With nothing better to do, Killian decided to work on the stake. He knew that even if he made it outside the guards would simply beat him until he couldn't think and then tie him even more tightly, and he wouldn't get far with his legs manacled and wrists bound.

Yet Killian decided to try anyway. It was better to die fighting than to give up all hope.

~

IT WAS nearly the middle of the night and Killian's ankles were bleeding freely as he pushed the stake away from him, and then pulled it towards him, again and again. The blood trickled down into the hole, but the moisture seemed to actually be helping, creating a loose mud. Killian's wrists were bruised and the skin was red and torn, but he kept at it, pushing, and pulling, pushing, and pulling…

He stopped, breathing heavily, and decided it was time to try to get the stake free again. He squatted down with his hands clasped around the pole and he slowly tried to stand, feeling the veins throbbing in his forehead as he pulled on the stake.

He could feel it coming! Killian groaned with effort, stifling the sound, until he finally felt the stake slide out of the earth, and he stood up to his full height.

His legs were still manacled, but he could now hold the chain in his hands. Positioned at the end of the chain, the stake now made a handy weapon. His wrists were still bound, but Killian had been a thief and an acrobat. He could still move; enough to take some of the enemy with him at any rate.

Killian retreated to the hut's far wall, as far as he could get from the door. He tucked his head into his shoulder, and with the clumsy gait his manacled ankles gave him, he ran at the door.

Killian knew how to move so that all of the power in his body was directed to his hands, or his feet, and this time he put all of his power into his shoulder.

The poorly-built frame splintered instantly. Killian's momentum took him forwards, so that he tumbled out of the door and onto the ground, rolling and then picking himself up as best he could.

Killian looked around him. He knew what he was doing was suicide, but if he could take one or two of the sadistic guards with him, it would be worth it.

Strangely, the guards hadn't come at the noise of Killian bursting through the doorway. Where were they?

Killian ducked his head as the sound of a thunderous boom came from everywhere at once.

Killian saw thousands of huddled prisoners come to their feet uncertainly, wondering what was going on.