so we could not tarry. Thepile of debris I was crouched behind was the last one nearest thetent, and I waited there for the others to creep up to join me.Once they got to me, I used hand signals to let them know what Iwanted them to do. The tent was essentially rectangular in shape,and I wanted one of us to cover each side. Now that we were close,we could tell the most likely way that the sleeping Thracians wouldbe oriented inside the tent, sleeping side by side, with theirheads and feet arranged along the long sides of the tent. Columellawas on the opposite long side, while the other two men were at eachend. When I gave the signal, we would all use our daggers to slicerapidly through the leather of the tent, with the men on either endhaving their throats cut as quickly as possible. Columella and Iput our ears to our respective side of the tent, listeningcarefully until we determined where the head of each man wasapproximately located. Sometimes men sleep side by side; othertimes they alternate head and feet. These men were arranged in thelatter pattern, meaning Columella would stay on his side and I onmine. Drawing my dagger, I stood up so that I could be seen by theother three men in the torchlight, placing the point against theleather, gently pushing until I felt it slice through. I watchedthe others do the same, each man nodding that they were ready.Taking a deep breath, I lifted my head to give them the nod, waiteda moment, then dropped it as I pushed down on my own dagger,feeling the edge, which I had taken the time to sharpen before weleft, part the leather of the tent as if I were cutting cheese. Theblade traveled down until it was just a few inches above theground, and the sleeping man’s head, and I silently withdrew it.Keeping it in my hand, I reached out with the other, pulling theslit apart so that it was wide enough that I could poke first myhead, then the upper part of my body through. It was totally darkin the tent, the opaque leather shutting out all light from thetorches. Then, a small amount of light began leaking through whenthe others pulled their sides apart. Still the men snored away,oblivious to what was about to happen to them. Once I determinedthat the other three had themselves in position, I gave a quicknod. Using the hilt of my dagger, I brought it down hard on thehead of the sleeping Thracian. Trying to knock a man out is atricky business; it is all too easy to crush a man’s skull,especially for someone like me, and I winced on hearing thecrunching sound of the hilt striking the man’s head. I had movedfirst, the sound of my strike causing the sleeping men to justbegin to stir, but then I heard the distinctive sound of a bladecutting through flesh before grating on bone, followed quickly by agurgling sound as first one, then the other Thracian struggled tobring air into their bodies through severed windpipes. The last menColumella hit gave a yelp, his feet, next to my man’s head,suddenly jerking upward, one of them catching me under the chin.Stars exploded in front of my eyes and my teeth bit down on mytongue hard enough to draw blood, almost causing me to let out aroar of pain that I somehow managed to stop. Columella’s Thracianbegan struggling wildly, until I heard Columella hit him once, thentwice more before he subsided. Then it was over, the only sound ourpanting breath, harsh and loud in the confines of the tent.Lowering my head, I listened to my man and felt my mouth fillingwith blood, relieved to hear the sound of his breathing andthankful that I had not killed him outright. This did not mean thatI had not scrambled his brains, yet only time would tell, and nowwe had to leave the Thracian camp. I finished cutting through theside of the tent, then using the hole, dragged the unconsciousThracian out of the tent while Columella did the same. My man wasslight in build, and was surprisingly light. Examining him asclosely as possible by torchlight, I saw that he was clean-shavenand very young. Grabbing him under the shoulders, I flipped himover to hurriedly tie his hands behind him, using the leatherthongs I had carried in my belt for this purpose, then took myneckerchief, stuffing it in his mouth as a gag, leaving it looseenough to ensure he did not suffocate. This was the easy part, Ithought to myself and, in many ways, it was, because now we had tomanage to carry two unconscious men out of the camp while stillavoiding detection.
There was a choice to make now, betweenstealth and speed. Prudence would dictate that we move as quietlyand carefully as we had when entering the camp, but this had takenmuch longer than I had foreseen. Daylight was still some time away,yet every moment that passed where we were still within theboundaries of the Thracian camp raised the chances of beingdiscovered. Deciding that we needed to move more quickly thanquietly, I reached down, heaving the man up and over my shoulder,and went into a semi-crouch to begin moving back in the directionfrom where we had come. Almost immediately, my thighs beganprotesting at the weight and the awkward angle, and I had gone justa dozen steps when they began to quiver. Ignoring that, I put myfull concentration on lifting my foot up to clear the lower brushbefore placing it carefully on the ground and shifting my weight. Icould hear Columella gasping for breath, and I tried to turn togive him a warning glare, but could not manage it. I knew that ifanother Thracian decided to answer a call of nature at this moment,our future was very dim; however, we were committed, the othersfollowing me as silently as possible under the circumstances. Stepby step, we made our way closer and closer to the edge of where thering of light stopped, the safety promised
