Melding in with the shadows across the street from the wall, he takes them further down until he reaches a point where two of the guards walking upon the wall are visible at the same time.
Stopping, he indicates the guards on the wall. Then he shows them a statue of a warrior with an upraised sword that stands between them upon the edge of the wall. To Aleya he says, “That’s where I want you to put your arrow, between the upraised sword and the statue’s head. Can you do it?”
She gauges the distance and nods. “I believe so,” she replies.
“Can you do it with a rope tied to the arrow?” When she looks at him he raises his tunic to show her the rope secured about his waist.
“I…I don’t know,” she admits. “I’ve never shot an arrow with a rope tied to it before.” She then looks to his eyes and nods, “But I’ll give it a try.”
“Pick your best arrow,” he tells her as he begins uncoiling the rope from around his middle.
She removes the quiver of arrows from her back and begins going through them one by one. The third one she comes to is slightly thicker than the others and is very straight. Holding it up, she says, “This one.”
Jiron takes it and ties the end of the rope to it very, very tightly. When he’s sure it won’t come off in flight, he hands it back to her. “It’s going to drag some due to the tension of the rope,” he tells her.
“I understand,” she says. Holding the arrow, she feels how the rope alters its balance and increases its weight twofold.
“Ready?” Jiron asks.
Placing the arrow to string, she looks at him and nods, “Ready.”
“Take aim but don’t shoot right away,” he tells her. “When the two guards are both walking away from the statue at the same time, I’ll say ‘now’ and then let it go.”
“Okay,” she says. She looks up at the statue on the wall, raises her bow and pulls the string back. Holding it there, she gets her aim set and waits. Three seconds later, Jiron whispers ‘now’ and she lets go.
The arrow and rope sail through the air and cracks into the wall a good three feet below the feet of the statue. They freeze as they look to the guards to see if they heard the noise, but neither one of them even so much as glances back.
Jiron quickly pulls in the rope until it and the arrow are back with them. The head of the arrow is cracked from its impact with the stones of the wall. “We’ll try it again,” he says.
Aleya nods and begins searching through the quiver for another arrow. Feeling bad that she didn’t make it the first time, she vows to make it the second. Handing the next arrow to Jiron, she waits for him to secure the rope to it once more. Then once he’s handed it back to her, she again places it to string and takes aim at the statue.
“Now,” Jiron says and she again lets the arrow loose. And just as the first one, it impacts upon the wall in almost the same place as the first one had.
Jiron begins pulling in the rope when Miko places a hand on his shoulder. “Someone’s coming,” he hears him whisper in his ear. Dropping the rope, he looks where Miko is indicating and sees a guard turning the corner and begins walking down the street toward them. They move further back into the shadows and hold still.
Then his eyes go to the middle of the street where the end of the rope lies with the shattered arrow still attached to it. The way the guard is moving down the center of the street, he’s going to walk right over it.
“Jiron!” Miko whispers as he points to the arrow.
“I know,” he says. Never taking his eye off the approaching guard, he draws one of his knives.
Thirty feet from the arrow, the guard still fails to notice it. At twenty feet, one of the men atop the walls hails him and they wave to each other. At fifteen feet, he turns his attention back to street level as the guard atop the wall resumes walking his patrol. At ten feet the guard starts humming a tune as he continues along. At five feet, he’s still oblivious to the fact that an arrow tied to a rope lies across the street. Then his foot steps on it.
The guard stops and lifts his foot. Bending over, he looks to see what it was that he stepped on. Picking up the arrow, he looks at it for a second and then rope attached to it. He sees how the rope is tied to the end of the arrow and that it extends into the shadows on the other side of the street. Pulling on the rope, he looks more closely into the shadows. Then all of a sudden, one of the shadows breaks off and rushes him.
Before the man knows what hit him, Jiron attacks and silences him before he can sound the alarm. Then with Miko’s help, he drags the guard’s lifeless body back into the shadows before the guards on top of the wall notice what happened.
Once he’s sure the guards on the wall failed to see them, he pulls in the rope. By this time Aleya has another arrow already selected. He again secures the rope to it and hands it back to her. “We don’t have much time,” he tells her. “We must be ready when whatever distraction they are planning goes into effect.” When she takes the arrow, he puts his hands on her shoulders and gives her a quick kiss. “I know you can do this.”
Nodding, she puts the arrow to string and sights on the space between the statues head and the upraised sword. She takes a deep calming breath to center herself as her father always taught her. He could do this, she thinks to herself. He could do anything with a bow.
And so can you.
It’s almost as if she can feel him there behind her as he always did when teaching her the bow. A hand on her waist, another to help steady the bow. The words he use to say when passing on his wisdom. Steady on girl, take your time. Patience, always patience, never rush it.
“Now!” she hears Jiron say. But she doesn’t release the arrow. Only when it’s time, Aly. Then it almost feels as if a hand raises her bow ever so slightly higher. “Now!” urges Jiron.
“Do you sense that?” Brother Willim asks Miko.
“Yes, I do,” he replies. “What is it?”
“I’m not sure,” Brother Willim says.
Now, Aly.
Releasing the bowstring, the arrow shoots forward. They hold their breath as they watch it arc through the air toward the statue. Then it sails perfectly between the head and sword.
“I did it father,” she says quietly to herself. And she can almost feel a pat on her back, the same as her father use to give her when she successfully learned what he was trying to teach.
“Yes!” says Jiron. When all the slack in the rope is gone, it yanks against the end he’s holding in his hand. Looking to the two guards, he sees they still have their backs turned. Rushing over to the wall, he begins pulling the slack back in until he feels the arrow catch in the crook of the statue between the neck and the upraised arm. Giving it a couple tugs, he ensures it’s not going to slip out.
Then he holds still as the guards turn and begin approaching the area where the statue is located. Praying for them not to notice the arrow and rope, he waits. The watch they are walking takes them to within several feet of the statue. But then they both reach the end of their watch, turn and begin to walk away from the statue again.
Leaving the rope where it is, he runs back over to where the others are hidden in the shadows. “Now,” he says once he’s rejoined them, “we wait for the diversion.” Another ten minutes go by before a commotion begins to develop. The guards on the wall turn their attention to the far side of town, and one of them points to something. Coming together, they begin talking excitedly to one another.
“Aleya, you need to take them out fast,” he tells her.
Nodding, she removes two arrows from her quiver and sets one point first into the ground before her. The other, she puts to her bowstring and aims. This is something she is confident she can do with little problems.
Releasing the first arrow, it flies true and strikes one of the guards in the back. Before the other guard realizes something is happening, another takes the second guard through the spine just below the neck. The first man topples onto the top of the wall while the second one falls off and
lands in the street not far from where Jiron and the others wait.
Indicating the guard, Jiron says to Miko, “Get him out of sight. When I get to the top, the rest of you climb up. Before he runs over to where the rope is hanging against the wall, Brother Willim stops him.
“I’ve never climbed a rope before,” he admits.
“Don’t worry,” he assures him. “James never could either. Let the others go first then tie a loop in the end of the rope. Then we’ll pull you up.”
“Alright,” Brother Willim says.
Moving to the wall, Jiron takes the rope and very carefully begins climbing up. He understands that he can only apply steady tension to the rope. That to suddenly jerk on it may snap the arrow in two. So hand over hand, he slowly and steadily works his way to the top. As he climbs the rope, he can hear raised voices coming from within the Keep area on the other side of the wall.
When he finally reaches the base of the statue, he grips the top of the wall with one hand and then pulls himself up. Once on top, he looks over to the far side of town and sees what the diversion is.
“Not much huh?” he mumbles to himself. The damn fools set fire to the town. And so it appears, for fires are burning in several different sections of the city. Men are running through the streets on their way to put them out.
He casts a quick glance to the guards on the other walls, and the gaze of each is directed to the far off fires. The grounds within the Keep area are fairly deserted, a few guards walk to and fro as they keep watch. One man, a civilian, hollers to one of the guards down there. Together they quickly make their way through the gates and toward the fires.
Sure that everyone’s attention is averted, Jiron removes the arrow from the statue and unties the rope. He’s just taking a firm hold of it when he feels the rope grow taut as someone down below pulls on it. Jiron gives the rope two quick tugs to let them know he’s ready, then braces himself.
He receives two quick answering tugs before someone begins climbing up. In a moment Aleya appears and he offers her a hand which she takes. He then pulls her the rest of the way up onto the wall.
The first thing she notices are the fires burning throughout the city. “What do they think they’re doing?” she asks.
“I don’t care as long as the rest of the guards are looking away from us,” he says. Gesturing to the guard she killed with her bow, he adds, “Grab his crossbow and make like you are him walking the wall.”
Nodding, she says, “Right.” Then moves over toward the dead guard.
Another two pulls announces Miko’s turn up the rope. He has a much more difficult time at it than Aleya had, but after a few tense moments, he makes it. Jiron has him pretend to be the other guard that should be up here instead of dead down below.
He sets himself for hauling up Brother Willim while Miko moves further down the wall. When the rope jerks twice, he begins hauling him up. Pulling up a person is much more strenuous than holding while they climb. When he figures he has pulled Brother Willim up about half the distance, the rope suddenly vibrates. Sensing there may be trouble, he calls for Miko and together they rapidly pull it up.
As the end of the rope reaches the top, they find Brother Willim holding on with one hand to the loop where his foot should be. In the other hand he’s gripping his staff. “What happened?” Miko asks as they haul him the rest of the way up.
“My staff slipped,” he admits somewhat embarrassed. “When I moved to catch it, my foot slipped out of the loop. I almost didn’t catch hold of it in time.”
Miko grins and says, “That would have hurt when you hit the ground.”
Nodding, Brother Willim sits on the wall and tries to calm his trembling nerves.
Jiron coils the rope in his hands as he looks over the wall and into the courtyard below. There are still few guards upon the grounds down there but none in close proximity to the section of wall they’re on. A check toward those upon the walls finds them still staring at the fire burning in the city. So far, none of the guards have yet to notice that something is going on.
“Aleya,” he says and when he has her attention waves for her to come over to him. “There are three guards down below,” he tells her and then shows them to her. One is on the far side and is just moving beyond the Keep’s wall, another is walking across the middle of the courtyard, while the third is closer and moving their way.
“Take out the man coming our way,” he says.
“You got it.” Removing an arrow from her quiver, she places it to string and aims at the approaching man. When she’s sure she’s got him, the arrow is released. Flying true, it strikes the man in the chest and knocks him backward to the ground.
“Miko!” Jiron says as he begins lowering the rope over the side of the wall to the courtyard below. “Get down there fast and get that guard out of sight.” When the rope is played out and he has a firm grip, Miko begins to rappel down the other side. As soon as he’s down, he says to Aleya, “You’re next.”
Nodding, she takes the rope and descends to the ground below.
Once she’s down, he turns to Brother Willim and asks, “Can you make it down by yourself?”
He holds up his staff and says, “Not holding this I can’t.”
Jiron gives him an annoyed look and shakes his head. Then he grabs the staff and throws it over the side. “Now can you?”
Brother Willim looks over the side and watches his staff as it lands on the ground below. Turning back to Jiron he nods, “I think so.”
“Then please hurry,” he says. “Our luck won’t last forever.”
“Right,” he says. Taking the rope, he begins to work his way down. When he reaches the halfway point, he loses his grip and begins sliding down. By the time he hits the bottom, he has a good case of rope burn on both of his hands. Praying to Asran, he uses his magic to heal the burns.
“Stop!” exclaims Aleya.
The urgency of her cry breaks his concentration and the spell stops. “What?” he asks.
“You were glowing like a candle,” she explains. Looking around, she’s relieved to discover no one noticed his magical aura.
“Sorry,” he says. “Forgot about that.”
Jiron lands on the ground next to him and whips the rope back up where it dislodges from the place he had secured it. As it falls to the ground, he begins coiling it back around his middle. He had seen the green glow surrounding the priest but had been too far away to alert him.
Miko joins them and brings Brother Willim his staff. “Here you go,” he says as he hands it to him.
“Thank you,” he replies. He takes the staff gingerly as his hands still throbs with pain.
“If you need to heal yourself,” Jiron says, “Best to wait until we get inside.”
“And how are we to do that?” he asks. “Through the front door?”
“Actually, that is exactly what I intend for us to do,” he says. “Currently, the courtyard here is free of guards. One’s around back and will reappear soon. The other one just disappeared in through the main entrance, which as you’ll notice remains open. If we hurry, we might be able to make it.”
“No guts no glory?” Miko asks with a grin.
Jiron nods with an answering grin. He recognizes another one of James’ expressions. “Let’s go.” Running swiftly they cross the courtyard, taking advantage of what shadowy areas there are. No cry ensues by the time they reach the area before the Keep’s gate. Doubling their speed, they race through the entrance.
Chapter Thirty Two
_________________________
“So, you’re awake are you?”
James cracks open his eyes to see who it is that’s talking to him and the light in the room stabs his eyes like a red hot knife. He moans and tries to rub them but can’t. His mind at first is unable to figure out why, but then comes to the realization that his wrists are manacled above his head to the wall behind him. Squinting so as to allow only a very minimal amount of light through to his eyes, he tries to see
what’s going on.
“Everyone else was fooled by that stunt you pulled in Cyst,” the oddly familiar voice says. “But I knew it couldn’t be true. I knew you would end up here. So I came and waited for you to show. I didn’t expect my efforts to yield results so quickly.”
Smack!
His eyes somewhat adjust to the light in the room and he’s now able to tell that the voice is not addressing him. Rather, the man is talking to someone else who is tied to a chair in the center of the room. The man in the chair is facing away from where James is sitting on the floor thus he’s unable to get a good look at who it is.
He slowly moves his head to scan the room. The others who had been in the common room with him at the inn are sitting in a row against the same wall as he is. Each is manacled to the wall in the same manner. Over on a table against the wall he sees their belongings haphazardly stacked, it doesn’t look as if anyone’s taken the time to search through them yet.
Returning his attention to Perrilin, for that is whom he finally realizes is sitting in the chair being interrogated, he sees the man interrogating him strike him again across the face. In his drugged state, it’s hard for his mind to function properly and it takes him a bit, but he begins to recognize the man interrogating Perrilin. He’s seen him before.
With a scar running along the side of his face across one eye, it would be hard for James to ever forget him. Korgan, or as James better knows him, Ol’ One Eye. The man from whom he rescued Perrilin when he had him in a farmhouse outside of Cardri. The man who aided the Empire by poisoning the guards in charge of the gates in the City of Light. A powerful agent of Lord Cytok. To be here in his hands bodes ill for James and the others. He has little love for the man. In fact he’s one of the few people he’s met that he wouldn’t feel any qualms about killing.
Smack!
Korgan strikes Perrilin across the face again and then gazes at him for a second. Moving in close to Perrilin’s face, he lifts one eyelid and examines the eye beneath. “Damn!” he curses. Then he says something in the northern tongue to one of the three guards there in the room with him. Abruptly turning about, he exits through the door behind him.
The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven Page 43