Fires of Prophecy: The Morcyth Saga Book Two (47 page)

Sighing, he goes back inside and quickly
grabs James’ empty pouch that’s sitting on the floor and scrapes
everything off the table into it. Tossing it out the window so it
lands near James, he again begins his descent and closes the
window.

Once on the ground, he takes the pouch and
secures it to his belt, then he removes the sheet from James.
Picking him up, he slings him over his shoulder as he heads to the
gate.

Running as best he can with James’ added
weight, he crosses the distance quickly. Upon reaching the gate, he
kicks the rock that was set to keep it closed to the side. Pushing
the gate open wide, he starts through just as a cry arises from the
house. Glancing back, he sees someone at the window to the room
where James had been held, hollering and pointing in their
direction.

He passes through the gate quickly and
closes it behind him, locking it with the key in the hopes of
slowing down the pursuit. With James slung over his shoulder, he
runs down the deserted street and then enters an alley to cut over
to the next street. Running as fast as he can, he quickly reaches
the end of the alley and then turns to the right. Racing down
another deserted street, he tries to put as much distance between
himself and pursuit all the while working to make it to the edge of
town.

After running down the street another two
blocks, he sees a group of people far ahead of him in the street.
Ducking down a nearby alley, he moves into it a short distance
before coming to a stop. It’s a dead end! Turning around, he moves
to leave the alley when several figures enter from the street and
block his escape.

_________________________

One of the shadows says something to him as
they advance further into the alley.

Still having James slung over his shoulder,
he waits to see what they intend before doing anything. They’re
obviously not part of the pursuit from the estate.

Another shadow says something in an excited
and animated fashion while pointing toward him.

Jiron takes in the situation. Without James
to worry about, he probably would have little difficulty with these
guys. But with him to protect and pursuit on the way, he just isn’t
sure what to do.

He begins backing into the alley away from
them and watches as another ten shadows detach themselves from the
dark and join the ones already moving his way. The street behind
the approaching shadows begins to lighten up and the sound of
running feet can be heard approaching.

One of the shadows from the edge of the
alley says something and the one who appears to be the leader of
the group barks out a command. Suddenly they all become still as
they melt back into the shadows to either side of the alley.

Jiron realizes they’re trying to remain
unnoticed by those approaching. And then they will finish dealing
with him. He decides to take a chance and when those running along
the street begin to pass in the front of the alley, he shouts out,
“Okay boys, let’s take ‘em out!”

The men passing by come to a sudden stop and
turn to look in the alley. The light from their torches reveals the
thieves standing against the walls of the alley, their knives out.
One of the men on the street shouts a command and three crossbow
bolts fly into the alley. Thieves cry out as they’re struck by the
bolts and fall to the ground. The men out on the street then rush
into the alley with their swords drawn as they move to attack.

The leader of the thieves shouts something
to the approaching men, but whatever he says fails to have any
effect. Left with little choice, the thieves proceed to defend
themselves against the attackers.

Jiron watches in satisfaction as the men and
thieves begin to fight. He moves to the rear of the alley, away
from the fighting and hunts for a way out. Near the end he finds a
closed door. Carrying James over to it he checks it and finds it
locked. Drawing his knife, he uses it on the lock and manages to
get it open. Passing through the door, he glances one last time at
the embattled men and grins as he closes it behind him and resets
the lock. The thieves are getting the worst of it.

The sound of fighting follows him as he
makes his way further into the dark room, searching for a way out.
In total darkness he stumbles about, once almost losing his balance
as he trips over a small stool sitting in the middle of the floor.
He eventually comes across the door. Opening it a crack, he looks
out onto a dark hallway that has a faint light coming in through an
open doorway further down.

Moving down the hallway, he reaches the
doorway where the light is emanating from. Peering in, he sees an
empty living room. The light turns out to be moonlight coming in
through a window by the front door. He cautiously makes his way
though the living room to the window where he looks out onto the
street. First one way, then the other, he checks to make sure no
one is out there. Not seeing anyone, he moves to the door and opens
it slowly.

Suddenly, banging can be heard coming from
the door to the alley, the fighting back in the alley must have
come to an end. Floorboards creak overhead as the owner of the
house is awakened and begins making his way down to see what all
the commotion is about.

Jiron slips out the front door and shuts it
behind him. His shoulders begin to ache from James’ dead weight as
he quickly makes his way along the side of the street, trying his
best to keep to the shadows. He passes several buildings until he
comes to an inn on the right. Ducking down the alley on this side
of the building, he hears his pursuers entering the street from the
house he just left. For a brief moment he wonders what happened to
the men who had originally accosted him in the alley, but that
question will have to remain unanswered.

As silently as possible, he makes his way
down the alley to the courtyard behind the inn. The gate is open
and he hurries through just as the pursuers pass the mouth of the
alley he just vacated, on their way to search for him further down
the street.

He glances back down the alley, thankfully
discovering none of those hunting for him had thought to come this
way. Setting James down against the inner wall of the courtyard, he
makes his way over to the stables, in search of a couple of
horses.

Once within the stables, he finds a
stableboy asleep in a small room at the far end. He wakes him up by
placing a knife at his throat and motions for him to remain quiet.
The boy nods and remains quiet as Jiron ties him up and places a
gag in his mouth to keep him quiet. Then he goes back to the horses
and begins saddling two of them.

After he’s saddled them, he returns to where
he left James. Picking him up, he carries him over to the stable
where he puts him on one of the horses. Taking out a length of
rope, he ties him securely to the saddle. Once James is secured, he
goes over to where the stableboy is tied up and places ten gold
pieces on the ground before him. He points to the gold and then to
the horses and the stableboy nods his head. Whether he understands
the gold is for the horses’ owners or not, Jiron isn’t sure, but
his conscience is clear.

Mounting up, he takes the reins of James’
horse and leads him out of the stables to the courtyard. Pausing
momentarily at the entrance to the alley, he makes sure it’s clear
before leaving the courtyard and entering into the alley. He makes
his way toward the end of the alley where he again pauses to look
in either direction down the street.

For the moment, the street appears deserted,
but he can hear commotion on neighboring streets as the search for
them continues. He enters the street with James’ horse in tow and
begins heading toward the part of town that seems to have the least
amount of disturbance going on.

Moving as quickly as he can, he continues
along toward the edge of town, somehow avoiding the roving patrols.
Coming out of an alley he sees the wall ahead of him. Keeping close
to the buildings, he rides along in the shadows until reaching a
gate. Where before there had been but two guards, now they have
been increased to a squad of twenty and the gate is shut and
locked. His plan to ride through the guards at the gate is no
longer feasible, he’ll have to find another way out of the
city.

Realizing he’s now sitting on useless
horses, he makes his way to a side alley and dismounts. James
begins mumbling incoherently as Jiron removes him from his horse.
“Not now!” he whispers vehemently to him. The last thing he needs
is for James’ nonsensical ramblings to attract notice.

Once removed from the horse, James continues
to mumble, thankfully not very loud. He throws him across his
shoulders again as he quickly makes for the wall. Upon reaching it,
Jiron pushes him up and rests him across the top before he climbs
up next to him. He then carefully lowers him down to the other side
and then swings over as he lets go, feet landing on the ground next
to where James had settled. It doesn’t take him long to realize
that he is now on the opposite side of the town from where his
horse waits for him.

Shouldering James once more, he begins
making his way to the other side of town, detouring occasionally
when a search party on horseback comes into view. During one such
time while he was hiding among some bushes, waiting for a search
party to pass, he notices that James’ eyes were open and looking
around.

“You awake now?” he asks him.

James nods his head yes, but is still having
trouble talking, slurring his speech so bad as to be
unintelligible.

“Can you walk?” Jiron asks.

He shakes his head no.

“Damn!” Jiron silently exclaims as he hoists
James across his shoulders yet again and hurries along. When he
comes to the spot where he had left his horse, he finds that it’s
no longer there. He quickly looks around the area but finds no
trace of it anywhere. Someone must’ve come along and helped
themselves to it.

Without horses, they’re not likely going to
make it very far. He sits James down and says, “Stay here!” When he
gets no response, he asks, “Understand?”

James gives him a wobbly nod.

“I’ll be back. I need to get a couple
horses,” he tells him. Leaving him hidden there among the bushes,
Jiron moves through the night until he sees two riders riding
leisurely back into town. They’re not in any hurry. Perfect!

Angling to intercept them, he races through
the dark. The moon above enables him to see the terrain well enough
to keep from tripping over the desert shrubs. Just a dark shadow in
the night, he maneuvers until he’s directly behind them.

The riders talk to each other, occasionally
laughing at the witticism of the other, totally oblivious to the
impending attack coming up behind them. He paces them for several
feet until the space between the two horses closes to just the
right distance. Then, running as fast as he can, he races to catch
them. As he nears, he jumps and grabs each from behind and pulls
them backward off their horses.

As the two men hit the ground, Jiron draws
his knives and advances on the one getting to his feet first. He
kicks out and connects with the man’s middle, knocking him over
again and then attacks with his knives before the man has a chance
to recover. A quick stab through the chest ends the man’s life.

Jiron turns to face his partner who is now
ready with sword and shield. The man thrusts with his sword, Jiron
able to deflect it easily to the side. He tries to counterstrike
with his other knife but it’s knocked aside by the man’s
shield.

They circle each other for a second then the
man strikes out with an overhand blow that Jiron has to sidestep to
avoid. As the sword swings past him, Jiron strikes out with one of
his knives and scores a cut along the man’s sword arm.

Angered, the man advances rapidly and begins
attacking him with a flurry of blows that Jiron easily avoids or
deflects aside. He continues to defend against the man’s attack,
waiting for his chance. Patience is often a knife fighter’s best
friend.

Suddenly, the opening presents itself and he
strikes out at the man’s sword arm. The man cries out as his sword
drops to the ground after Jiron’s knife severs the tendons in his
arm. He pushes Jiron back with his shield as he cradles his arm,
trying to stop the blood from pumping out.

Jiron goes on the offensive and after a
quick series of blows which the man cannot defend against with just
a shield, he sinks to the ground, eyes vacant as death takes him.
Jiron wipes his knives on the man’s tunic before returning them to
their sheaths. Gathering the horses, he mounts one and takes the
reins of the other as he rides back to where he left James. It
takes a minute to locate the exact spot where he left him, but a
hushed call from James leads him there.

He gets down from his horse to help James
into the saddle. No sooner is James in the saddle then the hoof
beats of a patrol is heard coming their way. Jiron takes a piece of
rope and quickly secures him to the saddle, all the while listening
to the patrol coming closer and closer. Finished with securing
James, he quickly mounts and they wait in silence as the patrol
passes by in the dark. He then leads them out into the desert, away
from the city. Behind them, the sound of patrol begins to recede in
the distance as they move further away. Once the sound of the
patrol can no longer be heard, Jiron brings the two horses to a
gallop as they begin to cover the miles quickly. After traveling
for some time, he hears James holler, “Stop!”

He brings the horses to a halt and then
looks back to see James untying himself. Slipping off the horse,
James doubles up and begins to retch into the dirt. Once his
stomach is again under control, he stands back up and leans against
his horse for support.