Sealed

Harsh gasps rang through their ears as blood pounded heavily through their veins. Beyond their own gasping, shouts from guards reverberated through the stone corridors they fled through. Heart beat harshly against their ribcage, threatening to burst out of their chest.

In their mind, words that had been driven into the very fibre of their being resounded.

Success is the only outcome. There are no others. If you fail, then you may as well be dead.

Now they tasted the bitterness of failure.

Fear and desperation.

How had it all gone wrong? Everything had been set. Every move correct. Then, in a moment, it had all gone wrong. At the most important of times. Now the only thought was to escape, if possible.

As the opening to an upward circular stairwell, something at least was favoring them. A wave of relief washed through them, calming nerves, if only a little. Ascending the stairs two at a time, the fire once in their heart moved to their legs that protested the continued effort of moving them out of harm’s way.

Cool air of the night greeted their flushed countenance. Winter was slipping, giving way to a warm spring, though the night air clung to the chill. Hidden eyes took in the round parapet they had come to. Heading to the edge, gloved hands walked around each upward jut, previewing what lay beneath this high place.

Two routes of escape were offered. The first would be jumping to a stone courtyard. Certain death awaited that route or immeasurable pain. The other, only given way by white crests in the black night, was the river. It hailed from the northern mountains and was bulging at its banks with spring runoff. The drop may be longer to reach the water, but it provided an alternative to stone.

Shouts from guards closing in caused their cloaked head to whip around and stare at the entrance to the parapet. Shrugging out of the cloak, it fell to the stone floor, revealing a woman. By leaving the cloak behind, she fulfilled part of her original mission.

She climbed up between two juts of the parapet, viewing the river below. Muscles tightened looking at the drop. She could do this. She had done harder things before, had been through harder things.

Before making the leap off, she had one last thing to do. She plucked the glove off her left hand, revealing a black circle in the middle of it. Letting the glove go, she untucked her shirt from her pants, lifting the left side of it up.

Bare skin prickled at feeling the chilly night air on it. A mark comprising black lines and black objects was on her skin.

Words from days earlier rang in her mind.

No one must discover your mission. If you are about to be caught, place your hand on your mark and say the word. Your protection is assured.

The giver of the words had never been wrong.

With guards closing in and not knowing what truly lay when she hit the river bottom, to ensure her protection, she placed her left hand with the dark circle on the place the giver of words had instructed too and whispered “Sula”.

Pain akin to searing heat erupted at the point of connection. Flaming heat scorched through the area. Teeth gritted as pain wracked through her swaying body.

As clear voices of guards ordering her to stop hit the air, she used what energy she had to jump away from the parapet. Whether flying or falling, she didn’t know. Her arms whirled, trying to slow the impending impact. Not knowing when she would connect with the water, she straightened her body, pinning her arms to her sides and straightening her legs.

As the bottoms of her booted feet hit with water’s surface, a jolt vibrated her entire being. It felt like she had hit the stone of the courtyard. Mouth opened as she exhaled the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Nothing got out before icy water filled her lungs. Freezing water now encompassed her inside and out. The water’s frigid claw’s sinking deep into her flesh. Its grip was tight, unrelenting as it kept her underwater. It drug her down like a weighted ball chained to her ankle. Limbs flailed as darkness crept into her vision before consuming it, her body shutting down.

Lifeless, her body rose to the surface, flowing downstream. The whims of the river were in complete control as it moved her body up and down with its current as it traveled further away from where she had entered.