He just stands there with his sword at her throat, considering the situations. The torturer next to him says with authority, “You dare not hurt the High Lord Cytok. He’s the right hand to the Emperor himself!”
“Shut up you fool!” Lord Cytok yells to the man. Turning back to James and Jiron, he says, “You two, get over there next to the others.” He nods his head indicating they should go over to where Scar, Potbelly and Roland are sitting along the wall. He menaces Delia with his sword until they begin to move over there.
Delia watches them with her eyes, fear of the sword at her throat preventing her from doing or saying anything.
“James,” Jiron says quietly as they move closer to where the others sit, “do something.”
“I’m working on it,” he replies.
“Go get Kirtch and Prul,” he says to the torturer who then moves quickly to the door.
James concentrates on Delia’s exposed neck and then releases the magic. “Go ahead,” he says to Jiron, “he can’t hurt her now.”
Trusting in James, Jiron is up in a flash and rushes toward Lord Cytok.
The torturer breaks into a run as he races through the door and begins screaming on his way to the stairs.
Lord Cytok runs his sword across Delia’s throat but it only slides along an invisible barrier encasing her throat. Shocked at seeing the ineffectiveness of his sword, he turns to Jiron and prepares to defend himself.
“We need him alive,” James says. “We’ll never make it out without him.”
With a slight nod, Jiron closes with Lord Cytok. Deflecting a thrust with one knife, he strikes out with other but Lord Cytok dances backward and the knife misses by inches. The battle is joined.
James gets the keys from the dead guard and goes over to free Scar.
“Thanks, James,” Potbelly says. “We were hoping you might show up.”
“Yeah man,” Scar says when James had freed him.
He gives Scar the keys to remove the other’s shackles before going over to Delia. He takes out his knife and cuts through her bonds. He helps her to her feet just as Roland comes over to assist her. Delia stands up, a little bit shaky and James asks, “Are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” she assures him.
Scar and Potbelly have taken the guards’ swords and stand to the door to keep a look out. Scar turns back to the others and cries, “We’ve got company!”
Suddenly, a crash and James looks over to see Lord Cytok’s sword lying on the ground and Jiron with his knife to his throat.
“Tell your men out there to drop their weapons and come inside,” Jiron orders him.
A man from the hallway hollers something to Lord Cytok.
Jiron begins pressing the point of his dagger into his throat and says, “One of us understands your language, so don’t do anything stupid.”
He hollers back to his men.
Jiron looks to Roland and asks, “Did he tell them to drop their weapons?”
Roland shakes his head and replies, “They asked if he was okay and he told them he’s okay, but held at knifepoint.”
“Tell them to drop their weapons and come inside, NOW!” Jiron insists as a drop of blood wells from where the point of the knife had punctured the skin.
Lord Cytok hollers to his men and James glances to Roland who nods his head.
Soon they hear weapons falling to the ground and then his men, four of them, step into the room. The torturer isn’t among them.
“Where’s the other guy!” Jiron demands when he realizes he’s not among them.
Roland asks and when one of the men replies, Lord Cytok begins laughing.
“What’s so funny,” Jiron asks.
“He’s gone to raise the alarm,” he tells him. “Soon this whole area will be swarming with soldiers.” With a satisfied smirk on his face, he stares at James.
“We’ll never make it out!” Potbelly exclaims.
“Maybe,” says James, “if we’re fast enough.”
“Secure them to the wall,” James tells Scar and Potbelly who start taking Lord Cytok’s guards and placing them in the chains that had once been theirs. “Gag them too,” he advises them.
“Right,” Scar says as he picks up the most dirty, disgusting rags available, taking great pleasure in stuffing them in their mouths.
“Now, milord,” James says to Lord Cytok. “I hate to ask but please lie down on the table here.”
“Never!” he says adamantly.
Once Scar and Potbelly have the guards secured, they come over and force Lord Cytok onto the table, securing his arms and legs to the restraints. “Use a cleaner rag for his gag,” James tells them, “after all, he is a Lord.”
When he’s secured and gagged, James says, “You guys go on up and see what’s going on while Roland and I help Delia up the stairs.”
“I can walk,” she says as the others run down the hallway and up the stairs. Roland puts one of her arms across his shoulders to help support her. For despite her assertion that she can walk, her legs are a little unsteady. With James in the lead, they make their way to the stairs.
When they reach the top, they see Jiron racing back toward them. “Nothing yet,” he tells them.
“Good,” says James as they continue down the hallway, going back the way they had come. Moving past the room where they saw the light earlier, James notices it’s empty now. Most likely whoever had been in there is now back in the room with Lord Cytok, chained to the wall.
A little further past the room, the hallway opens up onto the foyer where they see Scar and Potbelly looking out the front door. Scar turns at their approach and says “It looks clear out there.”
“Then let’s move,” Jiron urges as they leave the house and run toward the gate. The guard that had been there earlier is absent, most likely sitting in the basement with his fellows. Potbelly reaches the gate first and opens it. He moves through to the other side and looks for anyone in the vicinity. Not finding anyone, he motions for the others to pass through to the street.
They begin running, making their way down the road a short ways before they see a large group of armed men running toward Lord Cytok’s estate.
They duck down a side alley and remain motionless as they wait for them to race past. Several brown robes could be seen among the running soldiers.
“Mages,” James says once they’re past. “How are we going to get out of here now?”
“I don’t know,” Scar replies. “But we better hurry before it’s too late.
Jiron looks out on the street and sees the way the soldiers had come is clear for the moment. They step out of the alley and race down the street away from Lord Cytok’s estate, hoping to escape the city before it’s too late.
Chapter Nineteen
The streets begin to fill as more soldiers and guards race toward Lord Cytok’s estate. Having had to duck into another alley to avoid detection, they wait for the squad of men to pass. Then James spreads his hands wide as ten small floating spheres appear before him. With a wave of his hand, they begin floating away in different directions.
“What’re those going to do?” Jiron asks. “Aren’t they going to attract any mages in the area?”
“That’s the idea,” replies James. “Hopefully they’ll be so intent on tracking down what they think are rogue mages, that we’ll be able to slip though, unnoticed.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jiron says. Once the spheres have left the alley, he takes one more look up and down. Not seeing anyone in the vicinity, he reenters the street with the others right behind. He keeps them to one side of the street as they quickly make their way to the gate leading out of the inner walled area.
