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Nodding, Perrilin replies, “He was. That is if the body of the Commander of Ten I saw back there is the one you’re talking about. He was the Commander in charge of this region of the Empire. His loss will be a severe blow.”

Jiron comes to a junction of hallways and takes a moment to figure out the best way. Then he turns down to the right and they continue on.

“That’s not the first one we’ve faced,” James tells him.

“Really?” he asks.

“Yes.” He then briefly goes into the details of how Jiron had returned to Mountainside for his backpack that held incriminating evidence, his subsequent capture and eventual liberation at an oasis.

“That is truly something,” says Perrilin. “It’s said they are fearsome fighters and can wield magic.”

“True on both counts,” Miko says. “But the one we faced here in the keep only used one spell.”

“Maybe they only have one to use,” suggests James. “That was all the one at the oasis had used.”

“Could be,” agrees Scar.

Jiron comes to another junction of hallways and motions for everyone to halt and remain silent. Moving to the corner, he peers around the edge to the right. A dozen guards stand at the entrance to the Keep. Half are facing in while the others are facing out. Returning to where they wait, he tells them of the forces blocking the exit from the Keep.

“Any crossbowmen?” asks Reilin.

Shaking his head, he says, “No, just guards.”

“We can take that many,” Potbelly says.

Jiron nods his head then turns to Aleya. “How many arrows do you have left?” he asks.

She checks her quiver and says, “Eight.”

“Move out in the hallway and start taking them out,” he says “They’ll charge if they see only a lone archer. Just keep firing at them until they are close then let us know and we’ll move to engage them.”

“You got it darling,” she says and gives him a kiss.

Turning slightly red faced at the expression of affection, he says, “Okay, go ahead.”

To his embarrassment and the amusement of the others, she actually pats him on the bottom as she moves to the middle of where the two hallways meet. Pulling an arrow as she enters the junction, she puts it to string then turns and faces the guards at the entrance.

She aims for one of the guards who is furthest away from her and then takes a calming breath. Down by the entrance, she can see the guards take note of her standing there but fail to really pay her that much attention. Then she lets the arrow fly and has another to string before the first one strikes home.

When her arrow hits the man and knocks him backward with a cry, the guards turn as one toward her. She lets fly her next arrow and another man hits the ground as the rest charge. “Here they come,” she announces as she looses her third arrow. By the time her fifth arrow is in the body of a dead soldier on the ground, the charging men are too close to allow her another shot. Turning, she bolts down the corridor past where Jiron and the others are waiting.

“I got five,” she says as she races past.

“As long as you saved a few for the rest of us,” Scar replies. Drawing forth both swords, he and Jiron move to meet the oncoming soldiers. When the first one rounds the corner, he’s met by the point of Scar’s sword.

One of Shorty’s knives takes out the next one and then Jiron engages yet another. With knives weaving in and out, he works his way inside the man’s guard and drops him to the ground.

Potbelly, Stig and Reilin come next and the battle is joined. The skill of the guards is nothing compared to the skill honed in the fight pits by the men they’re facing. When Stig crushes the skull of the last man, Jiron hollers, “Let’s get out of here!”

Leaving the dead lying in the hallway, they race for the entrance to the Keep. No other guards make an appearance as they cross the remainder of the hallway and pass out into the night. The smell of burning wood fills the air and off to their right above the curtain wall they see the glow of the fires that rage within the city.

Ping!