Siege of Pailtar

by Robyn Wideman

  For hours, she struggled to get through the sand, but as she had anticipated there was no sign of another living being. Even the sentries surrounding the camp avoided the dunes; she was within a few hundred yards of the military outpost now. From the edge of a dune she watched the camp. She was timing the sentries, looking for other movement within the camp. From her position, she could see that most of the men that were stationed there were gone. The remuda of horses was mostly missing. Having the soldiers away from the camp was not totally unexpected. The small military outposts were Pailtar's answer to raiding bandits that threatened the trade routes into Pailtar. The bandits were at home in the desert and hard to find. This kept the soldiers tasked with hunting them busy.

  Kiana was glad at least one thing was going right today. Her confidence boosted by her good fortune, she began to make her way towards the army encampment. She walked slowly for thirty seconds before dropping into the shadow of a small dune. It was one of the last ones between her and the camp. She counted to forty-five, before peeking over the top of the dune. The sentry had taken the same path as before and her timing was perfect. She could stand up and quickly walk to the edge of camp now before the next sentry would make his way within eye sight. Carefully she stepped and hopped from rock to rock, leaving no telltale footprints in the softer sand.

  When she reached the first of the camp’s tents she paused, listening for any sounds from within it. None were forthcoming, so she slipped under the back side of the tent. Inside the tent were two beds, neatly made and organized in military fashion. Kiana slid across the middle of the tent and using her small dirk poked a tiny hole in the front. From this hole she was able to see the middle of the army camp. The tents were arranged in a horseshoe around a large fire pit. She could see a cook working on the open side, opposite of the large tent at the apex of the horseshoe. She knew this large tent would be the captain’s.

  Kiana deftly slipped out the front of the soldier's tent. The cook, the only person within the camp, and the sentries guarding the perimeter took no notice of her. As she made her way towards the large tent of the Army captain she braced herself for what might be inside. Surely Keyon was kidding, she thought to herself.

  Stepping into the dark tent her hopes were dashed. Keyon had not been lying. Sitting in the middle of the large tent, chained to steel spike in the ground, was the largest lion she had ever seen. Actually it was the only lion she had ever seen she reminded herself, but it was still huge! The raw power of the dangerous beast could be seen in the sinewy muscled legs. Its paws looked as big as her head, and the claws as long as her own fingers. If the massive predator hit her with one of those razor like appendages she would surely be sliced to bits.

  Kiana scanned the tent, hoping that the crazy captain, who kept a lion in his tent, would be kind enough to leave his diary outside of the reach of the lion. Kiana’s silent plea to the gods went unnoticed and unanswered. The captain’s desk was mere feet away from where the lion lay sprawled out pretending to sleep.

  From the moment Kiana had entered the tent, she had been counting the breaths the lion took and listening for its heartbeat. Despite the fact that the beast did not move, its breathing has sped up and its heartbeat was increasing. The lion was excited!

  Kiana pulled out the package that Keyon had given her. He had not promised that it would work, but it was the best he could offer her. Once again Kiana rued her decision not to practice magic. Mother never mentioned lions, she lamented to herself. If I had known I would be facing lions I would be the most magical studying thief in the history of the Guild. That or the most heavily armored, big sword and spear carrying thief ever. Kiana focused herself. Now was not the time for scattered thoughts. She needed to focus on the task at hand. Kiana unwrapped the package that Keyon had given her. The small slab of beef, heavily dosed with sleeping powders was supposed to keep her safe from the lion. When she had asked Keyon what to do if it didn’t work he had simply said ‘run.’

  Kiana carefully tossed the chunk of beef in front of the lion. The meat landed perfectly within a foot of the resting beast’s mighty head. The lion’s eyes opened at the sound and beast finally stopped pretending to be asleep.

  Sniffing at the meat the lion inched closer to the meat, Kiana silently cheered it on. Come on, you ugly monster, eat the tasty meat, its sleepy time. But to her dismay the lion took one more sniff of the meat before turning to stare at her.

  Great, that’s just great, she thought. I get the lion that wants to play with its food before eating it. This lion would rather wait to get its paws on me, rather than eat a nice piece of meat. Kiana needed a new plan.

  Looking around the tent, she struggled to come up with an alternative plan. She couldn’t wait the lion out. Who knew how long she had before the platoon of horsemen returned, or the cook came to feed or water the beast. No, she needed a new plan and quick. The longer she stayed in the tent, the greater the danger.

  Kiana could see the journal on the captain’s desk. That small fact was the only thing that made her think there was a chance of success here. If she could make her way past the lion she could quickly grab the book and get away. The only question was how to get past the lion and keep far enough away from it not to get sliced to death.

  Think damn it, she scolded herself. There had to be a way.

  Suddenly it came to her. She closed her eyes and let the idea formulate in her mind. She would sprint past the beast, jump onto the table, grab the book and jump to the far tent wall. Kiana visualized the idea. She watched herself make the attempt, she could see herself almost getting to the table, then with blazing speed the lion reaching out and knocking her down with one of its massive paws before jumping on her back and sinking its teeth into her neck.

  Nope! That plan sucks, she lamented.

  Okay, it wasn’t totally terrible she amended. The jumping on the table, grabbing the book then leaping to the far side of the tent, where she could quickly slice a small hole, one big enough to jump through was solid. That part of the plan might work. It was the “getting to the table without being eaten” part that needed adjusting.

  Again Kiana surveyed the tent, looking for some detail that she had previously overlooked. The loose coil of chain, that tied the beast to the ground stake, was only feet from the large main tent pole in the middle of the room. Maybe she could get the beast to chase her around the pole until the chain was wrapped around it. Too slow, she thought. Once he starts chasing me, he is going to be loud and angry. Someone will be coming to check on him. I need to be gone before they get here.

  Kiana took another look at the large pole in the middle of the tent. That was it! That was how she would get to the desk without getting eaten. Taking her small dirk and placing it in her belt along her hip so that it was easily accessible, she got ready to make her move.

  Taking a deep breath, she mentally prepared herself. Her eyes opened. Her focus was sharp. Time seemed to slow as she started sprinting towards the lion. She watched as the lion crouched, she swore she could see it lick its lips as its prey moved towards it. Moving as fast as she could, Kiana crossed the large tent. Then, with only feet to spare, she changed her direction. She jumped as high as she could, grabbing the pole with both hands, using her momentum to swing around the pole.

  The lion waited no longer. While she swung around the pole the lion leaped into action. It sprung towards her, its outstretched claws reaching to pull her down.

  As Kiana swung around the pole, she tucked her feet in under her, placing them just above the pole. When her momentum brought her in line with the desk, she pushed her feet against the pole, springing out and up. Her leap brought her over top of the lion as it slammed into the tent pole.

  Kiana did a summersault, finishing the dangerous maneuver by landing softly on the desk. She wasted no time, grabbed the journal and bolted off the edge of the desk in a second great leap. As she soared through the air she could hear the lion roar in frustration as it turned to take another attac
k at her, its intended prey. As she flew through the air Kiana pulled out her dirk. The small but incredibly sharp blade sliced into the tent cloth as she landed at the edge of the tent. As her feet hit the ground again she quickly slipped through the hole her weapon had created. As she slipped out of the tent she heard the crash as the lion reached the end of its chain and was violently pulled back to the ground. Kiana thanked her lucky stars that the chain held. She had survived!

  Looking around Kiana crouched, as the lion roared in frustration she could hear the nearest sentry making his way towards the tent. She could hear the man yelling at the cook, “What has Theodore worked up now? Have you fed him yet?”

  Kiana did not wait to hear the cook’s reply. She quickly made her way towards the nearby dunes. Again she was careful where she walked. Soon the soldier would see the torn tent. The longer it took to find her tracks the longer she would have to make her getaway.

  Suddenly Kiana heard thundering hooves. The soldiers had returned! She could hear the captain yelling at the men as he entered the tent. It took the captain little time to see his journal was missing and the hole in the tent. As Kiana dove over the dune she heard the captain yell out in anger. “Aaargh, someone stole my journal. Catch that thief or you will all regret it.”

  Kiana swore. An angry captain and a squad of soldiers would be searching for her now. She would have little time to get away. Moving as fast as she could through the soft sand she worked her way farther into the dunes. At least here the soldier’s horses were of little use. The soft sand would slow them down just as much as it did her. The problem was that once the soldiers found her tracks she would have no way of losing them before she left the dunes.

  It took several minutes before she heard a soldier shout out that he had found her tracks. Kiana was glad for every second. She was several dunes in now and the soldiers would have to follow her tracks, the extra distance between them would give her more time to make her getaway.

  Between Kiana and Pailtar was over five miles of unforgiving desert. She needed to move quickly but still conserve energy. The scorching hot sun would drain her body of moisture; sweating came quick and thirst even quicker. Heat exhaustion was a danger. Dying from exposure was a real threat. She knew if she couldn’t get back to the city soon she could be trapped or caught by the soldiers now searching for her.

  Kiana found a strip of desert where the hard rock intertwined with dunes. Taking advantage of the situation; she took a couple steps back and started smoothing over her tracks. She continued doing this until she was standing on hard ground again. The few feet of no tracks would not fool the soldiers, but it would slow them down, making them have a larger search area to look for tracks.

  Kiana stepped carefully, jumping from boulder to boulder when possible. When she had gone several hundred feet on the hard ground she changed her path, turning back towards the dunes. She found a small dune that ran parallel to the rock. She jumped over the small hill, landing in the soft sand of the dunes once more. The dunes were slower going but the gentle rolling hills of sand offered cover. By keeping low she could move relatively quickly without worry of being seen.

  When the soldiers reached the hard section of ground they could not see any tracks. Frustrated by this, the captain ordered his men to spread out and find them. Kiana gained several minutes and almost a full mile before the men found where she had leapt back into the dunes. By then it was too late. Kiana had enough of a head start that she was easily able to make her way towards the city without being seen.

  …

  Kiana entered the city hungry, parched, and exhausted. She stopped at one of the city’s water wells to take in fluid. Her small water sack had long been empty. She had used the last of its water before trying to enter the soldiers’ camp.

  Slowly she took a few small sips of the refreshingly cool water. She allowed the water to sit in her mouth before taking a small swallow. She knew that when a person is dehydrated, too much water too fast can make you sicker. Taking a few more gulps she refilled her water sack and started to head home.

  When Kiana was almost to the front door of her house she knew something was amiss. It was almost dark out. The sun was rapidly falling over the edge of the horizon, leaving a soft warm glow of orange and reds that glowed against the dusty bronze and golds of Pailtar’s landscape. She had no time to notice the beauty of the setting sun though. Every day Kiana’s mother had the same routine; she would open the curtains of the small house’s living room window. Each hour that passed, Lilliana would open the curtain one inch more. That way Kiana would know things were safe. It might seem extreme, but for thieves it was a prudent precaution.

  The curtain should have been open three inches wider. Something had happened that made her mother not open the curtain for the last three hours.

  Kiana made her way around the house, climbing up the wall she silently broke into her own room. Whatever was going on in the house it was most likely about the journal in her possession. Kiana hid the small book in the rafters of her room before making her way to her bedroom door. There she sat, listening for any noise in the house. Hearing nothing she peeked under the door, from the small gap under the door she was able to see into the living room and kitchen. She could see no one, but she was sure that someone was there, she just felt it.

  Kiana grabbed an old ratty book of her own and put it inside her shirt. She then slipped back out her window and returned to the front door. She pulled out her dirk and hid it behind her back.

  With great trepidation she opened the door. Fear for her parents’ safety had her heart pounding. Nothing seemed out of place in the living room, slowly she walked into the house, calling out as she went. “Mom? Dad? I am home now.”

  A sinister voice replied from the kitchen, “We are in here Kiana, come join us.”

  Once Kiana was a few steps farther into the house she was able to see into the kitchen. Her heart pounded as she saw her parents sitting at the table, tied to their chairs and blindfolded, with gags in their mouths.

  A man dressed in a dark black cloak, stood behind them. The cloak and its large oversized hood hid the man’s features but not the knife he held beside her mother’s neck.

  The man spoke softly; his gravelly voice filled the room with harsh intent despite the light way he spoke. “Kiana, I really don’t want to have to hurt or kill your parents, but I will if I have to. How this goes is entirely up to you,” said the mysterious villainous man while he moved the knife around menacingly in front of her mother’s neck.

  Kiana sincerely doubted that anything that happened in the next few minutes would be entirely up to her, but she kept that thought to herself. Instead she nodded, letting her genuine fear find its way into her voice. With a creaking voice she replied, “Okay.”

  “Good,” the man continued, “now I know you have a book with you. I am going to need that book. The Guild had no business stealing it and I will be taking it now. Don’t pretend you don’t have it, I know all about your little excursion into the desert today.”

  Kiana was not surprised; of course this was about that damned journal. Scorpions, lions, soldiers, and now a knife-yielding assassin, Kiana was growing rather weary of this mission. Slowly she pulled the book out of her small pack. She let the pack drop to the ground as she lifted the book. She hesitated, holding the book in front of her. Her hands shook in fear, the book wobbled back and forth as if it was too heavy for her to hold. She looked at the book and then back at the man. “How do I know you won’t take the book and then kill them?” she asked.

  “You don’t, but you have no choice. Besides, if I was going to kill your parents I would have done it before. I would not have wasted the time to tie them up and blindfold them. This is for their own safety. If they don’t see meand I get the book, they live. If I don’t get the book … well you know what will happen.

  Kiana started making her way towards the kitchen table; she got to within a couple of feet away before stopping. “Okay, here is th
e book. But I am not giving it to you while you have a knife against my mother’s neck. You have to come to this side for the book. I don’t trust you; this is the only way you are getting the book.”

  “Tsk,tsk, Kiana. This is a dangerous game you are playing. But I agree, you have shown me the book, now I will show my good faith by coming to that side of the table.” The man moved around the table. When he stood in front of Kiana she had her hand held out as far as possible, holding the book out for him. As the man reached out to grab the proffered book, Kiana let the book fall out of her hand. While the man reacted, grabbing for the falling book, Kiana sprang into action. She leapt onto the table, rolled over it, while pulling her dirk out as she moved across the table. Once on the other side she dropped to the ground. She yanked hard on the edge of the table, lifting the table so that it was left on its side. The table top now acted as a shield between her and the mysterious knife yielding man.

  The man ignored her. He was studying the book in his hand. He read out the faded title carefully, “Locksmithing Basics, A Beginner’s Guide.” Then he turned towards Kiana, “This is not the book I am looking for.”

  Kiana’s eyes were on the man, but her knife was busy slicing through the knots holding her mother’s hands together. As the sharp blade slipped through the knots, she replied. “No? Well, it is the only book I have on me. If you don’t believe me you can check my bag.”