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.
Quest's End: The Broken Key #3 Page 27