Chapter 47: The Devil Himself
I didn't want to go back, we were starting to run out of time, there is no telling when Lord Skarde will be here which is going to be any moment from now since the guards are yet to arrive.
"Let's get out of here first, we can come back for them another time!" I said turning to leave but one of the prisoners grabbed me by my arm.
I turned around only to see the old man holding me by my sleeve. "Please, they will kill the rest if they don't find us there!" He pleaded, "It's better we get out of this place altogether or better yet leave us here so that way we won't die with guilt when we get out."
I stood rooted to the place at the words the old man said. His desperate tone transmitted a weight which crashed down on my shoulders. His grip on my sleeve felt feeble yet he maintained entire steadfastness.
"I really want to help, I really want to." I told them my voice pleading, "But we need to leave now, there's no time and if we stay here, then we will all die!"
The old man's eyes were misty with tears as he stared up at me. "Leaving will lead to punishment for those who remain. Do you desire to have others' blood dripping from your hands?"
Fuck! I thought to myself as the room seemed to shrink with unspoken accusations. The old man was right, but there was no way I could get them all out of here. Lord Skarde's men were all well trained, I was barely holding my own with the guards from earlier and there was no doubt more on their way now.
Yet, as I stared into the old man's gaze and the rest of the prisoner, I knew that there was no way I was going to convince them to leave this place without the others.
Their desperate eyes of the prisoners held mine as they waited on my choice that was either going to protect or doom them all. The pressure from my responsibilities so trapped my chest that I could barely breathe.