Trail of the Gods ms-4

by Brian S. Pratt

  “If I’m not there when you get there, assume I’m not going to,” he says. “If worse comes to worse, just get James and head back to The Ranch. If you don’t show at the inn, I’ll make my way back home on my own.”

  “Alright,” replies Scar.

  “Good luck,” they hear his voice coming from the other side of the crack.

  “You too,” Fifer says, hating to leave him there alone. Turning to Miko, he says, “Lead on.”

  Exiting the room, they follow the corridor as it moves away from the doorway. “At the end are stairs going up,” he tells them. “At the top will be a trapdoor with a barrel attached to the other side. James said it was there to better hide the entrance leading to this area.”

  “Makes sense,” says Fifer as he follows behind Miko.

  At the stairs, Scar and Fifer go up first and together are able to lift the trapdoor with ease. Everyone scrambles on through and they set the trapdoor back down.

  “Doesn’t look as if anyone’s been here since you guys were,” Shorty states as he indicates only two sets of footprints leading away from the hidden trapdoor.

  “Good,” Fifer says. “Maybe this way still remains secret.”

  “That makes this a whole lot easier,” Scar adds.

  Miko walks over to the door in the wooden wall and says quietly, “On the other side of this door is a hidden passage that runs within the walls of the estate. Once we’re in it, we should be able to move about the estate and find where they’ve taken James.”

  “If he’s even here,” Fifer adds. “We’re not entirely sure this is where he’s being taken.”

  “True, but we’ve got to start somewhere,” says Scar.

  Miko closes the shutter on the lantern, plunging them into darkness and then opens the door. The hallway on the other side is completely dark, he sticks his head out and peers down both directions. Nothing but darkness.

  “Come on,” he says as he opens the shutter a tiny fraction to let out a small amount of light. Stepping out into the hallway, he says, “Not sure which way to go. Last time we went to the right, but I have no idea which way to go now.”

  “At least you got us in here,” Scar says approvingly. To Fifer and Shorty, he says, “I’ll take Miko here and go to the left. You guys go to the right and we’ll meet back here in ten minutes.

  “Alright,” Fifer says as he and Shorty begin moving down to the right.

  Scar takes the lantern and says, “Let me go first.”

  “Okay,” replies Miko as he relinquishes the lantern. Behind them, he can hear Fifer mutter, “Wish we had the lantern.”

  Going down to the left, he follows behind Scar as he makes his way further into the house. “We need to find a crack of light that may indicate where another secret door lies,” he tells him.

  “But it’s night,” counters Scar.

  “A light will indicate a room where someone is,” he explains. “That’s also likely to be where James is being held.”

  “Good thought,” he says. As they move along, he periodically closes the shutter so they can better tell where light may be coming in from. When the ten minutes is about up, they spot a sliver of light coming from a crack in the wall. Excited, they move closer to it and discover a small sliding panel set into the wall.

  Ever so slowly, Scar slides it open and they look through the opening into what appears to be a bedroom, an open doorway leads from the bedroom out into another room. A lit candle sits on a small table next to a bed. Scar sees night clothes for a lady laid out upon the bed. Suddenly from the outer room, a woman walks into the bedroom, naked as the day she was born. She comes to the bed and begins putting on the nightclothes.

  Scar watches for a moment before sliding the panel closed. Whispering very quietly, he says, “Let’s go back to the others.” When he gets a nod from Miko, he leads them back.

  “What did you see?” asks Miko when they’ve moved further away from the spy panel.

  “It was a bedroom,” he replies with a grin. “Nothing of interest.”

  “Oh.”

  They’re the first ones back at the meeting spot and wait several anxious minutes before Fifer and Shorty return. “Anything?” asks Scar.

  In the dim light of the lantern, they see Fifer shake his head, “No. We found one room with a candle burning, but no one was around.”

  “Us too,” he says.

  “Now what?” asks Shorty. “We’re running out of time.”

  Just then, they hear footsteps approaching from the direction Shorty and Fifer had just investigated. Closing the shutter quickly, they stand there in silence as the footsteps approach. Whoever it is, they’re walking in darkness so must know this way well.

  Fifer is standing closest to the approaching footsteps, and when they’re almost upon him he strikes out with his fist, trying to connect with the person’s chin. Instead, he catches the person a glancing blow to the side of the head, causing the man to cry out in shock.

  Light suddenly fills the hidden corridor as Scar throws open the shutter. The man sees them standing there, blood running down the side of his face from where Fifer had struck him. He quickly turns and begins running down the corridor away from them when Fifer tackles him and they both crash to the floor.

  The man starts to call for help and Fifer knees him in the stomach, silencing his cry as the wind is knocked out of him. Before he has a chance to recover, a knife is being held to his throat and Fifer says in a quiet voice, “Make a sound and I’ll cut your throat. Understand?”

  Gasping, trying to get his lungs working again, the man nods. “Who are you?” Scar asks from behind Fifer.

  When the man finally gets his breath back, he says, “Gregory, servant to Lord Colerain.” He looks from one face to another with fear in his eyes.

  “Is he here?” Fifer asks.

  Shaking his head, Gregory replies, “No, he left a half hour ago.”

  Fifer glances to Scar and then returns his attention to Gregory and asks, “Where did he go?”

  “What are you going to do?” he asks fearfully.

  “Just answer the question!” Fifer says, pressing the knife more firmly against his throat.

  “I don’t know,” he says.

  “We’re looking for a friend of ours who may be held captive here,” Miko says to him. “Is he here?”

  Gregory gives them a blank look as he replies, “No. As far as I know, there is no one here but those who work for Lord Colerain.”

  “Is there anyone here who would know where he went?” Scar asks.

  “Your friend?” Gregory asks, confused.

  “No, Lord Colerain,” clarifies Scar.

  “Maybe Tillon,” he answers.

  “Who’s he?” asks Shorty. “And where can he be found?”

  “He’s Lord Colerain’s administer,” he explains. “He takes care of the estate and any business the lord has within Bearn.”

  “Where is he?” asks Fifer.

  When he hesitates, Scar says, “If he’s not going to be of help, just kill him. We don’t have much time.”

  Eyes going wide he says quickly, “He’s here. I think he’s still in the office.”

  “Is that the room with the large picture on one wall?” asks Miko.

  Surprised at him for having known that, Gregory replies, “Yes it is.”

  Fifer glances to Miko, who says, “That’s where James and I came out of this secret passage.”

  Yanking Gregory to his feet, Fifer says, “Take us there.”

  When the man hesitates, he puts the point of his knife under his chin.

  Defeated, the man says, “This way.” He then turns and begins leading them down the passage. Fifer keeps a firm grip upon him and the knife hovers around his throat to prevent him from doing anything stupid.

  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. Wh
en 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 soun
d 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.

  Chapter Seven