"Ah, yes," the leader says. "And what town were you heading to for the supplies?"
"We don't actually know where any are," he admits. "You see we're from Lornigan over in Cardri..."
"But," Jiron jumps in, "we figured if we were to follow this road, it would eventually lead us to one."
The officer nods his head and signals the crossbowmen to lower their weapons. "Then you're in luck," he says, "we were just on our way to a town just south of here. You're more than welcome to accompany us and purchase your supplies there."
"That would be great," James says. "Just give us a moment and we'll be ready."
The officer nods his head and takes his men a short distance away, where he speaks to one of them in a language that none of their group understands. After a few short words, the man turns his horse and races off to the south.
The officer sees James looking at the departing rider and says, "He's just gone ahead to keep a lookout for rogues." Giving James a disarming, charming smile he continues, "You can't be too careful."
James comes over to his horse and gets ready to mount, when Jiron places his hand on his arm and whispers, "Are you crazy?"
James gives him a look of desperation and replies in a hushed whisper, "We've got no choice. We'd never be able to stop the crossbowmen before they fire, someone could get killed. Let's just bide our time, and see what opportunities develop." He mounts his horse and continues, "We can't risk having the girls hurt."
Not happy about it, Jiron mounts his horse as the officer and his men approach again. "Ready, are we?" he asks.
"Yes, we are," James replies. "We appreciate the escort, though it's not really necessary."
Smiling a charming smile, he says, "Not a problem, really. As I said, we were already heading in that direction."
The remaining man without a crossbow heads out first, leading the way. The officer rides next to James while his three crossbowmen take up position at the rear behind the girls.
James is very uncomfortable with the 'helpfulness' of the soldiers. Having three crossbowmen behind the girls doesn't leave much opportunity to get out of the situation. Trying to appear nonchalant, he asks the officer, who's riding next to him, "So what are you doing out in these parts?"
"Just on a routine patrol," he replies, "making sure no one makes mischief, that sort of thing."
"What town are we going to?" James asks.
"The locals call it Mountainside," he explains. "Not a very original name if you ask me."
"No," comments James, "I suppose not."
They ride for a short time before the town comes into view. "Ah," he says to James, indicating the town up ahead, "there it is."
Sitting at the base of the mountain is a rather small town, even though it's at a junction of roads. A little over two dozen buildings are apparently all there is to it. As they approach, James begins to realize there are no people out amidst the buildings, just more of the Empire's soldiers. As they pass a few houses, he can see faces peering out from windows. Faces full of fear and worry.
Suddenly very nervous, James glances back at his companions and can see his fears mirrored in their faces. But with the three crossbowmen behind, he dares do nothing yet.
They are led to a large, two story building on the edge of town, where several soldiers are standing around outside. One says something to the officer, who answers back in the same language. James sees them smile and one even laughs a little.
The officer stops his horse in front of the building and says, "You can get what you need inside, I am sure." He gets down, handing the reins to a soldier who's standing there and starts toward the door, where he pauses. Glancing back at them, he asks, "Coming?"
James gets down and the rest of them follow suit. Then the officer goes in through the front door, leaving it open behind him. They glance to each other, fear in their eyes, but not knowing what else to do. The three crossbowmen are still sitting astride their horses, looking casual but with the crossbows pointed in their general direction. Not exactly threatening with them, but they could definitely aim and fire in very little time.
With James in the lead, they walk up to and then pass through the front door. They enter a large room where the officer is already seated behind a desk across the room. "Do come in," he says to them as they hesitate in the doorway.
"There're no supplies here!" James says accusingly as they enter the room. Tinok, who's bringing up the rear, is nudged in the back with something sharp. Looking behind him, he sees one of the crossbowmen right behind him, the crossbow close to his back. The other two crossbowmen have dismounted and are following them inside.
The officer smiles at them and says, "Of course not, I'm surprised you even believed me." He gestures to four other crossbowmen on the second floor balcony overlooking the room. "Please, don't try anything," he says to James and the others, "it would be, unpleasant."
"What are you going to do?" Jiron asks.
A couple soldiers enter from a side door and begin taking their things from them, including James' backpack. "My orders are simple; detain anyone passing through the area."
They search them and take their weapons, including the knives of Jiron and Tinok.
"What happened to the people who use to live here?" Delia inquires.
"Alas, they objected to us being here so had to be dealt with," he explains.
"Dealt with?" she asks, afraid of the answer.
"Yes my dear, dealt with," he says to her. "Now they stay in their homes and don't bother us any more."
When they're done with removing everything from them but the clothes on their back, they place all of it on the desk. The officer says a few words to one of them in their language and then turns to their prisoners. "Now, just follow this soldier here and he'll take you to your cell."
"Why are we being locked up?" Tinok asks angrily.
"Would you rather we just kill you now?" he asks.
James can hear Cassie gasp and quickly says, "No, that won't be necessary."
"Good," he says, giving them a smile, "then please follow along peacefully and you won't be hurt."
A soldier leads them through a back door into a hallway lined with solid looking wooden doors, each containing a small barred window. The soldier opens the cell doors and has them enter, one per cell. He puts three of them on one side and three on the other. Once they're in and the doors are secured, the soldier takes up position in a chair at the end of the hallway.
James hears Cassie sobbing, but fortunately everyone has the good sense to keep quiet while the guard is there and can overhear everything they say.
"Don't worry Cassie," Tinok's voice can be heard saying. "I'm sure they'll let us go once they realize we're no threat to them."
James can hear someone enter the hallway from the outer room and the footsteps pause before his cell. He can see the officer looking in through the window in his door and then hears him say something to the soldier with him. A key turns in the lock and the door swings open, the officer walking in. Framed in the doorway is a soldier with a crossbow who has it aimed at James to prevent any mischief.
Once he's in the room, the officer holds up the amulet James bought from a merchant a while back, the same one that ol' One Eye had questioned him about earlier in the warehouse back in the City of Light. "Where did you get this?" he asks.
"I bought it at a merchant's stand a couple weeks ago," he replies. "Why?"
"Hmmm..." he says as he considers what James had said. "Be that as it may, this changes things."
"How?"
The man looks to James but doesn't answer. He leaves the room and James can hear him mumble to himself as he leaves, "Yes, this definitely changes things..."
The soldier with the crossbow closes his cell door and James is left alone to ponder what he just heard. Why does having that amulet change things? That amulet must mean something special, even ol' One Eye was extra curious about it. Why does having that amulet change things? That amulet must mean something special, even ol' One Eye was extra curious about it. Unable to come up with any idea that makes sense, he just sits on the floor with his back against the wall and thinks of his options. Unable to come up with any idea that makes sense, he just sits on the floor with his back against the wall and thinks of his options.
The hallway door opens and then closes as the officer leaves the cell area. Jiron whispers, "James, the guard left with him. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know," he replies. "It's not too long until dark, we better wait until then. Can you pick the lock?"
"No, they took my lock picks when they searched me. You?" he asks.
"Probably," James responds. "Let me think about it."
"I'm scared!" they hear Cassie cry pitifully from her cell at the end of the hallway.
"We all are," Delia tells her. "Just be patient, I'm sure we'll be able to get out of this."
"I hope so," she says, as she once again starts to cry softly.
"This was a stupid idea!" Tinok's voice rings out. "We should've taken 'em out when we first met them. Now there's a whole lot more to deal with."
"We couldn't risk the girls," Jiron says.
"Think they're any safer now?" he asks angrily.
"Shut up!" Delia whispers sternly. "This isn't doing us any good!"
Everyone quiets down after that. James looks out the little window that overlooks the back alley, but all he can see is the rear of the building across from him.
Just then they hear the hallway door open again and the chair creaks as the guard retakes his position again at the end of the hallway.
They sit there for another hour in silence, each occupied with their own thoughts. James sits by the window and listens to the goings on outside, but aside from the sounds of the occasional horse going by the front of the building, or conversations in the Empire's language, he fails to hear anything useful. He contemplates several means where magic could facilitate their escape and plans several contingencies.
Outside, the sun begins to go down and the light slowly starts to fade. Suddenly, the door at the end of the hallway opens and two soldiers come in and begin talking to the guard. They exchange words for several minutes, then James can hear them chuckling. The two men begin to make their way down to the end of the hallway and stop outside of Cassie's door.
He hears a click and then a squeal of rusty hinges as they open her cell door. He hears them saying something to her in their language, and then suddenly a cry from Cassie.
"What's happening?" Jiron asks.
Tinok, who's in the cell across from her, says, "They're going to rape her!"
"Jiron, Tinok, go help her," James says as he releases the magic. Everyone hears an audible click as their doors unlock.
Without any thought but to help her, Jiron and Tinok burst out of their cells and rush into hers. James comes out and turns to the shocked guard at the end of the hallway. Loosing the power, James slams the man against the wall, knocking him out.
He rushes down to Cassie's cell and finds the two soldiers dead on the ground, with Delia helping Cassie to her feet. Jiron and Tinok are standing over the dead men, with the dead men's knives in their hand, dripping blood.
As James enters, Jiron says, "Time to leave?"
"I would think so," James replies. They come out of her cell just as the doorway at the end of the hallway slams open. The officer strides in to see what the commotion is all about. He comes to a sudden stop when he sees the guard lying before him on the floor unconscious. Looking down the hallway, his eyes widen when he sees their cell doors open and them out of their cells, two with knives that are red with blood. He begins yelling as he quickly turns and exits the hallway, returning back to the front room. Even though James can't understand what he's saying, he has a pretty good idea.
"Jiron," he says, "give Tinok your knife, quick!"
When Tinok has both knives, James says to him as he points down the hallway, "They're going to be coming through that door. You've got to stop them for a minute or two."
Tinok glances at Cassie, then with an evil grin he says, "You got it." He walks close to the end of the hallway and awaits the first soldier to pass through the door.
Grabbing Jiron's arm, James says, "Come with me." He leads him to the rear cell where Tinok had been, whose little window overlooks the same narrow alley that his had. The girls follow them in there.
"What are we doing?" he asks James.
"Just wait," he replies as he begins concentrating.
Jiron hears the clash of metal from the hallway and sticks his head out to see how Tinok's doing. One soldier lies on the floor, bleeding to death, while his knives dance with another. A third soldier has entered the hallway behind the one battling Tinok, but the narrowness of the corridor allows but one to come at him at a time.
He turns back to the cell and watches as James begins tracing the seams of the stones surrounding the barred window. His finger follows the seam all the way around and when he reaches his starting point, he stops and says, "Alright, give me a hand."
Reaching up to the bars, he begins pulling on them. Jiron steps up and lends his strength to the effort.
"Give up," they hear the officer exclaim from down the hallway, "you've got nowhere to go!"
"Bring 'em on!" they hear Tinok's reply. More clashes can be heard as he parries and blocks, giving them time to do what they need to.
"What's the count?" Jiron yells over his shoulder to Tinok.
"Four!" they hear him hollering back.
James and Jiron pull with all their strength on the bars and a section of the wall surrounding them suddenly slides outward half an inch.
"Five!"
Delia joins them and together, they slowly pull the bars and the adjoining stones away from the wall until the whole thing crashes to the floor with a thud.
James looks out the hole and doesn't see anyone around, while Jiron goes back to the dead guards in Cassie's cell and retrieves a sword.
Coming to the hole, he tosses the sword through and then follows it, climbing through the hole.
"Six!"
He takes the sword and comes back to the hole. "Cassie," he says, "come on!" Keeping an eye out for anyone entering the ally, he offers his hand to help her through.
James and Jiron help Cassie make it through the hole, and then Delia. Once they're safely on the other side, James climbs through as well. "Tinok!" Jiron yells, "Time to go!"
"Seven!" they hear just before he runs through the door. Upon seeing the hole in the wall, he yells, "Stand back!" as he races toward it and dives through. He sails through the opening, hits the ground on the other side, and then rolls, coming to rest against the wall of the opposite building.
James sees guards rushing into the room after him. When they see the hole in the wall, one yells something back down the hallway as most of them turn and race back the way they had come.
"Let's get out of here!" James says, as he leads them down the alley. As they reach the end, he looks back the way they had come and sees soldiers entering the alley, hell bent on catching them. They turn and run down the lane, trying to make the edge of town. A guard runs around a corner in front of them, and before he even realizes they're there, Jiron has cut him down with the sword.
"Good with a sword too?" asks James, panting from the exertion.
"Didn't always use the knives," he replies, "I just prefer them."
When they come to the end of the lane, they realize they've made it to the edge of town, rising before them is the mountain. Behind them are dozens of soldiers racing after them and several crossbow bolts fly past, missing by a narrow margin.
They make a break for the mountain and the relative safety of the trees. The ground begins to rise as they reach the treeline.