They run down a side alley as they attempt to evade another patrol passing through the area. They've been running and hiding after that last explosion, doing their best to avoid tangling with any large group of guards. James' supply of slugs is beginning to run low, only ten left.
"Maybe it's time to get the horses and leave," he suggests.
Jiron replies as he nods his head, "That would probably be a good idea, they should be on the ship by now."
"I hope so," he says as he thinks of Delia and especially little Arkie.
"Our horses are all the way across town," Jiron informs him. "It's going to take us a while to get there."
"I know," he replies, "lead on."
Looking out of the alley, Jiron checks to make sure the street is clear of guards before exiting. When the coast is clear, they exit the alley and follow the street in the interest of speed. Breaking into a run, they head toward the inn where their horses are stabled.
Street by street they make their way closer to the inn. Many times they've had to duck down alleys or into buildings to avoid being spotted. Back on the street after one such incident, they suddenly see a group of six soldiers turn onto the street ahead of them. Fortunately they're moving the other way down the street so fail to notice them.
"Soldiers now?" James says as they quickly turn off the street into another alley.
Leading them further into the alley, Jiron replies, "Guess we really got their attention."
"That was the plan," James says from behind. "Could be the ones who've been following us the last few days, too," he adds.
"Possibly," agrees Jiron.
Coming to the end of the alley, they pause as they watch a dozen or more soldiers running past on their way further into the city. They're just moving past the alley where James and Jiron are waiting, when from up above them, a woman begins crying out to the soldiers.
James looks up as she continues yelling and pointing to where they're hiding in the alley. Glancing back toward the soldiers, he sees them turning and begin running in their direction.
"Damn!" he hears Jiron curse as they race back down the alley. Before they reach the end of the alley, Jiron grabs James and ducks into a side door of the building opposite the one with the woman.
James slams the door shut and locks it. That's when he realizes Jiron has led them into someone's home. Jiron takes the stairs leading up to the second floor with James following close behind. Before they reach the top of the stairs, banging can be heard coming from the door leading to the alley.
Emerging from the stairs onto the second floor they see before them a long hallway running the length of the home. From the far end a door can be heard slamming shut and what sounds like furniture being piled behind the door to prevent them from gaining access to it.
They do a quick search and locate a narrow stairway leading up to the roof. As Jiron steps upon the ladder to go up to the roof, they hear the door to the alley burst in. Moving quickly up the stairs they reach the roof.
Jiron pauses momentarily as James clears the ladder. "Where now?" James asks him.
He scans the buildings adjacent to them and finds one with a small enough gap between them that they will be able to jump. "Follow me," he tells him as he runs and jumps over the gap between buildings.
James runs as fast as he can and with heart beating wildly, jumps across. Sailing through the air he glances to the alley below and panics. When he lands on the other side, he loses his balance, falls to the roof and rolls a couple of times before coming to a stop.
Jiron is there to help him back to his feet and then they run to the opposite side where they once more jump the gap. James makes it this time without falling.
A noise behind them causes James to turn and he sees soldiers pouring onto the roof of the building they had originally exited. "One more time," he hears Jiron say as he makes once more for the edge of the building where he jumps across to the other side.
Looking over his shoulder before he starts to run for the edge, James sees the soldiers beginning to jump the first gap in pursuit. Bracing himself for another jump, he runs quickly and soars over to the other building where he lands well, maintaining his balance.
Jiron is standing by an open trapdoor that leads down into the building. "Hurry!" he yells over to him as he begins to climb down.
James reaches the trapdoor and starts to climb down when he hears Jiron fighting with someone on the inside. When he clears the top, he sees him there battling with someone in their nightshirt.
The man is no match for Jiron and is soon lying on the ground, blood beginning to soak the front of his nightshirt.
"Did you have to kill him?" James asks as Jiron begins to descend to the ground floor.
With impatience in his voice, Jiron replies, "Didn't have time not to."
Coming to the front door, he pauses a moment and says to James, "I think we're only a couple of streets down from the inn."
"Thank goodness," exclaims James.
He looks out a window near the door and sees many soldiers running past on their way to the building they had originally entered down the street.
Suddenly, they hear the pounding of many feet on the roof as the soldiers chasing them reach the roof from the other building.
Jiron says to James, "There are still a lot of soldiers out there."
"What choice do we have?" he replies grimly.
Jiron throws open the door and quickly engages the closest soldier, taking him by surprise. At the clash of metal, every eye turns toward them. Jiron quickly disposes of the soldier as he turns to face the others.
James pauses momentarily as he gazes at the dozens of soldiers in the street that are now intent upon them.
Crumph!
The ground explodes to their right, throwing soldiers and dirt into the air. Then he releases the power again as the ground to their left explodes upward. Two soldiers are left dazed and standing after the two explosions.
Jiron closes with the first one and in his dazed state, is unable to defend himself. Jiron takes him out in short order. The other soldier gains his senses quickly and draws his sword as he advances.
James looks back to the building they just vacated and sees the soldiers coming down the stairs from the roof, heading for the open door. Almost out of reflex, he unleashes a blast of energy through the door, knocking them backward and slowing them down.
"Come on!" Jiron says to him as the second soldier falls to the ground.
His head bursting with pain and knees wobbly, he hurries as best he can. Jiron sees the condition he's in and takes his arm, helping him toward the inn.
They move along the path left between the two large holes in the road he created with the explosions and move into another alley on the far side. Hurrying as best they can, they come to the rear wall of the inn's courtyard.
The inn's courtyard is crowded with people who begin screaming and running when they see Jiron and James approaching. Jiron is a ghastly site, covered in blood as he is with one knife drawn, glinting in the torchlight. The courtyard is soon cleared of the panicked people. They move to the stable to retrieve their horses that they had left saddled for a quick escape.
Once in the saddle, they ride out of the courtyard and into the street where Jiron plows through a group of soldiers, knocking them to the ground. Riding with all speed, they race for the edge of town, several crossbow blots fly in their direction but all miss their mark.
They gallop with reckless speed through the streets, heedless of anyone in their way as they make for the edge of town. Suddenly, Jiron pulls up and stops. "Why did you stop?" James hollers at him as he slows to a halt beside him.
Jiron points down the street and says, "Look."
Looking to where Jiron is pointing, he gasps when he sees the men stationed along the road ahead of them. There are easily thirty crossbowmen and another fifty foot soldiers barring their way. "Oh my god!" he says. Beyond the waiting men is the edge of town, and escape.
Looking behind them, Jiron sees a swarm of soldiers heading their way. "Looks like we're trapped," he says.
"Jiron," James says.
"Yes?" he replies without taking his eyes off the approaching soldiers.
James removes a rope from behind his saddle and begins tying himself in place. "You may need to lead my horse should I lose consciousness."
Jiron looks over to him and sees what he's doing, "What do you plan?"
"Don't have time to explain," he replies. "Just don't let go of my horse, whatever you do."
Jiron nods his head and takes the reins as James closes his eyes. Behind them, the soldiers are gaining, only five buildings separate them from where he's sitting on his horse. The soldiers barring the edge of town have taken notice of them as well and have begun advancing slowly toward them. Come on, James! Come on, James! he thinks to himself as he watches the men getting closer. he thinks to himself as he watches the men getting closer.
All of a sudden, two of the buildings behind them blast apart, their stones raining down upon the men running in the street. Cries ring out as the stones crush the men. With great relief, Jiron sees the street behind them is now completely blocked by the rubble.
He looks over to James and sees perspiration beginning to form and course down his face. His breathing is coming in gasps and he's leaning slightly in the saddle.
"James?" he asks but then stops when James shakes his head.
The wind suddenly begins blowing harder as it steadily increases in intensity. Jiron looks to the sky as clouds appear, moving toward them with unnatural speed from all directions. James begins to moan in pain but still he concentrates, directing the magic.
Having just witnessed the power James unleashed on the men now dead under the rubble, the soldiers waiting for them at the edge of town become restless. They become even more so when they see the clouds gathering in the sky above them. Several crossbow bolts fly in their direction, but the force of the wind knocks them awry. A man with a commanding presence, an officer by his bearing, stands there yelling at the nervous soldiers, attempting to bolster their courage.
Jiron looks on in absolute amazement as he watches a section of the clouds begin to descend a little ways down from the dark mass above. And then suddenly, with great speed, it slams into the waiting men below. Nothing can be heard but the roar of the tornado as it rips through the gathered men beneath it. Bodies are ejected from it, flying in all directions to land broken and lifeless. Those not directly under it are sucked into it until they too are eventually thrown out, falling lifeless to the ground.
A very few of the men that were gathered at the edge of town survived the initial plunge of the tornado. Thrown around by the wind, the rest flee for their very lives. Suddenly, a cry comes from James and the tornado splits in two, each half moving away from the center of the street in opposite directions.
Jiron glances back to James who is trying to say something but is having trouble being heard over the roar of the wind. Leaning closer, he's able to make it out, "Now, go between them!" Trusting in James, he gets the horses moving quickly and they approach the towering funnels. The wind whips them mercilessly as he approaches the gap between the two.
The horses balk at going between the two towering tornadoes, but with whips and kicks, Jiron forces them through. "Hurry!" he barely hears James shout as they pass between the swirling masses of destruction. Kicking the horses harder, Jiron at last emerges from the other side, where it takes little encouragement to get the horses into a gallop.
Another cry escapes James before he passes into unconsciousness. Jiron looks back to the tornadoes and sees them melding back together into one large tornado that quickly dissipates. Seeing no imminent pursuit, he turns the horses southeast and races out into the desert.
"Please drop your weapons," the Eye says to them.
Roland glares at the captain, feeling betrayed. The captain just returns his stare, his face devoid of any emotions.
The Eye raises his hand and the crossbowmen take aim as he repeats his command, "Drop your weapons, now!"
With little choice they remove their weapons and drop them to the ship's deck.
"You've given us quite a chase," he says to them. "Fortunately, that is now over." Turning to the captain, the Eye says, "Have your men secure their hands behind them."
The captain glances behind him to his men standing there, "You heard him boys."
"Aye, captain," one of them says as they start to move toward Roland and the rest.
As they pass through where the crossbowmen stand, they suddenly turn and knock the crossbows out of their hands, quickly subduing them. The captain, in a fluid motion, draws his sword and rests the point on the Eye's chest.
"What is this, captain?" the Eye exclaims in anger when he sees the captain's sword threatening him.
"You're not taking them," he informs the Eye.
"I'll have you killed for this, captain!" the Eye warns vehemently. "I'll send your ship to the bottom of the sea!"
"Toss em over, lads," the captain tells his crew, ignoring the threats of the Eye.
One by one, the crossbowmen are thrown overboard until only the Eye remains. "Captain!" one of the men up in the rigging hollers out as he points toward the docks, "we've got company!"
The captain looks over to the docks and sees a score of men running toward his ship. "You'll never get out of this harbor alive," the Eye warns him.
"Cast off," he cries to his men who begin casting off lines and climbing the rigging.
"Your death will be a pleasure," the Eye continues, "watching as you wriggle upon the end of a pole as it slowly pushes its way through your guts from your ass!"
"Would you just shut up!" the captain yells at the Eye. He turns him around, boots him in the butt and watches as he plummets over the rail into the sea below.
"Thank you captain," Tersa says as she comes forward.
"Enough time for that later," he tells her. "You and the others stay out of our way and we may yet live through this."
"Mr. Kerny!" he hollers.
"Yes sir," a sailor yells from the other side of the ship.
"Make for deep water!" he cries.
"Aye, aye captain!" he replies as he begins turning the wheel to steer them out to sea. The wind begins filling their sails as they slowly turn away from the docks and head out of the harbor.
Splash!
A rock hits the water not five feet from the side of the ship. "Look!" Stig cries as another boulder flies through the air toward them. They brace for impact but it flies over the ship, landing with a splash twenty feet away.
"That was close," exclaims Shorty.
"Mr. Kerny!" the captain yells.
"Yes, captain," Mr. Kerny replies.
"Hard to port, evasive actions!" he tells him.
"Aye, aye captain!" and then they feel the ship lurch as Mr. Kerny begins attempting to evade the oncoming boulders.
"Captain, look!" Delia cries as she sees two ships beginning to pull away from the docks.
"I see 'em, lass," the captain tells her, "but if we can beat them to open water, they'll never catch us."