“I see your point,” replied Riyan.
Moving past, they were soon around to the alley running along the backside of the buildings abutting the street. Through the spaces between the buildings on the other side, Riyan could see the river as it made its way southward. A guard carrying a bow walked along the river’s bank.
“They’re covering every exit,” he commented.
“I know,” said Bart.
Riyan glanced back down the alley they just came through and saw two figures carrying a long round object enter. Glad Kevik and Chad had made it to the alley safely, he joined Bart at the back door of the boarded up building.
“I think this place used to be some kind of carpenter’s shop,” Bart stated. Opening the door wider, he passed inside.
“What makes you think that?” Riyan asked. Entering the building behind Bart, he saw the skeletal remains of a boat. Sitting on a stand, it looked as if someone had begun constructing the boat then all of a sudden stopped.
A latticework of over a dozen pegs dotted one section of wall. Obviously there had been tools hanging from them at one time. Other than the boat and pegs, the rest of the shop was bare.
“I’ll find the way to the roof and take a look around,” Bart said. “Wait here for the others.”
“Alright,” agreed Riyan as Bart turned and headed deeper into the building.
At the back door, Riyan poked his head out and took a look around. The alley was quiet, only a single small dog rooting around the garbage and filth. When he saw Kevik appear, he waved him over.
Bart had returned by the time Chyfe and the twins had joined them in the carpenter’s shop. “Patrols are still on the streets,” he said. “There’s a good view of the bridge from the roof.”
“And?” asked Chad.
“Still heavily guarded,” he said. “I say we rest while we can. Once night falls and we head out, there’s no telling when we’ll be able to sleep again.”
Giving out with a yawn, Kevik nodded in agreement. As soon as he entered the building, he had retrieved his staff from the bolt of cloth.
“I’ll take first watch,” offered Bart.
Chad nodded then realization hit him. His blanket was still in the saddlebag on his horse, which was now in the possession of the soldiers. That is if it hadn’t been destroyed when the barrels of oil blew. “Great,” he moaned.
Riyan gave him a grin. They were all in the same predicament. All they had were the clothes on their backs, and the packs they carried. Of course those packs didn’t hold much more than some food, basic tools necessary for survival, and water bottles. Also, Riyan still had the three key segments in his pack while Kevik’s held the magical items.
“Here,” Bart said. He knew exactly what Chad was belly aching about.
Chad turned at his voice and saw Bart’s Cloak with the hole burned in the back sailing through the air toward him. Catching the Cloak, he held it up and took a good look at the ruined section. Riyan was looking at him through the hole. “That was close,” he said.
“Tell me about it,” responded Bart. Taking off the cloak he appropriated at the clothier’s, he showed them the back of his shirt. Though not nearly as damaged as the Cloak had been, there was still a scorched section with a piece missing the size of a hand. “My back feels like it got burned too.”
“Want me to use the healing gem on it?” asked Kevik.
Bart shook his head. “No. It’ll remind me to be more careful next time.”
“As you wish,” replied Kevik.
While the others made themselves as comfortable as possible, Bart went to the rear door and closed it. Throwing the bar to keep unwanted guests out, he then made a circuit of the building to make sure the rest of the doors were similarly locked. Once that was done, he went to the back room where the roof access was located and made his way to the roof.
From there he had a commanding view of the surrounding streets. During his watch, patrols of guards would pass by along the street below, giving him moments of worry before they continued past.
Off to the south, smoke still rose to the sky, but it gradually begun to lessen as the efforts of those fighting it took affect. In the back of his mind, Bart hoped the fires would continue. For when the fires were put out, those men would be free to aid in the search. And it was still many hours until dark.
Bart was in his second hour atop the roof keeping an eye on the town. During that time, he’d watched patrols continuously making sweeps through the city. Citizens were out and about, some congregated in groups while others tried to continue with their daily routines despite the chaos into which their city had been plunged.
Not too far down the street from the building where they hid stood an inn. He couldn’t see the stable from his position, but the fact it was a three story structure led him to believe it might have enough horses in its stable for each of them. But even should he be able to steal enough, there was still the matter of making it out of town. And with the number of soldiers…
All this was going through his mind when his eyes caught a change in movement further into town. Squads of guards were going from house to house. Soldiers would enter a building only to reappear on the building’s roof. After a brief look around, they would disappear back into the house and reappear again on the street. Moving on, they headed over to the next. Dread began to fill him as he gazed across the city and saw the scene repeating down street after street. They were now searching every house!
He wasn’t able to see the entirety of Tryn, but from what he could see, they had begun searching buildings on the eastern side of town and were working their way toward the river. A glance to the bridge showed that the soldiers stationed there were being augmented by another twenty guards.
“Damn!” he cursed quietly. The plans he had worked out were useless in the face of what the soldiers were doing now. They no longer had the option of waiting for the coming of night. Still hours away, the search parties will have reached them by then.
He took a few moments to gauge the speed with which the search parties were moving from house to house and figured they had less than twenty minutes to get out of there. He quickly left the roof and hurried down to where the others were sleeping.
“Time to go,” he announced to the forms sleeping on the floor.
“What?” asked a groggy Riyan. Propping himself up on an elbow, he worked to keep eyes heavy with sleep from closing as he looked toward Bart.
“They’ve begun a house to house search,” Bart explained.
That woke him up. Snapping awake, he looked toward the door.
“They’re not here yet,” Bart told him. Moving toward Chad who was still sleeping, Bart nudged him with the toe of his boot. “Wake up Chad!”
Riyan reached over to his friend and shook his shoulder.
Opening his eyes, Chad looked to Riyan then suddenly grimaced as he gripped the back of his head where he had been injured.
“Are you okay?” asked Riyan.
“Head hurts,” he replied. “Bad.”
“Kevik!” hollered Riyan. When he had the magic user’s attention, he said, “Chad’s head is hurting again. See if your gem will help.”
“Alright,” Kevik said, then hurried to Chad’s side.
Bart stepped back to allow Kevik room to work. “Make it fast,” he told him. “We don’t have much time.”
“I’ll try,” Kevik said. In a second the gem was in his hand and pressed to the back of Chad’s head.
Seth had moved to the window and was staring outside. “I don’t see anyone,” he said.
“You will before long,” Bart stated. He then explained how the guards had started on the eastern side and were working their way toward the river.
“Kind of like they’re tightening the noose,” offered Chyfe.
Bart nodded. “You might say that.”
“What are we to do?” asked Soth.
Taking a moment to think, Bart finally said, “The river.”
