Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (46 page)

The dozen foot soldiers accompany them on
their way back. Jiron is momentarily stunned that James could’ve
been taken with so few soldiers. He’s seen him blast away dozens
before, the area should’ve at least looked devastated. But looking
around, it looks like they just walked right up and threw him in
the wagon.

Whatever happened, he doesn’t have time to
just stand there and ponder the imponderable. Hurrying back to his
horse, he mounts up and follows the wagon at a discreet distance.
When they arrive at the town, he’s glad they’re entering a
different area than the one where he stirred things up earlier.
Securing his horse to a tree outside the wall, he again jumps up
and pulls himself to the other side as the wagon passes through the
nearby gate.

He follows them through town, staying within
the shadows and alleys. When he comes to avenues that he must cross
in order to follow, he just strides right out and blends in with
the few people on the street. Looking like you belong has always
been the best way for him to remain undetected. If you look like
you’re about your business, most people fail to even notice
you.

The wagon continues rolling through town
until it comes to an estate with a wall more formidable than the
outer town wall had been. Guards are posted at the gates and the
robed man says a few words to them as the wagon passes through.
Once the wagon is within the estate, the gate closes. The
accompanying foot soldiers turn and march down the street away from
the estate.

The wall surrounding the estate has nasty
looking spikes along the top to deter anybody from going over.
Jiron has scaled those types before, but never made it over
unscathed. He’s anxious to get in for he doesn’t know how much time
James will have before they begin the interrogation. Hopefully
they’ll most likely wait at least until he regains consciousness.
But with mages, you never know what they can do to revive someone.
He’s got to get in there!

He does a quick survey of the wall
encompassing the estate, which by the way is fairly large and
discovers the spikes run its entire length. Sighing, he comes to
the conclusion that he’s going to have to risk the spikes.

Going over to a neighboring house, he
acquires several shirts which are lying in a heap at the back door.
He wraps them around his arms. Though they’re not very good
protection against the spikes, they’re still better than
nothing.

Glancing around, he makes sure he’ll remain
unobserved and then jumps up, grabbing the top of the wall. Using
extreme care, he pulls himself up and braces himself as he crosses
over the spikes. A sudden pain erupts from his left thigh as a
spike pushes through his leggings and punctures his skin.

He pushes his leg off the spike with his
left hand and then a pain erupts from his left arm as another spike
scores through the layers of shirts. When he finally makes it down
to the other side, he has several pinpoint punctures on his arms
and legs. Fortunately, none are very deep or serious, just bleeding
slightly. He knew people back in the City of Light who had
attempted a similar feat and had muscles and tendons tore from the
spikes. Removing the shirts from his arms, he leaves them on the
ground by the wall.

Looking toward the estate, he watches from
the shadows as the wagon stops in front of the main entrance. The
brown robed man gets down as several waiting attendants remove
James from the wagon. Following behind the mage, they carry him
into the house and the door closes behind them.

Continuing to watch the house for a few
minutes, he finally sees a light appear in a second story window,
most likely where they’ve put James. Turning his attention back to
the grounds surrounding the estate, he takes notice of two guards
walking a set path around the estate. After watching them for
several circuits around the house, he observes a gap between their
paths that he may be able to take advantage of. When the first
guard passes in front of the house, the second one is patrolling
behind it, leaving a gap of several seconds before he makes his
appearance again.

Jiron waits until the first guard has passed
over halfway past the front of the house and then leaves his hiding
spot in the shadows by the wall. Silently running across the open
space to the side of the house, he keeps an eye on the back of the
first guard until he turns the corner. Ducking behind a bush, he
hides himself from view just as the second guard turns the corner.
Holding very still, he watches the guard from behind the bush as he
passes by.

Looking up from his position behind the
bush, he sees the window that he believes James is in directly
above his head on the second floor. The first floor window near him
is ajar so he waits for the first guard to pass again before
quietly opening it and slipping into the house. Once inside, he
closes the window before the second guard turns the corner.

The room he finds himself in looks to be a
library, shelves of books line the walls and several comfortable
looking chairs are spaced around the room.
James would love
this
. A single door leads from the room. Making his way over to
it, he places his ear against the door and listens for any sound
coming from the other side. Not hearing anything, he opens the door
a crack and finds the hallway on the other side to be dark and
empty.

Exiting the room, he closes the door behind
him and then looks down both directions of the hallway. The hallway
to the left is dark, further down to the right is a barely
perceptible light. Deciding in favor of the light, he moves
silently down the hallway toward it. He passes several closed doors
before reaching a flight of stairs leading up to the second floor.
The light is coming from the flickering of an unseen candle in the
hallway beyond the top of the stairs.

Taking the steps quickly and quietly, he
ascends to the top where he pauses to peer around the corner.
Several burning candles line the empty hallway, allowing no shadows
in which to conceal himself. A door further down to the left stands
ajar several inches, voices can be heard emanating from within.

He decides to risk detection and creeps
quickly down the hallway to the door, peering inside. Within the
room are several people, including the brown robe. James is
sprawled out unconscious upon a bed to the side of the room and one
of the men is examining his eyes. The man turns to the mage and
makes a comment as he lets go of James’ eyelids, allowing them to
close.

All of James’ things are sitting on top of a
nearby table, including the medallion that he used to open the
secret door back in the City. A few more words are exchanged and
then they all turn and move toward the door behind which Jiron is
spying on them.

Panicking, he bolts back to the stairs and
descends to the bottom as fast as he can to avoid being seen. Once
there, he listens from around the corner and hears their footsteps
coming down the hallway toward the top of the stairs. About ready
to run back down the hallway to the library, he stops when he
realizes they’re continuing down the second floor hallway past the
stairs.

Relieved, he again creeps to the top of the
stairs and peers around the corner. Two guards stand at the door to
the room holding James. He pauses there at the top of the stairs
and ponders the situation. Apparently, they’re not going to
interrogate James immediately, it didn’t look as if he was even
conscious. Gotta get in that room!

Deciding on a plan that’s rather risky in
nature, he returns to the room where he initially entered the house
and goes back to the window. Watching for the patrolling guards, he
soon sees the first one pass. He opens the window and slips
outside, shutting it before the second one turns the corner.

The largest gap is after the first one
passes, the second one seems to be lagging behind, so he sits and
waits until the second one passes. Then, when he sees the first one
turn the corner and approach, he makes ready. Once the guard has
gone ten feet past his hiding place, Jiron gets to his feet and
begins scaling the wall of the estate up to James’ room.

He gets ten feet up the wall before the
second guard appears around the corner. Holding absolutely
motionless there on the wall, he waits for the guard to pass
beneath. Sweating, heart pounding fast, he watches as the guard
approaches, knowing that if the guard but looks up, he’s dead.

Walking toward the spot where Jiron hangs
precariously upon the wall, the guard draws ever closer and then
passes a scant two feet beneath Jiron as he continues on his way.
Stopping the sigh of relief that almost escapes him, he waits until
the guard moves further away then he maneuvers to the window and
positions himself so he can look inside. He sees James still there
on the bed, the door closed and no one else is in the room.

Realizing the first guard is about to turn
the corner, he moves away from the light coming through the window
and back into the shadows. He holds still as he waits for the guard
to turn the corner and pass underneath. Once he’s past, Jiron
returns to the window and attempts to open it. The window opens
easily and he slips inside before the second guard makes his
appearance. He shuts the window just as the second guard turns the
corner and then moves silently over to the bed upon which James is
lying.

He looks like he’s sleeping. Jiron shakes
his shoulder in an attempt to wake him.
What’s wrong with
him
? His eyes open a fraction and then he mumbles something
incoherently before slipping back into unconsciousness.
Now
what?

Trying to determine the best way to get him
out of the house, he realizes going out the door would be a bad
idea. The guards standing outside would alert the whole house to
his presence. He might be able to hold his own against the guards,
but he would stand little chance against the mage. That leaves the
window.

He moves back to the window and peers out,
trying to avoid casting his silhouette from the candle on the table
across the window. Other than the two guards passing at intervals
around the house, the only other guard visible is stationed at the
gate. A plan begins to form and he waits until the first guard
passes by before slipping back out the window. He closes the window
once he’s securely clinging to the side of the house and manages to
maneuver down the side a little before the second guard rounds the
corner.

After the second guard passes by below, he
drops silently to the ground and immediately ducks behind the bush.
The guard pauses a moment as he looks back in his direction. Not
seeing Jiron hiding behind the bushes, he turns back and resumes
his trek around the house.

He waits for the first guard to pass again
before racing across the lawn to the wall and the safety of the
shadows there. Pausing a moment to see if he was seen, he then
moves silently toward the gate and the guard stationed there.
Luckily, the gate is poorly illuminated on this side of the wall so
it’s easy enough for him to sneak upon the guard and quickly
silence him. He pulls the guard’s dead body along the wall and
stuffs it behind several bushes.

Checking the gate, he finds it locked.
Returning to the dead guard, he searches his pockets until he finds
a set of keys. Returning to the gate, he uses the keys to unlock it
and then places a stone against its base to prevent it from
swinging open and announcing to everyone that something’s not
right.

He goes back to the deeper shadows along the
wall as he watches the two guards continuing their patrol. When the
first one passes again, he races once more to the side of the house
and again hides behind the bush until the second one has passed.
Then when the first one rounds the corner and passes by the bush
he’s hiding behind, he jumps out and grabs the guard from behind.
Quickly and quietly he slits the guard’s throat with his knife,
then drags the body back behind the bush and lays it against the
house.

Taking his place behind the bush, he waits
for the second guard to round the corner and pass by. He again
jumps out and silences him the same way he did the first. When the
second guard’s body lies next to the first, he begins to scale the
wall, this time more interested in speed than in avoiding making
noise.

At the window to James’ room, he cautiously
peers in and with relief, finds him still sleeping and alone.
Opening the window, he slips in and closes it behind him. Moving
across the room to a chest of drawers, he begins sliding them open
until he finds what he’s looking for. The third one down from the
top holds what he needs, a spare sheet.

He takes it and goes over to James where he
begins tying it under his arms. The sound of approaching footsteps
coming down the hallway toward the room warns him someone is on
their way. Jiron quickly removes the sheet from around James and
slides under the bed, scooting as far back against the wall as he
can.

The bedroom door opens and two men come in,
quietly talking to each other. They walk over to the bed, their
feet mere inches away from the spot where Jiron is hiding. It seems
as if they’re seeing whether James is ready for interrogation or
not. After they stand there for a few minutes conferring with one
another, both men turn and walk back out the door.

Slipping from under the bed, Jiron again
ties the sheet tightly under James’ arms. When he has it secured,
he goes over to the window and opens it wide. Returning to the bed,
he lifts James up and carries him to the widow where he sets him on
the window sill.

Taking a firm hold of the sheet, he eases
him over the edge and begins to quickly lower him to the ground
below. The sheet isn’t quite long enough to reach the ground and
ends up having to drop him the last three feet to the ground where
he lands with a thud. Hoping James hasn’t broken anything, Jiron
slips out the window and begins to descend the side of the house
when he suddenly remembers James’ medallion and the other items
sitting on the table.