The square lay open before them.
"Over there!" gasped Eria, pointing to the low wall at the end of the square. "Behind that is the canal!"
He nodded. Their legs burned from running, but they kept up the pace. The exit was so close.
Just a few more meters - and they would be free.
But -
"Stand still!"
The voice cut through the silence like a whip lash.
Behind them suddenly stood the infamous General Oxwin, whose skill in war had once conquered this city for the earl.
His armor gleamed in the light of the gas lanterns, his cloak was tattered by the wind. And yet he looked noble to them. He had a spear in his hand, as long as a full-grown man.
"You rats thought you could get away, didn't you?" he growled, his voice calm but vibrating with rage.
"I can smell it when there's a capable fellow prowling around."
His eyes were literally glued to Nidal
Both stared at him.
The general laughed, dry and cold.
"Have you lost your tongue, children?"
Then everything happened too quickly.
A kick, precise and brutal, hit the boy in the side. He flew against the pillar and crashed to the ground.
She cried out and quickly rushed to him - but the general grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back.
"Leave him!" she screamed, kicking around, but his fist hit her stomach like a battering ram. The air left her lungs. She slumped down. The boy groggily tried to get to his feet.
Blood ran down his lip.
His eyes searched for her and found her on the floor - in the hands of the general, who looked at her disparagingly.
"So . . you wanted to escape. Then why don't you see what's waiting for you down there?"
And threw the girl into the canal. She landed in the water so that she didn't hurt herself. He jumped in after her and tried to help her.
The general jumped after her and stopped him.
"Boy, stay with me," he said calmly.
"Don't touch me, stranger!" he shouted at him. Whereupon he kicked him in the side again.
The girl managed to pull herself together.
"Get out of here, you barbarians!" she said with a look of fear in her eyes.
He just laughed at her.
She pulled out a small knife that she must have taken from home. It was a small, normal kitchen knife that most people probably had at home.
"Girl, throw the knife away. You don't look like your kind at all."
He slowly approached the girl.
It started to rain a little.
He grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her towards him. He knocked the knife out of her hand. And then threw her back into the water with force so that he could concentrate fully on Nidal again.
He took him by the collar and pressed him against the canal wall. And punched him several times in the stomach, then threw him to the side.
"G-get off. Don't touch him!" the girl screamed.
"You wanted it this way, it could have turned out differently. Do you know that? If you'd just let me have my fun with him." he said disappointedly.
The rain was getting heavier.
Nidal writhed on the ground in pain. He saw the general walking slowly towards the girl and heard his disgusting laugh.
He picked her up with one hand and dragged her to the canal water. He grabbed her by both shoulders and threw her into the water with all his strength.
He grabbed her again and again he plunged her into the filthy water, she could barely catch her breath. And just begged for her life. But the general ignored this.
"You wanted this, and the brat comes directly with me and is chastised by me in private!"
Nidal slowly straightens up.
He tries, falling to his knees again and again.
"Miserable bastard!" he shouts. And storms straight towards the general.
He turns his head.
But the knife was already stuck in his throat. His blood was first spread over the knife, then his upper body, then the whole floor was full of his blood. his blood.
Without uttering a single word, he toppled to the side into the water like a lifeless doll.
At first, Nidal stared wide-eyed at his blood-smeared hands. Until he came to his senses and shouted: "Eria. . .! Are you all right?"
He quickly ran to her.
She was still alive. But her breathing stopped. He picked her up and carried her quickly to the canal entrance. Where he then set her down.
He was only a step away.
The rain was now a thunderstorm.
His hands were still smeared with blood.
"He's dead. It . . it's over."
His voice was barely audible.
She lifted her head slowly, she barely had any strength left. Her eyes - wide, frightened, raised - then found his.
"You . . killed him?"
He nodded. Just once. Still he stared at her as she stared at him.
"H-he would have killed you."
Silence.
You could hear the rushing water in the canal and the hammering of the drops of water from the thunderstorm.
"I... how he pushed me under the water..." she whispered.
"Everything got so... dark."
She stroked slowly through her wet red hair.
"I thought that was it with me. . ."
Then he knelt down, trying to clean his hands in a puddle of water.
"I didn't know what I was doing. I . . . just. . ."
"You saved me."
She was quiet about it, no complaint, no judgment, and absolutely no anger in her voice.
"Are you afraid?" she finally asked.
He hesitated. At first he nodded, but then.
"No. . . somehow not."
He looked at her. Her hair stuck to her cheek, her eyes shone in the light of the evening moon.
"I wish . . . maybe."
She leaned forward, took his hand and kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you."
The night wasn't over yet, but the darkness was beginning to fade. A pale gray settled over the narrow streets where the rain had finally subsided. Only the dripping of water from overflowing gutters could be heard. It was quieter than usual.
They walked in silence, side by side, along the canal that ran like a vein under the city.
Where the water led out into the open - that was their destination.
Their clothes still clung to them, blood and rain mixing to form dark streaks on their skin.
"Up ahead. . ." she finally mumbled. "That's where we come out."
He only nodded.
The exit looked old, it was overgrown, and debris blocked the direct passage.
They crawled through, first she, then he.
On the other side, the first breath of morning greeted them. The world was silent. Not a bird sang, not a person could be heard or seen. Just a wide, open strip of land, half swallowed by the morning mist, and above it - the sky, which was slowly getting brighter.
They stopped for a moment.
She turned them towards him.
"So you want to go west?" she said. "The roads are still relatively safe there."
He fell silent. His eyes rested on her.
"Yes. . . and you?" he finally answered her quietly.
"I'm going south, to my uncle. He'll probably already be waiting for me. You . . maybe you could come with me."
"I still have to find something. Something that could be very important to me. At least that's what it feels like."
She took a breath and took a step closer.
"I hope you find what you're looking for."
"And I hope you have a safe journey to your uncle."
Silence.
She laid her head on his shoulder for a moment.
"Thank you," was the only thing she said, and the last words Nidal would hear from her for a long time.
Then she turned around. Her steps were quie. He watched her until the fog swallowed her up.
And with the first light of the sun that settled over the green meadows, they were gone.