bleeding from several different wounds.
The soldier on the floor gets back up and advances on Jiron with sword drawn, coming to his partner’s aid. He thrusts at Jiron but fails to connect when Jiron twists to avoid the incoming blade.
As the blade goes past, Jiron strikes out and stabs the man in his exposed armpit, puncturing a lung. The man goes down coughing and blood begins welling out of his mouth as his lungs fill with blood.
Seeing his partner fall, the remaining soldier goes back into the room where the dead soldier lies, and then grabs a chair and throws it through the window. As the window shatters, he runs over to it and begins hollering to someone outside. He then turns and looks at Jiron with an evil smile and says something to him in his language.
Realizing he’s about to be inundated with soldiers, Jiron turns and races for the stairs, hoping to escape the house before they make it inside. When he reaches the top, hears the door downstairs slamming open as many soldiers rush into the house. He turns and sees the remaining soldier coming out of the room, sword drawn and ready.
Looking around, he sees a trap door in the ceiling down the hallway, past the soldier. He throws the backpack at him, causing him to move to avoid being hit. Jiron advances upon him fast with a flurry of attacks that soon has him lying dead on the floor. Picking up the backpack again, he races to the trapdoor and pulls on the rope attached to it. He can hear soldiers running up the stairs.
The trapdoor comes down and a step ladder unfolds, allowing access to the attic. As he begins to climb the stairs, he hears someone shout behind him. He turns and sees enemy soldiers running down the hallway toward him.
When he reaches the top, he tries to pull the ladder up but one of the soldiers has already gotten a hold of it, preventing him from retracting it.
Next to the trapdoor he sees a chest. Taking hold of it, he pulls it over to the trapdoor and drops it on the soldiers below. He hears it crash down the stairs and into the soldiers, followed shortly by curses and one cry of pain.
Having only seconds, Jiron quickly glances around and the only exit visible is a small window on the far side of the attic. He quickly picks up several other things of moderate weight and throws them down in quick succession at the soldiers below before running over to the window.
The window is hinged and he’s able to swing it open. Sticking his head out the window, he looks down and sees a straight drop to the street below. Looking up, he sees the edge of the roof a mere two feet above the window. Pulling himself to a sitting position on the sill, he reaches up and grabs the edge of the roof, quickly pulling himself up. A crossbow bolt hits the eave next to where he’s climbing up onto the roof. Glancing down, he sees a dozen soldiers there watching him, two armed with crossbows. Another thud, and he feels a crossbow bolt embed itself in the backpack.
Finally gaining the roof, he rolls away from the edge and the deadly barrage coming from the streets below. The roof is shrouded by thick smoke coming from the fire not to far away. He pulls out the cloth again and wraps it once more around his face, trying to keep the smoke out of his lungs. In a low crouch, he gains the center of the roof and quickly surveys his options.
A narrow alleyway separates this building from the one behind it, the buildings on the other sides are too far away to attempt to jump across. Keeping low, he runs and leaps across the gap to the other building, landing easily. Looking back, he sees a soldier gaining the roof by way of the window in the attic. He sees Jiron and pauses as he points to him, shouting to the soldiers in the streets below. Then he starts running toward him as another begins to climb up from the attic.
Glancing across the roof to the other side, he sees that the buildings continue along close together for a while. Having no other choice, he runs and begins jumping from rooftop to rooftop as he tries to find a way out of this situation. After jumping to the third building, he begins to feel the heat of the fire and realizes that it has reached the edge of town and is consuming the building at the end of the row he’s been jumping across.
Looking behind him, he sees several soldiers running and jumping from building to building behind him. With no other choice, he races toward the end of the line of buildings and the fire until he reaches the last building that’s yet to catch fire. He slings the backpack over his shoulder and turns to face the oncoming soldiers. The heat from the fire consuming the building behind him is almost intolerable as he awaits their arrival.
When the soldiers get to the building before his, they stop and begin shouting to him. Unable to understand what is being said, he just stands there with his knives ready, planning to sell his life dearly.
A popping noise behind him causes him to turn his head and look. The building he’s standing on has now caught fire and the fire is creeping closer to where he is standing. He tries to take a step away from the flames, but the roof under his foot cracks and then caves in.
He falls through the roof to the floor below, smoke and fire are everywhere. He hits the floor hard and then comes up quickly as he looks around for a way out, the thick smoke stinging his eyes. Spying a doorway, he makes his way toward it through the smoke. He begins coughing, the smoke is so thick here, it’s even getting through the cloth tied to his face.
Passing through the doorway, he finds the hallway to his left is aflame, the heat from the flames searing his skin. A sudden thought crosses his mind, something James had said before he left, ‘Someone needs to go and retrieve it. Or at least destroy it and the papers it carries.’ The backpack! He takes it, throws it into the flames and watches for a brief moment as they begin to consume it and the letters inside.
Turning, he runs down the hallway away from the flames to the stairs, where the smoke is billowing up them like a chimney. With no other choice, he races down through the dense, hot smoke, barely able to see and coughing as his lungs try to expel the smoke.
At the bottom of the stairs, the flames wreathe one end of the hallway, the heat causing his hair to begin to curl and smoke. Unable to even see any longer through the smoke, he turns and moves in the opposite direction, away from the flames. Putting the heat behind him, he keeps one hand in contact with a wall as he moves blindly down the smoke filled hall. Suddenly, he feels cool air hit his face and is able to breathe a little better. Running, he makes it through the front door where he collapses on the ground, coughing and gasping, trying to get the relatively clean air into his lungs.
He hears a footstep beside him and looks up to see the officer standing there with two men holding crossbows aimed at him. The officer says something in their language and two of his men grab him and bring him to his feet as they carry him toward the jail.
Chapter Nine
The following morning when James wakes up, his first thought is on Jiron and how he’s making out. Hope he makes it back soon, he thinks to himself. Getting up, he walks over and looks at the small pond that has developed over night. A small stream has begun to run the excess water off into the desert. It doesn’t get far before being reabsorbed back into the ground.
Waking everyone up, he then gets grain for the horses while the others have a quick meal before getting on the road.
“Wonder how Jiron’s doing?” Cassie asks.
“I’m sure he’ll be alright,” Tinok assures her. Looking over to the pond, he says, “Pretty impressive!”
“Yeah,” agrees James with satisfaction and pride. He’s created a new oasis here in this desolate land. Once the horses are fed, he takes some rations for himself and eats them quickly.
After everyone is finished eating he begins to get the horses harnessed to the wagons with help from Delia, while Tinok fills all the water bottles from the newly formed pond. By the time the sun has completely topped the horizon, all is ready and they begin to roll down the road. This time Tinok rides point, while James drives the lead wagon, with Delia and Cassie bringing up the rear with the other.
They travel for about two hours before they begin to make out a green oasis with several palm-type trees and bushes surrounding it ahead of them. A small town has grown in the vicinity, from the apparent age of some of the buildings, the town must have been here for a very long time. As they draw closer, they see a large gathering of people at the edge of the oasis.
