The junior nodded and waved at the brothers, pointing down the slope.
“Cavis… help these two back to the barracks and get the company medic to check their ears.”
A young guard saluted and ran forward to the two dusty men. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it and shook his head, instead gesturing down the slope with his thumb.
Samir nodded and began to move slowly and carefully down the gravelly slope, trying not to slide and lose his footing as they followed the young soldier. Moments passed as they moved ever closer to the town and further away from the unit of guards.
Somewhere around half-way down the slope, Samir risked a look about him to check the situation. The guards had converged with three other units coming up the slope and along the wall. Any minute now the real problem would become apparent to them and then the fugitive pair would become very highly sought-after. The young guard, Cavis, was several yards ahead of them.
Frowning, he leaned across to Ghassan as they picked their way down, slowing slightly in order to increase the distance between them and their escort. Quietly, he cupped his hand around his mouth and leaned into his brother’s ear.
“Is your hearing returning yet?” he said quietly.
Ghassan nodded.
“It’s a bit whiney and there’s a constant whistle, but I can hear you if I concentrate.”
Samir smiled.
“Mine’s better, but then I wasn’t trapped with the blast.”
Turning back, he studied the young soldier. They’d said nothing untoward yet, but the guard wasn’t listening anyway, concentrating on his footing on the treacherous slope.
“Any minute now they’re going to discover that you’ve gone and questions will be raised. As soon as they know that all the guards are still accounted for up there every uniform in M’Dahz will be searching for us, so we need to get out of sight as quick as possible.”
Ghassan nodded.
“We’ll have to deal with Cavis over there.”
“Yes, and now, really.”
Ghassan nodded and shrugged.
“Nothing we can do til we reach the bottom, though. Too open here to be busy beating up a guard. You can be seen from every direction. Anyway, we’re in a hurry. Leave him to me… I have an idea.”
Samir nodded, frowning, and almost called out when Ghassan, grinning, threw himself into a forward roll, bouncing down the slope and plummeting past the guard. The smaller brother smiled as his sibling tightly clutched his head, protecting himself from serious damage, and ended sliding down the last part of the slope and coming to rest on his back near a low wall at the rear of a house, carefully located out of sight of almost everywhere.
Cavis squawked in alarm and ran off precariously down the slope after his charge, dropping to a crouch at the bottom and hovering over Ghassan, examining him closely. The young man realised at such close quarters that this tall, swarthy man had longish, curly locks, was badly shaven and smelled stale. Most unlike one of the town guard.
“Hey…”
Samir watched with interest as his brother burst into activity. Reaching up to the young guard above him, one hand went over the mouth, preventing any cry for help, while the other reached round and clamped on the side of the guard’s neck. As the young man’s arms flailed, Ghassan rolled over, pinning his victim beneath him while he maintained his hold. As Samir slithered down the last of the slope, his brow furrowed. Ghassan was pressing into the young man’s neck in a very precise manner and holding him tight now as he struggled. Cavis’ eyes widened a moment and slowly he went limp until he sagged beneath his assailant.
Sighing, Ghassan rolled away from the boy, patted him on the cheek in a friendly fashion, and stood, tenderly touching a few grazes from his controlled fall.
“You’ve picked up some interesting tricks” Samir noted as the brothers gave Cavis a last glance to make sure his chest was rising and falling safely before disappearing around the wall and into an alley. Just as they vanished from sight, the warning blast rang out from the tower above and the top of the slope blossomed with sudden activity.
Ghassan shrugged as they strode along the narrow alley.
“One of my old marine sergeants used to fight in the pits in Rilva. He knew all sorts of fascinating things. Most of them are deadly, but this one just renders someone unconscious for a while.”
Samir nodded, impressed.
“So what now?” Ghassan asked. “I presume you’ve planned beyond this, since we’re both wanted men, trapped in M’Dahz with no way out?”
“I’ve the bare bones of a plan. Sadly, I need you to put a bit of meat on them.”
He stopped and turned to Ghassan.
“You see, I need to go take care of something, so I’m going to have to leave it in your capable hands.”
Ghassan frowned.
“Last time you did that, I left to join the army and you abandoned me and became a criminal.”
The smaller man laughed and grasped his sibling’s shoulder.
“Ah, but now we’re both criminals, my brother. The problem is that I have a much grander plan than you could know, but the timing is running very tight and I need to go now or I’ll miss my opportunity. I will be back for you… or rather, I hope you’ll be back for me.”
Ghassan frowned.
“Alright. What’s your plan, then?”
“There’s a tavern in the docks called the Laughing Mermaid. Remember it?”
“Yes.”
“Only around a small portion of my crew will have been on board the Empress when they impounded her. The rest I told to go ashore, realising that Asima was going to turn us in. The ones who stayed behind volunteered to maintain the fiction that the ship was occupied.”
Samir squared his shoulders.
“I’m sorry to land you with the big job, but there’s no one else I could trust to do it. You need to go find my crew and gather them together. Then get them to help you break the rest of the men out of the stockade in the port; they may have volunteered, but that doesn’t mean we should leave them to rot.”
Ghassan whistled through his teeth.
“Good grief. And then you’ll join us?”
“Not exactly. Then comes the hard bit: you’ll have to lead my crew down to the secure dock, take on the town guard and cut out the Empress and get safely away out to sea. That’s going to be the tough bit, particularly since I presume you’ll try to do it with the minimum possible casualties.”
“That’s a tall order, Samir. I’m not convinced we could achieve that together, let alone me on my own.”
“Yes you can, Ghassan. When you meet at the Mermaid, speak to my first officer, a man called Ursa, and make sure he still has my bag. There’s something in there we can’t afford to lose.”
“Anything else?” Ghassan asked in exasperation.
“Just this: Once you’re out of port and safe, head for Pelasian waters. Right on the border, about six miles away, is a coastal village called Khediv. Anchor offshore and wait for me there. I’ll be with you as soon as I can.”
Ghassan narrowed his eyes.
“Don’t you think it might be handy for me to have at least a clue as to your plan? What are you up to, Samir?”
The smaller brother laughed and scratched his head.
“Just saving the world, Ghassan. Can you do all this? And meet me at Khediv?”
The taller man brushed his errant curl from his forehead and nodded.
“I’ll manage somehow, so long as your crew don’t try to kill me on sight. I can’t imagine I’m their favourite person.”
“You’d be surprised, Ghassan. Speak to Ursa. Go safe and be lucky and I’ll see you hopefully tomorrow morning.”
His brother furrowed his brow once again and then shrugged and sighed.
“Alright. Get going on your mysterious errand and we’ll see you at the border.”
He watched with a mixed sense of gratitude and worry as Samir ran off through the tangled streets up the slope of M’Dahz, removing his guard uniform and discarding it as he ran. It would be awful to have finally reconciled his differences with Samir only to lose him once again. The little devil was too secretive and devious for his own good, sometimes. With a smile, Ghassan turned and made for the port at a quick walk, removing the guard cloak and tunic as he went.