Warrior Priest of Dmon-Li: The Morcyth Saga Book Three (49 page)

The courtyard is crowded, guards and
soldiers are everywhere. He sees so many different coats of arms on
the various uniforms, he figures there must be a meeting of leaders
happening within the castle and these are their escorts waiting for
them. If he’s discovered now, there’s nowhere to hide.

Again keeping to the shadows, he begins
moving carefully and silently around the courtyard as he makes his
way over to where James is being held. A clump of bushes here, to a
darkened doorway there, he keeps to the shadows as he moves from
building to building, drawing ever closer.

Once, while he was standing in a darkened
doorway as he waited for several soldiers to pass by, the door
behind him suddenly opens. Diving out of the doorway to his right,
along the side of the wall, he lands behind a midsized bush. A
quick glance reveals the soldiers hadn’t noticed him and luckily,
the person opening the door had been talking to someone inside so
his attention had been directed back within the building and hadn’t
seen him either.

Crouching behind the bush, Jiron watches as
the man leaves the building and closes the door behind him. He
breathes a sigh of relief when the man turns and begins walking to
the courtyard, away from where he’s hiding.

After the man has moved far enough away, he
makes sure the coast is clear and then begins to continue around
the courtyard. When he finally reaches the building that sits next
to the one he’s after, he pauses as he figures out the best way to
enter. The front of the building borders the courtyard and any
attempt to enter through there would be discovered in no time by
one of the many soldiers out there.

The building he’s crouched next to is the
same height as the one holding James. He judges the distance
between the two isn’t so great he couldn’t leap across it, roof to
roof. It might be easier to gain entrance to this one and then jump
across the gap.

He begins examining the exterior of the
building and finds a ground floor window open not too far from
where he’s standing. Moving quickly and silently, he runs to the
window and then pauses while he checks to make sure no one is
around. When he determines the area is clear, he grabs the
windowsill and swings himself up and through to the room on the
other side.

The room looks to be the office of a scribe.
From the faint light coming in through the window, he sees a desk
with paper and inkwells. Not taking the time to investigate
further, he moves to the door and places his ear against it as he
listens to the other side. Failing to hear anything, he opens the
door a crack and looks out upon a darkened hallway. Leaving the
room and closing the door behind him, he moves down to the right
hoping to find the stairs.

All the rooms along this hallway are dark
and empty so he moves quickly to the end where he finds a dark
stairwell leading up. He begins moving slowly up the stairwell, all
the while listening intently for the sound of anyone approaching,
either from above or below.

When the stairs reach the next level, a
hallway branches off to the left or he can turn and continue up the
stairs. Down the hallway he sees some lights coming from two
different rooms as he pauses a moment to listen before continuing
up the stairs to the third level.

Again he finds a hallway extending from the
stairs to the left, this time all the offices are dark, or he can
continue following the stairs up to the fourth level. Not hearing
anything, he continues on up to the top level.

At the top of the stairs, his only choice
now is to go down the dark hallway. He begins checking room after
room, searching for a trapdoor leading up to the roof. After
searching the last room, he comes to the conclusion that there
isn’t one. Or it’s so well hidden that he couldn’t find it.

In the last room at the corner of the
building, he moves to the window and looks out. The window is
facing away from the lights of the courtyard and is currently in
shadow. Opening the window slowly, he carefully steps out upon the
window ledge and reaches up to the roof. Able to gain a grip on the
edge of the roof, he takes a deep breath and then swings out as he
pulls himself up onto the roof.

The roof slants a little to allow rain or
snow to flow off and makes for treacherous footing. Once up, he
begins making his way around to the side across from the
Councilman’s offices.

Coming to stand across from the Councilman’s
building, he carefully looks down between them. Several soldiers
are down there talking, giving no indication that they’ll be
leaving anytime soon.
Great!
If he jumps, they may hear him.
But what choice does he have?

He moves further up the roof to give him a
little bit of distance to run. Then he takes four quick steps and
launches himself across to the opposite roof where he lands with a
thud. Quickly grabbing a secure hold as he starts sliding to the
edge, he stops his downward slide and becomes very still while he
tries to hear if any sort of cry has arisen from those down below.
When none is forthcoming, he begins moving along the roof away from
the well lit courtyard, and over to the darker side facing the
opposite way.

Upon reaching the far side of the roof, he
peers over the ledge to see if anyone is down on the ground below
him. In the faint light, it’s hard for him to tell but he doesn’t
think anyone is down there.

Hoping to find an open window just below
him, he leans out a ways to get a better look. One of the windows
to his left is partly open. Moving carefully, he scoots along the
edge of the roof until he’s just above the open window.

After taking one more look down to make sure
the area is clear, he swings himself over the edge, dangling four
stories above the ground. He swings his foot toward the window and
hooks it around the inside of the window sill, giving him some
leverage. Then he brings over his other foot until he’s standing
awkwardly on the ledge.

When his feet are secure upon the ledge, he
leans outward and then jerks his body toward the window while at
the same time letting go of the roof’s edge. One of his feet
suddenly slips off the ledge and he suddenly loses his balance. He
begins falling to the ground below and reaches out in a panic,
grabbing the window ledge and succeeds in stopping his downward
plunge.

Suddenly from below, he hears talking. Two
men turn the corner and begin walking along the side of the
building, directly below where he’s hanging.

His hands are gripped precariously and he’s
afraid he might lose his grip but he remains still as they pass
beneath him. Finally the men turn the corner on the far side and
move out of sight. Breathing a sigh of relief, he readjusts his
grip and begins to pull himself up.

Climbing in through the window, he pauses a
moment as he catches his breath.
Two floors down and I should be
able to find James and Fifer. How I’ll get them out of here remains
to be seen.

Very little light illuminates the room on
the other side of the window and he has to feel his way over to the
door. After stumbling across a stool and bumping his knee into the
side of a table, he at last finds the door.

Placing his ear against it, he listens for a
moment before opening the door slowly. A hallway lies on the other
side, dark and quiet down both directions. Leaving the room, he
enters the hallway and shuts the door quietly behind him.
Remembering the way the last building had been laid out, and hoping
they’re laid out similar, he moves down the hallway to the end
where the stairs should be.

Sure enough, at the end of the hallway he
finds a flight of stairs leading down. Taking the stairs quickly
and silently, he comes to the next landing. The hallway leading
away along the second floor is dark as well so he doesn’t even
pause before descending toward the next level. With any luck James
and Fifer will still be down on the second level just as Shyn had
said.

As he begins to descend the final few steps,
he notices a light illuminating the stairwell from below. The
closer to the second floor he gets, the brighter it becomes. The
second floor landing is completely illuminated by a candle sitting
in a wall sconce across from the hallway. Jiron slows down as he
nears the landing, listening for anything that might indicate
whether or not someone’s near. Step by slow step, he moves down the
last few steps to the beginning of the hallway and then peers
around the corner.

The hallway extends from the landing just as
the others had. Candles in recesses line the entire hallway
banishing away the shadows. He sees the double doors that Shyn told
them about, a guard stands watch before them.

Sighing with relief, he knows that the
presence of the guard can only mean they’re still in there. He
ponders the situation briefly and realizes the only way is to rush
the lone guard and hope there’s no one else around. The thought of
coming in through the outside window entered his mind briefly, but
the window overlooks the courtyard and there’d be no way to get in
without being seen by those in the courtyard below.

Getting ready to rush down the hallway and
take out the guard, he hears two people talking as they begin to
come up the stairs from the floor below them. Backing up quickly,
he moves up the stairs away from the landing until the shadows once
more conceal him. The voices grow louder as their owners come
nearer to the second floor.

“…don’t care, this must be done before the
night’s over!” exclaims one voice.

“I understand that milord,” the second voice
replies.

“You have the antidote?” the first one
asks.

“Yes, right here,” answers the second.

“Can you give the one called James enough
for him to answer questions, yet not enough to allow him to use his
powers?” asks the first one.

“Yes, milord,” he replies.

The two men round the corner of the stairs
as they begin to move down the hallway toward the double doors. One
is dressed richly with the trappings of rank and has a commanding
presence. The other is dressed finely as well, though is obviously
the other’s subordinate. Looking to the one with the trappings of
rank, he thinks,
Must be the Councilman Rillian.

He waits until they pass into the hallway
and begin moving down to the doors before coming back to the
landing. He peers around the corner and watches as they move toward
the double doors. The guard standing in front sees them coming,
straightens up and opens one of the doors for them. He stands at
attention while they pass into the room. Jiron suddenly realizes
this is his chance. The guard is standing at attention and is
facing
away
from him.

As the guard begins to close the door, Jiron
sprints forward on the balls of his feet to avoid making any noise
the guard might hear. He reaches him just as the door swings shut.
Before the guard even realizes what’s happening, Jiron grabs his
head and slides a knife across his throat, silencing him.

Jiron holds the guard as he gasps out his
last breaths, preventing him from falling to the floor with a
clatter and announcing his presence to those within the room. When
the guard at last becomes still, he drags his lifeless body further
down the hallway away from the door, and then quietly lays him
down.

Moving back to the double doors, he puts his
ear to them but the thickness of the doors muffles the voices from
within.

Suddenly, one of the doors opens up and the
Councilman’s underling begins to say, “Go down to the…” Then he
realizes Jiron is there and tries to slam shut the door.

Throwing his shoulder against it, Jiron
pushes the door into the room and follows right after. He grabs the
underling and places a knife against his throat as he looks over to
where Councilman Rillian is seated in a chair next to James.

The Councilman looks to Jiron in shock as he
sits there. When he looks to draw a knife from his belt, Jiron
says, “Don’t! I have no problems with killing you both if you try
anything.”

Looking haughtily at Jiron, Councilman
Rillian says, “Do you even know who I am?”

Nodding, he replies, “You’re the Councilman
Rillian. A traitor to your people and a spy for the Empire.”

“Harsh words from someone intruding upon
what he aught not to,” replies Councilman Rillian. He gestures to
the window he’s sitting next to and says, “I can but call for help
and a hundred men will be here in moments.”

“You could,” agrees Jiron. “But then you’d
have to explain why you have friends of Lord Pytherian tied up and
drugged here. I don’t think you could talk your way out of
that.”

He narrows his eyes at Jiron and says, “It
seems we are at an impasse. Surely we can work this out
somehow?”

“All I want are my friends there,” he tells
him, nodding over at the two comatose forms on the couch. “Then
I’ll leave.”

“Just like that?” he asks. “I don’t think I
can let any of you out of here alive.”

Then Jiron notices his eyes flick for only a
brief moment to the hallway behind him. He suddenly kicks out with
his foot and connects with a guard that had been sneaking up behind
him. Glancing back quickly, he watches as the guard stumbles back a
few paces and then draws his sword.

Jiron pushes the man he’s holding further
into the room as he turns to shut the door before the guard has a
chance to prevent him. With a bang, the door slams shut and Jiron
turns the lock. The guard on the outside begins to beat upon the
door, his cries coming through the door asking if Councilman
Rillian is safe.

“It seems you’re trapped young man,” the
councilman says from where he’s still sitting in the chair.

The beating on the door finally stops as the
guard begins running down the hallway to get help. Jiron turns to
the underling and says, “You! You have an antidote for the drug,
right?”