When the doors swing open, Jiron rushes in and trips over two bodies entwined on the floor before the door. James looks incredulously at the guard with his pants down around his ankles lying atop the half naked girl. He stands there in shock as they look at him and the girl opens her mouth to scream.
Miko gets over his shock and draws his knife as he dives toward her. Her scream begins to escape her lips just as his hand comes and covers her mouth, silencing her.
The guard reaches for his sword that’s lying next to him, but Jiron has already recovered from his fall and kicks it out of reach.
“Get up!” James orders the guard as he closes the double doors.
The guard keeps his eyes on them as he gets up off the girl and pulls his pants up. The girl tries to cover herself as well, her muffled scream subsiding as she realizes they’ll not be killed immediately.
James gestures for Miko to remove his hand from her mouth and then for the girl to get up. She pulls her clothes around her as she gets to her feet, obviously terrified.
The hallway extends from the double doors twenty feet before ending at a stairway which winds its way up to the tower above. Two doors, one on either side of the hallway, lie between the double doors and the stairs. James nods his head to the one on the left side and Jiron moves over to the door and listens. He looks back to James and shakes his head, indicating he doesn’t hear anything.
“Check it out,” he tells him.
Jiron opens the door and looks inside. He turns back to James and says, “Looks like a storage room.”
James turns his attention back to the guard and the girl. He indicates the storage room and says, “Move inside.”
The guard gives him a defiant look as he walks over to the storage room, the girl following with fear in her eyes. Jiron rips off two lengths of cloth from the girls dress and uses them to gag their mouths. Then he proceeds to bind their hands and legs. Once they’re secure, they leave the room and close the door behind them.
Suddenly, from the other side of the double doors, the sound of someone whistling comes to them. Jiron motions for James and Miko to move out of the way as he takes position near the door.
The whistling draws near and Jiron gets ready. The door opens up, a guard enters with a smile on his face and a bottle of wine in his hand. He stops abruptly when he sees Jiron there in the hallway before him.
Jiron moves quickly, but not before the guard realizes what’s going on and tries to shut the door. Slamming into the door with his shoulder, Jiron knocks it open. The guard is forcefully pushed back and falls to the floor, the bottle of wine flies out of his hand and smashes against a wall several feet away. As he hits the floor, the guard draws his sword while at the same time attempting to roll out of Jiron’s way to regain his feet.
But Jiron doesn’t allow him the opportunity to do that and kicks him hard in the side. The guard groans as Jiron kicks out again, knocking the sword from his hand. As the guard starts to cry out, he kicks one more time, this time in the side of the head and silences his cry.
He picks up the unconscious guard and carries him over to the storage room where the others are bound and gagged. Miko picks up the guard’s sword and brings it to the storage room as well. Once Jiron has him gagged and tied up, Miko removes the sword belt from the guard and secures it around his own waist.
When he sees James looking at him, he says, “May need it before we’re out of here.”
“Just be careful,” he advises.
“I will,” replies Miko. “Don’t worry.”
As they again leave the storage room and shut the door, James says, “That must’ve been the other guy’s partner.”
“I’d hate to be them when they’re discovered in there with that girl,” Jiron says with a grim smile. “They’ll be hard pressed to explain what she’s doing there, and in that state of undress.”
Chuckling, James nods his head.
They move to the end of the hallway where Jiron takes the lead as they begin to climb up to the tower. After making two complete circles, the stair comes to the next level.
This level is dark and has the look of a storage area. They continue on past, following the stairs up as it continues spiraling toward the top.
Voices begin to be heard coming from the level above them as they finish the first circle after the storage area. Light can also be seen coming from above them as well. Jiron motions for them to stop as he proceeds alone to investigate.
They watch him as he follows the stairs around, disappearing where the stairs curve out of sight. James waits anxiously for several moments before he returns back down the stairs. Coming close he whispers, “The next level looks to be a guard room. I saw at least six guards taking their ease there. Also, these stairs end there. I think I saw another flight going up over on the other side of the guard room.”
“So in order to continue up, we’ll have to pass through the guard room and the guards stationed there?” asks James.
Jiron nods his head, “I didn’t see any other way.”
James glances to Miko who nods his head and draws his sword. “Alright then,” he says to them. “Let’s strike hard and fast.”
With Jiron in the lead, they climb the remainder of the stairs until they near the landing which opens onto the guard room. James can hear the guards talking amongst themselves as they come near.
Jiron looks back to him, both knives drawn. James gives him a nod and they burst into the room. He strikes out at the nearest guard, taking him across the throat. Two stones fly in quick succession, taking out two more across the room.
The remaining three guards quickly recover from their initial shock at seeing them and draw their swords. The one closest to Jiron moves to engage while James’ last stone flies and takes out one of the others.
Coming straight for James and Miko is the last guard, sword ready and war cry on his lips. James readies a spell but Miko shoves him aside as he moves to engage.
As James stumbles to the side, he cries out “Miko! You’ll be killed!”
But Miko blocks the thrust of the guard and deflects the blade to the side. He follows through with a counter attack which the guard blocks.
Jiron is fighting with the remaining guard and is unable to come to his aid. But Miko seems to not need any as he again blocks an overhand hack. He kicks out with his foot and connects with the man’s chest, knocking him backward.
Miko immediately follows the man as he trips over a chair behind him and runs him through with his sword before the guard hits the ground. Putting his foot on the man’s chest, he yanks out his sword as he turns to the sound of Jiron battling the last guard.
Before Miko has the chance to make it over to help him, Jiron deflects a thrust with the knife in his right hand, twirls and smashes his left elbow into the guard’s jaw as he comes around.
The guard stumbles backward, blood streaming down his face from his broken nose. Jiron follows through with a quick series of attacks and succeeds in plunging one of his knifes into the guard’s chest, puncturing his heart.
As the man falls, Jiron pulls his knife out of his chest and turns back to the others when out of the corner of his eye he sees a sword coming down toward him. With reflexes honed through years in the pits, he brings up a knife and blocks the attack.
Miko brings his sword around for another attack when James yells, “Miko!”
Startled, Miko pauses as his eyes begin to focus on who stands before him. Lowering his sword, he stands there dazed for a moment.
Jiron and James look to each other, and James mouths the words ‘The Fire’ silently as the points to Miko’s pouch.
Sudden understanding comes to Jiron as he steps back from Miko.
Miko begins looking around and James comes over, saying, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” he says, somewhat distantly. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?” asks Jiron as he comes over.
“Yeah, I’m sure,” he says as he glances from one to the other. “What’s the matter?” he asks, seeming to abruptly snap out of whatever fugue he’d been in.
“Nothing,” James replies. “Let’s go.”
As they move across the guard room, James and Jiron exchange concerned glances.
Miko seems alright, just the sudden skill at arms and the way he attacks anyone gives James cause for concern. He gestures for Jiron to take the lead as they come to the stairs.
Jiron pauses at the bottom as he peers up the stairs and finds that they extend up to a heavy door with a small window. A face is looking out at him through the window. He turns back to James and says, “I think we’ve found him.”
James moves around Jiron and climbs the stairs, stopping several feet down from the door. The man is looking straight at him. “Are you the Madoc general, Pytherian?” he asks.
“Who wants to know?” the man behind the door says.
“One who would bring you from here,” replies James.
The man seems to consider a moment and then says, “Yes, I am Lord Pytherian.”
James turns back to Jiron and says, “Open the lock.”
Moving past James, Jiron takes out one of his knives as he begins working to open the lock. They all hear a ‘click’ and then he pushes the door open into the room.
Lord Pytherian is a man in his middle years who’s begun to gray along the temples. He looks at them and says, “Is this all?”
“What do you mean?” James asks.
“Is this it, two of you and a boy?” he asks. “How do you plan to get us out of here?”
“I assure you,” James tells him, “we are more than enough to get you out of here.”
Lord Pytherian doesn’t look convinced.
James looks at him and asks, “Are you coming?”
He starts to leave the room when from outside the window of his cell, they hear a great commotion coming from below. They all move to the window and look down to the courtyard below. Several figures are moving quickly across the open area as they head for the gate leading out of the keep. Soldiers are moving to intercept them and soon they’re engaged in battle.
“Are they part of your group?” Lord Pytherian asks.
“No,” replies James, mystified. “I don’t know who they are.”
“I do,” replies Miko. They all turn to him as he continues, “They’re those prisoners in the cells down in the dungeon.”
“But how did they escape?” asks James.
“They must’ve gotten a hold of the guards we killed and managed to escape their cells,” figures Jiron.
“That tears it!” exclaims James. “They’ll be here to check on him,” he says as he points to Lord Pytherian, “once they’ve dealt with them. If they’re not already on the way.”
“Then let’s move!” Jiron says as he heads for the stairs.
They follow him as he quickly moves down the stairs. When they reach the guard room, Lord Pytherian pauses a moment to remove a scabbard from a fallen guard and buckle it around his waist. As they hurry through, he takes out the sword and tests its balance. Satisfied, he returns the sword to its scabbard and hurries after them.
Almost running down the stairs, they reach the bottom just as the double doors open up and a squad of eight soldiers enters, led by a man richly dressed. Both groups pause momentarily in stunned silence at seeing the others before the soldiers draw their swords and charge.
James hears a strange cry behind him as Miko rushes past, sword in hand. He meets the lead soldier and in two passes of his sword, the man lies dead at his feet.
Jiron and Lord Pytherian follow and the battle is joined.
Deflecting a sword thrust with a knife, Jiron follows through with the other and is able to stab the man in the exposed armpit. When the knife is pulled out, blood flows quickly from the artery that was severed.
Lord Pytherian, with a war cry, wades into the soldiers. He deflects one sword thrust and quickly brings around his sword and slices into the man’s leg, practically severing it. Another soldier engages him and he blocks a downward hack as he kicks out at the man’s stomach, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to stagger back.
The man staggers back near Miko who almost absentmindedly swings his sword in that direction and takes the man’s head off. The head flies and bounces off the wall as the torso falls to the floor, blood spraying everywhere.
Then all of a sudden it’s over. James glances over to see Miko looking around. His eyes catch sight of Lord Pytherian standing there and begins moving toward him to attack. “Miko!” he yells.
Lord Pytherian sees him coming and backs away from him, sword at the ready.
“Miko!” he cries one more time.
Miko slows and then suddenly comes to himself. He looks around at the dead bodies and almost without thinking, reaches down and cleans his sword on a fallen soldier before replacing it in its scabbard.
Lord Pytherian glances from Miko to James and back again. “What’s wrong with him?” he asks.
“No time to explain,” replies James. “Just stay away from him when he’s fighting.”
He nods and then looks around at the dead, “Where’s the other guy?”
“What other guy?” Jiron asks.
“The one that was with them, the one in the fancy clothes,” replies Lord Pytherian.
They look around but fail to find him among the dead. “He must’ve gotten away,” James says.
“Then we’re out of time,” Lord Pytherian says. “He’ll bring the whole army to hunt for me.”
“He’s got to find us first!” Jiron cries as they hurry out through the double doors. A couple servants can be seen in the hallway, looking around confused. But when they see them burst through the double doors, all covered in blood, they begin to scream and yell as they run away down the hallway.
Jiron leads them down to where they left the girl and opens the door. He looks in but finds her gone.
“Where to?” asks Lord Pytherian as he continues glancing down the hallway.
James looks to Jiron and says, “Back the way we came?”
“As good a way as any,” he replies as he moves toward the banquet hall. Before they come very close to it, a group of soldiers enters the hallway from there, the fancy dressed man in the fore.
He hollers to the soldiers and they rush to attack.
Turning around, they run back the way they’d come and turn down the other hallway at the double doors. Racing with a dozen soldiers at their back, they fly down the hallway until it suddenly opens up onto an inner garden.
They run along the walkway, past many types of flowering bushes and benches where people could rest while enjoying them. “Do you guys know where you’re going?” Lord Pytherian asks.
“No,” replies James. He hears a curse from Lord Pytherian behind him.
They exit the garden through another door and they swing it closed. The room they’re in is not too large, several benches sit on either side.
“Give me a hand!” hollers Jiron as he indicates one of the benches. Lord Pytherian moves to help him and they pick it up, carrying it over to in front of the door, blocking it somewhat.
A door on the opposite side of the room stands open, James moves toward it and looks out. “Another hallway,” he hollers back. “Doesn’t look as if anyone is in it.”
Their pursuers suddenly hit the door on the other side and the door swings open a little before Lord Pytherian puts his weight against it and closes it once more. “I can’t hold this very long,” he hollers to them as the soldiers on the other side continue throwing their weight against it.
James comes over and places his hand against it as he casts a spell of holding. When he’s done, he says, “You can let go now milord, it won’t open.”
Lord Pytherian gradually reduces the pressure he’s exerting and the door continues to hold even with the soldiers hitting it from the other side. He looks to James and raises an eyebrow, “Mage?”
James nods his head.
“Then we do stand a chance,” he says with a grin.
“Come on!” cries Miko from where he stands next to Jiron. “We’ve got to get out of here!”
Lord Pytherian and James run across the room as the soldiers continuously beat upon the door behind them. As they reach the others, Jiron moves down the hallway to the right. Running quickly with no pretense of being quiet, they turn left when the corridor does and see more soldiers coming toward them.
As Jiron stops next to a door on their left, a cry goes up from the advancing soldiers as they break into a run to attack. Throwing his weight against the door, he bursts into the room. The rest follow, Lord Pytherian closes the door behind them. The dark room blossoms with light as James’ orb springs to life.
Lord Pytherian’s eyes widen slightly and James shrugs and says, “It’s useful.”
A slight smile breaks out upon his face as he says, “I would think so.”
“Here!” Jiron hollers as he tosses a poleaxe toward Lord Pytherian who uses it to brace the door. James comes over with another and they get them wedged in just as the solders begin pounding upon the door from the other side.
Miko comes over and says, “This might work better.” He reaches up and pulls an iron bar from the door jamb and sinks it into a recess on the other side. With the added strength of the bar, the door will hold a long time.
They turn to look at the room they’ve found themselves in and discover they’ve run into an armory. Racks of swords, pole arms, bows, and every other type of weapon imaginable are lined in racks along all the walls.
“James, come here,” Miko hollers from where he stands next to a large barrel.
When James comes over, he sees the barrel is filled with the lead slugs he’s been using. Giving Miko a pat on the back, he proceeds to refill his belt as well as filling a pouch that was lying on a nearby table. It may weigh a little bit, but he feels better for having them. Once the pouch is bulging, he secures it to the belt around his waist.
They suddenly hear pounding as the soldiers out in the hallway try to beat their way in. But the door with iron bar firmly secured is strong enough to hold against them.
Jiron comes in from the only other doorway leading out of the room and says, “There’s just another room back there with shields and some armor.” He points to the door the soldiers are beating upon and continues, “That’s the only way out.”
Miko turns to James and asks, “Now what?”
A translucent bubble forms in front of James and Lord Pytherian asks, “What’s that?”
“It should show us a way out of here,” he replies. But the bubble floats around a moment and then goes over to the door leading out to the hallway and the soldiers. “Damn!” exclaims James.
“No other way out?” asks Jiron.
“Doesn’t look like it,” he says.
“What are we to do now?” he asks.
James looks from one to the other and says, “Give me a moment.” He then begins considering the situation as he starts to pace.
Suddenly, the sound from the door begins to change. A steady thumping sound starts to beat on the door. Lord Pytherian says, “It won’t be long now. It sounds like they’ve found a ram.”
James’ pacing leads him into the other room. There he finds the area where the blacksmith would’ve worked on fixing the broken or dulled weapons and armor. An anvil sits in the corner as does a bellows; a hole can be seen in the roof that would allow the smoke to escape from the forge.
A large bucket of water sits on the floor and next to it is a depression in the stone with a small drain that would allow the used water to drain away. Suddenly, an idea hits him and he sends out his senses beneath the floor and realizes that there’s an open space beneath them.
From the other room, Lord Pytherian hollers out, “That door’s not going to stand much more of this!”
“Got an idea!” James yells back to him. “I need a few minutes.”
“Better hurry,” Jiron says from the doorway.”
James glances over to him and nods. Then he begins tracing the creases around one large stone in the floor with his finger, letting the magic flow as he loosens the bonds holding it to the ones next to it.
When Jiron sees what he’s doing, he nods his head as he remembers how they’d escaped the jail back in Mountainside. He turns to the others and says, “Let’s move as much of this stuff before the door to slow them down once they’ve broken through.”
Everyone begins moving tables and pulling racks of weapons off the walls as they create a blockade in front of the door. By the time they’ve created a pile extending several yards away from the door, they hear James holler from the other room, “I need your help!”
Jiron is the first to enter the room and sees James standing there with a sledge hammer. “Grab a hammer or something and help me smash this block down,” James tells him.
James then begins slamming the sledge hammer down upon the stone block. The others see what he’s doing as they come into the room and move to help him. Pytherian holds back a moment, doubting the usefulness of this course of action. But then when he sees the block move down half an inch from the blows raining down upon it, he grabs a war hammer and adds his strength to the endeavor.
Inch by slow inch the slab moves down until it falls into the room beneath it. “What’s down there?” asks Miko as he looks into the black hole.
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Jiron says as he moves to the lip of the hole and begins to lower himself over the edge. James moves the orb over the opening and they see the floor of the room is about fifteen feet away.
“Be careful,” James warns him.
He swings over the edge and hangs by his hands a moment before letting go. James watches as he lands on the floor and then looks back up to him. “Come on!” he hears him holler out of the hole.
James looks to Lord Pytherian and says, “Your next milord.”
Lord Pytherian moves to the edge and just like Jiron, swings over the edge and lands next to him.
“Okay Miko,” James says as he indicates the hole. As Miko is lowering himself into the hole, James hears the door crash open. Smashing and clattering comes from the other room as the soldiers begin removing the haphazard barricade they’d erected before the door.
“What was that?” Jiron asks from below.
Nervously, James replies, “They’re in the armory.”
When Miko hits the floor, James moves to the edge and begins to swing down when from the doorway, he sees a soldier appear. Letting go, he falls and then feels hands grab him to slow his descent as he lands on the floor. “Thanks,” he says.
From above them, they see soldiers looking down at them and then another begins to swing over the edge. “This way!” Jiron hollers as he leads them from the room through a doorway.
Once everyone has exited the room, he slams the door and drops a bar across it that was built to hold the door secure.
In the light of the orb, James can see they’re in a passage and by the looks of it, one that hasn’t been used in a very long time. “This might be a part of the dungeons,” he guesses.
“If so then maybe we can get back to the sewers,” Jiron states.
From the other side of the door, they again hear pounding as the soldiers attempt to get through.
Jiron takes the lead with Lord Pytherian close behind. The passage leads on for a hundred feet before ending where another passage crosses from the left to right. Jiron looks back to James who says, “Left!”
Turning to the left, they race down the hallway for several hundred feet, passing openings into other rooms. After a brief examination, they discover each is just another storeroom with no other way out so they continue on down.
Moving along for several minutes, they come to a door at the end of the passage. As James comes up behind Jiron and Lord Pytherian, he sees Jiron take out his knife to begin working on the lock.
“I’m sorry I had my doubts about you,” Lord Pytherian says to James while they wait for Jiron to open the lock.
“We’re not out of here yet,” James tells him.
“You’ve done better than I could’ve expected or hoped for,” he continues. “Frankly, I’m surprised we’ve managed to make it this far.”
Click!
Jiron opens the door and turns to them, “If you guys are done, let’s go.”
“After you,” James says to him.
Turning back, Jiron moves through the doorway and pauses as they go past him. Then he shuts the door, locking it once more. Rushing to take the lead again, he follows the passage as it twists and turns three times before coming out into what looks to be a storage room.
It’s a large dark room with boxes stacked on all sides. To their right, a stairway extends up and on their left is a doorway. In the middle of the room are two bodies. As they move into the room, closer to the bodies, they discover they’re guards and by the fresh pool of blood they’re lying in, were killed recently.
“James, this is the room just above the cells,” Jiron suddenly says.
Looking around, James nods his head. Indicating the guards on the floor, he says, “These two must’ve been killed when the prisoners escaped.”
“That would make sense,” Jiron agrees.
“Then that’s the way out!” exclaims Miko, pointing to the opening opposite the stairs. “What’re we waiting for?” Moving quickly, he hurries through the doorway and begins to descend down the stairs.
James and the others move quickly to follow him, taking the stairs quickly.
They catch up with him at the bottom of the stairs where he’s stopped and peering around the corner. “Look,” he says, pointing down the hallway to the room of the holding cells.
Lights can be seen within and silhouettes moving around. “They must be investigating how the prisoners escaped,” guesses James.
Jiron’s knives leap to his hand at the same time as Lord Pytherian’s sword leaves its scabbard. Jiron turns to Miko and says, “You better stay here and look after James.”
“Alright,” he says.
Jiron glances to James who gives him a nod in understanding as they move to the room at the end of the hallway.
“Looks like there are just a couple,” Lord Pytherian whispers to Jiron as they get closer.
“That’ll just make it easier,” he says.
They’re able to come to the end of the hallway without being seen due to the preoccupation of those inside. Within the room they see two guards and a civilian.
Jiron glances to Lord Pytherian who gives a nod and they burst into the room. Pytherian strikes down one guard before he even knows they’re there.
The remaining guard moves to protect the civilian as he draws his sword. Jiron begins deflecting his attacks as Lord Pytherian joins him. Facing the two of them, the guard has no chance and is soon cut down.
The civilian makes for the door, but Lord Pytherian moves and blocks his exit. He places the point of his sword to the man’s chest and hollers back out to James and Miko, “It’s clear, come on down.”
Turning back to the civilian, Lord Pytherian says, “So, what brings the aide to Lord Hazi Makali down here?”
“My Lord Pytherian,” the man says. “You are certainly the last person I expected to meet here.”
“I would guess so,” he replies, laughing. “Considering the circumstances of our last meeting.”
James comes to the cell room and when he sees the man at sword point, he asks, “Who’s this guy?”
“He’s the aide to Lord Hazi Makali, the military governor in charge of this city,” he explains.
“What are you going to do to him?” James asks.
Pytherian gazes at the man and then motions with his sword to the nearest cell, “Get in.”
The man moves toward the cell and enters. As Lord Pytherian shuts the cell door, the man yells, “You’ll never make it out of the city!”
“I’d say the chances are fairly good,” he replies as he turns the key in the lock. Putting the key in his tunic, Lord Pytherian looks to the man and says, “Give my regards to your Lord and tell him I regret being unable to say goodbye in person.”
He turns to James and says, “Lead on.”
James nods to Jiron who moves toward the door leading to the torture chamber. James sees all the cell doors have been opened, proof that the fighters they’d seen from the tower window had in fact been those being held here. One of the dead guards they’d dragged in here had been pulled near one of the cells. There must’ve been a key or something on him that they’d used to open the doors.
In the torture chamber, the dead man still lies upon the table and the torturers upon the floor. “I see you have already been here,” remarks Lord Pytherian.
“Yeah,” replies James. “We came in this way.”
They exit the torture chamber and move down the hallway to the stairs at the end. Jiron doesn’t even hesitate as he begins to move down the stairs. Upon reaching the bottom, he waits for the others.
“Can you open it?” he asks James, gesturing to the wall.
“Open what?” Lord Pytherian asks.
“There’s a secret door here that we came through,” he replies as he begins to examine the wall. When he doesn’t find any sort of loose stone or anything, he says to Miko, “See if you can move that torch sconce there.”
Miko moves to the torch sconce on the wall across from the secret door and begins attempting to move it. He wiggles it first one way then the other. Suddenly, the sconce slides down and the wall begins to move to the side.
Once the opening is wide enough, they file through. A minute later, the door begins sliding closed once again, leaving the orb as the only source of light.
They descend the stairs to the next level and then down one more to the bottom level. Going through the doorway, they move down the passage until they come to an open door. Moving into the room, the smell of the sewer becomes strong.
Lord Pytherian sees the trapdoor there and asks, “The sewers?”
“If you don’t mind milord,” James says.
Smiling, he replies, “Not in the least. I prefer it over my last accommodations.”
Jiron moves past him and goes down the ladder first, with James taking the rear. He closes the door to the room before descending the rungs. Once he’s gone down far enough, he closes the trapdoor as well then climbs down the rest of the way.
At the bottom, the others are waiting for him and once he’s down, Jiron sets off the way they’d come. It doesn’t take too long before they’re once again at the thick iron bars blocking the passage.
James come to the fore and Lord Pytherian watches in amazement as the bars begin to move, making a hole large enough for them to squeeze through.
When they’ve all passed through to the other size, James again lets the magic flow as the bars move back to their original position.
“Hopefully they’ll spend hours looking for us in the Keep before realizing we are not there,” James says as he turns back to the others.
“If they do, it will give us enough time to get out of the city,” Jiron figures.
“I doubt if the city will be open,” Lord Pytherian states. “As a matter of course, they’ve most likely sealed the gates and put patrols on the streets, even if they believe we’re still in the Keep.”
“Then we’ll need to be most careful,” James says. “Let’s try to follow the sewer as close to the eastern gate as we can.”
“Why the eastern gate?” Lord Pytherian asks.
“There’s help there,” replies James. Then he looks to Jiron and says, “If they haven’t gotten impatient and done something stupid.”
“You never know,” adds Jiron.
As they move along the ledge next to the flow of the sewer, Lord Pytherian asks, “Who’s waiting?’
“Someone by the name of Miller,” replies James. “Do you know him?”
A smile comes to him as he nods and says, “Yeah, I know him and this is just the brash thing he’d try.”
They follow the sewer tunnel for several minutes before they come to where another large sewer tunnel joins the one they’re in. “Which way?” asks Jiron.
James looks to Lord Pytherian who shrugs, “I don’t know, I’m all turned around. Maybe we should move to the surface so we can be sure of heading to the eastern gate.”
“Alright,” agrees James. “That might be a good idea.”
They backtrack to where they passed the last set of rungs going up. Jiron climbs them as the others wait below. Several minutes pass before he climbs back down again. “We are still within the inner wall,” he tells them. “We need to continue further before we’ll be past.”
Lord Pytherian says, “Okay, then let’s go.”
Jiron leads them further down the sewer tunnel, and when they return to the branching tunnel, he passes it as he continues down the one they’ve been following. He moves past three sets of rungs before stopping before the fourth. “I think this should do it,” he says. “Wait here a moment.”
They watch him as he climbs up into the darkness above. A minute later they hear him call down, “Come on up, we’re past the wall.”
Lord Pytherian goes first with James again taking up the rear. As James climbs out of the sewer exit into the room, he can tell they’re in a building’s basement. Jiron is over at a doorway, fiddling with the lock.
As James gets closer to him, he returns his knife to his belt and slowly pushes the door open. On the other side, a short flight of stairs leads up to another door.
The others wait while Jiron moves up to the door where he puts his ear against it and listens for a moment. He waves the others to come on up as he slowly opens the door and peers around to the other side.
Opening it up further, he passes through and the others follow him, finding themselves in what looks to be a chandler’s shop. Upon various tables are goods for sale, one having cloaks and other travel gear.
They each take one of the cloaks and canteens, as well as other equipment they might need. James removes a gold piece from his pocket and places it on the counter. When he catches Lord Pytherian looking at him, he whispers, “I don’t want to be counted a thief.”
Nodding his approval, Lord Pytherian moves to a window overlooking the street. He ducks to the side as a patrol of ten soldiers pass by outside. Once they’re gone, he looks out again and turns back to the others, “It looks like they have put extra patrols on the streets.”
“That’ll make things interesting,” Jiron says as he looks out of another window. Seeing the street clear for the moment, he turns to the others and asks, “Ready?”
When he gets an affirmative from them, he moves to the door and opens it as he passes out into the street.