Stretching, Jiron begins to move out of the room and to the stairs leading down. He passes down the stairs then over to the doorway across from the collapsed, burned out structure. Beneath which lies the entrance to the secret smuggler passage they used to enter Saragon.
Taking a moment to ensure no one is on the street, he dashes across to the burned out building, James follows right behind him.
Pausing a moment, he turns to James and says, “Remember, it’s not very stable so walk where I walk and try not to be on the same section as I am. Our combined weight could cause it to collapse.”
“I understand,” agrees James.
The moon overhead gives them some light with which to see by. Jiron begins making his way through the broken structure, taking the same path he used the last time. The first part of the path leads across a beam lying over an open section in the floor. Stepping carefully, he begins to cross.
James waits outside until he’s cleared the beam, then he steps out upon it and follows. Taking it slow, he stops when he feels the beam begin to shift under him. Grabbing another section of the collapsed ceiling for support, he steadies himself until the beam ceases its shifting. Once the beam again becomes stable, he continues moving along it until he reaches the next one.
Suddenly, they hear a groan and the entire framework they’re upon collapses. James is thrown from his precarious perch and tries to grab onto a section of what used to be a part of the ceiling. He takes a firm hold of it but it breaks off and he falls through the wreckage all the way to the floor, landing on his back. His breath is knocked out of him and it takes him a minute or two for him to get his lungs working again.
The section Jiron was on had remained somewhat stable. Holding onto a beam lying slantwise near him, he was able to prevent falling. “You okay?” he hollers down to where James lies upon the floor.
When he doesn’t receive an answer, he begins making his way down, fearing the worst. From the direction of the street, he hears the sound of several people approaching just as the fragile structure gives out with another groan and another section collapses.
This time, the beam he’s standing on gives way. Reaching out, he grabs hold of a neighboring beam just in time to prevent himself from falling. Hanging there from the beam, he sees the light from several torches approaching. Holding very still, he hopes to remain unnoticed by the men approaching.
Voices talking excitedly can be heard as they draw closer to the collapsing building. The light from their torches soon begins to illuminate the wreckage as half a dozen soldiers come to investigate the cause of the collapse. He can hear their excited conversation as their light begins to illuminate the building.
The light from their torches at last falls upon Jiron as he’s hanging there and one of them cries out when he sees them. Two of them have crossbows and they take aim at him. One of the soldiers says something commandingly to him in the Empire’s language.
When he doesn’t answer or react, he changes to the common tongue and says, “Come out of there!”
Looking at two crossbows leveled at him, he glances down to the floor and gauges his chances.
“Don’t think about it!” the soldier exclaims when he sees him debating about his chances of making it to the floor. “Come out now and you won’t be hurt.”
Jiron quickly realizes he’ll never make it without being fired upon. He swings his leg up and begins climbing back to the top. The structure groans and another piece on the other side of the building collapses before he makes it all the way out. Once back out to the street, the soldiers quickly bind his hands behind him and remove his knives.
“Move!” says the soldier who had spoken to him before, as he pushes Jiron to get him moving. They begin marching him down the street, toward the lights of the main encampment.
James looks up from his position where he’s hiding in the shadows on the floor as Jiron is taken away. Feeling helpless but unable to do anything about it at the moment, he waits for the soldiers to move further down the street. When the light from their torches disappears, he begins making his way up through the unstable wreckage back to the street. Fortunately the settling the structure had done during the last two collapses seems to have made it more stable and he’s able to make it to the street with little difficulty.
When he at last makes it out of the ruined building he can see the party of soldiers with Jiron further down the street. Running as fast as he can, he races to catch up with them. They’re still many blocks away from the area where the Empire’s forces are located. He’s got to get him away from them before they arrive, a small group he can handle, the main force could prove more difficult.
Jiron’s captors don’t seem to be in any hurry in taking him back to their encampment and it’s easy for James to catch up with them. When he comes near, he slows his pace to avoid making any more noise than necessary. He remains far enough behind them so the light from their torches won’t give him away.
He concentrates on Jiron’s bonds and they break apart as he releases the magic. Jiron’s arms jerk a fraction before he catches himself and holds them together to maintain the illusion he’s still secured.
James follows them from a distance as he readies several of his slugs. More death and destruction! Will it ever end? After seeing the dead priests in the temple to Asran, he has less compunction about killing Empire soldiers than he used to. He just prays that he never gets numb to the killing, or worse yet, gets to liking it. Before releasing the slug, the thought crosses his mind of the woman who’ll be waiting at home for the husband who’ll never return. Or the children who will never see their daddy again. He hates war and everything to do with it!
But, he has no choice if he’s to save Jiron. Sometimes situations in life only give you the choice between bad and worse.
Jiron was startled when his bindings snapped and almost wasn’t able to recover in time to prevent them from falling to the ground. Back at the collapsing building, he had been afraid that James might have been seriously injured, or even dead from his fall. But when his bonds broke, he knew he was not only alive, but following them.
The soldier marching next to him has his two knives sticking out of his belt. He readies himself for what’s to come next. They walk for several more yards and nothing happens. Come on James! What’re you waiting for!
Then suddenly, one of the two soldiers bearing a crossbow cries out as a slug erupts from his belly, spraying blood and gore on those ahead of him. The leader of the group shouts commands as the other crossbowman is taken out with yet another slug.
Jiron tackles the one with his knives and quickly retrieves them. A quick slash across the man’s throat and he’s taken out of action. Rolling, he moves away from the soldiers just as another crashes to the ground, a gaping hole where his chest used to be.
The leader throws down his torch as he and the other remaining soldier flee down the street into the darkness. Just before they leave the area illuminated by the torches on the ground, another slug flies out, taking out the soldier. The leader disappears into the darkness, the sound of his running feet and shouts echoing as he flees for his life.
James appears out of the darkness and asks, “You okay?”
“Fine,” replies Jiron. “You? I was worried when you fell.”
“Just had the wind knocked out of me was all,” he assures him. “We better get out of here.”
From further into town, a horn begins blowing. Other horns from all around them sound in reply. “That tears it!” exclaims Jiron. Turning, he leads them back to the collapsed building.
Lights can be seen moving along streets in the distance as soldiers make their way toward their location. Horns continue to sound, making it seem as if the entire city is mobilizing to hunt for them.
Arriving at the structure, Jiron steps out upon the beam and begins to make his way across to the next when it gives out with a groan and collapses. James reaches out and catches hold of him just as the entire structure gives way and collapses.
James falls to his knees as Jiron’s weight pulls him to the ground. Jiron falls hard against the wall of basement just beneath James and grabs hold of the edge. Pulling hard, James hauls him quickly back to the street.
“Thanks,” Jiron says as he gets to his feet.
“Don’t mention it, let’s just get out of here.”
The total collapse of the structure has blocked off their escape route. If they had time maybe they could dig their way through it, but not with soldiers on the way.
“Come on!” Jiron yells as he begins running away, sure that any pursuit will begin in this area. They’ve got to get out of here fast. Racing off down the street, they don’t get far before they see a mob of soldiers enter the street
