Trail of the Gods: The Morcyth Saga Book Four (11 page)

As they approach the hidden entrance behind
the large picture, light begins to be visible around the hidden
door behind the picture frame.

“Miko, come here,” Fifer whispers as he
pauses. When Miko nears, he hands Gregory to him. “If he makes a
sound, kill him.”

Taking out his knife, Miko takes hold of the
man and places it against his throat. “No problem,” he tells him.
He looks intently in Gregory’s eyes, who swallows nervously when he
sees the threat there.

Fifer, Shorty and Scar move over to where
the hidden doorway lies. “Let’s move fast before he has a chance to
alert the whole house,” Fifer says.

“You needn’t state the obvious,” replies
Scar.

Flashing him a grin in the dark, Fifer asks,
“Ready?”

“Yeah,” Scar and Shorty both say at the same
time.

Finding the latch to open it, Fifer releases
it and thrusts the hidden door open as he bursts into the room. He
sees a man getting up from the large desk dominating the room.
Looking shocked at seeing them come out he freezes a moment in
surprise. Quickly overcoming his paralysis, he makes a dash for the
only door in the room.

Fifer runs to head him off when a knife
flies from behind him and strikes the man in the leg. Crying out,
the man falls to the floor just as Fifer reaches his side. Staring
up at the tip of Fifer’s sword which is scant inches from his face,
the man becomes motionless as he holds his thigh in which Shorty’s
knife is embedded.

“Who are you?” he asks frantically, pain
making his voice rasp.

To Scar, Fifer says, “Check the door.”

Nodding, he goes over and opens the door a
crack and looks out. Closing it, he turns back to the others and
says, “Nothing.”

Turning back to Tillon, Fifer says, “That’s
not what you should be worrying about. But whether you’re going to
live through this.” Pausing to let that sink in, he catches a
glimpse of Miko and Gregory coming out from behind the picture.

When Tillon sees Gregory with them, he gets
a dark look.

Gregory takes in the look Tillon is giving
him and cries out, “I didn’t help them. I SWEAR!”

“Quiet!” Miko says to him.

“Now,” Fifer begins, “just where might we
find Lord Colerain?”

Tillon stares back at him defiantly while
remaining quiet. “I see,” Fifer says to him when he sees him being
uncooperative. “Unfortunately, we do not have the time to play
games.” Motioning to Scar and Shorty, he asks, “If you wouldn’t
mind holding him down while I cut off a finger.”

“Sure,” says Shorty as he comes over and
pulls his dagger out of Tillon’s thigh, eliciting a cry from the
injured man. Wiping it off on Tillon’s clothes, he replaces it in
his belt.

Scar places one knee on his chest and takes
a firm hold of his right arm, holding the hand up so Fifer can get
to it.

Fifer removes a dagger from the sheath on
his belt and takes hold of the hand. He spreads the man’s pinky
finger wide and rests the side of his knife against it. Looking
back down at Tillon, he says, “Now, where is Lord Colerain?”

Sweating, fear in his eyes, Tillon stares at
the knife threatening his finger.

Sliding the knife slowly at the base of his
pinky, Fifer produces a few drops of blood as he arcs an eyebrow in
question.

“Just tell them!” Gregory implores him.

“What are you going to do to him when you
find him?” Tillon asks, the pressure Scar is putting on his chest
making it hard for him to breathe.

The knife backs off a fraction as Fifer
replies, “A friend of ours was taken by people from Bearn and we
mean to get him back. It’s believed Lord Colerain is behind it. As
for what we’ll do, that remains to be seen, but we’re not
assassins. If we were, you’d be dead already.”

“I don’t know anything about your friend,”
says Tillon. “If Lord Colerain is involved with that, he never
mentioned it to me.”

“Where is he?” asks Fifer, taking the knife
a little bit further away from the thumb.

Relaxing only slightly, Tillon says, “If he
finds out I told you, my life won’t be worth anything.”

“I hardly think we’ll have the time to talk
with him, let alone tell him of your involvement,” Scar adds from
where he’s kneeling on his chest. “Only you and Gregory over there
know what’s going on.”

“Alright,” Tillon says visibly deflating as
he gives into the inevitable.

Fifer motions for Scar to get up off his
chest and he pulls him up. Setting him in a chair, he has Shorty
tie a cloth around his leg to stop the flow of blood. When his leg
is taken care of, he says, “He’s meeting someone by the name of
Egger over in the abandoned linen warehouse on Strill Street. He
left here about a half hour ago and didn’t say when he’d be
back.”

Fifer glances to Miko who nods his head,
“Corim, the man who was killed when James was taken, was part of
the same gang as Egger.”

“Good, then we’re on the right track,” he
says. “Do you know this place?”

“Yeah,” replies Miko.

Indicating Tillon and Gregory, he says, “Tie
them up.”

Using their knives, they cut strips from the
window curtains and bind their hands and legs. “What are we to tell
Lord Colerain when they find us like this?” cries out Tillon before
he’s gagged.

Laughing, Scar says, “Don’t see how that’s
our problem.”

After getting them completely secured, Fifer
turns to Miko and says, “How far is it?”

“It’s outside the walls,” he explains. “In
the poor section.”

“Should we go back the way we came?” Shorty
asks.

Shaking his head, Miko says, “No, we can
make it over the estate’s walls easy enough.”

“Lead on then,” Fifer says to him.

Going over to the window, Miko looks out for
the guards patrolling the grounds. Not seeing any, he opens the
window and passes through to the other side. After the others pass
through, they shut the window and Miko indicates the tree he and
James had used to escape from Lord Colerain’s estate the previous
time. “We can get over the wall by climbing that tree over there,”
he whispers to them.

Just then, a guard comes walking around the
corner of the house. They press themselves against the side of the
house and pray that they’re not discovered. The guard doesn’t seem
very alert as he goes about his rounds. He fails to take notice of
the men hiding in the shadows by the house.

When he finally walks around the other side
of the house, they make a run for the tree. No cries of ‘intruders’
breaks the silence this night and they quickly gain the tree. With
Miko in the lead, they climb up to where the limbs reach the top of
the estate’s wall.

Miko goes first and looks over to the street
on the other side to see if anyone’s around. Only two people are
visible, a man and a woman walking arm in arm down the street. He
indicates everyone should remain still and quiet. He watches them
pass by and when the coast is clear, he quickly passes over the
wall.

Once everyone is down on the street, he
says, “This way.” Moving out, they quickly make their way to the
gates of the city.

Now in total darkness, with just a slim
crack of light coming through the narrow opening from the lamp on
the other side, Illan begins to move back down the sewer the way
they came.

Keeping his hand along the wall, he retraces
his steps, hoping to find the exact spot where they had entered. If
he remembers correctly, it should be the fifth set of rungs on this
side.

He steps carefully, making sure not to trip
over the debris littering the sewer passage. Suddenly, from the
darkness up ahead, he hears a man scream and then is abruptly cut
off.

Pausing, he listens intently and tries to
see through the darkness ahead but is unable to see or hear
anything. Taking it slowly, aware that he may not be alone down
here, he continues moving forward. Miko’s words echo in his mind as
he makes his way further down the tunnel:

“
There’s a gang down there that doesn’t
take too kindly to intruders,” he warned. “If they should discover
us down there, it could get bad.”

His hand comes in contact with the third set
of rungs since parting with the others.
Only two more to go!
He pauses every once in a while and strains to listen for any sound
coming from up ahead. So far, nothing. He moves on.

Shortly after reaching the fourth set, a
light begins to be seen from up ahead. Stopping, he presses himself
against the slime covered side of the sewer as he waits to see what
the light is going to do.

He knows that just ahead is the fifth rung,
but how far he’s not entirely sure. It becomes apparent the light
is making its way toward him. Backing up quickly, he comes to the
fourth set of rungs and quickly begins climbing them.

At the top, he finds a trap door. He pushes
up on it but it doesn’t budge.
It’s locked!
Smashing it open
would surely alert whoever is coming down the passage as to his
whereabouts, not to mention whoever might be on the other side of
the trapdoor. Holding still at the top of the rungs, he watches as
the light continues its approach.

As it comes closer, he can see there are
seven men with two women. The women have obviously just been taken
off the streets above. They’re crying and scared, while the men are
laughing and joking among themselves.

Knowing their fate, yet being unable to do
anything about it has Illan seething with impotent rage. To
intervene would surely mean his death and the women would still
meet the same fate.

The light comes ever closer until the group
approaches his hiding place at the top of the rungs. If they were
to look up, he’ll be discovered. Sweating, he holds on as the group
passes beneath him and then continues past down the tunnel.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he waits until
they move further away from him before returning to the floor of
the sewer. Moving much faster this time, wanting nothing more than
to be out of here, he hurries down the sewer passage until he finds
the fifth set of rungs.

Relieved to have reached them, he climbs up
and passes through the trapdoor at the top. The room is dark but
looks to be the same as the one they went through before. Shutting
the trapdoor, he moves out of the small room into a larger one.

Recognizing the broken door leading to the
alley, he knows he found the exit he had been looking for.

Leaving the room, he passes into the alley
and makes his way to the inn where their horses are waiting.

After they passed through the outer gates
into the poor section, Fifer says, “Maybe we should see if Illan’s
made it to the inn yet.” To Miko he asks, “Is it on the way?”

“Actually, it is,” he replies.

“Then let’s stop there first,” Scar says.
“Another sword may come in handy.”

“Very well,” Miko says as he begins making
his way through the streets toward the inn. Before they come close,
a shadow disengages itself and approaches, “What happened?” it
asks.

“Illan!” Fifer greets him happily. “We found
out he may be in an abandoned warehouse, Miko knows where it
is.”

Nodding, Miko tells him, “It’s not too far
away.”

“Alright then,” Illan says. “Let’s not waste
any more time.” He indicates Miko to lead the way and he follows
right behind.

Miko takes them down a long street, the
buildings bordering it becoming steadily more run down and shabby.
The few people on the street don’t look like the kind you would
want to run across when you’re alone; thugs, and others of a more
disreputable nature are loitering together near one building.

The group gazes at them as they pass but
make no move to waylay them.

Miko turns down another side street, moving
still further away from the city walls and after another two
blocks, brings them to a halt. Everyone gathers round as he says,
“It’s just ahead.” He indicates a large building sitting a hundred
feet further ahead. The only light other than the stars above is
the light coming from out of its windows.”

“Looks like someone’s there,” observes Scar.
He points out a carriage with four guards standing watch beside it.
“Must be Lord Colerain’s.”

“Yeah,” replies Illan. “Let’s move around to
the back and see if we can get in that way.”

Miko backtracks to the previous alley they
had passed and takes them through to the street on the other side.
Turning down the street back toward the warehouse, they approach
it, this time further away from the carriage and the guards.

They quickly cross the street to the edge of
the warehouse and are soon out of sight of the waiting guards. A
small door stands closed two thirds of the way down.

Miko moves toward it and tries the handle.
He’s surprised when the handle turns and the door opens. “Thought
for sure it would be locked,” he whispers.

“Never question good fortune,” Scar
says.

“I suppose not,” replies Miko as he moves to
enter the warehouse. Anxious to find James, he begins to rush in
when Illan places a hand on his arm and stops him. “Wait a moment,”
he tells him. Then to Shorty he says, “Go in and look around.”

Nodding, Shorty draws one of his knives and
enters the building. They wait outside for several minutes before
he returns. “I didn’t see him but whoever’s in there is in the
warehouse’s office,” he says. “I couldn’t get close enough to see
whose inside, it’s on the other side of the warehouse and there’re
two guards standing outside the office door.”

“Could you hear anything?” Illan asks.

“Muffled voices, nothing definite,” he tells
him.

“Four guards outside and two inside by the
door,” he says. “No telling how many there may be in the room with
everyone else.”