James rolls several more times, then comes to a stop on his back. Looking up, he sees the man almost upon him, the moonlight glinting off the bare metal raised to end his life. In a moment of panic he thrusts his hand toward the man, and as a mental picture flashes through of the man flying through the air away from him, he shouts “Away!” Feeling a surge of power, the man is picked up by a force of air and flung away from him. Striking the side of the house, the man smashes through to the other side. The force of the impact shatters bones and pulps flesh.
The jagged hole in the side of the house spills light onto where James lies on the ground. As he begins getting to his feet, a crossbow bolt embeds itself in the ground where his chest had just been. He looks around and sees the man who had been interrogating Perrilin framed in a window to the right, winding a crossbow to fire again. Placing another bolt in place, he then swings it to bear once more at James.
Picturing the crossbow in his mind, he envisions its crosswire snapping. This time without even vocalizing the words of a spell, he lets thought guide the magic as he lets loose a surge of power. Twang! The crosswire breaks. Snapping back, it catches the man across the right side of his face. Crying out in pain, the man lets fall the crossbow as he disappears back into the house.
A quick scan reveals no other men in sight. Moving stealthily, James makes his way over to the hole in the wall and peers in around the edge. Nothing but the dead man is visible. Ever so carefully he climbs through the hole and makes his way into the room. There he comes to the dead man’s side and takes his knife. Now with the added confidence of having a blade in hand, he cautiously approaches the doorway leading to the main room wherein Perrilin is being held.
He looks in to find Perrilin still bound in the chair. Head lolled forward, the bard looks dead but for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. Not seeing anyone else in the room, James waits for a second as he tries to ascertain where the other two men are.
A noise behind him causes him to turn to see one of the captors climbing in through the hole in the wall, sword at the ready and coming at him.
James visualizes the knife flying and striking the man. Letting loose with the power, he throws. Guided by magic, the knife sails through the air and strikes the man in the center of the chest, puncturing his heart. His sword falls from his lifeless hand as his body lurches backward out of the hole in the wall, coming to land on the ground outside.
Verging on the brink of exhaustion due to all the magic he’s been throwing around, James leans against the wall for a second to catch his breath, all the while keeping an eye out for the remaining captor. Then from outside he hears the sound of a galloping horse. Rushing to the hole in the wall, he looks out just in time to see the remaining captor racing past the house. As he rides past, their eyes lock and James sees a red welt oozing blood running from his hairline to his jaw, crossing over the right eye. Their gazes lock for a moment longer before the man is swallowed by the night.
James returns to the main room and comes over to Perrilin. “Are you alright?” he asks as he starts untying Perrilin’s bonds.
Perrilin raises his head to see who is talking to him and is surprised when he realizes who it is. “No,” he replies, “but I’ll live.”
“Who were these guys?” James asks. Removing the rest of the bonds, he helps Perrilin to his feet. A little unsteady, he requires James’ help to remain upright.
Perrilin doesn’t answer right away. Instead he looks over the men lying dead on the floor. “Did you get them all?” he asks.
“No, one got away on horseback,” James replies. “It was the man who had been questioning you.”
“Then we need to get out of here before he brings back others,” Perrilin manages to say just as his knees buckle and he once again sinks into unconsciousness.
Taking the man in his arms, James struggles to carry him out to the barn where he lays him down in the straw while he saddles two of the horses. Once he has them saddled, he attempts to rouse Perrilin, but is unsuccessful. He lifts him from the straw and places him across the saddle on his stomach, then proceeds to secure him with rope to keep him from falling off on their return to Cardri. Once he’s sure Perrilin is secured, he mounts the other horse and takes the reins of Perrilin’s. Leading the other horse from the barn, he heads in the general direction of Cardri.
It doesn’t take nearly as long to return to town as it had when he left in search of Perrilin. As the lights of the city begin to appear in the distance ahead, a groan comes from the bard. A glance reveals Perrilin is beginning to stir. Bringing the horses to a stop, he dismounts and goes over to discover Perrilin is once again conscious with eyes open. “Can you ride?” James asks. Perrilin nods affirmatively.
Taking a moment, he unties Perrilin and helps him upright into the saddle. Once he’s sure Perrilin is coherent enough to remain erect and isn’t likely to fall off, he remounts and they continue on into Cardri.
During their approach to the outskirts of Cardri, James realizes he’s in a dilemma. How will he get Perrilin into Cardri without anyone knowing? If the guards at the gate recognize Perrilin, or just report that someone in his condition passed through, then the hunt may be on.
He slows his horse’s pace as he ponders the situation. They reach the outlying buildings, and after traversing several blocks, the gate comes into view. It is well lit and two guards stand vigil.
Agonizing over how to get in, he suddenly hears the sound of drunken singing coming from the intersection of streets ahead of them. James reins up some distance away and waits to see what’s going on. Around the corner appear four rather drunken men, singing and sharing bottles as they stagger up the street. Their destination seems to be the gate into the city which gives him an idea.
“Oh my god, Reggie,” one of the guards says to his partner as he looks at the men coming up the road toward them. “Would you look at what’s coming down the street?”
“Looks like they had a good one tonight,” Reggie says.
“Yeah, so much so that one of them can’t even walk,” the first guard laughs.
The two guards look on in amusement as the six men, one who needs to be supported by two of his companions, come staggering up and then through the gate into the city. They watch as the group meanders away down the street and are soon out of sight but not out of hearing as their off key caterwauling echoes through the night.
Once past the guards and out of sight, James quickly disengages himself and Perrilin from the drunks. They make their way through the streets to the second gate, ducking into alleys whenever a patrol of the city watch comes by.
They finally reach the second gate and find two guards on duty. Both are looking rather bored but otherwise alert. James watches from the shadows of an alley for a while, but no opportunity presents itself they can take advantage of to get through the gate unnoticed. Perrilin rests with eyes closed against the wall of the alley, passing from being conscious to unconscious and back again as James considers his options.
Afraid of trying something like this, but unable to think of any other way, he scans the area to make sure no one is approaching before he begins. He concentrates on a visualization of the guards becoming tired, then drifting off to sleep. The power wells up and flows toward the men. The flow of power is small and subtle, taking a small amount of time to work its affect. Soon, the men begin yawning and their eyes start to blink. First one then the other slumps down and drift off to sleep.
Helping Perrilin up, James bears much of the bard’s weight as they make their way through the gate, passing within a foot of the sleeping guards. Once they are past and far enough from the gate so as not to be noticed, James stops the spell but the guards fail to reawaken. Not wanting them to get into trouble on his account, he leaves Perrilin sitting against the side of a candle maker’s shop while he returns to the gate. Stopping some distance away, he picks up a small rock and tosses it toward the sleeping guards. It bangs into the wall then ricochets off the head of one. Startled, the guard wakes up, suddenly realizing that he had been asleep and gets up fast. Then he notices his partner lying nearby and kicks him in the leg to wake him. Satisfied they won’t get into trouble because of him, he returns to Perrilin and with the bard still leaning heavily upon him, head for the Silver Bells.