Free Rescuing the Captive: The Ingenairii Series by Jeffrey Quyle

brought tears to his cheeks. The murals illustrated stories that he recollected as he studied them, and he sat for over an hour looking at the portrayal of a man pulling down a temple by wrenching the columns he was chained to.
    The next week, Alec went to the bank to make his monthly withdrawal of cash. He made one visit each month to take money from one of their accounts, trying to live as simple and unobtrusive a life as possible. Only the wish to supplement Delphi’s gymnasium caused him to draw large sums from the vaults, though recently business had begun to send a regular flow of cash into the old man’s ledger as the facility became cleaner, the neighborhood grew safer, and the reputation of the training rose.
    Alec sat at a banker’s desk and gave his account information, now able to read and write rudimentary snippets of the forms required for withdrawals. “I’ll be right back,” his banker said after looking in Alec’s file to confirm the fund amount, and he stepped into the vault.
    When the banker sat back down with a small leather bag of coins, Alec felt the hair rise on the back of his neck and goose pimples sprang up on his arms. Something was wrong, he could sense it in the banker, and he swung his head, scanning the interior of the bank for signs of danger. Three men in constabulary uniforms were approaching from the front door, while three men with unfamiliar uniforms were guarding the side doors now.
    “ These men would like to talk to you about your account,” the banker said as the constables arrived. He stood up and edged away from his desk, as Alec looked at him with a glare.
    “ Your name is Alec? Have you ever been in Krimshelm?” the lead officer asked as he sat in a chair facing Alec.
    “ My name is Alec, and I don’t know much about Krimshelm,” he answered, his heart starting to beat rapidly. He felt a sudden lift, and the world around him seemed to slow its motions. The incredible powers he possessed had suddenly transformed him, and he was aware of what he could do to escape the trap he was in. His left leg pushed the banker’s desk hard, causing it to slide several feet and knock the retreating banker down, while his right foot hooked the leg of the constable’s chair and raised it to tip the man backwards into his two companions. Alec rose from his seat and sprinted towards the unguarded front door.
    He heard the twang of a bowstring behind him, and heard the fletchings of an arrow whisper in the air as the shaft headed towards him. There was a woman just entering the bank, and Alec realized that the arrow was likely to hit her as he darted outside. Reaching up, he grabbed the shaft of the missile as it passed his shoulder and flung it down to the ground. He just saw the mobile change in the woman’s face as she witnessed the instrument of her own death approach and disappear. With that he was out the door and running hard through the streets. He ran away from his own home, then stepped inside a building and stormed up the stairs to find a door that provided access to the roof.
    Peering over the parapet, he saw several men in the uniforms of the Conglomerate’s private security forces. Many men. Very many men. It looked like a whole regiment coming down the street, entering many buildings, and pulling men and a few women out. Alec ran across the roof of the building and looked at the street scene below that side of the building; there too a body of security forces were taking more captives as well. As he watched, Alec saw one man struggle to free himself, and Alec saw with horror that a soldier cavalierly executed the man, and left the body in the street. A woman screamed, and ran to kneel over the motionless body.
    Alec ran retraced his steps across the roof, slipping on a patch of ice, then bolted down the stairs, along a dim hallway, and out a back door into an alley that opened upon the tragic death he had seen. With his sword in his hand, Alec sloshed through dirty snow