Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (61 page)

             
The room was an exact duplicate of Jack’s only flipped around placing the bed against the right wall instead of the left and so on. Thane couldn’t help but feel a bit upset that he had been given such a tiny room when this one was apparently not being used. Shaking the thought away, he hurried to one side of the window and quickly peaked out. Looking up, he strained to see the ledge above where he knew guards would be walking and watching but the wall was too high.
Well, if I can’t see them, then they probably can’t see me either.
Undoing the latch, he let the widow swing outward and waited in the darkness for any sounds of footsteps. It wasn’t long before the faint click of boots touching wood caught his keen ears as they grew closer and closer and then passed on fading once again into the distance. He leaped to the window and quickly passed through landing softly on the ground in a crouch. His night eyes quickly scanned his immediate vicinity finding himself alone save for a large rat that dug in the garbage so carelessly piled up next to him.

             
Thane darted to the end of the building and surveyed the area. No one was about. The armory building was directly in front of him, but he had to pass by in the open for a moment to get to it. A watch fire blazed in the center of the fort grounds, throwing light onto the buildings and stealing the covering blanket of darkness that kept him sealed from any eyes that might fall on the spot where he stood. Two men sat by the fire, one facing his direction. His heart beat quickly. He had to get past to the armory and then around to the jail and he had to do it quickly.

The faint sound of boots passing overhead touched the fringes of his hearing and he knew he didn’t have much time before another guard would be passing by on the ledge above. He kept his eyes locked on the men at the fire while mentally keeping track of the man above waiting anxiously for the right moment to move. The steps were getting closer and still the man’s face was turned towards him. He had to move soon. The steps were just about on top of him.

Suddenly, a call rang out and the man at the fire turned his head towards the front gate. Thane was a blur of motion as he passed swiftly into the light and then almost instantly disappeared into the cover of darkness that shaded the back of the armory. Without hesitation, he threw himself against the fort’s wall ducking under the ledge above. The boots suddenly stopped overhead, stealing his breath away. Had he been discovered? Time stood motionless as he waited, wondering if he too would end up in a cell, with his friend, to rot away the last days of his life. But the boots scuffled against the wooden planks and then moved along.

             
He wasted no time, moving at once around the backside of the armory he came up around the far corner. He smiled briefly. There it was. The jail stood before him like an ominous monster waiting to swallow the life of any who crossed its master. He could see the small window to the outside that taunted Dor below with its fleeting glimpses of freedom. Again he was faced with the light that shot out searching from the center fire for any who might pass. This time, though, the two men were at a side angle neither one directly in his view. His best bet would be to hug the wall under the patrolling ledge and come up from behind the jail. Then he could talk to Dor from the shadows and figure a way to get him out.

             
Backtracking a couple of steps, he used the fort wall’s relative security against his back and the ledge as cover from above. This time the amount of firelight that reached the gap was relatively small. Just a moment in plain view and he would be past it and on his way to freeing Dor.

             
Stepping from the blanketing shadows into the revealing firelight he suddenly froze. There, on the wall opposite him, was a guard staring right at him. He waited in agony. He was in plain view but was unable to move for fear that any motion might call attention to the guard. A long, anguishing moment passed but nothing happened. Then, suddenly, the guard pointed at him lifting his voice in alarm.

             
At first, his body refused to move as the horror of discovery momentarily gripped him in the certain knowledge that he would be captured. The whole compound seem to pause as guards turned to their comrade on the wall, slow minds struggling to decipher what danger had befallen them. In that brief moment, Thane finally regained control of his limbs and was able to throw himself back into the shadows. Within seconds, the whole compound erupted into a mass of confused and yelling voices. Thane raced past the armory in a matter of seconds, reaching the opposite corner and the taunting safety of the pub just on the other side of the fire lit alleyway. The sounds of running feet were loud above him as men ran around the ledge trying to spot the intruder that had found its way into the fort. More wood was thrown on the center fire sending more light washing over the few feet he would have to pass to reach the safety of the pub’s back window.

             
Time was short and closing tightly in as he waited for a chance to cross the chasm of light that would surely give away his position to the men that were now gathering to search him out. He had to move quickly but the risk was too great. Looking around frantically, he searched for any way that might help him past without notice but nothing presented itself. Torches were now being passed out and he knew that it would be only a matter of minutes before he was caught. The choices had quickly diminished to only two. Move and risk being caught or wait and get caught for sure.

             
Thane braced himself for the short sprint that would determine so much of his future. It was only a few feet but it may as well have been twenty miles. He was sure that someone would see him, but he had no choice. This was his only hope. Taking a deep breath, he looked straight ahead, trying to block out the group of noisy men that would have a clear shot of him when he passed into the light. Putting his head down, he shot into the open. The light crashed into him bathing him in its brilliance bringing him into full few of any whose eyes might be turned in his direction. The dark alleyway stretched out before him seeming to become longer and farther away with every pump of his legs and arms as he reached out desperately in an effort to obtain it. Then, like a jolt, he found himself swallowed in darkness and before his eyes had the chance to adjust, he tripped headlong into the pile of garbage that lay rotting in the pub’s back alley.

Wonderful
, he thought, but remained still, listening for any evidence that he’d been seen. A loud voice suddenly broke into his immediate vicinity and then a light pressed up against the pub’s back wall.

             
“I’ll check back here,” a guard yelled as he walked around the corner.

             
Thane froze. His face was covered by a piece of rotting lettuce, so he could not see whether his body was completely hidden or not. He would not be able to tell if the guard found him until it was too late. To move was certain disclosure so his only choice was to remain completely still and try not to vomit from the stench that assaulted his nostrils.

             
The guard slowed as if to make a thorough investigation of the area. Thane waited in silence knowing he was sure to be found at any moment. He had to react before he was reacted upon.
I have to surprise him
.
It’s the only way I’m going to get out of this
. Just as he completed his last thought, the trash on his leg moved.
It’s too late,
he thought,
I’m caught
. He tensed his muscles ready to leap up when the guard suddenly cursed.

“Rats! Why can’t that stupid innkeeper get rid of his trash? I should make the swine eat it!” Thane heard the rodent’s dying squeal and then a heavy thump hit the garbage pile next to his leg.

              The light from the torch quickly faded and Thane heard the man’s voice cry out as he passed back around the corner, “Nothing back here but dead rats.” He didn’t wait. Casting the putrid smelling filth from his body, he reached up for the window that was still cracked slightly open.
Maybe it’s better I don’t have a window after all,
he thought as he pulled himself up from the pile below. In no time he was through the empty room and back in the hallway that led to his door. One more obstacle and he'd be safe.

             
Peeking around the corner, he carefully checked the pub for any signs of life but was relieved to find it empty. Everyone had gone outside to find out what all the noise was about. Dashing past and down the hall, he breathed a sigh of relief as he opened his door and quickly stepped in.

             
“Out for a midnight stroll?” Thane jumped at the voice that boomed in his ears directly behind him. Turning quickly he crouched to defend himself, but came face to face with the tip of a sword leveled ominously at his head. Following the long steel to its end, he found Jack’s scowling face with a look of rage he had never seen before in the man.

“What, in all the hells of Dren did you think you were doing?” he hissed not lowering the sword. Thane felt a touch of fear suddenly unsure of his friend and what he might do. “Do you have a death wish boy? Is that it? Are you so filled with guilt about your friends that you think it best your life were ended?”

              Thane swallowed hard, surprised at the same feelings of guilt and pain he had known when his father scolded him.

             
“If that’s what you want,” Jack said, lowering his sword, “fine. But don’t go dragging me into it with you. I’ve still got things to do with my life. Do you know what would have happened to me if you had been caught?”

             
He hadn’t thought of that. Jack would have been held accountable for his actions had he been caught. His heart sank at the thought. Once again, he had disappointed one of his friends.

             
Jack stared at him for a moment and then, without another word, brushed past towards the door.

             
Thane stood motionless, unsure of what to say. The door opened behind him and he waited for it to close. When it didn’t, he turned around slowly finding Jack standing in the doorway staring at him, a sad expression covering his face.

             
“And take a bath,” he said softly flashing a weak smile. “You smell like garbage.”

             
Thane nodded slightly and then Jack closed the door. A strong sense of selfish guilt washed over him mixed with strong feelings of inadequacy. He had wanted so badly to help Dor that he had not thought of what reciprocity might have occurred because of his actions. Was Jack right? Did he really have a death wish? Unwanted thoughts of how he had been treated all of his life and the disappointments of having a father who didn’t love or care about him assailed him. And then there was Dor. His only real friend had abandoned him in his hour of greatest need.
But I won’t do the same
.
He has to be released
.

Thane tried to examine and justify what had happened and his reasoning for doing it but Jack’s words kept cutting into his thoughts filling him with doubt.
I did do it for Dor
.
Didn’t I
?
It wasn’t for me it was for Dor
.
Or was it
?

             
Jack paced back and forth unable to sleep. He knew that what Thane had done was wrong and that, once again, they had come close to losing their freedom, and possibly their lives. “Why is that boy so stubborn? We can’t help his friend; we have to reach Haykon before it’s too late. People are counting on us.”

Jack suddenly stopped his pacing and slumped down in a chair. He knew that one more man at Haykon was not going to make a difference on whether or not the stronghold fell. He had to get there strictly for selfish reasons. He knew he was justified in getting upset at Thane for what he had done, but he couldn’t stop from feeling guilty. “If I had been more willing to help, this might not have happened.” He rubbed his bearded face and then pulled at the end suddenly overcome with sorrow. He didn’t want to admit it, but Thane, in such a very short time, had become like his own son. “My own son,” he whispered softly.
“My own son.”

             
The next day a knock came early at Thane’s door. He was awake not having slept at all. “Who is it?” he asked holding the handle and listening through the wood.

             
“It’s me, Thane,” Jack’s voice said from the other side. “Let me in.”

             
Thane opened the door quickly and Jack popped inside closing the door behind him. “Aren’t you dressed yet?” he bellowed grabbing Thane’s clothes from the bed and tossing them at him.

             
Thane looked at his old friend and the guilt of the night before returned.

             
“Come on,” he growled. “We’ve got a busy day. The sooner we get your friend, the sooner we’ll be on our way to Haykon so I can put my sword into a few of those stinking trolls.”

             
Thane’s mouth dropped open. “Get my friend?”

             
“Yeah, what’s his name again?”

             
“Dor.”