the entity's escape

cw: some violence, gambling and swearing

The winds swerved around every shop on the street, through every small crevice. They snaked down along the narrow cobbled streets, whistling through the cracks and wear put on the stones from years of pedestrian travel. To the entity walking along the street at dusk, past the unfortunate townsfolk and street sweepers, the winds were the cursed welcome that stretched far into the country. Yes, entity. They are a person, just like everyone else, but prefers to keep the idea of beings, humans and mortals out of their mind. It’s only part of their character, a way to keep things straight. 

The entity walked along the street, wincing as each small gust of wind found its way through the holes in their jacket. Their sharp footsteps echoed on each stone, a large contrast to the quiet murmuring and shuffling of the rest of the people around them. 

The entity wound on the roads, past closed shop fronts with empty signs, past dim streetlamps, all under the vast sky of clouds that had struck fear in everyone living under it.

The country had lived next to darkness for as long as the elders and history books could remember, but only recently has it lived in darkness. 

The clouds had intruded upon them one month ago, though no one could be certain. The months were measured by the moon and sun, and those had been long gone where they were, blocked by the mixture of smog, smoke, haze and mist surrounding them. Once the clouds rolled in, the town had gone dormant. People wanted to flee, but by then the darkness had covered the whole country, and no one could afford a passport. 

Windows were shuttered, people went out in times of necessity only, the country had become a ghost town, and the people tumbleweeds, or perhaps dead bushes.

“This is Prince Akarius’s doing.” the entity overheard someone whispering. 

“No, don’t say that- name.” Someone hissed back. “It only brings bad luck. For multiple reasons, and we don’t need any.” 

The entity could only silently agree with the first person before moving on. 

They shuffled through the streets, passing by the unfortunate street dwellers and sweepers, and turned into an alley, stopping in front of the first door. The entity reached into their coat pocket, searching through the mess of stolen gold pieces, old buttons, crystals, and loose playing cards, before grabbing their lock picking set.

They opened it up, and set to work, twisting around the pins until the lock clicked. 

They put the set away and opened up the door, and immediately was greeted by bright lights, loud chatter, the clinking of glasses and the scrape of coins being pushed across the tables. 

“Welcome home.” the entity muttered to themself, not being able to hear any of their words over the obnoxious chatter of the men around them.

They started walking through the room, heading for the hallway of offices and private rooms the size of walk-in closets, when someone tapped their shoulder.

Instantly the entity turned around, their hand grabbing for their knife. 

They relaxed when they saw the face of their friend. 

“Saints, you scared me.” The entity used sign language to talk to her.

“Well what else was I supposed to do? Shout?” the friend signed back, a smile on her face. “It’s not like you would be able to hear me.” 

“At least approach from the front next time so I don't think you’re a government assassin.” 

“I don’t think an assassin would be coming for the likes of any of us.” the friend mentioned, looking around at the groups of mercenaries, thieves, pirates and gang members sitting at tables and gambling. Their type of crime goes unnoticed most days. “Did you get anything?” her eyes strayed to the entity's large trench coat pockets. 

“That’s why I went out in the first place, isn’t it?” the entity smiled. 

“Well what did you get?” their friend signed excitedly.

“I’ll show you in my room.” they replied. “It’s too loud and bright to think in here.” 

The entity pushed past the mobs of people, and entered the hallway, glad to be somewhere less overstimulating. The hallway had no lights, only the filtering of the street lamps glow coming in through the rain washed glass, it had no rowdy parties, only the scurry of mice and murmuring of thieves talking to their bosses about their newest heist. 

Finally, they made it up to the door leading to the entity’s room.

After fishing out their old rusted key, the entity forced open the door, and stumbled into the small room.

Their room was just big enough to fit a low twin sized bed, a bookshelf covered in books, papers, jars, and all sorts of odds and ends, and a window at the far side. 

Right upon coming in, the friend sat down on the entity’s bed, giving the entity enough space to walk in and stand in the corner near the window. 

“So, what do you have?” the friend signed eagerly. “And please tell me you already pawned it, I don’t want either of us going out there more times than necessary.” 

“No, I plan on buying our dinners with golden spoons and candlesticks.” the entity replied sarcastically. “Of course I pawned them.” 

They emptied out their pockets, letting the shining coins and paper money fall onto the bed. 

The friend laid out the money, and started counting it silently.

When they finished counting, they looked up excitedly. 

“300 lexi.” she signed quickly. “Just enough for two passports!” 

“Just enough though.” the entity replied reluctantly. “We won’t have any left over for food or lodging.” 

The friend sighed. “What do we do then? We had planned on getting out of this cursed country tonight.”

The entity paused. “Well, there’s always the thought of sneaking across the border.” they suggested.

“Are you crazy?” the friend signed back, her movements brisk. “No one’s been able to before. What makes you think we can?” 

“No one’s been able to before because no one has attempted it.” 

“And for a good reason.”

“Please?” the entity pleaded. “We’re out of other options, and we really need this.” 

The friend registered the entity’s begging, and knew when they got to that point, there was no convincing them otherwise.

“Fine.” she yielded. “You’re either mad or a genius. Either way, if we get arrested, you’re the mastermind, i’m just a dumb accomplice.” 

“We’re not going to get arrested.” the entity replied overconfidently. 

The friend sighed. “Just gather your things. We’ll meet outside at the tenth bell.” 

The entity checked their pocket watch, another stolen item. It was five after the ninth hour, giving them fifty five minutes. They nodded, and their friend walked out the door. 

After the door shut, they went over to the lock and bolted the door, then pried up the loose floorboard under their bed and gathered their things.

They shoved a torch, a pasty, notebook and pen, a pouch holding their 300 lexi, a knife, mask (in case they had to go incognito), and a necklace with a dark red amulet hanging off of it into their messenger bag. 

The entity had found the messenger bag sitting in front of the newspaper shop, abandoned by one of the delivery boys, probably because of the shape it was in. 

It was a good bag, sturdy leather with a long strap to go over the shoulder, and plenty of smaller pockets, but it was worn and covered in holes. 

Of course the entity didn’t care about that and took the bag home, patching it up with scraps of burlap from an old coffee bag they found in the background of the tavern. 

The entity shed their large trench coat for a smaller, thinner jacket, and pulled a dark hat over their sandy grey hair. 

They grabbed their bag and pulled it over their shoulder, and walked back into the tavern, wincing at the rowdieness of the crowds. 

The entity walked up to the bar and sat down, trying to get the bartender’s attention.

After assisting all the other customers, she walked up to them, scowling. 

“We don’t serve minors.” she said to them.

“I doubt you like to follow the rules here.” the entity replied, their voice rough after not having used it in awhile. 

“It’s not a rule, just a personal decision. Step aside.” she growled.

The entity took out their knife and ran it along the table. “What if I told you I'm eighteen?” they suggested, matching her enthusiasm.

“I would say you’re lying.” the bartender chuckled, eyeing the knife.

“And I would say you're a skepticist.” the entity replied, sheathing their knife and putting it back in their bag. “I’ll just have a coffee, black.” 

The bartender glared at them. “There’s no reasoning with you, is there?” she said. 

The entity shook their head slyly. 

The bartender sighed, and turned around, making the coffee and muttering something under her breath about regulars hurting her job. 

She turned back around and slammed a large vessel of coffee on the counter. “Is that all?” she glowerd. 

“Indeed it is.” the entity said, pushing two lexi across the counter. 

“A coffee is two fifty.” the bartender said uneasily. 

“Don’t push your luck.” the entity replied, walking out the door. 

They braced themself against the cold wind, and stood outside the door to the tavern, waiting for their friend. 

They glanced up at the large clock in the square a couple blocks away. 

Five to ten. They were early.

The entity sighed and took a sip of the coffee, then reached into their bag and put it in, careful not to set it on top of anything else. As they were reaching out of the bag their hand brushed against the amulet, and the stone sparked, burning their hand. 

They exclaimed and pulled their hand back quickly, eyeing the amulet wearily. It had always been an item of interest to them ever since they swiped it off of a merchant’s table at the market years ago. 

Some days the amulet would glow, and other days it turned into a black so dark it hurt to look at. Sometimes it would be ice cold, and other days it would be as hot as a coal that just came out of the fire, like today.

The entity sighed and grabbed the amulet, keeping it out so it doesn’t melt or hurt any of their items. 

They looked at the string on the back, then untied it, and looped it around their neck, immediately feeling the singe of the stone against their collar. They winced, but kept the amulet there, tying the thread around their neck, then dropped their hands, already getting used to the burn of the amulet sitting against their chest. 

With another thought, the entity tucked the charm under their shirt, hoping it would attract less attention from looters. 

They shoved their hands in their pockets and rocked on their heels, looking around for their friend. 

Finally, the clock struck ten bells and she came out of the tavern. 

“You’re early.” she signed with disbelief. “That’s a first.”

The entity rolled their eyes and smiled. “We’re both here now, though, so let’s go.” 

The entity followed their friend through the streets, passing closed shops and beggars asking for a spare coin.

After multiple turns, uphills, and detours to avoid the nightwatch, the two made it to the border.

“Holy shit.” their friend signed. 

The entity agreed silently. The wall of darkness was huge. Skiffs came in and out of it, small lines lingered to board, and watchmen patrolled everywhere.

“Still think we can get past there?” the entity signed. 

“It was your dumb idea!” their friend answered. “Hopefully you can make up another one soon.” 

They both stood in silence for a couple minutes. 

“Well?” the friend asked. “Any ideas, captain let’s-sneak-across-the-border?”

The entity hesitated. “I was thinking, just… walk?” 

“You’re joking.”

“We could walk over there, quietly, and just slip in.” 

“That’s the worst idea you’ve had yet.” their friend replied with no enthusiasm.

“Well, do you have any better ideas?” 

“As a matter of fact I do not.” 

The entity grinned. 

“We’re going with the dumbass plan, aren’t we?” the friend sighed.

“We’re going with the dumbass plan.” the entity agreed. 

The two looked at each other with completely different glances, then nodded. 

The entity took the lead, meandering around buildings, trying so hard not to look suspicious that it definitely looked suspicious, their friend following close behind, rolling her eyes at their every step. 

Eventually, the entity spotted a break where there were no guard posts, and walked up to it. Not running, just a casual stride into the massive cloud of darkness. 

The friend hesitated, but slowly walked behind them.

The two had almost made it to the border when someone shouted behind them.

“Hey! Where do you two think you’re going?” The entity turned around abruptly to find guards stationed back in front of the way they came. 

“Well, our cover is blown.” they muttered to themself.

“If you want me to understand what you just said, sign it.” replied their friend. 

“Our cover is blown.” the entity repeated in sign language, as the guards closed in around them.

“Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. How intelligent of you to figure that one out.” the friend answered sarcastically, eyeing the gathered watchmen.

“Okay, I messed it up, I'm sorry. But I guess there’s no avoiding a fight at this point.” 

“I don’t have a weapon!” the friend signed hurriedly. 

“You have a pocket knife, that’s good enough.” the entity said, just in time before the first guard attacked. 

The two brought out their weapons with surprising speed, and fought back.

It was one of the strangest fights the city has ever seen, with the contrast of the highly trained guards and their rifles versus street thugs with daggers and pocket knives. 

The first guard came at the entity, aiming his rifle straight at their chest. But before he could fire, the entity ducked under and came up behind the guard, their knife to his throat. 

“I’d think twice before trying to use that on me again.” they whispered, then slit his throat. They stopped to watch the guard fall, then grabbed his gun and used it against the approaching guards. 

The next one came at the entity with the bottom of his rifle ready to knock them out, but they parried their stolen rifle against his, and pushed on it, grabbing his wrists and twisting his rifle towards another one of the guards. 

Quickly, the entity fired the rifle, and hit the other side of it against the head of the guard they were tangled with. 

The two fell, and the entity looked at both with satisfaction. 

“Two birds with one stone.” they muttered, pleased with their work. 

The entity looked back at their friend, who was doing just as well as they were. 

One guard came at her from behind, and another came from her at the front. At the last minute, she slid under the first guard's legs, letting the two guards knock into each other. The guards fell as the rifles both fired at random points, one of the bullets going into the wall of mist, and the other hitting another guard. 

The friend stood up and grinned. 

“Three in one.” she signed smugly. “Beat that.” 

The entity laughed and rolled their eyes, turning back to their own fight. 

A guard stood three feet away from them, his gun pointed directly at their chest, finger on the trigger. 

The entity shook their head, and grabbed the front of the gun, pointing it at the sky right as the gun shot, then dove out of range, wincing as they heard the bullet impact on the ground, making a small explosion. 

They took advantage of the guard’s dazed state, and ran at him through the smoke, stabbing him right under the arm. His weapon clattered to the ground as he clutched his arm and ran away. 

“Coward!” the entity yelled at him, still smiling and enjoying the fight. 

They looked around, preparing for more guards, but were relieved to find the two had taken care of all of them.

They regrouped with their friend, who looked around at the guards laying on the ground around them. She shook her head. 

“What a mess.” she signed, nudging someone’s arm out of her way as she walked over to the entity. 

“Well, so much for incognito.” the entity said.

“Hope this was worth the risk.” the friend replied. “You ready to actually go now?”

The entity nodded their head, and the two made their way to the wall of darkness in front of them. 

The entity reached out a hand for the darkness, but faltered. 

“What if it repels me?” they asked. “Or curses me or something?” 

“I’m sure those were just children’s tales they told us to keep us inside of the country or something.” their friend mentioned. She walked up into the darkness and reached inside of it, waving her hand around, before bringing it back out. “See? It’s fine. A little cold, a little damp, but I'm not dead.” 

The entity sighed. “Fine.” they made their way into the darkness, but paused as they heard the crack of a gunshot. 

They felt their friend’s urgent tug against their arm and turned around just in time to see a bullet speeding towards them.

It would have hit them. It should have hit them, but the bullet impacted directly on the amulet resting at the entity’s chest. 

The impact felt muffled, as the bullet shattered against the stone, and a huge surge of red energy vibrated off the necklace, pushing the entity and their friend back into the darkness.