• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

They find themselves in the residence of a rather affluent individual. Jiron suddenly freezes and holds his hand up for the others to stop. They stand there in the darkened room a moment until the others hear the creaking of a floorboard above them. Someone is awake and moving about.

“Wait here,” he says. A knife springs to his hand and he moves to the door leading from the room.

As the others wait, they watch his shadow pass from the room and enter the rest of the house. A minute goes by, then two. All of a sudden, the floorboards above them begin creaking severely. Then there’s a thud and all becomes silent. Footfalls are heard moving away from where the creaking came from to the stairway, then Jiron’s voice hollers out, “Come on up!”

Upstairs they find a middle aged man lying on the floor of his bedroom. “Don’t worry,” Jiron reassures James, “he’s not dead.”

Scar comes forward with a length of rope and says, “Better tie him up then. Can’t have him waking up and sounding the alarm before we leave.” With Potbelly’s help, he picks up the man and lays him on the bed. As he ties his arms and legs securely, the others make their way up to the third floor and search for the roof access.

In one of the corner rooms, they find a ladder in a closet that leads up to a trapdoor. Jiron climbs the ladder and finds the trapdoor unlocked. Pushing it up just enough to create a crack through which to see, he looks out.

The trapdoor opens up along the rear of the roof, far enough from their objective that they will remain unseen in the dark by those stationed in the windows and on the roof of the Eye’s Court. “I think we can get onto the roof without being seen,” he says.

“Two at a time at half minute intervals,” suggests James. “You and me first.” Climbing the ladder until he’s on the rung below Jiron’s foot he then nods the go ahead.

Opening the trapdoor, Jiron climbs out onto the roof and then holds it open for James. Once he’s out, they close the trapdoor and then move to the roof’s edge, all the while keeping an eye on the men stationed in the windows and on the roof of the Eye’s Court. None of the watchers so much as shift their gaze even slightly toward Jiron and James.

Then, the trapdoor opens again and out comes Miko with the pack containing the Book of Morcyth and Shorty. “Over here,” whispers James and they quickly move to join them. Still, the watchers fail to notice them on top of the roof.

Time and again the trapdoor opens then closes until everyone has joined them on the roof. During that time, James has been watching the men guarding the Eye’s Court. The guard stationed on this side of the roof will at times leave his post for several seconds before returning. Looks as if he’s talking with the others up there when he disappears. The men in the windows are stationed at either end of the building, one each from the third and fourth floor.

He gestures for Shorty to come close and points out the two on the right. “We’ll take them out first,” he says. Then he indicates the man on the roof, “Once we’re in position, we’ll wait for him to look away before throwing. You take the one on the third floor and I’ll take the one above him.”

Shorty nods. “But what if there are more than just them in the rooms?” he asks.

“Then things get more complicated,” replies James. “But I’ve been watching them since I came out of the trapdoor and they’ve given no indication there’s anyone with them.”

“Once we take them out, we’ll do the other two,” he says. Turning to Jiron who’s been listening the whole time he continues. “After they’ve been taken out, it’ll be up to you and Shorty to get the men on the roof before anyone has a chance to notice.”

Jiron looks at him questioningly. “And just how are we to do that?” he asks.

“I’ll make you a ramp,” he replies. To Shorty he says, “It’s just like the ‘bridge’ Delia used when you took out the siege equipment back at Lythylla.”

Shorty nods. “That’s going to be quite an incline from here,” he observes. Indeed, if the ramp is going to