(LoR) The Escape!

(LoR) Awakened from Mark of Falworth, on Flickr.

Mark of Falworth felt the warmth of the sun shine from the window, It singed his skin uncomfortably. He slowly and sleepily opened his eyes. The room was framed by sharp edges of granite pillars illuminated in the blood-red glow from a small pool of hissing lava at the bottom of the cave-like chamber.

Still drowsy, Mark mumbled to himself.
"This doesn't m-make sense."

He closed his eyes.

"...just a bad dream..."

Mark opened his eyes again. "Oh no... Still in here... must be real..."

Mark felt light-headed and weary. His effort to sit up was brought to a halt by a sudden jolt of pain deep in his neck, which convinced him to remain quiet.


"Where... am.. I?"

His eyes refused to stay open any longer. Mark fell back into his stupor...


(LoR) Imprisoned! from Mark of Falworth, on Flickr.

Mark opened his eyes once more. The sun was still shining through the window just above him, and it was still dreadfully hot...

"Enough of this! I m-must get out of here!"

The pain in Mark's neck was still excruciating. But with a new-found sense of urgency he dragged himself up to a sitting position.

As soon as his head was erect the pain tripled in intensity, and he felt an acute wave of dizziness come over him. If he wasn't sitting he would have surely fallen to the ground.

Mark leaned back on the rough stonework and breathed deeply to try to shake this cloud of weakness.
After what seemed like several hours, he felt significantly better.

"Where am I?"

Mark gazed about the room. The cave-like room betrayed no hints of his location. Then a new question arose.

"Who...Who am...."

A deep sense of horror flooded his mind. The horror of a LOST MEMORY!

"WHO AM I!?!"

Yes, the mighty blow to the back of Mark's head had put him in a coma for nearly a month! His memory, purpose, and perfect hair completely GONE!

Mark looked down at his hands and feet. No shirt, a simple pair of trousers. Not a single clue as to his identity.

Mark smiled at his terribly unfortunate circumstance.

"Whoever I am, I'm in bad shape; this doesn't look like a room for welcome guests..."

Mark sat in silence for a moment, pondering his situation.

"Whoever owns this dismal place must wish me ill... And it's too hot...

...I think I shall escape!"

He first turned to the window. Impossible. It was a mere slit in a thick wall of unyielding masonry...

The door was also discouraging... a chance of escape seemed unlikely, since the massive brass hinges gleamed in the firelight, and the woodwork looked impressively solid...

All hope seemed dim when he heard heavy footsteps approaching the door!

Stiffly, but with haste, Mark laid back down on the stone slab. He would leap up and surprise whoever was coming in!


(LoR) Looking in on the captive. from Mark of Falworth, on Flickr.

The metal lock on the door rattled as the door creaked slowly open.
Mark squinted his eyes so as to appear asleep, but he could still roughly see what was going on.

Two figures clad in black crept into the cell. The one with a soldier's bearing hefted a large axe. His other hand, full of jingling keys, pointed to where Mark was lying.
"Still fast asleep, Sir. Just like yesterday."

The other tall figure hardly appeared human. His blood-red eyes narrowed to slits.
"He smiles still as well..."

The guard took a closer look.
"Maybe his face is deformed...?"

The villainous being hissed with satisfaction.
"I shall soon wipe that grin off when I sacrifice him to myself... Keep him here until tomorrow."

The jail-keeper stiffened and saluted.
"Thank you, Karain. I shall not fail you."

Karain turned and vanished into the blackness. Then his words echoed back.
"Pray you don't."


(LoR) Desperation from Mark of Falworth, on Flickr.

Mark abandoned his initial plan of jumping at his captors the moment he caught sight of the large battle axe in the hands of the burly jailkeeper.

Once his black-clad hosts left, Mark rose from the stone bench where he lay.

"Sacrifice!?! Who on earth is that guy!?! Why does he want to sacrifice ME?!"

He gazed around his cell in terror at the now calamitous situation.

"They could have at least mentioned my name!"

The questions in Mark's mind only multiplied.

"What did I do to earn their hatred? Am I a bad person? Hmm, I think not. They seemed rather uncouth and malevolent... Meaning I may be a just and moral individual..."

Mark's speculation was cut short when he recalled the severe time pressure.

"Until tomorrow... That doesn't give me much time to escape...
If I had a weapon of some sort I might surprise the guard!"

Mark intently studied the floor of the room. Extremely rough, jagged stone surrounded him on all sides, but nothing of useful size could be pried free from the solid bedrock.
Then Mark noticed the smoldering lava pool with a metal grate...

"Forsooth! Those iron bars are free from the floor!"

Our hero had hit upon a brilliant plan!


(LoR) Fingers to the flames! from Mark of Falworth, on Flickr.

Mark plunged his hand into the searing heat, and with the fury of desperation, he snatched the iron bar from above the boiling pit.

He quickly tossed the fiery rod under the stone bench and clenched his burnt appendage.

The desire to scream from the intense pain was unbearable!
Using the last shred of his self-control, he restrained himself. The slightest noise would ruin his chances of escape.

It would be at least half an hour until the bar would be cool enough to use. He could almost taste it... freedom was close at (burnt) hand!


(LoR) The Escape! from Mark of Falworth, on Flickr.

As soon as the iron bar was cooled, Mark began his well-thought plan. He pounded the door with all his might and screamed!

"LET ME OUT OF HERE!! AUUUGGHHH!!! YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!!"

Mark then sneaked to the side behind the doorframe and waited, ready to pounce.

Sure enough, the jailkeeper hastily unlocked the door and dashed in.
He never knew what hit him...

*KLANG!* *Ka-thump*

"My apologies, Sir, but I really must be leaving."

Mark stripped the armor off the unconscious guard.

"It was certainly kind of you to wear such a nice suit of armor for me to take... Hist! This panoply might be a little on the small side."

And with that, Mark leaped through the door and made his escape!

To Be Continued!

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Most of you have probably seen this on Flickr already but I thought I would post it here.

TFVHAGD!