The squad appears not to be bothered by the fact that the street lights are no longer lit and continue to walk forward. Just before they enter the darkened area, James sends the magic forth and breaks the rope binding Shorty’s hands behind his back. Shorty’s pace falters a moment by the unexpected freedom and almost doesn’t recover in time to prevent his captors from realizing he’s no longer bound.
James can see him nod his head three times to let them know he’ll be ready. “Any time now,” he says under his breath and hears Miko say, “Yeah.”
Then ahead of the marching guards, a shadowy figure detaches itself from the greater darkness and approaches them. The guards, oblivious to the oncoming threat, continue to march.
“Now!” he hears Jiron holler and the shadow leaps toward the lead guard.
Throwing his slug, James takes out one of the rear guards as the one Jiron engages falls lifelessly to the ground.
Stig rushes in from the side and the battle is joined. Shorty tackles the guard to his left and wrestles him to the ground. Kneeing him in the stomach, Shorty struggles for possession of the man’s sword.
Another slug flies and takes out the remaining rear guard. Jiron has both knives out and is trading blows with one while Stig stuns the one he’s facing with a powerful blow of his mace to the side of the man’s head. Stig then follows through with another bone crushing blow to the head. Brains and bone shatter under the impact. Maces are brutal weapons in the hand of an expert.
Jiron dodges to the left to avoid a thrust by his opponent, then dodges back and sinks his knife in the man’s side. Lashing out with the pommel of his other knife, he knocks the man backward and to the ground. Jiron glances around and sees Shorty getting up from the ground with the guard’s bloody sword in hand. The guard lies on the ground unmoving, his life blood beginning to pool on the ground next to him.
James and the others come running and Reilin says, “Quick, get the bodies in the alley.” Glancing around, it doesn’t look as if anyone has taken notice of the fight. The street remains quiet.
Working quickly, they get the dead guards off the street and into the alley without anyone taking notice. “When morning comes, it won’t take very long before the bodies are found,” Stig says.
“We won’t be here by then,” Jiron tells him.
“You okay?” James asks Shorty.
“Yeah,” he replies. “They jumped me when I returned. I took one of them out before they could take me.”
Jiron comes to him and asks, “Did you find where Orrin is staying?”
Shorty nods. “Yes, he’s staying at an inn not too far from here. Now, could someone tell me what’s going on?”
“We’ll explain on the way,” Jiron says. “Show us where he’s staying.”
As Shorty heads out, the others fill him in on the events so far.
Moving quickly toward the inn where Orrin is staying, they are forced to alter course twice to avoid patrols moving along the streets. The increased patrols have to be in response to them being in town.
“There it is,” Shorty says when the inn comes into view.
“Which room is his?” asks James.
“Third floor,” he replies. “Second room on the right.”
“Jiron, come with me,” James says. “The rest of you stay here.” With Jiron beside him, they hurry across the street and enter the inn. The common room still has a few night owls at the tables. The bard, if there had been one, has long since gone.
They move toward the stairs located at the rear of the room at a normal pace. When they reach the foot of the stairs, they quicken their pace, taking them two at a time until they reach the third floor. James then walks down to the second door on the right and knocks.
When the door opens up, Orrin looks out with the question he was about to ask still upon his lips. His eyes widen when he sees who it is standing at his door.
“Remember me?” James asks.
“Oh yes,” he replies. Then a smile comes across his face, “You’ve given the Empire no end of trouble since last we met.”
“Can we come in?” James asks.
Opening the door wider, Orrin gestures for them to enter.
“Thank you,” James says as he and Jiron enter the room. After they’re in, Orrin closes the door and walks over to the only table in the room.
“Please,” he says indicating the chairs around the table, “have a seat.” As they sit he adds, “Sorry I can’t offer you any refreshments.”
“That’s alright,” James assures him. “We’ll survive.”
“Did you follow me here?” he asks.
“Why would you say that?” Jiron asks.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Orrin asks.
“This is my friend Jiron,” James says.
“Oh yes, the knife fighting Shynti,” nods Orrin.
“You seem to know an awful lot about us,” Jiron says, a frown coming to his face. He doesn’t like the fact that an absolute stranger would know such things.
“Yes I do,” he replies without expanding further. “As to your earlier question, I attended a brief meeting by an associate at his residence. At the meeting, I learned of your presence in the city and how you used a ruse to get him to meet with you. He wasn’t too happy about that.”
“I realize that,” James tells him. “We followed him to his house.”
“Obviously,” Orrin says. “You’re here aren’t you?” He glances from Jiron then to James before asking, “So why are you here?”
James gives him a rundown of what’s going on with Aleya, that she’s being held captive, and where. He also relates how Shorty had been taken at the inn where they were staying. “What we came here for is to see if you could help us in any way to get inside that building,” James concludes. Sitting back in his chair he gazes hopefully at Orrin.
Outside, Miko is waiting in growing impatience and dread. “Come on James,” he mumbles to himself, “there isn’t much time.” Then from down the street fifty men, a mix of guards and soldiers come marching down the street.
“Damn!” says Stig. “Run!”
“But what about James and Jiron?” Miko asks.
“They’ll meet us back where we left Scar and Potbelly,” he explains. “Now move it!” Running for their lives, they flee down a side alley.
The soldiers move to the inn and surround it. Smashing in the front door, the soldiers and guards run inside.
Crash!
The noise from the soldiers smashing the inn’s door in comes to them even here on the third floor. Orrin stands up and yells “You led them to me!” Grabbing a pack on the floor, he heads for the door.
Jiron grabs him by the shoulder and demands, “What about the building?”
“If your friend is being held within the Eye’s Court, there’s nothing you can do” he says. Throwing open the door, Orrin glances back at them and says. “You better leave her there and get out of Morac while you still can.” Then locking eyes with James he says, “The Eyes have dealt with mages before, be careful.” With that, he knocks off Jiron’s hand and runs into the hallway.
James is at the window looking down at the street below. “They’re everywhere,” he says. Down below he can see soldiers staked out all along the street with more arriving from all directions every minute. “Hope the others got away safely.”
“Stop talking and let’s get out of here!” urges Jiron. Leaving the room, they begin to head for the stairs when Orrin emerges out of them at a run. Behind him they hear the pounding of feet of soldiers on their way up.
“To the roof!” he yells. “Follow me.”
Just as he passes them and continues down the hallway, the first soldier emerges from the stairs. Jiron pulls his knives and says, “Follow him. I’ll hold them off until you are on the roof.”
“Good luck,” James says as he turns and races after Orrin.
Completely nestled within his element, Jiron feels all the frustration, fear and anxiety that has been his com
panion for the last few weeks burst out of him in a flurry of action. The first soldier who reaches him strikes out with his sword only to have it deflected by one knife as the other sinks three inches into his side. Kicking out, Jiron knocks the man back into the others coming out of the stairs.
Rather than wait, Jiron takes the battle to them. Anger takes one, frustration another as the pent up emotions find release in combat. With every strike he makes, he loses more of the emotional turmoil and peace comes to fill its place.
Block, stab, twist, deflect, blow after blow he deflects only to strike back with devastating results. Three men now lie upon the hallway floor, their blood flowing as life leaves them. Still more emerge from the stairs, almost as if they are eager to feel the kiss of his blades. Jiron is only happy to oblige.
As the press of men steadily moves him backward down the hallway, he expects to hear James hollering to him that he’s reached the roof. A little concerned that he hasn’t as yet, he puts the worry aside and lets his blades dance.
Suddenly to his right, a door opens and a man with a sword strikes out at him. The unexpectedness of the blow causes him to fail to dodge in time and the man scores a shallow wound on his right shoulder.
He kicks out at the soldier he is currently engaged with and sends him backward into his fellows then turns to the civilian in the doorway. As the man strikes at him once more, Jiron easily dodges the blow. The man didn’t take into account the possibility of missing and thus has thrown himself off balance.
Lashing out at the man, Jiron takes him across the throat with a knife then elbows him back into the room. Just then he hears James holler that he’s made it to the roof. Leaping into the man’s room, he slams shut the door and throws the bolt.
Such a flimsy bolt might deter the common thief, but there’s no way it will long hold out against sustained blows. Moving over to the bed, he quickly drags it over to the door as blows begin to hammer on it from the other side. Using his boot to scoot the dead man out of the way, he settles the edge of the bed against the door.
Bam!
Hoping that will give him enough time, he moves to the window and throws it open. He sticks his head out and turns his face to the roof. “James!” he hollers.
Bam!
A moment later he hears James’ voice coming from the roof above, “I’m here!”
Unwinding the rope from around his waist, Jiron yells, “I’m throwing up my rope, catch it!”
“Right!” he hollers back.
Bam!
Getting enough slack to make it up to James, he leans out and throws it up. He can feel it stop as James catches it. “Now, move down the roof ten feet to your left and brace yourself!” he hollers.
Bam! Crack!
The bolt breaks from the wall as the door jamb shatters.
“Ready!” he hears James yell and the rope’s slack is taken up as James readies himself.
Jiron climbs onto the window ledge and then glances back to the door. Already open a foot, the men on the other side are gradually pushing it and the bed further into the room. Taking a firm hold of the rope, Jiron sees a soldier squeeze through the opening and charge him.
Jumping out and trusting in James, he holds onto the rope tightly. With James holding the upper end of the rope ten feet to the left, he swings out and over to land below where James is located. Now ten feet away from the window, he begins climbing up to the roof. Before he makes it up to the roof’s edge, a soldier sticks his head out and sees him there hanging by the rope. He begins calling out to those below.
“Come on!” he hears James grunt from above him.
Hand over hand, Jiron climbs the rope the rest of the way to the roof. Bolts begin firing at him from the soldiers in the street below. One strikes his pack and embeds itself while the rest go wide. At the roof’s edge, he reaches up and takes hold. Releasing the rope, he pulls himself up and onto the roof.
James takes hold of his shirt and helps him over the edge as bolts continue to fly from below.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Jiron turns his attention to the source of the banging and sees that the trap door leading from the roof has several crates placed upon it. “Orrin said he brought those up here when he first arrived just in case,” explains James.
“Good thinking,” he says. Looking around, he doesn’t see Orrin anywhere. “Where did he go?”
James indicates the far side of the inn facing the rear courtyard. “He had a rope there and was over the side right after we pushed the crates on top of the trap door,” he explains.
Jiron runs over to the rope hanging over the edge and looks down. A dozen men are standing at the base of the rope. When they see him looking over the top, they begin yelling. “Not this way,” he says. Taking his knife, he cuts Orrin’s rope and lets it fall to the street below. Now they can’t come at them from that direction.
Bang! Bang
“That’s not going to hold forever,” Jiron says.
“No,” replies James. “I’ve got an idea but not sure how well it will work.”
Jiron takes in the distances between the inn and the other buildings next to it. None are very close and any attempt to jump will be seen by those below. “Okay, what is it?”
James outlines what he plans to do and Jiron nods with a grin. “Bold and dangerous,” he says, “I like it.” He and James then hurry over to the furthest part of the roof from where the soldiers are attempting to break through the trapdoor.
Kneeling down, James summons the magic and begins tracing out a three-foot by three-foot square on the roof. As his finger moves along the surface, a line forms in its wake. He’s using magic to cut out a section of the roof. When he has two sides of the square done, the edge of the square section that has already been cut begins sinking into the roof. Jiron takes out one of his knives and jams the blade in the crack to prevent it from falling in prematurely.
The only problem with his plan is if he’s doing this above an area that currently has a guest or that the soldiers are in, they’ll be found out quickly. If that happens, they will not get another chance.
Bang! Bang!
Jiron glances to the crates holding the trapdoor closed and sees that they still remain covering the trapdoor. Returning his gaze to James, he sees the third side is finished and the fourth is halfway done. Pulling his other knife out, he jams it into the crack on the fourth side to keep it in place until James is done.
When his finger reaches the point where he began, he stops. “Now to pull it up,” James says. Removing his knife, he uses it to pry up one of the sides. When he has it high enough to get a grip on it, he and Jiron lift the section of the roof up and set it down on the roof next to the hole.
Reclaiming his knives, Jiron immediately grips the edge of the hole and lowers himself down. He finds himself above a bed in one of the rooms. A quick scan reveals no one is currently within the room, nor does it look like anyone is currently occupying it. Letting go, he drops onto the bed and hollers up to James, “Come on!”
As James begins working his way through the hole, Jiron moves to the closed door and can hear the soldiers on the other side in the hallway moving about. Very quietly, he throws the bolt on the door and then returns to the bed just as James drops onto it.
“Once more,” he says to Jiron. Moving over to an open area, he again kneels down and just as he did up above, begins carving out a section of the floor. This time it takes him a lot less time and as they pull the section of the floor free, light comes through from below. James gives Jiron a worried glance.
“Nothing for it now,” he says as they finish pulling the section of the floor free.
Below this room is the kitchen. The smell of baking bread rises from below where the cook is preparing food for the following morning. Jiron sticks his head down and finds the kitchen empty.
Not believing their good fortune, he is quickly through the hole and drops down to the kitchen. Many people are out in the common room, and he moves to the do
or leading there. Opening it a crack, he peers through and finds the room packed with people. Seems the soldiers have gathered everyone from the inn, including the staff, and is holding them there.
Closing the door, he turns just as James drops to the floor. Moving to him, he indicates the common room and whispers, “They have everyone out there.”
“Now, how do we get out of this place?” James asks.
Aside from the door leading into the common room, there is the door leading to the rear courtyard or another hallway leading further back into the inn. A look through the window overlooking the courtyard reveals over a dozen soldiers out there.
With just the hallway left, Jiron pulls a knife and moves into it. It’s rather narrow and extends a ways back. The first doorway they come to reveals the inn’s larder. Barrels and boxes rest on the floor while shelves line the walls, full of food and other cooking supplies.
Continuing on down, they come to another door. It’s opened a crack and light comes from the other side. Jiron moves to peer in through the crack and discovers a soldier of the Empire rifling through what looks to be the innkeeper’s belongings. The soldier gives a satisfied exclamation as he pulls a small pouch from one of the innkeeper’s drawers. He jiggles the sack and Jiron can hear the sound of the coins within.
A floorboard under Jiron’s foot suddenly gives off with a creak and he steps back from the crack. Within the room, the sounds the soldier was making quiets. Cursing the creaking floorboard, Jiron slowly moves back to peer into the room.
Suddenly, the door is pulled open and the soldier looks in surprise at Jiron standing there. Without thought, Jiron lashes out with his fist and connects with the man’s throat. As the man staggers backward, Jiron pulls out his knives and advances.
The man tries to cry out and alert his comrades, but the blow to his throat has frozen his vocal chords. All he can make are quiet squeaks. Pulling his sword, he brings it up barely in time to block Jiron’ attack.
No time for niceties, Jiron presses the soldier hard, feinting and attacking, blocking and thrusting. On the third exchange, he gets his knife within the man’s guard and pierces him just under the breastbone. As the man staggers into him, Jiron strikes him on the chin with the palm of his hand and snaps his head backward. An audible crack can be heard as the man’s neck breaks.
The mists of sorrow ms-7 Page 27