Bart’s idea was simple. Use the clothes in the clothier’s shop as a disguise. That way, they could move about in the open to find a better spot in which to await the coming of darkness. At that time, they would then make a break for it.
The shop held sufficient clothing, especially cloaks, with which they could hide their features. Seth and Soth, since they bore a remarkable resemblance to the average citizen of the Moran Tribes already, would refrain from using cloaks. A large group, all having cloaks pulled in close around their heads would arouse suspicion. But with two of them exposed, they would look less like they were trying to hide.
Riyan just finished buttoning his cloak when he noticed Chad over to one side gazing at the scarf Alicia had given him during their last visit. Coming up to his friend, he asked, “Miss her?”
Chad gave him a sad smile and nodded. “More than I thought I would,” he admitted. Turning his eyes back to the lavender scarf, he gazed one more time at its embroidered rose before tucking it back in his pouch for safekeeping.
“I understand,” Riyan told him. “At least you have her favor. I have nothing to remind me of Freya.”
Chad laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Just a life time’s worth of memories,” he said.
“Sometimes though,” Riyan replied, “that’s not enough.”
Nodding silently, Chad laid a hand on his friend’s shoulder.
“Ready?” Bart asked from where he stood near the window by the door.
Riyan turned and saw that he and the others had already donned cloaks and were waiting for them. “Yeah,” he replied as he and Chad came to join them. “We’re ready.”
Bart gestured with a nod of his head toward the street outside. “There aren’t that many locals out on the streets,” he told the others. “I think most are helping to put out the fires.”
Soth nodded. “Our group might stand out,” he said.
“Possibly,” agreed Bart. “But if we don’t find a better location, we’ll never remain undiscovered until dark.”
“Do you know where we’re going?” asked Seth.
Bart nodded. “When I crossed the bridge on my way in, I passed several buildings that looked abandoned,” he answered. “If we can get to one, we should be alright.”
“If,” mumbled Seth.
Bart turned an annoyed glance his way but said nothing. Turning back to the others, he said, “The bridge is only five streets over,” he explained. “We’ll move quickly but not rushed. Act like you belong and most people will not give you a second look.” He took a moment for that to sink in. “Understand?” he asked.
The others replied that they did.
“Alright,” he said. “Let’s go.” He turned back toward the door when he caught sight of Kevik standing with staff in hand. “Uh, Kevik.”
“Yes?” Kevik asked.
“You’re not exactly going to blend in as a local if you’re holding a magic user’s staff,” he said.
Kevik glanced to his staff. “I’m not leaving it behind,” he stated. The tone of his voice said he’d brook no argument on this subject.
“I didn’t say you had to,” replied Bart. Glancing around the shop, his eyes fell on a bolt of cloth leaning upright against the wall. It looked to be about the length of the staff. “Riyan, give me a hand,” he said as he started toward the bolt of cloth. To Seth he said, “Keep a lookout.”
“Okay,” Seth replied. Moving to the window, he kept watch for anyone coming their way.
Upon reaching the bolt of cloth, Bart took hold of it and saw that there was a hollow space in the center, large enough for the staff to slide in. “Kevik, see if your staff will fit.”
Kevik came forward. While Bart and Riyan held the bolt of fabric for him, he slid his staff into the opening. As it turned out, the bolt of fabric was a foot shorter than the staff. Looking to Bart, Kevik asked, “What now?”
“Not a problem,” he said. Pulling a cloak off a nearby shelf, he wrapped it over the part of the staff still exposed. Then as he held the end of the bolt where the cloak shrouded staff protruded, Riyan lifted the other end. To Kevik he said, “Walk next to me.” Indicating the portion of the staff protruding, he said, “If we keep this between us, it will be less noticeable.”
Kevik nodded and moved into position.
“Can we go now?” asked Chyfe.
Bart glanced to Seth who said, “The street’s clear for the moment.” Turning to Chyfe, Bart nodded. “Let’s go.”
Chyfe pulled his hood over his head then opened the door and stepped through. Glancing to the left and right, he saw that it was clear and moved out.
“To the left,” Bart directed. “Then at the next intersection, head to the right.”
Silently, Chyfe nodded. Turning to the left, he led them down the street. Beside him walked Seth, then came Bart, Kevik, and Riyan with the bolt of cloth concealing Kevik’s staff. Soth and Chad brought up the rear.
Smoke still rose to the sky from the areas where fires were burning. Off in the distance they could hear men shouting and axes striking wood as those fighting the fire worked to put it out.
Upon reaching the intersection, Chyfe turned to the right and walked at a fast, but not hurried, pace. Riyan felt sure they would be caught, but the attention of those on the streets was primarily directed toward the fires burning in the distance. Riyan glanced back and saw flames arcing to the sky above the rooftops behind them.
A few people on the streets did glance their way as they passed, but their gaze didn’t linger long. Street by street, they drew ever closer to the bridge and the buildings Bart had said looked abandoned. When the bridge finally came into view, they saw that soldiers, totaling near fifty in all, were stationed at either end of the bridge.
“Hold up a minute,” Bart said when he saw the soldiers. They were still a full block away from the nearest abandoned building, and the river was a little bit further away than that.
Chyfe came to a stop and glanced back to Bart. He saw Bart nod toward the mouth of an alley to their left. Nodding in reply, Chyfe began leading the group in that direction.
Once they were in the alley and hidden from the view of the soldiers, Bart had them continue down the alley to the next street over. At the end of the alley, Chyfe stopped and waited for Bart to join him. “Look over there,” he said, pointing to a building standing down the street a little ways closer to the bridge and soldiers.
It was a single story structure. The front door was closed and the windows facing the street were boarded over. All in all it had the look of being exactly what they needed. “Perfect,” said Bart. To Kevik he said, “Here,” and gave him his end of the bolt of cloth. Once Kevik had hold of it, Bart said to the others, “I’ll go have a look.” Then with a quick glance to make sure the coast was clear, he stepped from the alley.
Riyan and the others watched as Bart moved alongside the front of the building abutting the alley. Then he turned and began crossing the street. Riyan held his breath as Bart crossed the exposed distance.
There were others moving about the street, but they paid him little heed as they were too engrossed in discussing various rumors and watching the smoke rising from the fires. When Bart reached the other side of the street, Riyan relaxed.
Moving along the front of the buildings, Bart made his way to the one with the boarded up windows. Pausing at the first window, he glanced between the slats before continuing on to the far side. There he turned off the street and disappeared in the alley running alongside the building.
Riyan watched in growing apprehension as seconds ticked by and Bart didn’t reappear. After he had been gone five minutes, they began to grow concerned. Surely he would have appeared by this time. They were about to send Seth in search of him when he reappeared. Walking nonchalantly, he crossed the street and made his way back to where they were waiting.
When he rejoined them in the alley, Riyan asked, “What took you so long?”
“Ran into some trouble,” he replied. Before Riyan could ask what kind, he said, “Don’t worry. It wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.” He saw Riyan relax then continued. “The building is deserted. Around back is a door that’s ajar we can use to enter.”
“Is it going to be safe?” asked Kevik.
Bart shrugged. “As safe as anywhere else,” he replied.
As if to accentuate his point, a squad of soldiers emerged from a side street further down and began heading their way. Bart was about to have everyone move further back into the alley when the guards turned at the next side street and moved out of sight.
“We’d better get over there while we can,” Bart said.
“Lead on,” Riyan said.
“We’ll go in twos so as not to draw unwanted attention,” he said. “Riyan, you come with me.” And with that, he stepped from the alley. Riyan quickly moved to join him.
The others waited until Bart and Riyan had disappeared in the alley adjacent to the building. Then Chad and Kevik, who were now carrying the bolt of cloth concealing the staff, emerged onto the street. Once they had crossed and were in the alley, the twins and Chyfe followed.
As Riyan walked with Bart down the alley, he couldn’t help but notice the torso lying on the ground, partially covered by rags. He glanced questioningly to Bart who said, “With the town threatened by fire, not to mention the streets crawling with soldiers, he tried to rob me. Can you believe that?” Bart chuckled as they passed the dead man. “He was an amateur.”
“Won’t questions be raised if someone should discover the body?” asked Riyan.
“Unlikely,” he replied. “The only ones who are likely to discover it any time soon are those who won’t have anything to do with the guards in the first place.” He glanced to Riyan and could see the doubt in his eyes. “Either we leave him there, or we carry him with us in full sight of the locals.”
“I see your point,” replied Riyan.
Moving past, they were soon around to the alley running along the backside of the buildings abutting the street. Through the spaces between the buildings on the other side, Riyan could see the river as it made its way southward. A guard carrying a bow walked along the river’s bank.
“They’re covering every exit,” he commented.
“I know,” said Bart.
Riyan glanced back down the alley they just came through and saw two figures carrying a long round object enter. Glad Kevik and Chad had made it to the alley safely, he joined Bart at the back door of the boarded up building.
“I think this place used to be some kind of carpenter’s shop,” Bart stated. Opening the door wider, he passed inside.
“What makes you think that?” Riyan asked. Entering the building behind Bart, he saw the skeletal remains of a boat. Sitting on a stand, it looked as if someone had begun constructing the boat then all of a sudden stopped.
A latticework of over a dozen pegs dotted one section of wall. Obviously there had been tools hanging from them at one time. Other than the boat and pegs, the rest of the shop was bare.
“I’ll find the way to the roof and take a look around,” Bart said. “Wait here for the others.”
“Alright,” agreed Riyan as Bart turned and headed deeper into the building.
At the back door, Riyan poked his head out and took a look around. The alley was quiet, only a single small dog rooting around the garbage and filth. When he saw Kevik appear, he waved him over.
Bart had returned by the time Chyfe and the twins had joined them in the carpenter’s shop. “Patrols are still on the streets,” he said. “There’s a good view of the bridge from the roof.”
“And?” asked Chad.
“Still heavily guarded,” he said. “I say we rest while we can. Once night falls and we head out, there’s no telling when we’ll be able to sleep again.”
Giving out with a yawn, Kevik nodded in agreement. As soon as he entered the building, he had retrieved his staff from the bolt of cloth.
“I’ll take first watch,” offered Bart.
Chad nodded then realization hit him. His blanket was still in the saddlebag on his horse, which was now in the possession of the soldiers. That is if it hadn’t been destroyed when the barrels of oil blew. “Great,” he moaned.
Riyan gave him a grin. They were all in the same predicament. All they had were the clothes on their backs, and the packs they carried. Of course those packs didn’t hold much more than some food, basic tools necessary for survival, and water bottles. Also, Riyan still had the three key segments in his pack while Kevik’s held the magical items.
“Here,” Bart said. He knew exactly what Chad was belly aching about.
Chad turned at his voice and saw Bart’s Cloak with the hole burned in the back sailing through the air toward him. Catching the Cloak, he held it up and took a good look at the ruined section. Riyan was looking at him through the hole. “That was close,” he said.
“Tell me about it,” responded Bart. Taking off the cloak he appropriated at the clothier’s, he showed them the back of his shirt. Though not nearly as damaged as the Cloak had been, there was still a scorched section with a piece missing the size of a hand. “My back feels like it got burned too.”
“Want me to use the healing gem on it?” asked Kevik.
Bart shook his head. “No. It’ll remind me to be more careful next time.”
“As you wish,” replied Kevik.
While the others made themselves as comfortable as possible, Bart went to the rear door and closed it. Throwing the bar to keep unwanted guests out, he then made a circuit of the building to make sure the rest of the doors were similarly locked. Once that was done, he went to the back room where the roof access was located and made his way to the roof.
From there he had a commanding view of the surrounding streets. During his watch, patrols of guards would pass by along the street below, giving him moments of worry before they continued past.
Off to the south, smoke still rose to the sky, but it gradually begun to lessen as the efforts of those fighting it took affect. In the back of his mind, Bart hoped the fires would continue. For when the fires were put out, those men would be free to aid in the search. And it was still many hours until dark.
Bart was in his second hour atop the roof keeping an eye on the town. During that time, he’d watched patrols continuously making sweeps through the city. Citizens were out and about, some congregated in groups while others tried to continue with their daily routines despite the chaos into which their city had been plunged.
Not too far down the street from the building where they hid stood an inn. He couldn’t see the stable from his position, but the fact it was a three story structure led him to believe it might have enough horses in its stable for each of them. But even should he be able to steal enough, there was still the matter of making it out of town. And with the number of soldiers…
All this was going through his mind when his eyes caught a change in movement further into town. Squads of guards were going from house to house. Soldiers would enter a building only to reappear on the building’s roof. After a brief look around, they would disappear back into the house and reappear again on the street. Moving on, they headed over to the next. Dread began to fill him as he gazed across the city and saw the scene repeating down street after street. They were now searching every house!
He wasn’t able to see the entirety of Tryn, but from what he could see, they had begun searching buildings on the eastern side of town and were working their way toward the river. A glance to the bridge showed that the soldiers stationed there were being augmented by another twenty guards.
“Damn!” he cursed quietly. The plans he had worked out were useless in the face of what the soldiers were doing now. They no longer had the option of waiting for the coming of night. Still hours away, the search parties will have reached them by then.
He took a few moments to gauge the speed with which the search parties were moving from house to house and figured they had less than twenty minutes to get out of there. He quickly left the roof and hurried down to where the others were sleeping.
“Time to go,” he announced to the forms sleeping on the floor.
“What?” asked a groggy Riyan. Propping himself up on an elbow, he worked to keep eyes heavy with sleep from closing as he looked toward Bart.
“They’ve begun a house to house search,” Bart explained.
That woke him up. Snapping awake, he looked toward the door.
“They’re not here yet,” Bart told him. Moving toward Chad who was still sleeping, Bart nudged him with the toe of his boot. “Wake up Chad!”
Riyan reached over to his friend and shook his shoulder.
Opening his eyes, Chad looked to Riyan then suddenly grimaced as he gripped the back of his head where he had been injured.
“Are you okay?” asked Riyan.
“Head hurts,” he replied. “Bad.”
“Kevik!” hollered Riyan. When he had the magic user’s attention, he said, “Chad’s head is hurting again. See if your gem will help.”
“Alright,” Kevik said, then hurried to Chad’s side.
Bart stepped back to allow Kevik room to work. “Make it fast,” he told him. “We don’t have much time.”
“I’ll try,” Kevik said. In a second the gem was in his hand and pressed to the back of Chad’s head.
Seth had moved to the window and was staring outside. “I don’t see anyone,” he said.
“You will before long,” Bart stated. He then explained how the guards had started on the eastern side and were working their way toward the river.
“Kind of like they’re tightening the noose,” offered Chyfe.
Bart nodded. “You might say that.”
“What are we to do?” asked Soth.
Taking a moment to think, Bart finally said, “The river.”
“Won’t they be expecting that?” argued Soth.
“Probably,” replied Bart. “But what choice do we have? Unless that is, you want to slug our way through their entire army.” Turning to the twins, he said, “You two head over to the river and check it out. Find out what we’re up against.”
“You got it,” Seth said. Then to Soth he said, “Come on.”
As the twins left, Bart moved to the window and kept watch.
Riyan watched the glow from the gem as its healing properties worked to ease his friend’s pain. “Better?” he asked Chad.
“Getting there,” he replied. After another minute of Kevik’s ministrations, Chad said, “The pain’s gone.”
Riyan turned to Kevik as he was putting the gem back into his pouch. “I thought the gem healed him last night?”
“It did,” answered Kevik. “But I’m not a healer and I’ve always heard injuries to the head could be bad.”
“That’s what they told us at the Guild too,” replied Riyan. He gave his friend a hand up and they hurried to get their things together before the twins returned.
They didn’t have long to wait before Bart turned from the window and said, “They’re back.” Moving from the window, he crossed to the back door and opened it for the brothers. “Well?” he asked.
“Soldiers line the shoreline on both sides,” explained Soth.
“There are more on this side than the other,” added Soth.
“How many are there?” asked Chyfe.
“More than a couple,” replied Seth. Moving to the window, he pointed to the nearest alley running through the buildings closets to the water. “Where that alley ends are four soldiers.”
“Not guards?” asked Chad.
Seth shook his head. “No, just soldiers. From what we could tell, similar groups of four are stationed at the mouth of every alley and street coming out near the river. Two bowmen are along the banks of the river as well.”
“Close?” asked Chyfe.
Seth nodded.
Bart considered the situation a moment then glanced to Riyan who said, “We’re not going to be able to sneak out of here are we?”
“Doesn’t look like it,” replied Bart.
A silence hung in the air for several seconds as each thought of what to do. Then from outside, voices were heard. They were coming from the main street running along the front of the building. Bart immediately rushed to a window and saw a squad of soldiers moving toward the door of the building across the street from where they hid. Behind those soldiers, others began to appear as they moved to search other buildings. One squad was heading for the door to their building.
Turning back to the others, he said, “Out of time.” Moving quickly, he reached the back door. As the others joined him, he flung open the door and scanned the area for soldiers. Not finding any, he emerged from the building and hurried across the alley toward the back door of the building opposite theirs.
Wham!
Upon finding it locked, he used his foot and kicked the door open. “Come on!” he said, encouraging the others to move quickly. Passing inside, he moved deeper into the building.
Chyfe was the last to pass from the alley. Shutting the door behind him, he was about to follow the others when he heard a voice from outside on the street say, “It came from over here!”
Next to the door was a small window. Moving to it, he looked out and saw a squad of soldiers appear. The six soldiers came to a stop and looked around.
“Are you sure you heard something?” asked one.
“Yes,” the second soldier replied.
“I heard it too,” confirmed another.
Then a noise behind him caused Chyfe to turn and see Riyan framed in the doorway leading deeper into the building. Chyfe indicated the soldiers outside and mouthed, “Soldiers.”
Riyan nodded. “They’re everywhere,” he replied in a whisper. “Now come on!”
Chyfe glanced one last time out the window and saw the guards still standing in the same spot deliberating. He then left the window and followed Riyan as he moved further into the building.
There they found Bart standing near a man lying unconscious on the floor. It was an older man, maybe in his fifties. And by the way the room in which they stood was decorated, he had to be wealthy. Chyfe was frankly surprised that Bart had been able to subdue the man before he could raise an alarm.
From another doorway leading still further toward the rear of the house, Soth emerged. “The river’s right behind us,” he said with a nod in that direction. Indicating the man lying supine on the floor, Soth added, “It looks like he might have a boat we could use to get out of here.”
“Where?” asked Riyan.
“There’s a dock not thirty feet from the front door,” explained Soth. “Next to it is a small building which could possibly house a boat.”
“Excellent,” stated Bart. He glanced down at the unconscious man before heading to the front of the house. The others went with him. From neighboring houses, they began to hear people protesting the invasion of their homes by the soldiers.
As Bart joined Seth by the front window, Seth turned toward him. Pointing to the right he said, “Four soldiers stand guard not ten feet that way.” Then pointing in the other direction he said, “Another four down there about thirty feet away.”
Bart nodded as he came to the window to see for himself.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A second later, Chyfe appeared. Pointing back to the way they had entered the house, he said, “Soldiers!”
“Time to leave,” announced Bart. To Kevik he said, “Can you make the men to our right fall asleep?”
Kevik nodded. He quickly moved past Bart and went to the window. Looking out, he saw the men where they stood at the mouth of an alley.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Open up!” a soldier demanded.
Arcane words issued from Kevik’s mouth. When the words ceased, he turned to Bart. “It’s done.”
“Good,” stated Bart. “You follow me and goo the soldiers to our right as soon as you get out the door.” To the others he said, “Let’s hope that boathouse houses a boat.”
Bam! Crack!
“They’re breaking in!” exclaimed Chad.
Followed closely by Kevik, Bart moved to the front door and flung it open. Racing through, Bart headed directly to the boathouse. From behind him he heard Kevik cast his goo spell which was followed closely by the startled exclamations of newly gooified guards.
Chyfe brought up the rear as they raced toward the boathouse. Just as he was about to pass through the door, he heard from behind him, “Stop!” Then… “We found them!”
Glancing back, he saw the squad of soldiers who had been deliberating earlier appear from the back. Drawing their swords, they rushed forward. Increasing his speed, Chyfe raced through the door, grabbed the door handle, and slammed it shut. He held onto the handle to prevent the soldiers from opening it and following.
“Chyfe!” hollered Riyan. From the doorway to the boathouse, Riyan caught Chyfe’s attention. “Move aside!”
“What?” he asked. Then he saw Kevik standing beside Riyan and understood. Diving to the side, he barely missed being caught in the goo spell Kevik used to seal the door closed. Chyfe hit the ground, rolled and was quickly back on his feet. As he raced for the boathouse door, an arrow sailed past. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the nearest archer by the river moving toward him. Readying another arrow, he took aim as Chyfe rapidly closed the distance to the boathouse.
Energy missiles flew from Kevik’s hand, striking the archer in the chest and face. Knocked backward, the archer hit the ground and didn’t get back up. Moving next to Riyan, Kevik motioned for Chyfe to hurry up.
Along the riverbank to the right and left, the cry was going up that they had been found. Soldiers began emerging from alleys and streets. Riyan held the boathouse door open for Chyfe as he raced through. He and Kevik were now the only ones outside the boathouse.
Inside there was a small, six seater rowboat tied to a small dock. The boathouse itself was barely wide enough to accommodate the rowboat. A locked door stood between the rowboat and the river. Bart was forced to stand on the prow of the rowboat in order to work on the lock with his picks. Seth and Soth held the sides of the boat to keep it stable for him.
“We’ll hold them off,” Riyan hollered through the door. “Just get that door open!” Turning to Kevik, he removed his sling. “He needs a few seconds.”
“I hope not much more than that,” he replied. Then he mouthed arcane words and a shimmering field appeared. A split second later, arrows deflected off its surface. As Kevik started casting goo spells and energy missiles, Riyan’s sling began to whine as he brought it to a quick twirl before sending its bullet on a deadly trajectory. Aiming for the archers, he began bringing them down while Kevik’s shield protected them.
“Try to get the archers on the other side of the river,” urged Kevik. Energy missiles leapt from his fingers and raked the leading edge of the advancing soldiers to their right. “Downriver,” he added, when he saw Riyan’s slung bullet take out an archer upriver.
Riyan quickly grasped what Kevik was getting at. Once they left the boathouse, the current would take them downriver. Changing his stance, he faced toward downriver and took aim at the nearest archer.
“Okay!” hollered Seth. “He got it open, let’s go!”
Kevik cast two goo spells before entering the boathouse, one to the left and one to the right. Inside, he saw that the others were already in the rowboat. The seat in the stern was vacant for him and Riyan.
Bart, Chyfe, and Chad were crammed into the prow while the twins held oars in the middle seat. Riyan allowed Kevik in first then gave the boat a push to get it moving from the boathouse. Once it was on its way, he jumped in.
Seth handed him a third oar and said, “You steer.” Once the rowboat cleared the boathouse, he and his brother began rowing for all they were worth.
“Archers!” hollered Bart.
A second later, Kevik cast a protective field between them and the archers on the shore. When an arrow embedded itself in the other side of the boat, he cast a second one to shield them from the archers on that side too.
Rowing for all they were worth, the twins quickly had them skimming across the water. At the stern, Riyan held the oar in the water and maneuvered them toward the center of the river, then turned to follow the river south.
On the banks of the river, arrows flew toward them. Kevik’s shields kept the deadly missiles from reaching their marks as they steadily pulled away. The soldiers ran in pursuit, but between the river’s current and the effort of the twins, they couldn’t keep up. Once they realized their quarry would escape, they gave up the chase and quick-timed it back into town.
Kevik kept the protective shields up until the spells had run their course, just in case. Behind them, the town of Tryn slowly fell away. Ahead of them, the river began entering a canyon.
“The Wrath of Hennon,” Chyfe stated as he gazed to the mouth of the canyon.
“What?” asked Bart.
Chyfe turned to him. “It’s what the locals call it,” he replied.
From behind Bart, Soth added, “This is where The River Man got his name. He survived.”
The mouth of the canyon drew ever closer as each thought about what that might mean. “It’s before the spring thaw,” Riyan said encouragingly. “The river would have to be at its lowest point right now, right? We should make it.”
“Let’s hope so,” Chad replied. Then more quietly to himself he said, “Let’s hope so.”
Bart clapped Chad on the back and gave him a grin.
As the mouth of the canyon rose before them, the twins rowed on.