“You can stop thinking about him now,” James tells Perrilin, “I’ve got him.”
“Now what?” he asks as he gazes at the people in the mirror.
James begins scrolling the image in small increments and then moves the image upward until the room disappears and an aerial view of the slaver compound comes into view.
Jiron pays extra close attention to the image, committing to memory the exact location of the room in which Buka is in. Finally he says, “I’ve got it.”
“You sure?” James asks.
“Oh yeah,” he replies. “I can find that room now.”
Canceling the image, he replaces the mirror back in his pouch.
Reilin gets a sly grin on his face and says, “From the looks of things, I’d say he’ll be in there for awhile.”
“Looks that way,” agrees James.
Perrilin glances from Jiron to James then back again. “You aren’t thinking about going in there are you?” he asks.
“Can you think of a better way to find out what we want to know?” responds Jiron. Then he turns to James and says, “Shall we?”
“Yes,” he replies as he stands up. To Perrilin he says, “I appreciate your help in this.”
Perrilin rises and looks to them for a moment. Then says, “You’re welcome. Just be careful.”
“We will,” James assures him. “Now, can you lead us out?”
He nods and moves around the table to the door. Opening it, he steps into the hallway and leads them back the way they came. A young man is now within the room with the woman and two children. When Perrilin enters the young man stands up and says, “It’s all clear.”
“Thank you,” he replies.
The young man moves ahead of them to the door they originally entered the building through and throws the bolt open. Then he swings the door open for them and stands there holding it as they pass through. Once they are out and on the street, the young man closes the door and plunges them into darkness.
Perrilin stops and turns to them. “It would be best if we parted ways here,” he says. “Never know who may be out and about.”
James nods and extends his hand. “Thank you for your help,” he again says.
Taking the hand, Perrilin grins. “Until we meet again,” he says. Then he turns and quickly walks down the street.
“Now let’s go find this guy,” Jiron says.
“Not yet,” James tells him. “Let’s find the others first and then we’ll pay Mr. Baku a visit.”
Jiron nods and then heads down the street in the general direction toward where they left the others. As they go, James wonders if Buka will even remember Tinok, not to mention what happened to him. He’s not sure what Jiron plans to do in that event, but he would hate to be in Buka’s place should that be the case.
Chapter Twenty Six
They work their way through the city until the outskirts come into view. Moving quickly, they reach the last of the outlying buildings before the road once more enters the desert.
James brings them to a halt and then after scanning the area for a second, leads them to a spot near the building’s edge where light is spilling from a window. Moving near the light, he pulls forth his mirror and brings Miko’s moon illuminated image into view. Expanding it slightly he finds the others still together, most of them are sleeping.
“Good,” he says as he puts his mirror back into his pouch, “they’re alright.” Then he removes the strip of cloth he uses to search with and soon is on his way into the night. Following the direction indicated by the cloth, they hurry across the moonlit landscape.
When Cyst is five minutes behind them, a shadow moves to intercept them which turns out to be Scar and Potbelly materializes out of the night a moment later. James’ orb springs to life on his palm. “Everybody up,” he says as he enters the camp.
“We know where this Buka is,” Jiron says as he bends over to give Miko a shake to bring him back to consciousness. “If things go bad, we may need to get out of here in a hurry.”
“What?” asks a bleary eyed Miko as he sits up and looks around.
“Where is he?” Brother Willim asks.
“In the slaver compound,” Reilin says. He moves over to where the horses are tethered and begins to put the saddle on his.
“You’re going to storm the place I take it?” Aleya asks.
“Not exactly, no,” Jiron assures her. “Just slip over the wall and have a little conversation with him.”
“Just like that?” She eyes him disapprovingly.
“No other way I’m afraid,” he explains. “From what we learned this night, he isn’t going to be too helpful as it is.”
She lays a hand on his shoulder. “Didn’t you tell me that you gave your word not to harm him? That you would leave him as you found him?”
“Yes, I did,” he acknowledges.
Raising her voice she exclaims, “Then how are you going to convince him to tell you what he knows?”
“We’ll figure a way,” James says as he comes up behind them.
She looks from one to the other and shakes her head.
“Not much night left,” Stig says as he joins them. “An hour, maybe two.”
“Then we best be on our way,” replies Jiron. With a last look to Aleya, he walks past her and over to where his horse waits for him. Taking the saddle from the ground, he begins readying his horse.
Several minutes pass before they are all in the saddle and ready to ride. James extinguishes his orb and Jiron takes the lead. Heading back toward Cyst, he angles toward the wall encompassing the slaver compound. Many buildings have sprouted around its walls, and Jiron brings them to a halt before they draw too close to them.
Turning to the others, he says, “The rest of you wait out here while James and I go in and talk to Buka.” He and James then dismount.
“Aren’t you going to need me?” asks Reilin.
Shaking his head, Jiron replies, “Not this time. As Guildmaster of the Slaver Guild, I would expect him to be able to speak our language.” He hands the reins of his horse to Shorty.
“So would I,” agrees Scar.
As James and Jiron make ready to return to Cyst, Potbelly says under his breath, “I’m tired of always staying behind.”
“You got that right,” Scar says with a nod.
Jiron glances to James and rolls his eyes, otherwise ignoring the pair. “Shall we?” he asks.
“Better get this over with before the sun rises,” he says. Off to the east, the sky remains dark. The onset of dawn still has yet to makes its initial appearance. Moving quickly, they leave the others behind and are soon making their way through the outlying buildings.
In no time at all, the wall of the slaver compound appears ahead of them out of the night. Lights are seen within the compound and they make it to the wall without being noticed. This early in the morning, very few people are awake.
The wall is twelve feet high. Jiron makes a running jump and leaps toward its top. Barely reaching the upper lip, he grabs hold and makes sure his grip is secure before he pulls himself up to look over the other side.
Hanging there, he looks over and finds no one in the immediate vicinity on the other side of the wall. Pulling himself up the rest of the way, he stays as flat against the top to avoid being outlined against the light any more than is absolutely necessary. There’s no ramp or walkway on the other side either, just a similar drop to the ground as on the outside.
Once he’s gained the top, he swings over and lands on the other side. He then plasters himself against the base of the wall to see if anyone may have noticed his entry. When no one comes to investigate, he unwinds the rope from around his middle and throws a section over the wall to James. He takes a secure hold when he feels James taking up the slack. Then the rope grows taught as James begins climbing the other side.
The rope goes taught, then becomes loose. Grows taught again then goes loose. When he feels James try for the third time to scale the wall, Jiron sighs and says quiet
ly, “Tie a loop at the end and I’ll pull you over.” He feels two quick tugs on the rope and shakes his head. He had forgotten how inept James is at things like this. When it comes to magic, he’s almost unparalleled in what he can do. But physical stuff such as scaling a wall? Forget it.
“All set,” he hears from the other side as the rope is tugged twice in quick succession. He begins taking in the slack, and when the rope becomes taught starts pulling James toward the top. It’s a hard pull with James’ weight on the other side. Hand over hand and inch by inch he gradually brings him closer to the top of the compound’s wall.
As he comes near the top, James reaches up and takes hold with his right hand. As soon as he has a secure grip with one hand, he lets go of the rope with the other and helps Jiron by pulling himself up. “Okay, I made it,” he says as he climbs onto the top. Taking his foot out of the loop, he tosses down the rope.
On the ground, Jiron begins coiling the rope once more around his middle under his jerkin. He keeps one eye on James’ progress in getting down from the top, and the other on the immediate vicinity. So far, no one has made an appearance.
He no sooner gets the rope securely in place than James drops down to the ground next to him. “Ready?” he asks. James gives him a nod and then they set out toward the building wherein they saw Buka with the mirror.
The room in question is within one of the larger buildings in the compound and not too far from where they crossed over the wall. They keep in the shadows of the wall as they steadily work their way closer. Two men’s voices suddenly come out of the dark ahead causing them to freeze and plaster themselves against the wall.
Standing still, they listen as the men’s footsteps approach closer. As they come nearer, Jiron is able to discern the two dark outlines of the men. It doesn’t look as if the direction they are walking will bring them very close to where James and Jiron are hiding. The dark outlines gradually change to more distinct forms until the two men pass them not more than five feet away. Too wrapped up in their own conversation, the men never even glance toward the two motionless figures in the shadows. Finally, the men move further down and enter through a doorway in one of the buildings.
Detaching himself from the wall, Jiron whispers, “That was close.”
James nods in agreement as they resume their progress. Keeping between the wall and an adjacent building, they hurry along. Coming to the end of the building, they pause for a moment. A ten foot open area separates where they stand and the building wherein they believe Buka to be.
Jiron scans the area quickly. When he’s sure no one is nearby, he runs across the open area to the nearest door with James right on his heels. At the door, he again pauses to make sure their dash to the door went unobserved. Satisfied that they continue to remain unnoticed, he tries the door and finds it unlocked.
Light comes from within as he opens the door a crack. Peering inside, he finds the door opens onto a well lit hallway. With lit candles spaced in wall sconces every ten feet or so, there’s little chance of remaining hidden should someone make an appearance.
“We better hurry,” urges James. The sky to the east is beginning to lighten with the coming of dawn. If they want to have any hope of making it out safely, they best be done in short order.
Jiron nods understanding and opens the door. Doors line both sides of the hallway, two on the left and three on the right, another door sits closed at the end. “It’s through the one at the end,” Jiron whispers to him. Entering the building, he ignores the other doors and heads directly for the one at the end. Upon reaching it, he places his ear to the door.
After listening for a moment, he turns back to James. “I don’t hear anything,” he informs him. Placing his hand on the door’s handle, he slowly opens the door to find another hallway on the other side. Like the one they just passed through, it too is well illuminated by candlelight.
Here there are only two doors other than the ones at either end of the hallway. One on the left is close to the doorway they are standing in, and another on the right about midway down the hallway. “He’s through the one on the right,” Jiron says. “Remember, I gave my word that no harm should befall him.”
“I remember,” James assures him.
Pulling one of his knives, Jiron moves down the hall and toward the door. James follows, closing the door between the two hallways behind him. At the door, Jiron places his ear to it and can hear muted voices coming from the other side. One is definitely a man’s, and the other a woman’s.
Receiving a nod from James telling him he’s ready, Jiron takes the door’s handle in hand and slowly turns it. When he’s turned it as far as it will go, he leans back slightly then hits the door with his shoulder as he bursts into the room.
Just as they saw in the mirror, Buka is there with two women. One is feeding him small bites of food while the other looks to have been massaging his feet. Both women jump back with fear on their faces when they see Jiron there with knife in hand.
“Remain quiet and I won’t hurt anyone,” Jiron tells them. Behind him he hears the door close after James enters the room. When the girls look like they fail to understand him, he puts his finger to his lips and says, “Shhh.”
They get the idea and remain quiet.
Buka on the other hand, is staring at Jiron with barely controlled anger. “How dare you come barging into my private room in this manner,” he demands. Getting ready to yell for help, he’s silenced when Jiron darts across the room and places the edge of his knife to his throat.
“Would be best for you to remain silent,” Jiron tells him. Eyeing him in a threateningly way, he waits to see if he will remain so. Buka glares at him but remains quiet. To James he says, “Get the girls into the corner.”
James nods and then motions for the girls to move out of the way and into the corner of the room away from the door. He allows them to sit before returning his attention to Jiron and Buka.
“Now,” begins Jiron. “I have some questions for you and if you answer them, we’ll leave and no one will be hurt.”
Buka’s eyes flick from Jiron to James then back again. “Seems I am at your mercy, for now,” he states. Neither fear nor anger is present in his voice, though his eyes tell of dire consequences in store for them later.
“We are looking for someone,” he says. “And the trail has led us to you.” Moving the knife away from Buka’s throat, he still keeps it near just in case.
Buka grins an evil grin at him. “What makes you think I know anything about this person?” he asks. “And why would I tell you anything?”
Jiron pulls forth the necklace and holds it before him. “Do you remember this?” he asks. “We met an acquaintance of yours who told us he got this from you.”
“So?” he asks.
“I want to know where the person is you took this from?” demands Jiron.
Then suddenly he breaks into laughter, hardly the response they were expecting. “What? Are you planning on rescuing him?” Again the laughter rolls forth.
“So you know it was a ‘him’!” exclaims Jiron triumphantly.
He nods his head and the laughter continues to roll out of him.
Jiron glances to James and sees the confusion mirrored on his friend’s face that he himself is experiencing.
As the laughter subsides, Buka regains his composure and says, “I haven’t laughed like that for some time.”
“Why is it funny?” asks James.
Buka turns his attention to him and replies, “You don’t think I’m going to tell you anything do you?” Then he sits up on the edge of his bed. “Damn northerners.”
“This northerner is going to kill you if you don’t tell me what I want to know!” Jiron demands as he moves in closer.
Buka looks up at him and shakes his head. “I don’t think so,” he tells him.
“I will!” insists Jiron.
Buka comes to his feet and says, “Then do it!” Staring him in the eye, Buka dares him to kill him. When J
iron fails to follow through on the threat, he snorts. “I thought not.”
Bam!
Jiron’s fist connects with Buka’s nose and knocks him back to the bed. “We aren’t leaving here without the information,” he states.
“I ain’t telling you anything,” Buka says. Rubbing his nose, he makes sure it isn’t broken then looks up at Jiron standing over him. Then he gets a thoughtful look and says, “Unless you do me a favor first.”
Looking doubtful, Jiron casts a quick glance to James then returns it to Buka. “What kind of favor?” he asks.
“One that’s been needing to be done for some time,” he replies. “If you do this for me, I’ll tell you exactly where you can find the one who had that necklace.”
“How do we know we can trust him?” James asks Jiron.
“You don’t,” Buka replies to James. Then to Jiron he says, “Fair trade, a favor for the information.”
“What’s the favor,” he says.
“There’s a person in Cyst that has caused me problems from time to time,” he explains. “I want you to take care of him for me.”
“We aren’t going to murder anyone for you,” Jiron tells him. “Even if it means not finding out the information.”
Shaking his head, Buka says, “It isn’t his murder that I want.”
“What is it you want?” James asks.
“His right hand,” he replies. “I want you to bring me his right hand and I’ll tell you what you wish to know.”
James expects Jiron to reject the offer right away and is amazed that he’s even contemplating the request. “You can’t be thinking of doing it are you?” he asks.
Jiron glances to him for a moment before asking, “Why haven’t you taken care of this before now?”
“He has many friends here,” he explains. “If I were to move against him, the situation would become more troublesome. Should you do it, I won’t have to worry about such things. After all, if you succeed, things work out well. If you don’t, you’re just northerners they’ll execute for the attempt.”
“Who is it?” he asks. James is absolutely astounded that he even asked.
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