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“My staff slipped,” he admits somewhat embarrassed. “When I moved to catch it, my foot slipped out of the loop. I almost didn’t catch hold of it in time.”

Miko grins and says, “That would have hurt when you hit the ground.”

Nodding, Brother Willim sits on the wall and tries to calm his trembling nerves.

Jiron coils the rope in his hands as he looks over the wall and into the courtyard below. There are still few guards upon the grounds down there but none in close proximity to the section of wall they’re on. A check toward those upon the walls finds them still staring at the fire burning in the city. So far, none of the guards have yet to notice that something is going on.

“Aleya,” he says and when he has her attention waves for her to come over to him. “There are three guards down below,” he tells her and then shows them to her. One is on the far side and is just moving beyond the Keep’s wall, another is walking across the middle of the courtyard, while the third is closer and moving their way.

“Take out the man coming our way,” he says.

“You got it.” Removing an arrow from her quiver, she places it to string and aims at the approaching man. When she’s sure she’s got him, the arrow is released. Flying true, it strikes the man in the chest and knocks him backward to the ground.

“Miko!” Jiron says as he begins lowering the rope over the side of the wall to the courtyard below. “Get down there fast and get that guard out of sight.” When the rope is played out and he has a firm grip, Miko begins to rappel down the other side. As soon as he’s down, he says to Aleya, “You’re next.”

Nodding, she takes the rope and descends to the ground below.

Once she’s down, he turns to Brother Willim and asks, “Can you make it down by yourself?”

He holds up his staff and says, “Not holding this I can’t.”

Jiron gives him an annoyed look and shakes his head. Then he grabs the staff and throws it over the side. “Now can you?”

Brother Willim looks over the side and watches his staff as it lands on the ground below. Turning back to Jiron he nods, “I think so.”

“Then please hurry,” he says. “Our luck won’t last forever.”

“Right,” he says. Taking the rope, he begins to work his way down. When he reaches the halfway point, he loses his grip and begins sliding down. By the time he hits the bottom, he has a good case of rope burn on both of his hands. Praying to Asran, he uses his magic to heal the burns.

“Stop!” exclaims Aleya.

The urgency of her cry breaks his concentration and the spell stops. “What?” he asks.

“You were glowing like a candle,” she explains. Looking around, she’s relieved to discover no one noticed his magical aura.

“Sorry,” he says. “Forgot about that.”

Jiron lands on the ground next to him and whips the rope back up where it dislodges from the place he had secured it. As it falls to the ground, he begins coiling it back around his middle. He had seen the green glow surrounding the priest but had been too far away to alert him.

Miko joins them and brings Brother Willim his staff. “Here you go,” he says as he hands it to him.

“Thank you,” he replies. He takes the staff gingerly as his hands still throbs with pain.

“If you need to heal yourself,” Jiron says, “Best to wait until we get inside.”

“And how are we to do that?” he asks. “Through the front door?”

“Actually, that is exactly what I intend for us to do,” he says. “Currently, the courtyard here is free of guards. One’s around back and will reappear soon. The other one just disappeared in through the main entrance, which as you’ll notice remains open. If we hurry, we might be able to make it.”

“No guts no glory?” Miko asks with a grin.

Jiron nods with an answering grin. He recognizes another one of James’ expressions. “Let’s go.” Running swiftly they cross the courtyard, taking advantage of what shadowy areas there are. No cry ensues by the time they reach the area before the Keep’s gate. Doubling their speed, they race through the entrance.

Chapter Thirty