One landed in a pile of splintered crates and quickly scattered to the fresh tinder. The second torch hit the far wall and tumbled to the ground, at first, I thought it wouldn't catch, but the flames licked the jagged planks at the base of the wall with determination. Soon enough, it caught, and fire crawled up the walls. Dense clouds of smoke started filling the building, so we beat a hasty retreat through the bay doors and out into the loading area.
Thankfully it seemed the workers had finished their jobs, and the place was deserted. I motioned for everyone to follow and took off at a quick pace and kept us along the brick fence. My head was on a swivel to make sure no one spotted us.
A few hundred feet later, we arrived at a heavy gate, manned by a single guard stationed in a rough wooden shack next to a lever to swing the gate open and closed. He was facing the opposite direction as us. The entrance looked to open into one of the many backroads that would lead us back to the main gate to the East Kingdom.
I put my finger to my lips and made it a point to make sure they knew to be quiet. Fearing recapture, none of the freed slaves made so much as a peep. One of the braver rabbit-men, a wiry, middle-aged man with light brown hair and what once was a neatly trimmed beard, now matted and dirty. His blue eyes were sharp as he crept up to me.
"Can I take him out?"
I passed him my hunting knife. "Knock yourself out."
The rabbit-man crept along the wall far faster and with more stealth than I'd have managed. He reached the guard in under three seconds and, without hesitation, slit the guard's throat and dropped his body out of sight. A few seconds later, the gate swung open, and the rabbit-man poked his head out to wave us through. Damn, he's got some skill.
"All right, through the gate, quickly," I whispered urgently.
In a flash, all twenty of the freed slaves were through the gate. Eris took charge and made sure to lead them through quickly, though she'd taken the hands of the spiderlings, prioritizing their safety. I rejoined the group, and as I shut the gate behind me, the rabbit-man warrior approached me, handing me back the knife. Not even a speck of blood on it.
I held up my hand. "Hold onto it for me," I told the man.
"Thank you, Lord!" he said, his bunny ears shook in excitement.
"None of that now. Name’s Duran, what’s yours?"
"Lyahgos, sir."
I put my hand on the rabbit-man's shoulder. "Okay, Lyahgos, I have an important job for you. The trip out of here is going to be long, and I can't keep an eye on everyone at once. I want you to come to me if you hear anything out of the ordinary."
He nodded vigorously. "What about if we get attacked?"
"Kill any enemy that tries to harm us, don't wait for my approval."
"Right, sir!"
We both rejoined the main group. Who, in our absence, had nominated Eris as the temporary leader, as they deferred to her and followed close behind her. The backroads were quiet, with only a few wagons making their way through the dead streets. We received a few funny looks but nothing that would cause alarm. It was merely strange to see a group this large.
As we got closer to the front gate, I had all the former slaves put their hoods up and stick close. There was a reduced guard presence today, but there were still hundreds of people trying to use the gates at once. I was thankful for only one team of guards.
Guess they caught that criminal from the other day, or they gave up. I doubt we could get all the freed slaves through without incident if they were still checking everyone. We meandered over to the rapidly growing line of people and tried to act as inconspicuous as possible. With her holding the kids, I couldn't keep Eris close to me, but my eyes never left her for a second.
With a nod to Lyahgos, he took my spot by Eris as I approached the guard. A lazily dressed man with a thick, bored face, and unkempt dark hair. Food stains littered his tunic, and he waved people through with barely a glance, though, of course, he perked up as we got close.
"Reason for entering the East Kingdom?" the guard asked, stifling a yawn.
"Heading home after business," I replied.
He glanced at the crowd of men and women with me. He could see that a few of them were dwarves and elves. He gave me a once-over, and I was relegated to playing the part of a scum-sucking slave trader, I put a sneer across my face and tried to look like Darren as much as possible. Least the scumbag’s good for something, even in death.
He gave me a knowing nod and a poorly disguised look of disgust at the freed slaves. He waved us through, and I slipped him a few gold as I passed. Nothing much, but maybe enough to keep his mouth from flying off the handle about the rich slaver who had over a dozen slaves in tow. It wouldn't matter once we were gone, but the fewer people who knew about us, the better.
We still had half a day before we reached the gate to leave the Compass Kingdom. A lot could happen between here and there if we weren't careful.
We made our way slowly through the darkened tunnel. It was much more claustrophobic with this many people shoving against one another. There
