by Philip Blood
A few minutes later, panting for breath, the two youngsters reached a place of relative safety. It was out of sight and high above the city below. They stopped and sat down to catch their breath. Aerin looked at the red-cheeked Lor and started to laugh.
“I can’t believe you had me vault off that poor guard’s back! I’ll bet he’s so mad right now he could eat shoe leather!”
Lor grinned, “I had to get you some kind of boost; after all I had already gotten you up there once! You are too fat to lift a second time.”
“FAT, I am not! Besides, you should be thanking me; you would have a knot the size of a goose egg on your head by now if he had landed that cudgel blow.”
“True, but I wouldn’t have been caught at all if you hadn’t decided to become a thief tonight,” Lor pointed out. “So I’ll just keep my thanks to myself.”
Aerin paused and the smile faded from his lips. He sighed and pushed his bag over to Lor. “You don’t have to tell me what is so important that you had to steal, but if it was that important you can use this as well. I don’t believe in stealing, Lor, it is wrong, no matter what the case, but you are my friend and I would enter the Dreadmaster’s palace itself if you needed me.”
Lor looked down, ashamed. “Aerin, I…”
Aerin shook his head, “No, you don’t have to tell me anything, but promise me that next time you are in trouble and you need money you will ask me for help. If there is no other way, then I’ll help you do whatever you need, but if I am going to be your friend then I should be able to offer my help to you. It’s not charity I offer, it’s friendship.”
Lor nodded.
Aerin stood. “Now I have to be going, Mara is going to skin me alive as it is. If she finds out I have turned into a thief, well, I don’t think I want to live.”
Lor nodded, lost in the words Aerin had spoken.
After Aerin was gone, Lor looked at the two bags of loot and sighed. He picked them up and headed in a direction that would have puzzled Aerin.
Aerin’s eyes flew open and he knew he was caught. Someone was pounding on his door; it had to be the guard. Wracked with guilt, Aerin went to his door to face the charges. He yanked the door open, only to find Tocor standing there with his black-gloved hand still raised, and Mara standing a pace behind him and leaning on her cane.
“My,” Mara said to Tocor, “he looks rather bruised. Has he been dreaming when he should be dodging in weapon practice?”
Aerin looked down at his bare stomach and chest; he was only wearing a pair of shorts. There were some angry black and blue marks where he had landed on the windowsill the night before.
“I fell down,” he explained without imagination.
Mara entered his room, “So I see, rather clumsy of you. Now, boy, I have a few questions for you. I noticed you came in pretty late last night.”
“I told Tocor I would be out,” Aerin defended quickly, his guilty thoughts making him nervous.
A look passed between Tocor and Mara that Aerin couldn’t read.
“Yes, I know. I’ve heard, just this morning, about some interesting developments in the merchant’s quarter last night.”
Aerin’s eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets, and he knew he was dead.
“Seems there was some sort of break in at the Merchant Master’s Villa,” Mara continued while watching Aerin. “A guard was assaulted, though I believe he hurt his dignity more than his body, certainly he had fewer bruises than your little falling down mishap seems to have brought you.”
Aerin just watched her; he knew she would close the trap eventually, so he waited resignedly for the question. He already knew he couldn’t lie to Mara.
“It was a very strange affair. It seems someone entered the Merchant Master’s Villa via the roof, quite a feat to swing in the open window, I would imagine. Someone could get... bruised, doing that. The miscreants messed up his bed and removed many valuable objects. Now this isn’t all that interesting, thieves are a common nuisance in a city this large.”
Aerin continued to wait for the Headsman’s ax to fall.
“However, I hear tell that the two diminutive rascals managed to disarm the guard that tried to apprehend them, even using him as a footstool to mount the wall. Then they made a spectacular escape over the rooftops of the city, confounding all pursuit with their inordinate skill. But what puzzled the authorities is that after the two successful young hoodlums escaped cleanly, they returned all the stolen goods to the front gate of the Merchant Master and actually rang the bell to call the guards. It’s simply amazing. Don’t you find them amazing, Tocor?” Mara asked him conversationally.
“Very,” he rumbled in reply.
“Yes,” Mara continued, “how about you, Aerin? Don’t you find the whole affair quite puzzling and amazing, all at the same time?”
Aerin was still trying to grasp the last part of the story; he had hardly been listening as he contemplated his, soon to be, miserable fate. At the mention of the returned goods, Aerin had nearly choked in surprise. After a moment to recover his wits, Aerin swallowed and then couldn’t look Mara in the eye as he finally replied, “Yes, Sen Mara, very amazing.”
“I just hope that the two young rascals have learned their lesson so that harder lessons need not be applied.”
Aerin nodded, “I’m sure they have, I’m very positive.”
“That’s good. Now I think you will have to skip morning practice today; those bruises need a chance to heal. Come along, Tocor, I need to go to the Merchant Quarter, such interesting things happen there.”
With that Mara and Tocor left a dumbfounded Aerin sitting on the edge of his bed. Aerin tried to puzzle out what had just happened, she knew, and he knew she knew he knew she knew, but oh bother… all that really mattered was that she hadn’t killed him. He remembered her words from a few years ago… I always know more than you think.
Chapter Seven
"In rescue will truth be revealed, and in flight a friend found."
- From the Prophecies of Gold
Dono picked up Lor’s trail the next morning and followed his friend through the city. He wasn’t looking forward to explaining to Aerin why he had missed the rendezvous the night before, but he hoped to make up for it by getting back on the job this morning. He noted that Lor seemed focused this morning, he moved across the rooftops with speed and purpose. It wasn’t until they crossed near the third street market that Dono grew nervous. They were entering that nebulous neutral zone, and soon they would be in the Skull’s streets. When Lor suddenly descended to street level, Dono stopped on the roof of a church and observed from behind a corner gargoyle.
Dono sucked in a breath when he saw the rascal, Berver, step out of the alley and accost Lor. Instead of speeding off, Dono noted that Lor actually moved forward to talk to the little dung lover. When Berver moved off into the alley, Lor stayed and sat on a stack of boxes, while obviously waiting for Berver to fetch more of the Skulls. Dono knew something serious was afoot. He mentally calculated the trip to Mara’s and concluded he could manage it in less than ten minutes, if he really pushed, so he pushed.
Dono seldom moved at the full speed of which he was capable while on the roofs. In many ways, he was nearly the equal of Lor when it came to knowing the High Road, and today he used every trick he knew. It wasn’t until he actually saw Aerin warming up in the practice sand, that he made a mistake. He descended from the roof at too great a speed and landed with a little too much momentum. His ankle gave out and he went down, rolling across the ground nearly to Aerin’s feet.
“DONO, whoa, that’s one way to say hello, I suppose!” Aerin noted with a smile.
Dono gripped his twisted ankle in pain but spoke a moment later. “It’s Lor; he’s gone to meet with the Skulls.”
“What!” Aerin exclaimed.
Dono quickly relayed where and what he had seen.
Aerin looked for Gandarel, but it was too early for his friend to have arrived.
“I’m going over t
here!” Aerin decided.
Dono tried to get up, but nearly fell again when he tried to put weight on his sprained ankle.
“You just wait here, I’ll see to Lor. Send Gandarel when he arrives,” Aerin ordered as he grabbed a quarterstaff and swarmed up the side of their building to the rooftops.
As Aerin leaped the gaps between buildings, at reckless speeds, his mind worked. He couldn't understand why Lor would step into the lion's den voluntarily. From personal experience, Aerin knew how hard Lor had worked to stay out of the Skull's grip. It didn't make sense, at least not until Aerin put it together with Lor's recent mood change and his sudden return to thievery. Aerin suddenly wondered if the break in at the Merchant Master's Villa had more to do with the Skulls, and not his mother's waning health. Aerin figured that they had something held over Lor, but what that was he had no idea.
Aerin reached the entranceway to the alley where Dono had last seen Lor, but there was no sight of him. Aerin leaped the gap at the narrowest part of the street without a thought, something that would have scared him out of ten years of life prior to Lor's instructions in the art of the High Road.
As he ran along the edge of the building, looking down into the alley below, Aerin finally saw a large group of boys up ahead.
By Gedin’s beard, it looks like the whole Skull’s gang, thought Aerin.
When he reached the roof, just above the group of boys, Aerin knelt down by the edge, looking for a place to descend.
Just then, a large boy grabbed Lor by the front of his shirt and pulled him close, while he yelled in Lor's face. "I'll ask you again, WHERE IS THE LOOT!"
Lor's hand went above the other boy's arm as if to start prying it loose, but instead of grabbing the boy’s arm he slammed the heel of his hand into his assailant's throat.
"Don't touch me," Lor hissed.
The large boy released him, staggering back and choking.
Aerin didn't like where this was going, his eyes desperately searched for an easy way down. In the alley, two boys tried to grab Lor by the arms, but he dove forward and did a somersault over his right shoulder, and then came to his feet in a crouch.
"I told you, the deal is off!" Lor exclaimed.
"It's too late for that, Lor; remember you came to us looking for a good hit and a fence. Now you will have to deliver the goods," another Skulls boy answered.
Aerin saw the old drain pipe near Lor; it was obvious that Lor was maneuvering in that direction, so he could make his escape to the roofs. Aerin had just decided to make a slight disturbance to give Lor his chance when one of the boys behind Lor tried to grab him.
Lor elbowed him in the stomach and then slammed the back of his head into the boy's nose. Blood immediately splattered the boy's chin, as his ruined nose bled profusely.
It was the sight of blood that triggered the mass attack.
Lor fought with all his skill and training, he spun, kicked and kept moving constantly, but he was unarmed and there were just too many of them. A hand managed to grab the collar of his shirt, so Lor twisted to get out of his assailant's grasp. His shirt tore, setting him momentarily free, but that slight delay allowed one of the other boys to strike Lor with a club. Lor collapsed to his knees with a cry of pain.
With Lor finally down, and holding his wounded shoulder, the rest of the Skull's started to close in to beat him senseless.
Aerin knew he couldn't descend the old drainpipe quickly while still holding onto his quarterstaff. He set the quarterstaff on the slight incline of the roof next him and let it start to roll towards the edge. Then he leaped across the gap to the drainpipe, and his decent into the battle zone was more of a controlled fall. When he was still twelve feet above the street he pushed off from the wall with both feet and flipped over the heads of the boys below to land beside Lor.
His sudden arrival caused the Skulls to pause in their advance.
Lor looked up and saw Aerin, and gasped, "Get out of here, there are too many!" His voice was laden with pain.
Aerin remembered Mara’s teachings, not all battles were won with fighting skill; he tried bravado. “You mean this rabble? I’ll try not to kill any of them, but…” he shrugged and his voice trailed off as if it was out of his hands.
One of the Skulls spoke up in reply, “We ain’t afraid, you don’t have no weapon!”
"You mean, like this?" Aerin asked, then looked up and caught the falling quarterstaff with both hands.
"Get him!” the boy with the club exclaimed.
Aerin spun the quarterstaff around into defensive position, noted the position of his enemies, and then moved. He stepped into a gap and his quarterstaff blurred into motion. Three rapid thuds preceded three moaning boys landing in the alley. Before anyone could react Aerin had stepped back past Lor and the spinning quarterstaff came down on the hand of the boy holding the club, who had struck Lor earlier. His weapon clattered to the cobblestones.
"Can you move?" Aerin whispered to Lor, as he stepped back next to his friend.
Lor staggered to his feet, "Watch me."
Aerin spun and attacked the boys blocking their way out of the alley. The Skulls pack backed away from the lethal spinning quarterstaff. Aerin and Lor dashed through the gap and out of the alley. On the way out Aerin hooked the bottom of a stack of crates, leaning high against the side of the alley, and sent them to crashing down to block the alley behind them. As the two friends rounded the corner the still woozy Lor lost his footing on a moss covered cobblestone and slipped to the street.
Aerin transferred his quarterstaff to his left hand and grabbed Lor's shirt to help pull him to his feet. The torn shirt pulled open and since the cloth that Lor normally used to bind down her breasts had gotten pulled down, Lor's very female left breast came into view. Aerin gasped for a moment, but Lor pulled herself to her feet by Aerin's arm.
Giving him her best scowl, she said, "Are you going to stare all day, or are we going to get out of here while we still can?"
Aerin recovered from his momentary shock, and the two friends ran toward a large passing wagon. Aerin leaped into the back and grabbed Lor’s wrist, pulling her into the hay. They just managed to pull the hay over their bodies when the first of the Skulls gang boys ran out of the alley. They paused, trying to see which way their quarry had run. Meanwhile, the wagon turned at the next bend, moving out of their sight.
As soon as Aerin saw they were safe, he spun to face Lor. "You're a girl!” he gasped in what sounded like dismay.
Lor looked defiant and ashamed at the same moment. "It's not a disease!"
"But..."
"But what?" Lor demanded.
Aerin could hardly find words in his confusion. "…why didn't you ever tell me? You shouldn't..."
Lor interrupted, angrily, "Shouldn't what? Shouldn’t have been learning to fight? Shouldn’t have been out in the world, unprotected and on my own? Shouldn’t have lied to keep my freedom? Besides, I never lied to you, remember, you just never asked!"
"I just assumed, and..." Aerin didn't know what else to say. One of his closest friends in the world had just yanked the mat out from under his feet.
"Well, you can just go on 'assuming'. I don't want to be a girl, and I DON'T want anyone else to know!" Lor growled. "And if you do anything… anything at all, that treats me like a girl instead of a boy; I swear to Gedin, I'll punch you in the mouth."
Aerin was taken aback by the vehemence in Lor's voice. "I can't say I understand, but if that is the way you want it..."
"Yes, that is the way I want it, and I don’t need to explain my reasons to you."
Aerin took a deep breath, "All right, but I don't know if I can fight with you in weapons practice... Ow!"
At Aerin's words, Lor had doubled up her fist and hit him in the mouth with all the strength left in her tired, bruised body.
"Don't do that!" Aerin said in anger, tasting blood from the inside of his lower lip.
"I warned you! Now hit me back," Lor demanded.
"No, you
're a gi..."
Lor attempted to hit Aerin in the mouth again, but this time, he managed to block the blow with his arm.
"Stop hitting me!" Aerin demanded.
"Stop treating me like a girl," Lor countered.
Aerin scowled at her, "Well, you certainly don't act like one."
"Exactly, now hit me back or I'll wallop you again."
"No," Aerin countered, and then snickered.
Lor frowned and aimed a deadly look at him, and then she doubled up her bony fist for another punch.
"Are you laughing at me?” she demanded.
Aerin laughed, "I'm laughing at the two of us! Lor, I’m sorry, you are still the friend you have always been, I was just in shock, I guess. However, I will treat you the same as I always did, and that includes NOT hitting you. I didn’t do that when I thought you were a boy. Now PLEASE, stop hitting me!"
Lor relaxed her fist and spoke through terse lips, "All right, but remember my words, and don't tell anyone."
Aerin shrugged, "I won't, but it is only a matter of time, from what I glimpsed you are going to have a difficult time hiding it soon."
Now it was Lor’s turn to blush and sigh heavily. "I wish I could just cut them off; they keep getting bigger." Then she looked up at Aerin with fire burning in her eyes, "And if you make just one joke..."
Aerin held up his hands in feigned fear, "I wouldn't dream of it. But to think all this time I thought you were hiding a thief's brand."
"These are worse," Lor said mournfully.
The wagon pulled to the side of a street and stopped, the driver got down and went into a livery stable. Lor and Aerin climbed down to the street.
Aerin went to help the limping Lor, but at her scowl, he refrained.
“You think we are safe now?” Aerin asked while looking around the street, trying to recognize where they were.
Lor glanced around, “No, unfortunately, the wagon headed deeper into Skulls Town; we’re in the thick of it now. Maybe we can get to the high road.”
