The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (36 page)

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
companion 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 door 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.

Out in the hallway, James has kept an eye on
things and so far no one has come to investigate the noise. When
Jiron begins to bend over and starts removing the man’s armor,
James asks, “What are you doing? We don’t have time for this.”

“Then stop standing there and help me,” he
says.

James enters the room and together they
quickly get the man’s armor off. “Here,” Jiron says as he hands him
the helm. “Put it on.”

Getting the idea, James puts on the helm.
It’s a bit loose, but should work well enough for what he believes
Jiron has planned. He also takes the man’s cloak while Jiron puts
on the bloody armor.

Neither one of them would pass a close
inspection, but in the dark and confusion outside, they just might
be able to pull it off. Jiron tosses him the sword and he buckles
it on. “Ready?” he asks.

“No,” replies James with a grin.

Moving out of the room, Jiron takes the
lead. They continue to follow the hallway to the next room which is
a small greeting room where the innkeeper and family can entertain
guests without having to be in the common room. A door in one wall
stands closed.