“You got this.” Nikon’s whisper was barely discernible above the chuckling. “I’m here, and Kaius put Zoe against the wall with Tewy and is coming up on your left. Don’t hit either of us.”
“I’ll try.” And hopefully succeed.
I let go of Nikon, turning my cane back into fighting sticks. Moments later, the familiar buzz of magic went through me, and I let myself fling into the fight.
The grunts, clashing, and quick footwork of fighting filled the passage. Three against them, with one of us injured? No wonder they laughed at us trying to get to the door that led to the outside; they had it heavily guarded. As the others groaned and pushed the fight more, I pressed on.
My arms burned with exertion, but I kept them moving, striking when the motion came to me. The vibrations moved through my arms as I pounded on my opponent—or perhaps opponents. It was hard to tell with the chaos. Nikon or Kaius didn’t call out for me to stop, so I must have been hitting the right targets. Thank the magic Nikon had convinced me to treat the wood with.
A rip rent the air, and the tension around my legs decreased. I must have gotten a slit in my skirt. At least having more room to maneuver was an advantage. Something came flying toward my head. I moved toward them, smacking the person in front of me where I imagined their stomach to be, and then ducked.
Before I could move, there was a groan of pain. I took advantage, hitting again, striking until my arms tired out. I was almost done for. I should increase my stamina. I’d make it happen if I lived through this.
The slap of sandals retreating clacked. Someone grabbed my arm, but my sticks didn’t give off any warning, so it had to be Nikon.
My suspicion was confirmed when he said, “They’re on the run for backup. We’ve got a chance.”
I gulped down my hope, wondering when it would be smashed again. Nothing like a fight to temper my feelings.
“The others?” I asked.
“They’re coming.” He helped me turn, and we went forward a ways. Shouts filled the corridor. We wouldn’t have long before the entire group of warriors guarding the building were down upon us.
“The door?” I asked.
“Right here,” he replied.
A loud creaking whined, and a rush of fresh air burst across my skin with the scent of people and the last heat of the day fading to night.
“We’re going to have to run,” Nikon said.
I twisted my cane back together and held it out to help guide me.
Heavy breathing came from behind us, and Kaius said, “We’ll do our best.”
“Follow me.” Nikon’s steps took off.
I made a careful assessment of where Nikon was going as he moved, and used my cane to help. The ground beneath my sandaled feet was bumpy and full of gravel that left things slippery. Despite that, I hurried forward. It wasn’t as fast as I was certain Nikon wanted to go, but it was much faster than I liked.
Not too distant steps hurried toward us—Zoe and Kaius. It was good they were keeping up, but how long could we continue at this pace, with me unfamiliar with the territory and them injured? Zoe woke up not that long ago from whatever beating she took, and who knew what Kaius’s injuries were? Perhaps it was best that I couldn’t see them, couldn’t realize how dire things were.
We went through the streets, making several turns.
A shout came somewhere back from where we’d been. If we didn’t hurry, those shouting would find us. I tried to increase my pace, despite my fear. Next thing I knew, I jerked against my hold on Nikon, stumbling toward the ground.
I managed to pull myself up before I fell on my face, but my knees banged against the ground. The pain slammed up my legs as I clung to Nikon. Though I got back up and ran, they throbbed. Ignoring them as best I could, I shoved forward. No time to deal with anything else.
“You all right?” Nikon asked, pushing us along.
My knees screamed in protest, but it couldn’t be as bad as what Zoe and Kaius were going through. I gritted out, “Fine.”
“We’ll stop running when we find more people, so we don’t raise suspicion. Not too much longer to the market.”
Nikon’s words reassured me somewhat, but the distant yelling didn’t. If they reached us before we came to more people, there was no way we wouldn’t be captured. If we did find others, I still had my doubts, but it was our only chance.
The noise of the market slowly came into focus, growing louder as we moved toward it. Finally, we slowed our pace to walking. Liquid, probably blood, dripped down my shins, but there was no time to do something about it. I hoped no one at the market realized I was bleeding at the knees.
The noise of the crowd washed over me as we went through it. I wanted to ask how Zoe and Kaius were doing, but we were in too much danger, between being chased and having me out in public. Hopefully, by the time someone talked about us to the warriors, we’d be long gone. But where?
The smell of roasting meat made my stomach grumble. It was long past time to eat, and I hadn’t had anything today. Neither had Nikon, and I doubted Kaius or Zoe got a meal.
We found our way out of the market, the chatter of people fading, but there were those talking and walking nearby.
I chanced asking Nikon, “Where are we going?”
“The waterfront.”
Not what I expected. The river was a place we usually tried to avoid. Though maybe that was a good reason to visit it now. I’d only been there once, and not with Nikon. He was changing things up. I hoped we could find a place to hide down there. I’d be shocked if the warriors weren’t looking for us. We’d stolen their prisoners and were the fugitives they wanted. They wouldn’t give up for a long time to come, if Vading Antonia found out about it.
Then a thought hit me. “What about the gate?” We couldn’t get out of Itpy without going through a gate or climbing a wall, and Nikon didn’t seem to be heading for the only ladder I knew of. The twists and turns weren’t familiar.
“We can’t go to our safe place with the ladder because the warriors were heading in that direction and probably to the house. We’ll have to chance the gate and hope we make it there before word is sent.” Nikon’s voice was level but managed to send a chill through me.
With Nikon dressed as a warrior, me blind, and Kaius and Zoe injured, it didn’t seem that we had much of a choice except to go out one of the gates, but it was dangerous.
As Nikon hurried us on, the chatter of people and scraping of their shoes moved across the air. I didn’t want to go through the gate, but if we had to, doing so among all these people would be for the best—as long as no one looked at us too closely.
Someone bumped into my free side, but I didn’t bother saying anything. I scooted closer to Nikon and tried not to use my cane to help me maneuver. I couldn’t afford to have the guards at the gate figure out I was blind.
“Move on through,” a woman’s voice called out. “Keep going. There’s a lot of you today, and we don’t want any problems.”
Her voice grew closer as she continued prodding people through with her words, and hopefully not her actions.
Nikon whispered, “Give me your cane.”
Wanting to understand why but trusting him, I handed it over. The sense of loss was immediate, though I hadn’t been fighting. I relied on it both as a tool to guide and as a weapon, should the need arise.
“Warrior, where are you going?” the woman called out.
Nikon stopped. The warrior outfit might have been a good idea to get us inside the jail, but it might not be as good for getting us out of this situation.
He said, “Escorting this woman to a prison boat.”
On the free side of me, people continued to brush past.
“And where is that?” the woman asked.
“She’s headed for a prison boat going to the capital.”
“Why haven’t I been informed of the transfer?” The woman sounded bored, despite her words.
Nikon replied in an equally bored tone. “Someone else not doing their job. But if I don’t do mine, Puhmit will have my head, for not getting this prisoner to Sirya.”
A moment’s pause.
Who was Puhmit?
I tried to look upset at being a prisoner. It wasn’t hard to do, with everything going on. My hands were clammy, and my stomach felt as if a nest of scorpions were skittering around in it.
“Move along, then,” the woman said. “But next time, make certain the proper paperwork gets through before bringing a prisoner down.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I held in a relieved sigh, trying to keep my body and posture the same as before she said we could go through.
Nikon pulled me forward. I tripped over a raised piece of stone in the ground, and he yanked me upright. “Don’t try to escape me, woman. You’re destined for servitude. You may as well get used to it.”
I gritted my teeth, hoping he was convincing.
We headed away from the crowd and toward the rush of the river. Oh, how I’d missed it. The river had been my life for so long, and yet I hadn’t been in it for months. Right now, it sounded like a chance at freedom.
It wasn’t the time to mourn over the loss of my river life, though. We had to get out of here, and fast.
The voices around us dispersed. When Nikon gave me my cane and let go of my elbow, I asked, “Zoe and Kaius?”
“With Tewy, up ahead. They managed to get past the guards while we were stopped.”
This time I didn’t hold back my relieved sigh.
“Don’t get too comfortable,” Nikon said. “The warriors will be out here, looking for us soon. We have to find a place to hide.”
“And where might that possibly be?”
“I’m uncertain.”
My lips and chin trembled. I wanted to flee, but with nowhere safe, we’d be shoved back into those cells, to be tortured with Zoe and Kaius.