Brian Pratt - Fires of prophesy

As silently as possible, he makes his way down the alley to the courtyard behind the inn. The gate is open and he hurries through just as the pursuers pass the mouth of the alley he just vacated, on their way to search for him further down the street.

He glances back down the alley, thankfully discovering none of those hunting for him had thought to come this way. Setting James down against the inner wall of the courtyard, he makes his way over to the stables, in search of a couple of horses.

Once within the stables, he finds a stableboy asleep in a small room at the far end. He wakes him up by placing a knife at his throat and motions for him to remain quiet. The boy nods and remains quiet as Jiron ties him up and places a gag in his mouth to keep him quiet. Then he goes back to the horses and begins saddling two of them.

After he’s saddled them, he returns to where he left James. Picking him up, he carries him over to the stable where he puts him on one of the horses. Taking out a length of rope, he ties him securely to the saddle. Once James is secured, he goes over to where the stableboy is tied up and places ten gold pieces on the ground before him. He points to the gold and then to the horses and the stableboy nods his head. Whether he understands the gold is for the horses’ owners or not, Jiron isn’t sure, but his conscience is clear.

Mounting up, he takes the reins of James’ horse and leads him out of the stables to the courtyard. Pausing momentarily at the entrance to the alley, he makes sure it’s clear before leaving the courtyard and entering into the alley. He makes his way toward the end of the alley where he again pauses to look in either direction down the street.

For the moment, the street appears deserted, but he can hear commotion on neighboring streets as the search for them continues. He enters the street with James’ horse in tow and begins heading toward the part of town that seems to have the least amount of disturbance going on.

Moving as quickly as he can, he continues along toward the edge of town, somehow avoiding the roving patrols. Coming out of an alley he sees the wall ahead of him. Keeping close to the buildings, he rides along in the shadows until reaching a gate. Where before there had been but two guards, now they have been increased to a squad of twenty and the gate is shut and locked. His plan to ride through the guards at the gate is no longer feasible, he’ll have to find another way out of the city.

Realizing he’s now sitting on useless horses, he makes his way to a side alley and dismounts. James begins mumbling incoherently as Jiron removes him from his horse. “Not now!” he whispers vehemently to him. The last thing he needs is for James’ nonsensical ramblings to attract notice.

Once removed from the horse, James continues to mumble, thankfully not very loud. He throws him across his shoulders again as he quickly makes for the wall. Upon reaching it, Jiron pushes him up and rests him across the top before he climbs up next to him. He then carefully lowers him down to the other side and then swings over as he lets go, feet landing on the ground next to where James had settled. It doesn’t take him long to realize that he is now on the opposite side of the town from where his horse waits for him.

Shouldering James once more, he begins making his way to the other side of town, detouring occasionally when a search party on horseback comes into view. During one such time while he was hiding among some bushes, waiting for a search party to pass, he notices that James’ eyes were open and looking around.

“You awake now?” he asks him.

James nods his head yes, but is still having trouble talking, slurring his speech so bad as to be unintelligible.

“Can you walk?” Jiron asks.

He shakes his head no.

“Damn!” Jiron silently exclaims as he hoists James across his shoulders yet again and hurries along. When he comes to the spot where he had left his horse, he finds that it’s no longer there. He quickly looks around the area but finds no trace of it anywhere. Someone must’ve come along and helped themselves to it.

Without horses, they’re not likely going to make it very far. He sits James down and says, “Stay here!” When he gets no response, he asks, “Understand?”

James gives him a wobbly nod.

“I’ll be back. I need to get a couple horses,” he tells him. Leaving him hidden there among the bushes, Jiron moves through the night until he sees two riders riding leisurely back into town. They’re not in any hurry. Perfect!

Angling to intercept them, he races through the dark. The moon above enables him to see the terrain well enough to keep from tripping over the desert shrubs. Just a dark shadow in the night, he maneuvers until he’s directly behind them.

The riders talk to each other, occasionally laughing at the witticism of the other, totally oblivious to the impending attack coming up behind them. He paces them for several feet until the space between the two horses closes to just the right distance. Then, running as fast as he can, he races to catch them. As he nears, he jumps and grabs each from behind and pulls them backward off their horses.

As the two men hit the ground, Jiron draws his knives and advances on the one getting to his feet first. He kicks out and connects with the man’s middle, knocking him over again and then attacks with his knives before the man has a chance to recover. A quick stab through the chest ends the man’s life.

Jiron turns to face his partner who is now ready with sword and shield. The man thrusts with his sword, Jiron able to deflect it easily to the side. He tries to counterstrike with his other knife but it’s knocked aside by the man’s shield.

They circle each other for a second then the man strikes out with an overhand blow that Jiron has to sidestep to avoid. As the sword swings past him, Jiron strikes out with one of his knives and scores a cut along the man’s sword arm.

Angered, the man advances rapidly and begins attacking him with a flurry of blows that Jiron easily avoids or deflects aside. He continues to defend against the man’s attack, waiting for his chance. Patience is often a knife fighter’s best friend.

Suddenly, the opening presents itself and he strikes out at the man’s sword arm. The man cries out as his sword drops to the ground after Jiron’s knife severs the tendons in his arm. He pushes Jiron back with his shield as he cradles his arm, trying to stop the blood from pumping out.

Jiron goes on the offensive and after a quick series of blows which the man cannot defend against with just a shield, he sinks to the ground, eyes vacant as death takes him. Jiron wipes his knives on the man’s tunic before returning them to their sheaths. Gathering the horses, he mounts one and takes the reins of the other as he rides back to where he left James. It takes a minute to locate the exact spot where he left him, but a hushed call from James leads him there.

He gets down from his horse to help James into the saddle. No sooner is James in the saddle then the hoof beats of a patrol is heard coming their way. Jiron takes a piece of rope and quickly secures him to the saddle, all the while listening to the patrol coming closer and closer. Finished with securing James, he quickly mounts and they wait in silence as the patrol passes by in the dark. He then leads them out into the desert, away from the city. Behind them, the sound of patrol begins to recede in the distance as they move further away. Once the sound of the patrol can no longer be heard, Jiron brings the two horses to a gallop as they begin to cover the miles quickly. After traveling for some time, he hears James holler, “Stop!”

He brings the horses to a halt and then looks back to see James untying himself. Slipping off the horse, James doubles up and begins to retch into the dirt. Once his stomach is again under control, he stands back up and leans against his horse for support.