most dedicated grew angry and drug him off to solitaire after a good sound whipping. Not even then did Angelo cry out, only clenched his teeth together harder, until he lost consciousness.
In solitaire he woke to the sound of an alarm. Angelo heard the guards rushing by to the prison walls, their guns cocking quickly. The noise of fighting never came, but the security remained high throughout the prison. The bonded murmured quietly amongst themselves as of the reason behind the beefed up security, but no one knew for sure, until the new batch of prisoners were dragged in, the day after Angelo was released from solitaire. There were more then ever before. Many already had that defeated look weighing them down, and others the sorrow of hopes torn from them one to many times, but a few still had hope burning bright in their eyes. Angelo went to one of these for his answers.
"You have news from the outside?" Angelo asked the boy quietly,
"Only from another prison," the boy glared at the armed guards passing by. "I didn't get very far."
"Don't glare at them so. I want to hear your news before they invent reason to beat us," Angelo instructed calmly, eying one particular guard watching them, "You didn't get far? Was there an escape?"
The boy nodded, "Someone turned the generator off. Our dragons came right to us."
"What prison?"
"The Eerie Lakes Prison. It was totally destroyed, but they still caught most."
Angelo tilted his head, "Where'd you get to?"
Grinning the boy started to answer, but Captain Davis, one of the more persistent guards Angelo had met on his first day, interrupted, "So you do talk, Silent Dog, for this little boy."
Angelo stiffened, stifling the retort he felt on his lips, and stayed silent.
Captain Davis smirked at his anger, "I will teach you to bark on command, Dog," The punch surprised Angelo, but he still managed to swallow any sound that tried to escape. The Captain called two lower guards over, "Take these two animals to the tower."
"Yes sir," the guards dutifully led Angelo and the boy into the dreaded tower.
The boy shuddered fearfully as they entered into the first level of the tower, but he never said a word of protest. Angelo realized the boy was trying to look strong, that if he hadn't of been there, this boy would have been a terrified mess. He searched his mind for something to say to encourage the poor kid, but none of it was true. One thing Angelo did know was that he wasn't going to lie to him, and he wanted to keep his hope alive. "I will get you out, I promise," Angelo informed him calmly, ignoring the scoffing remarks of the guards. "I will."
"What about the other prisons?" Julie asked persistently. "Aren't we going to help them?" There were twenty of them that had escaped, plus five more who had come from the tower; apparently a truckload had just taken the majority off somewhere else. These were the few that had made their way to this safe haven, and although Julie was one of the smallest there, she figured that she had a right to speak up, considering her part in the escape. They were using a large cave one of the dragons found as a makeshift meeting room. Alaster rumbled his agreement, along a few other dragons who's humans were nodding.
"We'll give ourselves away," Chris declared, his dragon, Klynn, snorting smoke at the others blindness. "You want to go back to being prisoners?"
Sarah, an older woman, said in her ever so motherly voice, "Of course not, but we can't just leave the others trapped. We can build our safe fort, and train ourselves, and send small groups on, shall we say, raids to help the others." She looked around the cavern, from bonded to bonded, as the dragons rumbled and the humans nodded. The young man was still not convinced, but as he was out numbered, he finally agreed also. Satisfied the free bonded turned to the matter of building their fort and supplying food enough for everyone. Each volunteered for the task most suitable for them. Julie and Alaster were more than happy with the job of foraging and tending the garden for Julie while Alaster would help with the hunting. It would only be a while longer before they would have others joining them, so they had have room for more people, dragons, and food. They decided to carve the fort into the mountain, to better protect themselves, with the one main entrance and several quick exits just in case. There was much work to be done.
The rest of the story....
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