The Mists of Sorrow: The Morcyth Saga Book Seven (56 page)

Jiron remains motionless as he watches the
guard approaching the guard tower. When the guard comes to within
three feet of the tower, he turns about and begins heading back the
other way.

“Come on,” Jiron urges then races across the
street with the man right behind.

Aleya watches Jiron make his way down the
street then pause a moment before darting across. Her eyes move to
the guard on the wall, and is relieved when he fails to react to
Jiron’s crossing.

“Relax,” says Miko. “Jiron’s done this sort
of thing many times from what James tells me.”

Aleya doesn’t comment, simply nods her head
as she continues to stare at the place where Jiron disappeared. She
waits an agonizing fifteen minutes before he reappears. Darting
across the street with the man right behind, he then works his way
back to where she and the others wait.

When he rejoins them, he announces, “I think
there may be a way to get in.”

“How?” she asks.

He looks her in the eye and says, “It’s
going to depend on how good you are with the bow.”

“What do you want me to do?” She then
listens as he lays out the gist of his plan to them. Nodding her
head, she can see where her bow will play a pivotal role in what’s
to come. When he’s finished laying it out, he asks, “Anyone see
something I may have missed?”

Brother Willim shakes his head, “Not I. You
seem to have it all worked out fairly well.”

Jiron turns to the man and says, “Go tell
them we’re ready.”

The man nods his head and melts into the
night on his way to begin getting the distraction underway.

After he leaves, Jiron turns to Brother
Willim and hesitates a moment. Then he asks, “You know there’s a
chance we’ll not get out of there without a fight?”

Brother Willim only nods in reply.

“I need to know I’ll be able to rely on you
should the situation arise,” he says.

Gazing at him with sadness in his eyes, he
says, “You know the priests of Asran are not allowed to hurt fellow
human beings. That to do so will mean dire repercussions in this
life and the next.”

“Brother, I understand that,” replies Jiron.
“But you also know that if we don’t get James out of there and into
Dmon-Li’s High Temple before the moon turns dark, it could well
mean the end of everything. Your dreams, more than any of the
others, tell us that.”

“I know,” he states.

“You once said that to keep a garden
healthy, there comes a time when a gardener must prune to save the
whole,” Jiron tells him. “This is the case as it stands now. You
may need to prune to save the whole.” He can see the pain in the
Brother’s eyes.

Miko comes and lays his hand on Brother
Willim’s shoulder. “Asran will understand,” he assures him. “It’s
for the greater good.”

Griping his staff in a grip so tight that
almost causes him pain, Brother Willim nods. “I will do what I have
to,” he says in a voice taut with pain. But the pain he is feeling
is not that of the body, but of the soul. He has vowed to never
take the life of an ordinary man. As the leader of the Hand of
Asran, he had been trained to defeat those of power such as the
warrior priests. Never had he believed that his skill would be used
against those whom he vowed to protect. The fact that they may
worship another besides Asran does not matter. Giving a silent
prayer to Asran to forgive him for what he may be called to do, he
gives Jiron a nod. “Let’s go.”

Jiron gives him a comforting pat on the back
and then says, “Follow me.” Taking them along the front of the
buildings across the street from the curtain wall, he brings them
to a halt once they’ve reached the place where he crossed the
street before. A street as wide as the one they are on runs along
the wall as it turns and moves away from them.

He has them wait there until the guard atop
the wall reaches the guard tower then turns back to go the other
way. “Now!” he whispers as he bolts across with the others right
behind.

Melding in with the shadows across the
street from the wall, he takes them further down until he reaches a
point where two of the guards walking upon the wall are visible at
the same time.

Stopping, he indicates the guards on the
wall. Then he shows them a statue of a warrior with an upraised
sword that stands between them upon the edge of the wall. To Aleya
he says, “That’s where I want you to put your arrow, between the
upraised sword and the statue’s head. Can you do it?”

She gauges the distance and nods. “I believe
so,” she replies.

“Can you do it with a rope tied to the
arrow?” When she looks at him he raises his tunic to show her the
rope secured about his waist.

“I…I don’t know,” she admits. “I’ve never
shot an arrow with a rope tied to it before.” She then looks to his
eyes and nods, “But I’ll give it a try.”

“Pick your best arrow,” he tells her as he
begins uncoiling the rope from around his middle.

She removes the quiver of arrows from her
back and begins going through them one by one. The third one she
comes to is slightly thicker than the others and is very straight.
Holding it up, she says, “This one.”

Jiron takes it and ties the end of the rope
to it very, very tightly. When he’s sure it won’t come off in
flight, he hands it back to her. “It’s going to drag some due to
the tension of the rope,” he tells her.

“I understand,” she says. Holding the arrow,
she feels how the rope alters its balance and increases its weight
twofold.

“Ready?” Jiron asks.

Placing the arrow to string, she looks at
him and nods, “Ready.”

“Take aim but don’t shoot right away,” he
tells her. “When the two guards are both walking away from the
statue at the same time, I’ll say ‘now’ and then let it go.”

“Okay,” she says. She looks up at the statue
on the wall, raises her bow and pulls the string back. Holding it
there, she gets her aim set and waits. Three seconds later, Jiron
whispers ‘now’ and she lets go.

The arrow and rope sail through the air and
cracks into the wall a good three feet below the feet of the
statue. They freeze as they look to the guards to see if they heard
the noise, but neither one of them even so much as glances
back.

Jiron quickly pulls in the rope until it and
the arrow are back with them. The head of the arrow is cracked from
its impact with the stones of the wall. “We’ll try it again,” he
says.

Aleya nods and begins searching through the
quiver for another arrow. Feeling bad that she didn’t make it the
first time, she vows to make it the second. Handing the next arrow
to Jiron, she waits for him to secure the rope to it once more.
Then once he’s handed it back to her, she again places it to string
and takes aim at the statue.

“Now,” Jiron says and she again lets the
arrow loose. And just as the first one, it impacts upon the wall in
almost the same place as the first one had.

Jiron begins pulling in the rope when Miko
places a hand on his shoulder. “Someone’s coming,” he hears him
whisper in his ear. Dropping the rope, he looks where Miko is
indicating and sees a guard turning the corner and begins walking
down the street toward them. They move further back into the
shadows and hold still.

Then his eyes go to the middle of the street
where the end of the rope lies with the shattered arrow still
attached to it. The way the guard is moving down the center of the
street, he’s going to walk right over it.

“Jiron!” Miko whispers as he points to the
arrow.

“I know,” he says. Never taking his eye off
the approaching guard, he draws one of his knives.

Thirty feet from the arrow, the guard still
fails to notice it. At twenty feet, one of the men atop the walls
hails him and they wave to each other. At fifteen feet, he turns
his attention back to street level as the guard atop the wall
resumes walking his patrol. At ten feet the guard starts humming a
tune as he continues along. At five feet, he’s still oblivious to
the fact that an arrow tied to a rope lies across the street. Then
his foot steps on it.

The guard stops and lifts his foot. Bending
over, he looks to see what it was that he stepped on. Picking up
the arrow, he looks at it for a second and then rope attached to
it. He sees how the rope is tied to the end of the arrow and that
it extends into the shadows on the other side of the street.
Pulling on the rope, he looks more closely into the shadows. Then
all of a sudden, one of the shadows breaks off and rushes him.

Before the man knows what hit him, Jiron
attacks and silences him before he can sound the alarm. Then with
Miko’s help, he drags the guard’s lifeless body back into the
shadows before the guards on top of the wall notice what
happened.

Once he’s sure the guards on the wall failed
to see them, he pulls in the rope. By this time Aleya has another
arrow already selected. He again secures the rope to it and hands
it back to her. “We don’t have much time,” he tells her. “We must
be ready when whatever distraction they are planning goes into
effect.” When she takes the arrow, he puts his hands on her
shoulders and gives her a quick kiss. “I know you can do this.”

Nodding, she puts the arrow to string and
sights on the space between the statues head and the upraised
sword. She takes a deep calming breath to center herself as her
father always taught her.
He could do this
, she thinks to
herself.
He could do anything with a bow.

And so can you.

It’s almost as if she can feel him there
behind her as he always did when teaching her the bow. A hand on
her waist, another to help steady the bow. The words he use to say
when passing on his wisdom.
Steady on girl, take your time.
Patience, always patience, never rush it.

“Now!” she hears Jiron say. But she doesn’t
release the arrow.
Only when it’s time, Aly.
Then it almost
feels as if a hand raises her bow ever so slightly higher. “Now!”
urges Jiron.

“Do you sense that?” Brother Willim asks
Miko.

“Yes, I do,” he replies. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure,” Brother Willim says.

Now, Aly.

Releasing the bowstring, the arrow shoots
forward. They hold their breath as they watch it arc through the
air toward the statue. Then it sails perfectly between the head and
sword.

“I did it father,” she says quietly to
herself. And she can almost feel a pat on her back, the same as her
father use to give her when she successfully learned what he was
trying to teach.

“Yes!” says Jiron. When all the slack in the
rope is gone, it yanks against the end he’s holding in his hand.
Looking to the two guards, he sees they still have their backs
turned. Rushing over to the wall, he begins pulling the slack back
in until he feels the arrow catch in the crook of the statue
between the neck and the upraised arm. Giving it a couple tugs, he
ensures it’s not going to slip out.

Then he holds still as the guards turn and
begin approaching the area where the statue is located. Praying for
them not to notice the arrow and rope, he waits. The watch they are
walking takes them to within several feet of the statue. But then
they both reach the end of their watch, turn and begin to walk away
from the statue again.

Leaving the rope where it is, he runs back
over to where the others are hidden in the shadows. “Now,” he says
once he’s rejoined them, “we wait for the diversion.” Another ten
minutes go by before a commotion begins to develop. The guards on
the wall turn their attention to the far side of town, and one of
them points to something. Coming together, they begin talking
excitedly to one another.

“Aleya, you need to take them out fast,” he
tells her.

Nodding, she removes two arrows from her
quiver and sets one point first into the ground before her. The
other, she puts to her bowstring and aims. This is something she is
confident she can do with little problems.

Releasing the first arrow, it flies true and
strikes one of the guards in the back. Before the other guard
realizes something is happening, another takes the second guard
through the spine just below the neck. The first man topples onto
the top of the wall while the second one falls off and lands in the
street not far from where Jiron and the others wait.

Indicating the guard, Jiron says to Miko,
“Get him out of sight. When I get to the top, the rest of you climb
up. Before he runs over to where the rope is hanging against the
wall, Brother Willim stops him.

“I’ve never climbed a rope before,” he
admits.

“Don’t worry,” he assures him. “James never
could either. Let the others go first then tie a loop in the end of
the rope. Then we’ll pull you up.”

“Alright,” Brother Willim says.

Moving to the wall, Jiron takes the rope and
very carefully begins climbing up. He understands that he can only
apply steady tension to the rope. That to suddenly jerk on it may
snap the arrow in two. So hand over hand, he slowly and steadily
works his way to the top. As he climbs the rope, he can hear raised
voices coming from within the Keep area on the other side of the
wall.

When he finally reaches the base of the
statue, he grips the top of the wall with one hand and then pulls
himself up. Once on top, he looks over to the far side of town and
sees what the diversion is.

“Not much huh?” he mumbles to himself.
The damn fools set fire to the town
. And so it appears, for
fires are burning in several different sections of the city. Men
are running through the streets on their way to put them out.

He casts a quick glance to the guards on the
other walls, and the gaze of each is directed to the far off fires.
The grounds within the Keep area are fairly deserted, a few guards
walk to and fro as they keep watch. One man, a civilian, hollers to
one of the guards down there. Together they quickly make their way
through the gates and toward the fires.