The door to the building crashes open as three of the four men rush out onto the street. Jiron moves to engage them and hears Miko’s sword leave its sheath as he too joins the fray. “They have Dave!” he tells him.
The first man to reach him tries to bull his way through his defenses as he hacks down with both hands on the hilt of his sword. Jiron easily sidesteps and lashes out with a return strike as the man passes and scores a deep cut on his left shoulder.
The second man comes at him with a thrust which he dodges backward to avoid. He hears the first man cry out as Miko takes him through the chest with his sword and moves to engage the third.
Now one on one, Jiron is able to block the man’s attacks. After three exchanges of attacks, he has the man’s measure. When the man thrusts as he knew he was going to, he sidesteps the sword and strikes out with an attack so fast it’s but a blur. His knife sinks into the man’s throat and severs the larynx. Choking on his own blood, the man is unable to properly defend himself and Jiron kicks out, connecting with his knee and shatters it. Falling to the ground, the man gurgles as blood fills his lungs.
Miko parries the third man’s attack and follows through with one of his own. His reflexes having been honed by his time with the Fire, his sword flies at the man horizontally and severs his leg at the hip. As the man topples forward, he strikes out one more time and runs his sword through his chest. His sword gets wedged in between the man’s ribs and is ripped from his hand.
After the man hits the ground, he puts his foot on his ribcage and draws out his sword. Looking around quickly, he sees Jiron wiping his blades on one of the dead men’s shirts.
“Dave!” Jiron says and moves toward the doorway. He stops suddenly when he sees Dave peering around the corner.
“Are they dead?” he asks, a tremor of fear in his voice.
“You can come out now,” Jiron tells him. “Where’s the other guy?”
“He ran out the back,” he says. Looking at the dead bodies, he can’t help but hide his revulsion at the sight.
“Let’s get back to the inn,” Jiron says.
“Yes,” he says, “I’d like that.”
“Who were they?” Miko asks as they begin moving back toward the inn.
“From the Empire, I think,” he says. “They said they were going to kill me if I didn’t tell them where the Fire is.”
Jiron glances to Miko who gives him a knowing look.
“Just what is the Fire?” he asks. “They knew I was his friend. How could they know that?”
“I don’t know, but we better hurry and tell James about it,” Jiron says. Picking up the pace, they make their way straight toward where the inn lies.
When they go upstairs they find Fifer and Qyrll have already returned, having no better luck in finding Serenna than they had.
James gets to his feet as Dave walks into the room ahead of Jiron and Miko. “Are you alright?” he asks.
“I’m fine,” Dave replies, sinking into one of the chairs by the table. Illan gets up so James can sit next to him.
James turns his attention to Jiron and asks, “What happened?”
“Found him in some old building on the outskirts of town,” he replies. “Looked like he was being questioned.”
Turning back to Dave, James says, “Tell me everything.”
“Several minutes after you left, more of those people showed up,” he tells them, a haunted look coming over him. “They demanded us to go with them and when we refused, they fell upon the boy and started killing him. I grabbed a chair and smashed open the window and climbed down to the street below. I didn’t know what to do or where to go. There were more of them on the streets so I just starting running, I was hoping to find you.”
“But instead, I ran into those other guys. They recognized me as being your friend,” he says, bringing his eyes to meet James’. “How could they know that?”
Startled at that, James glances around to the others in the room and then says, “I don’t know. It wouldn’t seem likely.”
“They’ve probably had spies on us for awhile now,” offers Illan. “It wouldn’t have been too difficult for them to find out who we all are and our relationship to you.”
Nodding, James says, “Possibly.”
Laying his hand on James’ arm, Dave says, “They wanted to know about something called ‘The Fire’. Do you know what they’re talking about?”
James sits back in his chair and contemplates what he just heard.
“They haven’t given up,” states Jiron.
“No they haven’t,” he replies. Looking to Dave, he can see the questions behind his eyes but can he afford to give him the answers? “The Fire is an artifact of power here in this world. I have it on good authority that should the wrong people acquire it, this world could end. Or at least those who live here would wish it had.”
“So you have it?” he asks.
“Not any more,” he answers. “It’s hidden away for all time.”
“Where?” he asks.
James looks to his friend for a minute as he considers his reply. Finally, he says, “I can’t tell you.”
“But I’m your friend!” he exclaims. “My life is in jeopardy because of it, I have a right to know!”
Shaking his head, James says, “Dave, you are my best friend. We’ve been through a lot together but I can’t tell you. I can’t tell anyone.”
Indicating the others, he asks, “Do they know?”
Shaking his head, James says, “No, they don’t. No one does but me and it’s going to stay that way.”
Somewhat mollified at knowing he isn’t the only one who doesn’t know, he calms down.
James hated to lie to his friend, but he’s too vulnerable. This latest escapade shows him that not only himself, but those around him are likely to be sought. And how did they know he was here. Something’s afoot and he needs to figure out what.
He gets to his feet, tired and exhausted. Looking at everyone in the room he says, “As much as we all need to rest, we better get out of here. If there are agents from the Empire here, there’s no telling what they may be planning next.”
“I agree,” Illan says. To Fifer and Qyrll he says, “Go down to the stables and get the horses ready for travel.” As they move to leave the room, he adds, “Be alert.”
“Count on it,” Fifer says. Then he and Qyrll pass into the hallway and move to the stairs.
Turning back to James, he says, “Now that they’ve tipped their hand, we’ll be on guard.”
“That’s something at least,” James replies. Getting up from the chair, he says to Miko, “Go down to the kitchen and fill several packs with food.”
Miko looks at him askance as he says, “Isn’t that stealing?”
“Stealing from whom?” Jiron asks. “The innkeeper and son are dead and we haven’t seen anyone else around the whole time we’ve been here. Likely as not, if we leave the food it’ll just spoil.”
“Right, I hadn’t thought of that.” Miko grabs his bag and heads down to the kitchen.
James glances to Jiron and says, “I hope there’re no tarts down there or that’s all he’ll get.”
Breaking out into a grin, he says, “I better go help him.” Taking his pack, Jiron leaves the room and follows Miko down to the kitchen.
James, Illan and Dave make their way down to the stables where they find all but two of the horses already saddled. Fifer and Qyrll are getting the saddles ready for the remaining two.
Taking the reins of his horse, he leads him out into the inn’s courtyard as does Dave and Illan. They wait there a moment before Miko and Jiron exit the back door of the inn, each with two bulging sacks of food for their journey back. One small pouch hangs around Miko’s neck and Jiron nods toward it and mouths, ‘Tarts’.
James gives him a grin and by the time they have the food secured to the horses, Fifer and Qyrll come out with the others. Once mounted, they follow the north road through town.
Several townsfolk watch them as they ride by. Whether or not they realize they were the ones who took care of Serenna or not, they make no move toward them nor do they offer a greeting. It’s going to take some time before this town is back the way it was before all the unpleasantness.
