Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [107]
James gets the keys from the dead guard and goes over to free Scar.
“Thanks, James,” Potbelly says. “We were hoping you might show up.”
“Yeah man,” Scar says when James had freed him.
He gives Scar the keys to remove the other’s shackles before going over to Delia. He takes out his knife and cuts through her bonds. He helps her to her feet just as Roland comes over to assist her. Delia stands up, a little bit shaky and James asks, “Are you alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” she assures him.
Scar and Potbelly have taken the guards’ swords and stand to the door to keep a look out. Scar turns back to the others and cries, “We’ve got company!”
Suddenly, a crash and James looks over to see Lord Cytok’s sword lying on the ground and Jiron with his knife to his throat.
“Tell your men out there to drop their weapons and come inside,” Jiron orders him.
A man from the hallway hollers something to Lord Cytok.
Jiron begins pressing the point of his dagger into his throat and says, “One of us understands your language, so don’t do anything stupid.”
He hollers back to his men.
Jiron looks to Roland and asks, “Did he tell them to drop their weapons?”
Roland shakes his head and replies, “They asked if he was okay and he told them he’s okay, but held at knifepoint.”
“Tell them to drop their weapons and come inside, NOW!” Jiron insists as a drop of blood wells from where the point of the knife had punctured the skin.
Lord Cytok hollers to his men and James glances to Roland who nods his head.
Soon they hear weapons falling to the ground and then his men, four of them, step into the room. The torturer isn’t among them.
“Where’s the other guy!” Jiron demands when he realizes he’s not among them.
Roland asks and when one of the men replies, Lord Cytok begins laughing.
“What’s so funny,” Jiron asks.
“He’s gone to raise the alarm,” he tells him. “Soon this whole area will be swarming with soldiers.” With a satisfied smirk on his face, he stares at James.
“We’ll never make it out!” Potbelly exclaims.
“Maybe,” says James, “if we’re fast enough.”
“Secure them to the wall,” James tells Scar and Potbelly who start taking Lord Cytok’s guards and placing them in the chains that had once been theirs. “Gag them too,” he advises them.
“Right,” Scar says as he picks up the most dirty, disgusting rags available, taking great pleasure in stuffing them in their mouths.
“Now, milord,” James says to Lord Cytok. “I hate to ask but please lie down on the table here.”
“Never!” he says adamantly.
Once Scar and Potbelly have the guards secured, they come over and force Lord Cytok onto the table, securing his arms and legs to the restraints. “Use a cleaner rag for his gag,” James tells them, “after all, he is a Lord.”
When he’s secured and gagged, James says, “You guys go on up and see what’s going on while Roland and I help Delia up the stairs.”
“I can walk,” she says as the others run down the hallway and up the stairs. Roland puts one of her arms across his shoulders to help support her. For despite her assertion that she can walk, her legs are a little unsteady. With James in the lead, they make their way to the stairs.
When they reach the top, they see Jiron racing back toward them. “Nothing yet,” he tells them.
“Good,” says James as they continue down the hallway, going back the way they had come. Moving past the room where they saw the light earlier, James notices it’s empty now. Most likely whoever had been in there is now back in the room with Lord Cytok, chained to the wall.
A little further past the room, the hallway opens up onto the foyer where they see Scar and Potbelly looking out the front door. Scar turns at their approach and says “It looks clear out there.”
“Then let’s move,” Jiron urges as they leave the house and run toward the gate. The guard that had been there earlier is absent, most likely sitting in the basement with his fellows. Potbelly reaches the gate first and opens it. He moves through to the other side