The streets begin to fill as more soldiers and guards race toward Lord Cytok’s estate. Having had to duck into another alley to avoid detection, they wait for the squad of men to pass. Then James spreads his hands wide as ten small floating spheres appear before him. With a wave of his hand, they begin floating away in different directions.
“What’re those going to do?” Jiron asks. “Aren’t they going to attract any mages in the area?”
“That’s the idea,” replies James. “Hopefully they’ll be so intent on tracking down what they think are rogue mages, that we’ll be able to slip though, unnoticed.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jiron says. Once the spheres have left the alley, he takes one more look up and down. Not seeing anyone in the vicinity, he reenters the street with the others right behind. He keeps them to one side of the street as they quickly make their way to the gate leading out of the inner walled area.
As they approach the gate to the outer area, they see a squad of soldiers with a mage stationed there. The mage is looking down the street they are approaching on but has yet to detect them.
“Damn!” James exclaims when he sees them. They duck down an alley where they stop to determine what they’re going to do.
“Now what?” Delia asks.
“I’m thinking,” he replies as they pause for a moment.
“Think faster,” Scar says as he points to several squads of soldiers entering through the gates. The mage there gives them directions as they move past and the squads split up as each moves in a different direction.
A squad turns to head in their direction and looks to be heading for the alley they’re hiding in. “Move!” Jiron urges as he leads them further into the alley, away from the approaching soldiers.
“The whole army is on the move to find us,” Potbelly says from the rear.
“We invaded the home and humiliated a very powerful and important leader,” Roland explains. “They’ll not let us just walk away.”
The alley ends at another cross street. To their right, the street approaches the wall before intersecting with another street running perpendicular to it. A three story building has been built right up against the wall. James takes a closer look and realizes the top of it is only several feet from the top of the wall.
Jiron glances up to where James is looking and grins, “That’ll work.” Making sure the street is currently clear of soldiers, they leave the alley and run down the street to the building. It looks to be someone’s residence. He goes to the door and tries to open it, but discovers it’s locked. No time for niceties, he kicks it in and the door swings wide, slamming into the wall.
Rushing inside, they quickly close the door behind them. Potbelly moves to a window and looks out. “I don’t think anyone saw us,” he tells the others.
Jiron finds the stairs going up and begins to climb them when a man appears at the top with a drawn sword. The man holds his sword menacingly as he descends three steps before saying something that could only be ‘Get out of my home!’
“I don’t have time for this,” Jiron says as he draws his knives and moves to the top of the stairs. In a quick exchange, the man’s sword lies on the stairs and Jiron has a knife threatening him. Turning the man around, he propels him back to the top of the stairs.
A woman is standing further down the hallway with three children held tightly to her. Her eyes widen in fear when she sees her husband emerging from the stairs with a knife held against him. She says something to him and he replies, motioning for them to stay back.
“Tell them to get in that room,” Jiron says to Roland, indicating one that’s near the woman.
Roland tells them and the woman slowly backs her way into it, taking the children with her. One of the young girls begins to cry and she does her best to quiet her. “Tell them to be quiet and we won’t kill them,” Jiron says as he pushes the man into the room with his family.
Grabbing his children, the man turns to Roland and listens to what he’s being told and then nods his head and replies.
Roland says, “They’ll be silent.”
Jiron nods his head as he shuts the door on the family. They find another set of stairs leading up and they race to the third floor. “Split up and find the access to the roof,” Jiron tells everyone as he continues down the hallway from the stairs. Doors begin to open as they all search the rooms for a way to the roof, they know that time is against them.
“It’s in here!” they hear Scar yell from the far end of the building. Set in the roof of a small room is a trapdoor with a rope hanging down from it. Pulling on it, the trapdoor swings open and a ladder extends down allowing access to the roof. With Scar in the lead, they climb the ladder and once everyone is on the roof, James severs the rope for the trap door before pulling it closed behind them.
The inner town wall is just five feet above the roof of the building. Jiron runs over to it and jumps, grabbing hold of the top, and then pulls himself up onto the wall. He reaches down a hand and helps Scar up just as a guard patrolling the wall sees them and begins crying the alarm. Drawing his sword, the guard rushes toward them.
Once Scar has reached the top, he draws his sword and moves to engage the approaching guard while Jiron helps the others up. In trepidation, he observes three more are on their way behind the first guard. “Hurry up man, we’ve got company!” he hollers to Jiron just before he parries a thrust by the guard.
Jiron helps Potbelly up who rushes to Scar’s aid. Delia next, Roland and then James gain the top of the wall.
Scar and Potbelly have disposed of the first guard and are moving to intercept the three oncoming guards. Jiron runs to help them as James tries to figure out where they need to be going. On the other side of the wall, all the houses are at least fifteen feet away. Makes sense, he reasons, they let people on the inside build close because they’re not worried about people getting out so much as they are about them getting in. It’s a thirty foot drop to the ground so they won’t be jumping down that way. The wall they’re on extends all the way to the outer wall.
James looks over to where Jiron and the others are fighting just as the last guard falls. He cries out, “Toward the outer wall, hurry!”
Two more soldiers are running to intercept them from the direction of the outer wall, and the fighters move to engage. Roland and Delia move quickly to follow Jiron and the others, with James right behind. Jiron takes the first one as Potbelly blocks a downward thrust from the second and then follows through with a thrust, taking him through the stomach, just below the breastbone. He kicks the guard off his sword with his foot as Jiron pushes the guard he was fighting over the wall, the man’s scream can be heard all the way down until he hits the ground below.
Behind them, eight guards are running down the wall to catch them. One has a crossbow and lets a bolt fly but it goes wide, narrowly missing Scar.
James turns and takes out a slug which he throws, hitting the crossbowman square in the chest, causing him to stagger and then fall off the wall.
“Here!” Roland hollers to them. They turn and see him there with a bucket that’s tied to a long rope. “We can climb down,” he explains.
James glances down the outward side of the wall and doesn’t see anyone there, guess they figured on them not being able to get down here. “Looks clear,” he tells them. He and Roland hold the rope as Jiron shinnies down.
Scar and Potbelly have positioned themselves to hold off the oncoming guards, giving the others a chance to get down. As Jiron makes it to the ground, the guards reach Scar and Potbelly, and the crash of swords can be heard as they engage.
Turning to Delia, James says, “You’re next.” He and Roland hold the rope secure while she makes her way down. Glancing over to the fighting, James sees one of the guards has already fallen but that Scar and Potbelly have to give ground as they’re being pushed backward by the remaining seven.
Roland tells James, “Go on!”
Shaking his head, he says, “You first.”
Not wanting to take the time to argue, Roland takes the rope and swings over the side as James holds onto it. He glances back to Scar and Potbelly and it doesn’t look good. Even though another guard has hit the ground, there’s still too many, it’s only a matter of time before one or the other falls.
The tension on the rope disappears and he looks down, seeing that Roland has made it to the ground. “Come on!” he hollers up to him.
Securing the end of the rope around a merlon he hollers over to the fighters, “Let’s go!”
Scar replies, “We’ll never make it!” He parries with one sword and then takes the guard through the stomach with his other. “You go,” he tells him, “we’ll hold them off!”
Potbelly is holding his own, but there’s just too many for them to last. As he watches them fighting, anger and frustration build within him until it’s like a white hot sun.
“Scar, Potbelly! Get down, NOW!” his voice thunders behind them.
Almost reflexively, they drop to the ground as an invisible wave passes over them and they watch as the guards are lifted and thrown backward, some screaming as they fall to their deaths to the ground below. Once it’s past, they get up and hurry over to James where he’s staggering a little. Scar asks, “You okay?” as they steady him.
Nodding his head, James just says, “Let’s get off this damn wall.” He sees a couple of the guards are getting back up from where they had been thrown backward along the top of the wall.
They let James go first and then Scar with Potbelly coming last. When James reaches the ground, he says to Jiron, “What I did up there is going to be like a beacon for every mage in the city. They’re going to know where we are.”
“Then let’s get the hell out of here!” Jiron says as they start to race toward the main gates to the city. A squad of five men turns into the street ahead of them, coming in their direction. When they see James’ group running toward them, they let out a cry and draw their swords as they rush to attack.
A slug strikes one, felling him before they even get close. Jiron takes the next one, knives flashing as they parry and strike.
Potbelly and Scar face the remaining three; Scar’s two swords quickly take out one while Potbelly holds his own with the second but is unable to gain an opening to finish him. Scar engages the remaining one and soon has him on the ground as well. “You got him?” he asks, looking over to Potbelly as he continues exchanging blows with the guard.
“Yeah!” he replies as he blocks and holds his opponent’s sword with his knife, while following through with his sword, taking him through the chest. His sword gets caught in between his opponent’s ribs and is unable to pull it free. Leaving the sword there, he grabs the dead guard’s sword just as Jiron’s opponent falls to the ground. Then they’re off again for the gate.
This area is relatively clear as most of the guards and soldiers have gone to the inner section of the city to hunt for them. They’re able to run quickly through the streets without fear of being attacked and it isn’t long before the gates appear ahead of them. “There they are!” Jiron shouts to them as they race for freedom.
They come to a quick stop when they see at least thirty soldiers in formation before the gate, as well as a mage. “You cannot escape!” the mage hollers to them where they’ve stopped in the middle of the street. “You are greatly outnumbered.”
James takes a slug and throws it at the mage who erects a barrier, causing it to ricochet off harmlessly.
The mage just smiles, as he makes ready to cast a spell. James counters with a spell he’s been devising for just such a time and is able to release it before the other can cast his. The mage knows James has done something but can’t detect anything. He releases a bolt of power and the shield he erected around himself to ward off the slug suddenly turns orange as the bolt of power bounces off the shield, turning back onto the mage.
With a scream of pain, the bolt blasts through the mage before hitting the shield again and then bounces back. The bolt then proceeds to fly from one side of the shield to another until finally running its course. James releases his spell on the shield and the mage, now a charred corpse, falls to the ground.
In stunned silence, the guards at the gate stare for a second at the smoking remnants of their mage lying there in the street and then a cry erupts from then as they charge forward.
Crumph!
James releases the power again and the ground under the approaching men explodes upward, tossing bodies and debris in every direction. A few men were forward of the area that erupted and are thrown forward by the blast. Jiron and the other pit fighters quickly take them out before they have a chance to recover.
Behind them, they can hear running feet as hundreds of guards and soldiers, who had been in the inner area of the city, race to catch them. “To the gate!” James cries as he begins running through the devastated area littered with dead bodies before them.
“But it’s closed!” Delia cries as she hurries behind him.
“Leave that to me,” James tells her as they race toward the gate.
From atop the wall, crossbowmen begin raining down bolts at them. But by luck’s good grace, they all fail to hit their mark.
At the gate, they turn to see the courtyard beginning to fill with soldiers, hell bent on engaging them. “There’re too many!” shouts Scar.
“James hurry!” Jiron yells as he and the other pit fighters turn to face the oncoming men. Being so close to the gates, the crossbowmen on the wall are no longer able to fire upon them. He glances back and sees James standing next to the gates with his hands resting upon them.
Then with an ear deafening crash, the gates fly open and James sags to the ground. On the other side, two guards stand in stunned amazement at the opening of the gates. Scar and Potbelly quickly turn and move through the gate, taking them out in short order. Jiron helps James up and half carries him as they hurry through the gate.
Behind them, a swarm of men armed with swords fill the streets as they race for the broken gates, hot on their trail. Crossbow bolts fly at them from the walls again once they’ve passed beyond their protecting cover, but none find their mark.
Suddenly, they hear horses approaching from the southwest, hooves thundering toward them across the bridge that spans the river. Getting set to sell their lives dearly, they’re stunned to see Shorty and Yorn racing toward them. Behind them are Ezra and Stig, as well as extra horses for each of them.
“Come on!” Shorty yells as they race toward them. He gets down and helps assist Jiron in getting James in the saddle as everyone mounts. Once done, they quickly get in the saddle and then begin racing back toward the bridge. Potbelly cries out from his saddle as a bolt strikes him in the side.
“Potbelly!” Scar yells as he slows to come to his friend’s aid.
“I’ll make it!” he yells back to his friend as he holds his side, bursts of pain exploding from where the bolt is sticking out with every stride his horse takes.
As they cross the bridge, James slows his horse and then comes to a stop. He begins to dismount when Jiron hollers to him, “What the hell are you doing?”
“Delaying them,” he replies. “I may not be good for much after this, so be prepared for that. I need a few minutes.”
Looking back at the mass of soldiers running toward them, he says, “You ain’t got a few a minutes!”
James ignores him as he concentrates. Jiron watches as the center of the bridge begins to glow and then becomes dark again. James suddenly sags to the bridge, unconscious.
“Damn!” Jiron says as he dismounts. Coming to his side, he puts James back onto his horse and secures him to the saddle with rope. He gets back on his horse, grabs the reins to James’ horse and then leads him quickly over the bridge to where the others are waiting for them.
“What did you stop for?” Scar asks as they approach.
“I’m not sure,” he replies. “Let’s get going!”
As they gallop away, the first of the pursuing men gain the bridge.
Crumph!
The concussion wave washes over them and they turn to see the bridge exploding into the air. A twenty foot gap now separates the two sides of the river.
“Damn!” Scar says.
“Let’s move,” Jiron says. “We don’t know how long we’ll have before they manage to get around that.”
Potbelly groans and then begins to topple off his horse. Scar jumps down and hurries over to his friend’s side, catching him before he hits the ground.
Potbelly looks up to Scar as he lays him on the ground, “I guess this is my last fight.”
Scar sees Delia there and she bends down to examine the wound. “It’s hit nothing vital,” she tells him. “If we can get the blood to stop, he should be alright.”
Jiron looks back to the river and can see that they’ve already started moving some boats toward the broken bridge to begin ferrying men across. “We don’t have much time,” he tells her.
“Won’t need much,” she says as she tears a strip of cloth off her shirt.
Jiron looks again and sees ten men disembarking from the boats. They begin running to close with them. Two knives fly in quick succession as Shorty takes out two of the attackers.
“Hurry please!” Jiron says as he and the others move to engage with the oncoming men. Side by side, the pit fighters stand, giving Delia the time to administer to Potbelly. Scar is a terrible foe as his anger for what happened to his friend finds an outlet, his two swords weaving a pattern of death no soldier willingly enters.
As she starts to bind the wound, leaving the bolt in his side, Roland asks, “Aren’t you going to take it out?”
“No,” she replies. “If I do, it’ll leave a hole allowing more blood to escape. He’s already lost too much as it is.”
The attackers fall like stalks of grain before the scythe as they engage the waiting fighters. Keeping her mind on Potbelly and doing her best to ignore the fighting going on fifteen feet away, she finally finishes up with binding his wound. With Roland’s help, they manage to get him on a horse, securing him in the same manner as James. When he’s secured, she turns and yells, “Let’s go!”
She quickly mounts her horse as the pit fighters take out the few remaining soldiers and then run to where their horses are waiting. Glancing back to the river, she sees two more boats disembarking another twenty soldiers. “Hurry!” she yells to Scar and the others as they reach the horses and begin mounting. Crossbow bolts fly at them from the river, but from that distance they’re not much to worry about.
Back into the saddle, they turn and race down the road, leaving the enemy far behind. After putting several miles between them, they slow the horses, saving them in case of the need for speed.
“Where did the other horses come from?” Jiron asks Shorty.
“After you guys left, we figured that we might need to leave in a hurry so we traded all the wagons and the goods for the horses,” he says.
“What about the money chest?” Delia asks.
“It’s divided among the saddlebags,” he tells her. “Each horse is carrying roughly the same amount.”
Jiron nods his head, “Smart thinking.”
Shorty smiles back to him and replies, “We knew you guys wouldn’t be able to leave without disturbing a few people.”
“Yeah,” Yorn interjects. “So we positioned ourselves near the wall and just listened for where the commotion was the loudest and figured that would be where you were.”
“You figured right,” Scar says as he rides next to his friend Potbelly. “We are going to need to find somewhere to hole up for a while, so Potbelly can recover.”
“Any ideas?” Jiron asks.
“We could cut cross country, try to find someplace away from civilization,” Roland suggests.
“But that would be the first place I would look if I was them,” Jiron replies. “Of course, any place near here will be searched in no time, as well. No, I think we better put as much distance between us and them that we can, stay on the road as long as possible.”
Scar understands the logic, but is worried for his friend who doesn’t look very good. “Hang in there Pot ol’ boy,” he says to him.
A little after midnight, James regains consciousness, though is still extremely weak and tired. “What’s going on?” he asks, looking around groggily.
“We’ve been riding all night, ever since you blew up the bridge,” Jiron tells him. “Right now we’re looking for a good place to stop and rest.”
“Can’t take the chance that their forces will get ahead of us,” he says. “We’ve got to keep moving.”
“Potbelly is in a bad way and the horses are tired,” Jiron explains. “We can’t keep going very much longer.”
“I’ll leave it to your judgment then,” he says, before passing out again.
Roland comes up next to him and asks, “Why not go off the road here and see if we can find a spot? We’ve traveled a long ways and hopefully their patrols won’t reach this far so fast.”
“You’re probably right,” he agrees. “Anyway, James and Potbelly need to rest.” He leads them off the road and they travel cross country for another hour before coming to an old abandoned farmhouse. They bring James and Potbelly inside before they picket the horses nearby.
Delia has them lay Potbelly on the floor in the front room. Scar stays with her while the others see to the horses. She begins to unbind his bandages around the bolt. She looks to Scar and says, “It’s time for it to come out.” Removing the rest of the bandages, they can see where the skin around the shaft of the bolt is beginning to turn red. Drops of blood continue to well out from around it.
He nods as he watches her take out a needle and remove a thread from her shirt.
When she has the thread through the eye of the needle and tied securely, she says, “Alright, you gently pull out the bolt and I’ll sew it close.”
He grabs the portion of the bolt sticking out of Potbelly’s side and looks to Delia who nods. Then with a gentle, even pull, he removes the bolt as blood begins streaming out.
“Quickly!” she says to him, “pinch the wound closed so I can sew it together.”
As he holds the wound together to inhibit the flow of blood, he looks to the unconscious Potbelly and murmurs, “Glad you’re not awake for this.” He continues holding the wound together until Delia has completely sewn it closed. Tying it off, she has him remove his hands and the stitches hold securely, only a few drops of blood continue seeping through between the stitches.
Taking some water, she washes away the blood from Potbelly’s side and then dries it with an extra shirt. Using strips of cloth she tore from a spare shirt, she once more binds the wound. When she’s done, she says to Scar, “Hopefully we can rest here at least a day to let this heal. Keep a watch on him and don’t allow him to move around very much, we don’t want him to tear open the stitches.”
“I will,” he assures her as he settles down next to his friend.
When the others have returned from picketing the horses, Jiron sets up a watch schedule and takes the first shift. He finds a place outside where he can see anyone approaching and settles in until its Scar’s turn.
Shortly after he begins his watch, Delia comes out and sits with him. “You need to get some rest,” he tells her.
“In a moment,” she replies. “Just needed to get out of there for a bit.”
“Potbelly’s snores bothering you?” he asks her with a smile.
“No, not really,” she replies back. “I just can’t get being questioned by Lord Cytok off my mind.”
“It’ll get better over time,” he assures her. “Some things, especially intense situations like that, have a way of hanging around longer with you than others.”
“I suppose,” she says. She gives him a quick glance and continues, “Did anyone tell you why he captured us?”
He shakes his head and replies, “No, not yet.”
“Well, the last package on the list was for his estate,” she tells him. “When we went to deliver the goods, the man at the gate called the guards and had us taken. It seems that the smugglers had worked for Lord Cytok, in fact his is the name on that letter James has been showing everyone.”
Nodding his head, he says, “That makes sense.”
“Yeah,” she says. “They held us until he showed up and then began questioning us as to how the letter and the cargo came to be in our possession. He hadn’t been at it very long before you guys showed up.” She lays her head on his shoulder and he puts his arm around her as sobs begin to wrack her body.
Holding her close, he sits there silently as she lets out all the emotions she’s kept bottled up since the ordeal.
When she’s done, she wipes her eyes and says, “Thanks.”
“That’s what friends are for,” he assures her. He gives her one more hug and then says, “Now, you go and get some sleep, you look like you could use it.”
Nodding her head, she begins to turn toward the house. Then she comes back over to him and gives him one last hug before leaving him there alone.
He watches her go until she’s inside the house. Brushing away the tears that had fallen from his eyes in the dark, he turns his attention back to keeping watch.
Late in the night as Stig is taking his turn at watch, he hears horses passing off in the distance. He quickly moves to try to better see where they’re going. In the moonlight he’s able to see a company of twenty empirical horsemen ride past, going to the east.
He continues watching them until they disappear into the night. When he wakes Yorn for his turn, he tells him of the riders before turning in.
Yorn keeps a watchful eye and ear out for any other visitors, but his watch passes quietly.
“This is not the afterlife,” Scar assures Potbelly when he wakes up, thinking he’s dead.
“It’s not?” he asks confused. “But I died last night.” He sits up, even though the pain in his side is throbbing greatly.
“Don’t you tear out those stitches!” Scar admonishes him severely. He lays a hand on his friend and says, “You need to rest and let you’re body heal.”
Potbelly gives his friend an annoying look as he knocks his hand off his shoulder. “Don’t need no nursemaid!” he exclaims. “Been hurt worse than this many times in the pits.”
“Stubborn,” Potbelly tells him, “that’s what you are.”
Tersa walks over to see how he’s doing and he asks, “Are you sure this isn’t the afterlife? For there surely must stand an angel.”
She smiles at him and asks, “How are you doing?”
“Better,” he replies, “seeing as how I’m not dead.”
“That’s good,” she tells him. “Jiron was saying that we might stay here till tomorrow if nobody shows up.”
“What for?” Potbelly asks.
“So we can rest and you can heal,” she replies.
“Heal? Me?” he asks as if the thought had never even occurred to him. “Now don’t be thinking that I need any rest.” He starts to get up and says through teeth clinched in pain, “I hardly even notice it.”
“Be that as it may,” she tells him, “we’re here for a while so you may as well take advantage of it and heal the best you can.” She gives him a playful, stern gaze.
“Yes ma’am,” he replies as he settles back down to the floor.
“Keep an eye on him,” she says to Scar, giving him a wink and a smile.
“You can count on it,” he assures her as he turns his gaze to Potbelly. “You rest!”
Potbelly gives them both a small smile as he lies back down and soon drifts off to sleep once more.
Over to the other side of the room, James has awakened and is talking with Jiron. “Did everyone make it?” he asks.
“Yeah,” he replies, “we’re all here. Potbelly took a bolt in the side, but he’ll survive.”
“That’s good,” James says. “We should probably get going soon.”
“You need rest,” Jiron tells him, “and Potbelly could use a day for his wound to heal.”
“We may not have that much time,” warns James. “They’re going to want us bad. Lord Cytok will most likely want revenge for what we did to him.” He looks to Jiron and says, “He’ll mobilize everything he can to search for us.”
“What should we do?” he asks.
“I’m still going after Miko, but the rest of you should try to get out of the Empire,” he says.
“You helped me get Tersa back, I’m not going to leave you before you rescue your friend,” he tells him.
James looks at him a moment and then replies, “Alright. We’re near the coast, or at least we were. Maybe we can sneak into a port town and get passage for the others on a ship, sailing up the coast to Cardri. If the Empire isn’t at war with them, then there still should be unrestricted access for Cardri captains.”
Jiron nods and adds, “With them out of danger, you and I can go after your friend.”
“We just need to figure a way into a port where a Cardri ship is at anchor,” he says.
“That’s going to be the tricky part,” agrees Jiron.
“What’s going to be the tricky part?” asks Yorn as he comes over and joins the conversation.
Jiron quickly fills him in on the plan thus far. “You and the others need to get Tersa and Delia to a safe place and hole up while we’re rescuing his friend.”
“Take her to Trendle, it’s a village to the north of Bearn,” suggests James. “When you get there, find a Forest Warden by the name of Ceryn and let him know what’s going on. He should be able to get you settled in while you wait for us.”
“Alright,” agrees Yorn.
“Now,” James says, “ready or not, we need to get out of here.”