Xuander 2 (edit)

Xuander was running as fast as he could through the clingy green vines that hung from branches high above. The vines grabbed at Xuanders clothing, slowing him down. Behind him he could hear his pursuers cutting through the nearly impregnable wall of vine. Xuander tried to run faster but felt as if he were simply running in place. Suddenly, the vines thinned out to reveal an old house. Xuander knew that somehow, if he could only reach that house his freedom would be secured. He tried to run faster but found he couldn’t move. The vines were rapping around his legs, up his thighs and around his body. The vines jolted and made him fall onto his face, all the while creeping up his chest and around his neck, tightening as it did. No matter how desperately Xuander struggled he could not free himself from his binds. He heard his pursuers break free from the vines and walk towards him, chuckling. A rough hand grabbed Xuanders hair and lifted him to his knees, and then the hands owner brought his face within eyesight of Xuanders fading vision. The face belonged to…
Xuander woke with a start; his hand instantly went to his throat where it met something cold and hard. At first he thought it was the vine, but then realized that it wasn’t squeezing. Xuander forced himself calm as he investigated further. It was a collar, attached to it was a long chain that xuander soon discovered was attached to a wall. The wall was rough and hard, a stone wall. Xuander stood and investigated the room as much as his leash would allow him. Xuander soon realized that he was in one of the prison cells in the very bottom of the castle.
Xuander leaned against the wall and took deep breaths to calm his self; the dungeon was not a pleasant place to be for someone who had just killed the most powerful man in the country. He had been assigned to feeding the prisoners some years back and knew what happened to those who were locked in the stone cells. Suddenly the door opened and a man stepped in, a bright torch in his hand. The man was dressed in the attire of castle guards, a green uniform with the insignia of the perched raven on his chest. The guard placed the torch in a bracket on the wall and walked towards Xuander, who was still getting used to the light, and knelt down in front of him. Xuander looked the man in the eye, not showing any weakness. If they were going to torture him, then so be it. The man looked at xuander with curiosity, as if he were some unknown creature, “you are Xuander? The killer of kings?” the guard asked doubtfully. Xuander was a rather small figure, slightly under the average height of the average man, so it was rather hard to comprehend to someone such as a prison guard that Xuander could kill anyone, much less a king.
“Yes” xuander replied solemnly. He was in no mood to discuss his actions with this curious guard.
“You’re a scrawny little bugger, aren’t you?” the guard smirked. Xuander bit back a response that he knew would get earn him a punishing blow over the head. The guard laughed and went to leave, taking the torch with him. Just before he left the cell he turned and said quite seriously, “You know, if your smart you just might get out of here alive.” Then he left, closing the heavy iron door behind him. Xuander heard the door lock and the fading echo of the guard’s footsteps as he left xuander to his thoughts. Why had the guard said what he did? Xuander knew he would be executed after he was punished for his crime, so he would not be let free. But maybe there was a way he could escape his fate?
After pondering for an immeasurable amount of time, xuander decided to sleep while he could. Xuander lay down of the hard stone floor face down, for his back was still throbbing from his flogging, and fell into a deep, dreamless slumber.