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“Thanks,” Jiron says as he gets to his feet.

“Don’t mention it, let’s just get out of here.”

The total collapse of the structure has blocked off their escape route. If they had time maybe they could dig their way through it, but not with soldiers on the way.

“Come on!” Jiron yells as he begins running away, sure that any pursuit will begin in this area. They’ve got to get out of here fast. Racing off down the street, they don’t get far before they see a mob of soldiers enter the street three blocks away from them. The soldiers turn and begin making their way toward them.

Coming to a quick stop, Jiron grabs James and pushes him down an adjacent alley before the oncoming soldiers have a chance to spot them. Moving quickly they race for the other end of the alley.

As they draw near the end of the alley, it’s suddenly lit from the light of torches held in the hands of more approaching soldiers. Pressing themselves against the side of the alley, they wait until the squad passes and then enter the street behind the marching soldiers, running the way the soldiers had just come from.

More lights appear ahead of them. “In here!” Jiron looks back to see James at an open doorway, motioning for him to follow. Running back, he moves through the doorway right after James and shuts the door.

They move quickly through to the back of the house, the light from the torches moving out on the street giving them ample light with which to see by. Before Jiron opens the backdoor, James grabs his arm and stops him.

“What?” he asks, turning around to face him.

“We need to figure out just where we’re going to go,” he insists.

“There’s only going to be so many ways out of Saragon,” Jiron says. “And you can bet they’ll have them all covered with as many men as they can spare.”

“So how are we to get out?” he asks.

“Hopefully we can find a gate that’s not too well manned and force our way through,” he explains. “With all the commotion going on, we’ll not be able to sneak our way out.”

“No, you’re probably right,” he agrees. “We should head for the part of the city where they’ve set up camp. I doubt if they’ll think we would head in that direction.”

“As good as any way, I suppose,” replies Jiron. “Have you felt anything that might indicate a mage in the city?”

Shaking his head, James says, “No, not yet.”

“That’s good,” he affirms.

Moving to the back door, he opens it a crack and finds the alley outside to be dark. Slipping out with James right behind, they head toward the Empire’s camp within the city.

Light from the search parties and soldiers hollering out to one another can be seen and heard on neighboring streets. The bulk of the searchers seem to be heading back toward where they were first spotted. Horns continue to sound throughout the city.

Jiron takes them down another side alley which ends at a major thoroughfare. Peering around the corner, he sees search parties down both sides of the street. “Not this way,” he says to James. Turning to go back the way they had come, they see light approaching the end of the alley.

Stopping and pressing themselves to the side of a neighboring building, they watch as the light continues to approach the alley. Suddenly, the soldiers appear at the end of the alley and turn into it, coming straight for them. “Run!” exclaims Jiron as he bolts back down toward the thoroughfare with James right behind him.

At the sight of them running, the men behind give chase as one of them sounds a horn, alerting the city that they’ve been found.

Bursting out onto the thoroughfare, Jiron sees men running toward them from both directions. Not even pausing, he crosses over to the alley on the other side and continues to flee.

Crumph!

The end of the alley bordering the thoroughfare suddenly explodes as the buildings facing it begin collapsing, effectively blocking the alley and preventing their pursuers from following. As they exit the far side of the alley, a billow of dust belches forth from the collapsing of the buildings behind them.

The street the alley opens