Fires of Prophecy_ Book Two of the Morcyth Saga - Brian Pratt [108]
They begin running, making their way down the road a short ways before they see a large group of armed men running toward Lord Cytok’s estate.
They duck down a side alley and remain motionless as they wait for them to race past. Several brown robes could be seen among the running soldiers.
“Mages,” James says once they’re past. “How are we going to get out of here now?”
“I don’t know,” Scar replies. “But we better hurry before it’s too late.
Jiron looks out on the street and sees the way the soldiers had come is clear for the moment. They step out of the alley and race down the street away from Lord Cytok’s estate, hoping to escape the city before it’s too late.
Chapter Nineteen
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The streets begin to fill as more soldiers and guards race toward Lord Cytok’s estate. Having had to duck into another alley to avoid detection, they wait for the squad of men to pass. Then James spreads his hands wide as ten small floating spheres appear before him. With a wave of his hand, they begin floating away in different directions.
“What’re those going to do?” Jiron asks. “Aren’t they going to attract any mages in the area?”
“That’s the idea,” replies James. “Hopefully they’ll be so intent on tracking down what they think are rogue mages, that we’ll be able to slip though, unnoticed.”
“Let’s hope so,” Jiron says. Once the spheres have left the alley, he takes one more look up and down. Not seeing anyone in the vicinity, he reenters the street with the others right behind. He keeps them to one side of the street as they quickly make their way to the gate leading out of the inner walled area.
As they approach the gate to the outer area, they see a squad of soldiers with a mage stationed there. The mage is looking down the street they are approaching on but has yet to detect them.
“Damn!” James exclaims when he sees them. They duck down an alley where they stop to determine what they’re going to do.
“Now what?” Delia asks.
“I’m thinking,” he replies as they pause for a moment.
“Think faster,” Scar says as he points to several squads of soldiers entering through the gates. The mage there gives them directions as they move past and the squads split up as each moves in a different direction.
A squad turns to head in their direction and looks to be heading for the alley they’re hiding in. “Move!” Jiron urges as he leads them further into the alley, away from the approaching soldiers.
“The whole army is on the move to find us,” Potbelly says from the rear.
“We invaded the home and humiliated a very powerful and important leader,” Roland explains. “They’ll not let us just walk away.”
The alley ends at another cross street. To their right, the street approaches the wall before intersecting with another street running perpendicular to it. A three story building has been built right up against the wall. James takes a closer look and realizes the top of it is only several feet from the top of the wall.
Jiron glances up to where James is looking and grins, “That’ll work.” Making sure the street is currently clear of soldiers, they leave the alley and run down the street to the building. It looks to be someone’s residence. He goes to the door and tries to open it, but discovers it’s locked. No time for niceties, he kicks it in and the door swings wide, slamming into the wall.
Rushing inside, they quickly close the door behind them. Potbelly moves to a window and looks out. “I don’t think anyone saw us,” he tells the others.
Jiron finds the stairs going up and begins to climb them when a man appears at the top with a drawn sword. The man holds his sword menacingly as he descends three steps before saying something that could only be ‘Get out of my home!’
“I don’t have time for this,” Jiron says as he draws his knives and moves to the top of the stairs. In a quick exchange, the man’s sword lies on the stairs and Jiron has a knife threatening him. Turning the man around, he propels him