Most of us long to "Be" but when the path gets too costly, or steep, we take solace in what we "Have." Remove the trappings of what we own, and then what is the sum of us?
They were the survivors, abandoned by the allies who swore to protect, in...
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Renard covered the arid terrain swiftly and without incident, not sighting another living soul for the entirety of his expedition. Journeying back to Bennett's desperate valley stronghold at last. His mission to locate his sister without delay the only thing paramount on his mind. It was almost midday, bright and sunny, and a slight cooling breeze blew up from the southwest as the familiar, steep sided cleft came finally into view. He had ridden hard all of yesterday, camping overnight in the ruins of an abandoned settlement, leaving to resume his journey at first light.
Renard had no concrete ideas on just how he was going to go about the task he had set himself, he would just have to play it cool and see how his arrival was perceived by Bennett's remaining warriors. However Renard was confident that he was more than capable of running mental rings around Pig and his bunch if he was pressed to do so.
In the back of his mind though, worry still ate at him. Renard's plans somewhat hampered by his having no clear picture to draw on of the events of the battle. He knew not who, or how many of Bennett's men had escaped Lothar's trap, his only surety was that Bennett, Sven and Gareth were at last conveniently out of the picture. That was something at least, but he knew that he probably did not have long before the first of the fleeing injured returned to camp and blew his cover. His desertion, perhaps even his traitorous intentions would not have gone unnoticed. Renard would have to work quickly, making every moment count if he was to succeed.
*****
There was no privacy here at all, not for anything, eyes watched and scrutinized his every slightest movement, even now. Bennett prowled the confines of the steel cage restlessly like a big cat, repeatedly running his fingers along the bars, and alternatively sitting on the bed. Sven and Gareth had at last awoken some hours back, taking in their undesirable situation also, the two men flashing Bennett meaningful looks through the grid of polished bars, but they remained silent not wishing to give anything away to their captors that could be used against them.
The days had passed ever so tediously in this way, though Bennett had no idea if it was indeed day or night above, or much else for that matter. The hard metal and white tiled walls, the floors of cold poured concrete revealed nothing to him of outside. In this place devoid of natural sunlight and fresh air, there was only the impersonal feel the all encompassing steel bathed with eerie artificial light. Lights that remained burning twenty-four hours a day, every day without respite. The only break to this monotony of endless hours came with the changing of the watch, and every so often a cowed looking young boy would be sent up from the kitchens to bring the warder, and the prisoners food.
Bennett spent these initial mind numbing hours looking for weaknesses that he might exploit but found none he could use to his advantage. This prison was expertly made, solid, and strong, offering little opportunity for escape. The giant of a man deciding that his only chance of freedom would be if his captors chose to move him from the cell. Any who tried this would be very vulnerable at that moment. Bennett could kill a man easily with his hands such was his brute power, and it would take many men to restrain him against his will, perhaps it was his best and only chance of freedom. If and when it eventuated, he would have to try his luck.
