James looks out of the second story window while Jiron is sleeping. The sun had long since fallen below the horizon and the city is shrouded in night. Off in the distance he can see the lights where the occupiers have taken up residence.
The words the old man had spoken keeps returning to him again and again. They make no sense, but like he told Jiron, that’s the way of these things. He was surprised to find what he came here for in the memory of an old man. But sitting here thinking about it, it makes a sort of sense.
If it had been hidden physically here in Saragon, then it would have needed to been marked in such a way that it would be recognized. That would’ve meant the Star of Morcyth symbol or something else which assuredly would’ve drawn the attention of those who know and understand the significance of such.
But to have it secreted in such a way that he practically had to stumble upon it, and to use a word only he or someone from his world would understand, enabled it to remain hidden all these years.
He can feel the hand of Igor in this. Just as he had trained Jiron and put him in a position to become part of his quest, so must he have also placed this snippet of information in the hands of the old guy’s family centuries ago. He can’t help but wonder if there may have been similar snippets left with different people here in Saragon in the hopes he would stumble across at least one of them. Maybe he’ll ask Igor the next time he sees him. Thinking back to the time he spent in that other world, dimension, whatever, he wonders if he’ll even have the chance. Igor may not have survived the attacks of those creatures.
A noise behind him causes him to turn where he sees Jiron getting up from the bed. Noticing how dark it is outside, he asks, “You ready to go?”
Coming away from the window, James says, “Yeah. Let’s get out of here.”
Stretching, Jiron begins to move out of the room and to the stairs leading down. He passes down the stairs then over to the doorway across from the collapsed, burned out structure. Beneath which lies the entrance to the secret smuggler passage they used to enter Saragon.
Taking a moment to ensure no one is on the street, he dashes across to the burned out building, James follows right behind him.
Pausing a moment, he turns to James and says, “Remember, it’s not very stable so walk where I walk and try not to be on the same section as I am. Our combined weight could cause it to collapse.”
“I understand,” agrees James.
The moon overhead gives them some light with which to see by. Jiron begins making his way through the broken structure, taking the same path he used the last time. The first part of the path leads across a beam lying over an open section in the floor. Stepping carefully, he begins to cross.
James waits outside until he’s cleared the beam, then he steps out upon it and follows. Taking it slow, he stops when he feels the beam begin to shift under him. Grabbing another section of the collapsed ceiling for support, he steadies himself until the beam ceases its shifting. Once the beam again becomes stable, he continues moving along it until he reaches the next one.
Suddenly, they hear a groan and the entire framework they’re upon collapses. James is thrown from his precarious perch and tries to grab onto a section of what used to be a part of the ceiling. He takes a firm hold of it but it breaks off and he falls through the wreckage all the way to the floor, landing on his back. His breath is knocked out of him and it takes him a minute or two for him to get his lungs working again.
The section Jiron was on had remained somewhat stable. Holding onto a beam lying slantwise near him, he was able to prevent falling. “You okay?” he hollers down to where James lies upon the floor.
When he doesn’t receive an answer, he begins making his way down, fearing the worst. From the direction of the street, he hears the sound of several people approaching just as the fragile structure gives out with another groan and another section collapses.
This time, the beam he’s standing on gives way. Reaching out, he grabs hold of a neighboring beam just in time to prevent himself from falling. Hanging there from the beam, he sees the light from several torches approaching. Holding very still, he hopes to remain unnoticed by the men approaching.
Voices talking excitedly can be heard as they draw closer to the collapsing building. The light from their torches soon begins to illuminate the wreckage as half a dozen soldiers come to investigate the cause of the collapse. He can hear their excited conversation as their light begins to illuminate the building.
The light from their torches at last falls upon Jiron as he’s hanging there and one of them cries out when he sees them. Two of them have crossbows and they take aim at him. One of the soldiers says something commandingly to him in the Empire’s language.
When he doesn’t answer or react, he changes to the common tongue and says, “Come out of there!”
Looking at two crossbows leveled at him, he glances down to the floor and gauges his chances.
“Don’t think about it!” the soldier exclaims when he sees him debating about his chances of making it to the floor. “Come out now and you won’t be hurt.”
Jiron quickly realizes he’ll never make it without being fired upon. He swings his leg up and begins climbing back to the top. The structure groans and another piece on the other side of the building collapses before he makes it all the way out. Once back out to the street, the soldiers quickly bind his hands behind him and remove his knives.
“Move!” says the soldier who had spoken to him before, as he pushes Jiron to get him moving. They begin marching him down the street, toward the lights of the main encampment.
James looks up from his position where he’s hiding in the shadows on the floor as Jiron is taken away. Feeling helpless but unable to do anything about it at the moment, he waits for the soldiers to move further down the street. When the light from their torches disappears, he begins making his way up through the unstable wreckage back to the street. Fortunately the settling the structure had done during the last two collapses seems to have made it more stable and he’s able to make it to the street with little difficulty.
When he at last makes it out of the ruined building he can see the party of soldiers with Jiron further down the street. Running as fast as he can, he races to catch up with them. They’re still many blocks away from the area where the Empire’s forces are located. He’s got to get him away from them before they arrive, a small group he can handle, the main force could prove more difficult.
Jiron’s captors don’t seem to be in any hurry in taking him back to their encampment and it’s easy for James to catch up with them. When he comes near, he slows his pace to avoid making any more noise than necessary. He remains far enough behind them so the light from their torches won’t give him away.
He concentrates on Jiron’s bonds and they break apart as he releases the magic. Jiron’s arms jerk a fraction before he catches himself and holds them together to maintain the illusion he’s still secured.
James follows them from a distance as he readies several of his slugs. More death and destruction! Will it ever end? After seeing the dead priests in the temple to Asran, he has less compunction about killing Empire soldiers than he used to. He just prays that he never gets numb to the killing, or worse yet, gets to liking it. Before releasing the slug, the thought crosses his mind of the woman who’ll be waiting at home for the husband who’ll never return. Or the children who will never see their daddy again. He hates war and everything to do with it!
But, he has no choice if he’s to save Jiron. Sometimes situations in life only give you the choice between bad and worse.
Jiron was startled when his bindings snapped and almost wasn’t able to recover in time to prevent them from falling to the ground. Back at the collapsing building, he had been afraid that James might have been seriously injured, or even dead from his fall. But when his bonds broke, he knew he was not only alive, but following them.
The soldier marching next to him has his two knives sticking out of his belt. He readies himself for what’s to come next. They walk for several more yards and nothing happens. Come on James! What’re you waiting for!
Then suddenly, one of the two soldiers bearing a crossbow cries out as a slug erupts from his belly, spraying blood and gore on those ahead of him. The leader of the group shouts commands as the other crossbowman is taken out with yet another slug.
Jiron tackles the one with his knives and quickly retrieves them. A quick slash across the man’s throat and he’s taken out of action. Rolling, he moves away from the soldiers just as another crashes to the ground, a gaping hole where his chest used to be.
The leader throws down his torch as he and the other remaining soldier flee down the street into the darkness. Just before they leave the area illuminated by the torches on the ground, another slug flies out, taking out the soldier. The leader disappears into the darkness, the sound of his running feet and shouts echoing as he flees for his life.
James appears out of the darkness and asks, “You okay?”
“Fine,” replies Jiron. “You? I was worried when you fell.”
“Just had the wind knocked out of me was all,” he assures him. “We better get out of here.”
From further into town, a horn begins blowing. Other horns from all around them sound in reply. “That tears it!” exclaims Jiron. Turning, he leads them back to the collapsed building.
Lights can be seen moving along streets in the distance as soldiers make their way toward their location. Horns continue to sound, making it seem as if the entire city is mobilizing to hunt for them.
Arriving at the structure, Jiron steps out upon the beam and begins to make his way across to the next when it gives out with a groan and collapses. James reaches out and catches hold of him just as the entire structure gives way and collapses.
James falls to his knees as Jiron’s weight pulls him to the ground. Jiron falls hard against the wall of basement just beneath James and grabs hold of the edge. Pulling hard, James hauls him quickly back to the street.
“Thanks,” Jiron says as he gets to his feet.
“Don’t mention it, let’s just get out of here.”
The total collapse of the structure has blocked off their escape route. If they had time maybe they could dig their way through it, but not with soldiers on the way.
“Come on!” Jiron yells as he begins running away, sure that any pursuit will begin in this area. They’ve got to get out of here fast. Racing off down the street, they don’t get far before they see a mob of soldiers enter the street three blocks away from them. The soldiers turn and begin making their way toward them.
Coming to a quick stop, Jiron grabs James and pushes him down an adjacent alley before the oncoming soldiers have a chance to spot them. Moving quickly they race for the other end of the alley.
As they draw near the end of the alley, it’s suddenly lit from the light of torches held in the hands of more approaching soldiers. Pressing themselves against the side of the alley, they wait until the squad passes and then enter the street behind the marching soldiers, running the way the soldiers had just come from.
More lights appear ahead of them. “In here!” Jiron looks back to see James at an open doorway, motioning for him to follow. Running back, he moves through the doorway right after James and shuts the door.
They move quickly through to the back of the house, the light from the torches moving out on the street giving them ample light with which to see by. Before Jiron opens the backdoor, James grabs his arm and stops him.
“What?” he asks, turning around to face him.
“We need to figure out just where we’re going to go,” he insists.
“There’s only going to be so many ways out of Saragon,” Jiron says. “And you can bet they’ll have them all covered with as many men as they can spare.”
“So how are we to get out?” he asks.
“Hopefully we can find a gate that’s not too well manned and force our way through,” he explains. “With all the commotion going on, we’ll not be able to sneak our way out.”
“No, you’re probably right,” he agrees. “We should head for the part of the city where they’ve set up camp. I doubt if they’ll think we would head in that direction.”
“As good as any way, I suppose,” replies Jiron. “Have you felt anything that might indicate a mage in the city?”
Shaking his head, James says, “No, not yet.”
“That’s good,” he affirms.
Moving to the back door, he opens it a crack and finds the alley outside to be dark. Slipping out with James right behind, they head toward the Empire’s camp within the city.
Light from the search parties and soldiers hollering out to one another can be seen and heard on neighboring streets. The bulk of the searchers seem to be heading back toward where they were first spotted. Horns continue to sound throughout the city.
Jiron takes them down another side alley which ends at a major thoroughfare. Peering around the corner, he sees search parties down both sides of the street. “Not this way,” he says to James. Turning to go back the way they had come, they see light approaching the end of the alley.
Stopping and pressing themselves to the side of a neighboring building, they watch as the light continues to approach the alley. Suddenly, the soldiers appear at the end of the alley and turn into it, coming straight for them. “Run!” exclaims Jiron as he bolts back down toward the thoroughfare with James right behind him.
At the sight of them running, the men behind give chase as one of them sounds a horn, alerting the city that they’ve been found.
Bursting out onto the thoroughfare, Jiron sees men running toward them from both directions. Not even pausing, he crosses over to the alley on the other side and continues to flee.
Crumph!
The end of the alley bordering the thoroughfare suddenly explodes as the buildings facing it begin collapsing, effectively blocking the alley and preventing their pursuers from following. As they exit the far side of the alley, a billow of dust belches forth from the collapsing of the buildings behind them.
The street the alley opens on is wide and currently unoccupied. “Head to the wall!” James cries to Jiron.
Taking but a moment to check which way lies the shortest distance to the wall, he turns to the right. There ahead of them, the wall looms high over the tops of the buildings. They can hear the screaming and shouting of soldiers from behind them, as they pour into the street from a junction further back. Glancing behind them, Jiron guesses there must be a hundred or more soldiers back there.
Ahead of them in the street is a large square with a fountain that had seen better days. At one time it used to have four tiers where water would rain down from one to the other. Now, it lies all but broken, only a small section of what used to be the top two tiers remains.
As they come toward the square, four soldiers enter from a side street and charge. A slug takes one out before they even have a chance to close the distance. Jiron moves to intercept as a second slug takes out another.
The first to engage Jiron strikes out with his sword. Jiron deflects it to the side as he follows through with a thrust using his other knife, taking the soldier in the chest. Kicking the dying man off his knife, the soldier flails into his partner, throwing him off balance.
Jiron moves in quickly and takes the remaining soldier out. As the last dead body hits the ground…
Crumph!
…the street behind them explodes upward. Looking back, he sees a dust cloud in the torch light as bodies rain back down to the street. Pursuit momentarily halted from that avenue, they turn and continue toward the wall.
“How are you doing?” he asks James, worried that the magic may be making him weak.
“So far I’m doing alright,” he tells him.
“Good, I’d hate to have to carry you out of here!” he says with a grin.
“I wouldn’t care for that either,” he replies.
They race further on, horns still sounding behind them, but are eerily quiet before them. James figures most of the pursuit has been directed back behind them before he started doing magic and letting them know their whereabouts.
The wall now looms large before them. The street they are on comes to the base of the wall and they are forced to either turn left or right. Both ways look the same, so they turn to the left and race along the wall, hoping to find a way out.
Out of the dark ahead of them, they begin to see light as they approach the gates. Coming to a stop, they see arrayed before them, over a hundred men as well as a dozen or more crossbowmen. Five other crossbowmen man the walls above the gate.
“Man, what are we going to do?” Jiron asks him.
“I don’t know,” he admits. “The magic I would need to use to clear that away would leave me unconscious if not outright kill me.”
They make to turn around when from behind them, the force that had been stopped by the exploding street now boils into view behind them. When the soldiers see them standing there, a cry goes up and horns begin to sound as they charge.
The force at the gate, now aware of their presence, forms into ranks as they make a wall of iron across the street. The crossbowmen ready their crossbows.
Crumph!
The ground behind them erupts, throwing the leading edge of the charging men in the air in the hopes of slowing them down. It does, but only momentarily.
James readies a spell for the group by the gates when their lines begin to buckle and he sees the crossbowmen on the walls turn and appear to be firing at their own forces. Whatever the reason, he changes his tactics and begins peppering the crossbowmen on the walls with slugs and they begin to fall.
“Look!” cries Jiron as he points to the force in front of the gates.
James turns his attention to them and sees them fighting with men in slave rags. The slaves!
“Come on!” Jiron says as he races to the gates and the fighting going on there.
James runs behind him as he sees a group of twenty slaves bearing nothing but makeshift clubs and scavenged weapons, race toward the gatehouse. The crossbowmen on the ground see them and a flight of bolts cuts down half before they make it.
The ten or so left reach the gatehouse where they overpower the two guards there and are soon inside. Two of the slaves lay dead at the gatehouse door.
James glances down the street behind him and sees the force there that had been stopped by the erupting of the street now making their way around the blasted area and continuing the pursuit.
Hundreds of slaves pour into the ranks of the defenders by the gates. The group of crossbowmen, who had so recently mowed down the men on their way to the gatehouse, are now chopped to pieces or bludgeoned to death by men bent on revenge.
Suddenly, the gate opens up just as the last remaining soldier before the gate falls. A cry erupts and is quickly dampened by a man, an old man. Shouting out orders, he forms them into a line to meet the oncoming soldiers.
James looks his way and for a moment their eyes lock. He gives James a grin and a nod before resuming the marshalling of his forces.
“James! We’ve got to go now!” yells Jiron, trying to be heard over the noise of horns and men shouting.
“But they’ll be killed!” counters James.
“They know that!” replies Jiron. “They’re not doing it for their freedom. They’re doing it for revenge on those who destroyed their town and killed its people.” Grabbing him by the shoulder, he propels him toward the widening gates. “And one is doing it so you can get out of here! Don’t let them have died in vain.”
Before passing through the gate, he glances back just as the two forces meet. The slaves are no match for the soldiers, but have the numbers in their favor. He sees the old man out in front of his men, sword held high and time seems to slow as he engages with the nearest soldier.
He runs the soldier through and pulls out his sword to ward off the blow of the next, but isn’t fast enough. James watches as the soldier’s blade strikes off the old man’s left arm. Before he has a chance to strike the old man again, the old man runs him through the chest where his sword becomes lodged. Then he passes out of sight as another slave comes to take his place in line.
A slave comes up to them and says, “Get out now! We can’t hold them off for long!”
“What was the old man’s name?” James asks the slave as he’s being pulled through the gates by Jiron.
“Derrion,” the slave replies as he and others push to close the gates.
With a resounding thud, the gates close and they can hear the locking mechanism secure the gates.
“Now let’s run!” Jiron cries out.
They turn to run and come to a stop when they see twenty horsemen arrayed before them. Without even a pause, James releases the power.
Crumph!
The center of the line of horsemen erupts upward from the force of the explosion. The horses not caught in the blast rear up, some unseating their riders. Jiron races forward to meet them before they have a chance to recover. James follows as slug after slug flies through the air, taking out more of the remaining horsemen.
Jiron closes with one of the unhorsed soldiers and blocks his attack with both knives while kicking out and connecting with the man’s knee. Bones snap as the man cries out in pain. Leaving him there to writhe on the ground, Jiron moves toward two horses milling around without riders.
Crumph!
Another explosion erupts, throwing more men and horses into the air.
Jiron almost reaches the horses before another unhorsed rider closes with him and strikes out with his sword. Catching it on crossed knives, Jiron pushes outward and throws the man backward off balance. Moving in quickly, he strikes out and scores two quick thrusts, one which punctures a lung. As the man falls, Jiron runs past and reaches the horses.
Vaulting up onto one, he turns it around and sees James beset by three soldiers. A flare of light and one soldier is thrown backward as the other two continue their advance. James is beginning to look very tired.
Taking the reins of the other horse, he kicks his into a gallop and rides directly at the men advancing upon James. They fail to see him coming in time and he rides right over them, bowling them over. “Get on!” he shouts at James as he brings the horses to a stop next to him.
More soldiers are advancing upon them from all directions as James gets into the saddle. A sound of turning gears and the gates behind them begin to open as even more soldiers start pouring through.
Once James is securely in the saddle, Jiron kicks his horse into a gallop again and they race away from the city into the night. Behind them, they see hundreds of soldiers pouring out of the gates but quickly fall behind.
The road they find themselves on follows the river as it flows on their left. After getting his bearings, he realizes this is the same river they had followed on the way down to Saragon. And up ahead of them is a large force of men and a mage, perhaps even now waiting for them.