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She opened her eyes and found herself in a dimly lit cell aboard a rocking ship.

Where am I? She thought, as she slowly gained sight in the dim lighting, realizing her hands were bound by iron shackles that clinked and rattled. Why am I here? She stumbled around a bit, before falling over and realizing that her feet were bound as well by a chain attached to an iron girding in the floor. She groaned as she tried to get up, but paused as she looked at her scaly body, clothed by sack cloth clothing, before asking one more question.

'Who... Am I?' She asked softly, looking at her hands. Suddenly there was a slamming of a door, and heavy footsteps against the wooden floorboards of the deck. Voices too.

'--Let's just get her to the prison and be done with it.' A voice said.

'You've said it; I'm through with this blasted ship.' Another voice said.

'I still have the shakes from the storm last night.' The first voice said. The Argonian could remember hearing thunder sometime. 'Hey! Get up!' The girl suddenly stood up quickly, trying not to trip over the chain again. As she looked up, she saw two armoured guards looking at her on the other side of the bars. One guard stepped forward and opened the cell door and the Argonian just stood by waiting. The guard walked in and unchained the Argonian girl, then grabbing her by the shirt and hauling her out of the cell roughly.

'Come on now, we're going for a little stroll.' Joked the guard, as the Argonian quietly moved along in between the guards as they walked up onto the main deck. She held her hands up to her eyes as the sunlight savagely hurt her eyes. When her eyes had adjusted, she saw that she was walking through a large marble port, with a great marble city on top of the hill nearby. The Argonian was amazed at the sight she saw. The port was bustling with activity, ships many at a time were being taken care of, sailing in and out, with a lot of chatter around. The Argonian had forgotten she was a prisoner and the guard behind her reminded her with a rough push forward. Reluctantly, the Argonian walked forward following the other guard. They walked across the stone bridge between the ships and past a great tower. The Argonian saw a great gate at the end of the stone path, but instead the guards turned to the right, onto a road along the beach and over the terrain around the city. It was going to be a long walk, the Argonian could tell.

After an hour or so they had reached their destination. But the Argonian liked the walk. She saw lots of the island's scenery, the plants, the animals, the lake. She also saw a great structure connected to the city by a stone bridge of which they passed under. After a long while afterward, they had reached another similar structure also connected to the city by a stone bridge, and had walked up the road that ascended the hilltop the structure was built upon. After that, they had passed through the gates of the structure and into the grounds. The Argonian saw many troops training in the grounds and lining up before captains. She also took in the sight, the buildings and the great bastion in the centre. It was majestic for a prison, to the Argonian anyway.

They had entered the bastion, and there was a desk in the room where a jailer sat, who was reading a book. The Argonian could only make out the first two words on the cover as, "The Lusty...".

'We got the Argonian girl here transferred from Blackmarsh.' The first guard said to the jailer at the desk.

'Right, because their jail was full?' The jailer asked as he put his book down and stood up.

'I don't care about the matter, since I'm sick of being stuck on a rocking ship for six days. Just lock her up will you?' The first guard said, a tone of disdain in his voice, while his partner standing by watching the Argonian.

'I'm going to have to put her in the dungeon, since our cells are--' The jailer began before the guard cut him off.

'I said I don't care. Just lock her up so we can be done with it.' The jailer then scratched his head and then nodded. The two guards then left the bastion and the jailer took the Argonian down the stairs and through the door on the left, descending into the darkness.

The jailer threw the Argonian into the first cell on the left and locked the cell doors before leaving. The dungeon was dark, with the Argonian's cell lit with only little sunlit entering through the barred opening above her and a torch on the wall nearby. She was still bound by her shackles as she sat down at the shabby wooden table nearby. She felt hungry for the first time ever since she woke up. She then looked at the wall to her right and saw scratches. Writing. Words. She stood up and walked over to the indent that made for a sleeping space in the wall and looked at the etchings in the wall. She could barely read any of the words since she did not know how to read well yet. She could only make out the bottom two words. Lazula Arrania.

At first, she was puzzled. She was sure they weren't words, but a name. Somehow, the name stuck. She began to think her name was Lazula Arrania. And whenever she would ask herself who she was, she would give the same answer. Lazula Arrania. But this didn't help her with where she was, stuck in prison for gods know how long. She was stuck, with no freedom to do as she wished, starving and thirsty. In a dungeon that would be as black as night when the torch burned out.

There was a clang of metal and Lazula opened her eyes. The torch was still lit, but night had fallen and she could hear the chirping of crickets outside. Lazula remembered she had lied down beside the wall with writing and dozed off. For how long, she did not know. Then she heard voices and footsteps.

'-didn't think the pay was good enough for that crap we went through to move that little number.' A familiar voice said.

'I know, so we may as well have some fun with her. She can't tell anybody anyways.' Another familiar voice said. Lazula recognized them before they had appeared at her cell doors, the same guards who had shoved her off into the shoddy dungeon. What they were talking about didn't sound too good either. Lazula quickly stood up and looked at the cell door, where the guards were standing and looking at her.

'Yeah, it's not often you see a pretty face like that.' The first guard chuckled. Lazula looked from left to right, hoping that the walls would somehow open up for her to run through. But nothing happened as she stepped backwards whilst the guards opened the cell doors and walked in, closing the cell doors behind them. Lazula suddenly stopped and realized she was up against the wall. She was trapped, trapped in a cell with two creepy guards.

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This Section has been censored by order of the Imperium.

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'And there's more where that came from.' The guard said after regaining his breath. Lazula merely laid still on the space quietly, as the guards finished off so they could leave.

'You said it. I'm probably up for doing this again later on.' His partner said as he began to leave the cell. As the first guard left with partner, he turned back to Lazula after he closed the cell door.

'Catch you later, sweetcake.' He sneered as he and his partner left the dungeon, leaving Lazula emotionally scarred. I hate this. She thought as she shivered in the cold air with warm tears trickling down her face.

Lazula still felt sore from the rough treatment she was given. Almost every bone in her body was aching, and she hated it. She slowly stood up, rubbing her neck with her right hand. She looked up at the wall next to her, and then leaned against the wall with her other hand. She looked over the many words on the wall she could not understand. She then looked to the right and saw there was more writing. She rubbed her left hand against the wall as she moved to the right, and rubbed a brick that had two words on it. She then felt something, an instinct. She pushed forward and the brick fell into the wall. Suddenly the wall with all the writing next to her sleeping space moved and slowly moved open. When it stopped, a great gush of wind came and blew the torch in her cell out. She looked from the torch to the gaping hole in her cell, a tunnel of darkness. She looked back at the cell door before finally deciding to walk down the tunnel, hoping it lead to someplace better than the place she was in now.

She wasn't sure why, but Lazula somehow felt that she was going the right way. She just had an instinct, that there wasn't too much of any real darkness. She could 'see' through the pitch-black darkness of the tunnels. She was walking through stone corridors and descending stairs. The dark held no secrets for her, and Lazula simply walked forward. After a few moments of walking, Lazula was in a small chamber with light pouring through a carved hole in the ceiling. Before her was a door, but when she tried to open it, she felt the disheartening sound of a lock. Lazula groaned, fearing the idea of being hunted down soon.

She then felt a gust of wind, coming from her right. She turned and looked at the wall. In the corner, the wall was weakened, with a few holes in it. With renewed hope, she ran over to the wall and looked through the hole at the top. On the other side, she could see dirt filled room with a skeleton in the corner. She then took a few steps back and then charged at the wall. It was either she got through the weakened stone and mortar, or ended up getting flattened in the attempt. Either way to Lazula, was much better than staying in her cell waiting for more abuse. As she quickly got closer to the wall, she closed her eyes as she heard the wind rush past her face. But she felt so sure, she wasn't going to fail.

There was a crash of bricks as Lazula felt the physical force and contact hit her right arm, echoing through her body. She tripped over and fell down to the dirt, dust spraying everywhere. Groaning again, Lazula carefully sat up and checked herself for any signs of injury. Her right arm was bruised and her legs were lightly grazed by the fall, but other than that, she was still fine. I could've had worse if I waited. She thought smugly as she slowly stood up and brushed off all the dirt and dust. She then looked around her and saw darkness, yet again she knew what was there. A ruined well, a few crates scattered around and a few wooden pillars, and the skeleton lying down in the corner with a chest next to it. Lazula cocked her head before walking over to the skeleton and kneeling before it. It was wearing a rough leather cuirass, pants and rough leather boots. Lazula bowed her head before taking the leather cuirass and boots and pants off the skeleton. Finally, I don't have to run around these tunnels naked. Lazula thought to herself.

After a few minutes and Lazula had put on the light armour and pants, Lazula noticed the skeleton was holding a bow and a quiver of arrows. She then picked up the bow and slung the quiver onto her back. In the pocket of her poor-looking pants were a bunch of odd looking rods. She then turned to the chest, but when she tried to open it, she found it was locked. I officially hate locks. Lazula thought as she blew out her frustration. She then had an instinct, the same feeling as before, and took out the small rods. She had a flashback and saw herself holding two of the rods together next to a door and suddenly she heard a click and the door swung open. Lazula came back to reality and remembered what it was. Lock Picking. Lock Picks. She thought with a smile. She took out two of the lock picks and began working away at the lock on the chest. It was rusty and old, and was pretty easy to pick. After a moment or two, Lazula heard a click and she opened the chest. Inside were a few coins and a sapphire.

Lazula took the sapphire and coins before turning around suddenly to a sound. A squeaking rat. Two actually... Lazula thought as she scanned the darkness. She somehow sensed the rats nearby next to the ruined well. She had the instinct again, and drew her bow, nocking an arrow into it straight away. The flashback came to her. She was on a roof, with a child's bow and arrow where the arrowhead was just a small bubble of oil slick. She let loose the arrow and it flew, hitting a guard square in the face. Back to reality, Lazula saw the rats straight away and let loose her arrow, nocking in another arrow straight away. Her first shot hit the first rat square in the face, killing it instantly. Lazula fired her next arrow at the other rat, hitting it in the stomach, leaving it on the dirt ground bleeding to death. Lazula had nocked another arrow just in case, but she instead walked over to the bleeding rat. She felt pity on it, but she couldn't stand hearing it squeal in pain. Taking out the arrow from her bow, she stabbed the rat subtly with the arrow, until its squealing could not be heard. Lazula whispered an apology, before reclaiming her arrows and setting forth.

Lazula found the body of a green misshapen thing. She had heard of them. Goblins. She remembered. They're goblins. Lazula shook her head and scavenged the corpse for anything useful. She found a few scrolls and potions and an iron key. She looked to her right and found an old wooden door in the wall. She tried to push it open, but found it was locked as well. She was about to use her lock picks when she remembered the key she just picked up, Maybe it works here... Lazula took the key and inserted it into the lock of the door. She was satisfied when she heard the click as she turned the key. The door opened and Lazula looked at the key. She smiled and put it in her pocket, before she left the dirty room.

Lazula walked through the old dusty corridors, the ceiling above supported by old wooden pillars. She ran through the corridors with caution. She sensed rats, but the skittered and scattered as she ran through the corridors, she then began to think about why the rats were running. If they were running from me, they really should be heading the other way. Lazula thought. But then if not from me.... Suddenly there was a crash, and "It" came out of nowhere, a mass of rotting flesh that seemed like it had been in the corridors for a long time. It was a zombie. Lazula stopped and drew her bow and arrow quickly, and before the zombie could even set what was left of its eyes on Lazula, she pumped five arrows into its already dead flesh. It fell, but it still moved, crawling towards Lazula, moaning horribly as it did. Lazula let loose more arrows until the thing finally laid there, unmoving. She walked forward and kicked it, and when she was satisfied it was finally "dead", she retrieved her arrows and slung her bow. Shivering with disgust over the rotting corpse, Lazula walked off, wanting to get as far away from the smell as soon as possible.

As she rounded the corner of the corridor the zombie came from, Lazula spotted what might have been the cause of the crash. There was a hole in the ceiling and below it was a pile of rubble. Lazula looked up through it before jumping up to try and catch the ledge above. After a few jumps, Lazula caught hold of the ledge, but only barely. She tried to get her other hand onto the stone but then she slipped and fell. She landed on her front, on top a small pile of soft dirt luckily surrounded by the ruined stones that had fell in from above. That was close. I might not be going up that way, least of all not without something to help me grip the stones above me. Lazula thought as she took one more glance at the hole above before continuing down the corridor.

Lazula continued on until she ended up in a large room. There was a square of wooden pillars with a pile of bones and other things in the middle, bathed in a light coming from above. Lazula looked around carefully before walking down to the space. She looked through the pile of objects for something of use. Amongst the items, there was a rusty iron helmet and shield, an iron war hammer, a few coins and some food. Lazula knew she probably couldn't carry all of it, and she probably wouldn't need all of it if she's supposed to be in jail. Lazula then decided to pick up the coins and food. She ate the tomato and cheese she just picked up, before continuing on. She realized it was quiet, save the squeaking and scattering of rats. Lazula shook her head and looked onwards as she walked through the old corridors. She finally came to a small hole in the wall and saw that it led into a small cave. Looking around for more options, Lazula found none, and then she finally decided to continue onwards with caution. After a few moments of walking with no further delays, Lazula found a small fire and a few skulls on ropes before a wooden door. Obviously, it was a sign to keep out. But Lazula still saw no other way, so with a sigh, she walked past the skulls and through the wooden door, with her bow in her hands and ready to draw arrows.

Lazula walked down a dark tunnel, until she was down in lower caves. To her right were a bunch of crates and barrels. Lazula cocked her head before looking through them. She found an assortment of clothes and cloth; nothing was too useful to Lazula then. Then her instinct kicked in. She sensed another creature nearby. Another flashback kicked in, and Lazula found herself walking softly, crawling lightly past a guard. Lazula could see a goblin walking by through the dark cave. Lazula saw light coming from where the goblin was walking to. Lazula crouched and began crawling; bow at hand ready just in case the goblin saw her. As she crawled towards the tunnel on the right, Lazula kept eyes on the goblin. The goblin was fidgeting with itself whilst it watched over a rat roast over a camp fire. Lazula saw a cup and stick on a crate nearby with plants next to it. Lazula took the time to carefully sneak towards the crate and pick up the cup and stick and plants. She then crawled off quickly and quietly, stopping for a moment when she was well out of any sight of the goblin, observing the small object. She shrugged and put it away before running through the tunnel.

Goblins weren't smart looking, but they were cunning inside. Lazula had ended up in a large cave and in front of her was a goblin that had spotted her. Lazula thought quickly as the goblin drew its crude club, beginning to walk towards her. Suddenly, she spotted something, a trip wire. She stood back and shot at the trip wire, both hoping the arrow would pierce the rope and the trap wouldn't hit her. The tripwire snapped and when the goblin realized what had happened, three spiked barrels swooped down from the cave roof and smashed into the goblin. Lazula leaned back as the goblin flew through the air past her and into the tunnel wall. There was a snarl and Lazula turned around. The goblin she tried sneaking past before was running towards her, dagger raised. Lazula turned quickly and nocked an arrow into her bow quickly, letting loose the string at watching the arrow fly and hit its mark. The goblin stopped before falling down dead, an iron arrow through its head. Lazula looked at her bow for a moment, just realizing how proficient she had become with it. But maybe I have always been good with a bow... Lazula thought before shrugging and running deeper into the caves.

Lazula ran through the tunnel and then stopped. She could hear some snarling coming from her right. Through the caves she was standing in, there was a fire and a few dead rats, along with a torch and barrels nearby. Lazula walked to her left into the darker part of the caves. She found another chest and an iron dagger and coins. In the chest, Lazula found more gold coins. She picked them up quickly and then ran over to the pile of logs, tired of hiding. She pushed the logs over and watched them fall. Suddenly she felt something hit her left shoulder and the pain was immense. But only a second later did she hear the dying screams of goblins. Amongst the dust, the logs had rolled and run over the stupid goblins hiding below. Lazula looked at her left shoulder and saw an iron arrow. Shaking her head, she pulled it out, and held her arm tight. It hurt, and it would probably affect her ability to shoot any remaining enemies that would be in her way, but she knew that she had to get out. She bandaged the arm with some cloth from cutting her pants with the dagger she just retrieved, and then searched the barrels next to her. She found a few apples, and before continuing on, Lazula took the torch with her.

Lazula didn't bother with the chests nearby. She just wanted to find a way out quickly. She ran through the tunnels for a moment or two before being caught by another goblin. This one was lightly armoured, like the one that had spotted her before. Lazula threw the dagger she had used only a moment before and it hit the goblin square in the face, killing it instantly. Lazula ran forward, grabbing the iron short sword it had been carrying before it died, and took the shield as well. It was leather, and was quite light, so it didn't hurt when Lazula carried it with her left arm. A goblin in the pit below had spotted her, as well as one nearby. They both cried out and Lazula suddenly felt something flying towards her. She leaned to her right as a lightning bolt flew past her. She saw that there was another goblin, like the one she had scavenged for objects in the rooms before. It carried a stick with a goblin head set upon it. Lazula knew it was the leader, the goblin shaman. She saw rope nearby and saw rats in a cage in the pit below. She pulled the rope and the rats poured out of the cage and set themselves upon the goblin in the pit below, screaming as the little critters feasted on its flesh. Lazula turned to the second goblin who had charged at her with a rusty dagger. She dropped her torch, lifted her shield up and drew her short sword. Then the strike lightly landed, barely stinging her arm. She then brought her short sword up into the goblin's belly, twisting it after it had pierced the goblin's skin. Withdrawing her blade, Lazula barely had time to lift her shield to block a bolt of fire flying at her, thrown by the shaman. The contact was almost ten times stronger than the other goblin's attack. Lazula shrugged off the pain that burned her arm, even when the magical fire had not made contact with her flesh. She ran around the pit and at the goblin shaman, ramming it with the shield before bringing down her short sword in a back hand slice, decapitating the shaman's head cleanly. Blood sprayed everywhere as the goblin's body fell to the ground, dead and unmoving. Lazula stumbled backwards before regaining her balance. She had just finished off a group of goblins, in so little time. She looked to the rats and saw they were quite happy to leave Lazula well alone, since she had provided them with plenty of flesh to feed on. Lazula shrugged and then ran off through a tunnel to her right, not bothering to rummage through all the crates and chests nearby. Hopefully, I won't have to do that kind of battle again too soon. Lazula thought smugly.

Lazula had ran through the ascending tunnels and passed through a wooden door at the end. She had ended up in a room similar to the ancient rooms she had traversed before to reach the caves. She saw a hole in the wall and a little bit of light. Faint, but it was good enough for Lazula. She ran through the hole in the wall and she was then in the same stone room that was similar to the one she was at the start of her "adventure". She walked around a little bit, surveying the area. She was standing on an overlook of a corridor through the subterranean substructure. Lazula saw no other way and simply jumped down into the corridor. She walked through the corridor ahead. It winded and turned as Lazula went onwards. Quiet too. Lazula held her bow ready with her shield on her back, sword in its sheath. She continued on, watching the shadows, but something told her that there wasn't anything to worry about. She kept on walking, moving faster as the eerie silence persisted. She began to run through the ruined corridors, becoming nervous by the second. She then went through a door at the end of the corridor, thankful she was that it wasn't locked.

She slammed the door behind her and took a moment to catch her breath. She then opened her eyes and looked around. It was dark, with faint light pouring in from holes in the ceiling above. She remembered that she had left her torch in the caves. Oh well, too late to go back now... Lazula thought as she sighed. She walked down the stairs into the pit of the room, her bow ready to nock arrows into. She saw that there was an open gate into another room to her right. She looked around first and saw that just straight ahead of her was another room. She took the time to cautiously proceed into the room ahead of her and look around. She looked around, and saw there was nothing vaguely interesting. It was just a dead end. She shrugged and then walked back out into the large room to go the other way. At the end of her walk, she found another wooden door. She opened it, and saw that on the ground, was a small manhole. She shrugged and lifted off the lid and climbed down the pipe, putting back the lid as she did.

Lazula let go of the iron bars and jumped down, landing on her two feet. She looked around and knew she could smell something horrible. The sewers. Wonderful. She thought smugly as she walked down the stairs and towards the tunnels. But something played on her mind. The sewers felt like a familiar place to her. Maybe it's just the water. Lazula reminded herself. She kept walking on, nothing jumping out in front of her as she did, no rats, no goblins. Nothing. She could hear skittering paws on the mossy stonework of the sewers. She jumped over a canal and ran through a tunnel on her right, ascending stairs and crossing a small bridge spanning over a small room, water pouring out of a pipe and into small frameworks in the ground below. Lazula opened an iron gate and ran onwards, sensing an exit somewhere nearby. It probably wasn't really a sense, more of Lazula's "instinct". Whatever the case, Lazula knew it had helped her so far. Suddenly her hopes were lifted high, when she saw there was a stone pipe ahead out of the last room ahead of her, with an iron gate at the end. She ran faster, and in a few moments, she was opening the gate, and flying out into the open air. Lazula knew what the smell was. It was the smell of Freedom.

Lazula stepped out into the open, the gate slowly closing shut of its own accord. Lazula looked about her surroundings. It was dark and raining, but she could just see the area around her as if it was pure daylight. There was a small wharf in front of her with a lit lamp post, and on the opposite of the river it was sitting upon, was a small island with mossy old ruins. She turned and looked up, seeing the great marble structure that was supposed to be her prison. I have to admit, I'm probably fortunate to have had a secret way out... Lazula thought to herself. She shrugged and said goodbye to the prison for her own reasons unknown. She then turned to the river, and spotted a fire in the ruins nearby. She then cocked her head before diving into the water. A splash of cool water, white bubbles before the sight of underwater. Lazula felt an immense feeling of exhilaration and calm. The water felt like a home to Lazula. She closed her eyes and sat underwater, listening to the sweet soft sound of the underwater life, plant and animal alike. It was only a moment or two, before Lazula remembered what she was supposed to be doing. She then swam upwards and resurfaced, swimming to the shore of the ruins.

Lazula came ashore, letting the cool water run down her scaly skin and equipment and onto the already-wet sand. She crouched down and crawled slowly across the ground, not intending to come into any more fighting, nor was she ready to go back to prison. She still kept her bow ready. She crawled around until she was just behind the corner of a ruined wall. She leaned against it as she listened closely to a few voices.

'--Yeah, This was the best place to pick for robbing wagon caravans!' Lazula heard a raspy voice say.

'Still, this place gives me the creeps.' A softer voice said.

'Why? We've got the place mostly lit up around the camp inside; I don't see what's to be scared of.' The raspy voice said again.

'I know that, but can't you feel it still? There is something else deeper below.' The softer voice said.

'Quit your bitchin Two-Piece, it's just an old ruin, nothing else. Now keep watch whilst Aesor takes a nap.' A new voice said, closer to Lazula this time.

'Sleeping out in the rain? Bah.' The raspy voice snorted who Lazula assumed was Aesor.

'If I didn't bitch, how would you know it was me?' The soft voice muttered, who Lazula assumed to be Two-Piece. Lazula also assumed she was kin, an Argonian like her for the way she sounded.

Lazula crawled across the gap between the larger ruin and the piece of ruined wall she was hiding behind. She moved quickly, ready to spring up and start sprinting at the moment voices called out her presence. She sighed softly and quietly in relief when nobody yelled out. She looked out and saw there was a main road nearby the ruin. She began running from the ruin towards the road, bent-double. She blended so well in the grass that she wasn't spotted by the watch, whoever they were. In a few moments, Lazula was onto the road and traveling... Somewhere.

Lazula looked about her for any sign of light, a torch fire in particular through the dark rainy night. With it would either be an average traveler or average patrol of guard. Lazula seemed to know the guards really well, the kind of experience of being chased relationship, but she couldn't remember why. I bet my instinct will know why. Lazula thought smugly as she ran quickly on the road, keeping sight of the darkness in front of her. Hidden thoughts and memories began to strike up in head, bare shadows of what they are supposed to truly depict. A young Argonian girl running through the streets of an unknown town. Behind her were a small contingency of guards with only a white uniform and iron chain mail. The Argonian girl was smiling though, as if she was having fun.

Suddenly Lazula came back to reality, and realized someone was yelling. She had come to a crossroad with arches over it and a small tower next to it. Lazula had looked at the road to her left as she was running and then stopped. She had seen torchlight and simply stood there in the rain. Then when her eyes focused on the person behind the torch, her eyes grew wide as she heard the words.

'Hey! Stop right there criminal!' The guard yelled, who was sitting on his horse. Lazula just ran, not listening to the guard's cries and more feeling scared as she heard the faint, yet sharp ring of a sword being pulled cleanly from its sheath. She was grabbed for some arrows, but she realized that she had no more. Lazula gritted her teeth as she left her bow be on her back, and ran evermore faster. She wasn't too sure if she could outrun a horse, but all she could do was hope. Suddenly, Lazula had an idea. She stopped and drew her short sword. Probably wasn't a good weapon to use against a rider, but Lazula didn't intend to kill. As soon as the horse got close enough, Lazula yelled out as she stabbed the air with her short sword, scaring the horse into rearing upwards so suddenly. The guard, who was holding both his sword and torch and leaning forward, fell off the horse and onto his back on the cobblestone path. Lazula quickly sheathed her weapon and swung herself around the horse's strong neck and onto the saddle, patting the horse on the neck twice instead of using the reins. Strangely enough, the horse acknowledged this before Lazula thought about the reins and began galloping forward and down the road, the guard's yells being faintly heard in a matter of moments. The wind and rain was rushing against Lazula as she rode her horse through the night. Lazula turned her head a little bit to steal a glance of the already-distant guard. But then she saw that his cries were not to just her. Two more guards on their horses had begun pursuing Lazula down the road. Lazula merely hugged the horse's neck and hoped it would be able to outrun her pursuers.

A few minutes inward and the guards still persisted in their chase of Lazula, Lazula looked up to see where she was, and saw that there was a bridge not far away lined with torches. Lazula nicely urged the horse again to move faster with another two pats on the neck. The horse seemed to nod, and galloped much faster. In a few moments, Lazula was much closer to the bridge. Suddenly Lazula was riding through a small battle zone next to some crossroads. Bandits and a small caravan, from the looks of it. Lazula simply urged the horse to charge through the ensuing chaos. As she rode past the battle, Lazula looked back and saw that one of her pursuers had stopped to stop the battle, whilst his partner and the other guard from before continued chasing Lazula on horseback. Lazula began crossing the bridge, and her hopes began to soar. But that hope didn't last. By the time Lazula reached halfway across the great bridge, she saw more torchlight and guards, on the other side of the bridge. She slowed to a halt as the cries of the guards behind her alerted the party at the other side of the bridge, bringing a small party of guards on horseback to trap Lazula. She walked around in a circle before finally realizing she was in the inevitable situation. She was trapped.

Lazula dismounted her horse and gave it a nudge. A nudge that meant for the horse to return to its masters. The horse hesitated for a second or too, before seeing Lazula's face and then reluctantly moving back to the guards' side behind Lazula. One of the guards dismounted first, before all the guards dismounted, their swords drawn and ready to cut down Lazula if she tried to escape. The one that had dismounted first began speaking.

'Come with us. This does not have to end badly.' The guard said calmly. But already the thoughts of returning to the cell began to cause a racking pain in Lazula's mind.

'No...' She said shaking her head. 'No, no I... I won't... I won't...' Lazula began to walk backwards towards the left side of the bridge, suddenly looking behind her after she stopped at the stone fence.

'You have to do it; we don't want to hurt you. Just come peace--' The guard began, but Lazula cut him off.

'No! I won't go back! You can't make me go back!' Lazula cried out, her eyes shedding tears that ran down her face, mixing with the heavy rain as she shook her head violently. She stepped up onto the railing and all the guards took a step forward before the other one stopped them.

'No! Stay your weapons!' He yelled. They all took one step back as he stepped forward, his sword sheathed. 'You don't want to do that. If you fall... You could die.' He said calmly, trying to convince Lazula to come peacefully. But returning to prison was the last thing Lazula would do.

'Better to die than to have my freedom taken away again.' She whispered, before taking that last step backwards.

'Wait, no!' The guard yelled as he ran forward to stop Lazula. But he was too late. Lazula was already falling headfirst through the air, the wind rushing past her face. And after a second or two, Lazula had hit the cold water of the Upper Niben, unconscious and powerless to do anything as the river current carried her downstream.