City Of Light

by Darren Deegan

  No sooner had they set foot inside of the Warehouse District than the others appeared around a corner. Each looked in high spirits, even Tom looked slightly more cheerful than the night before. She would have put it down to excessive drinking, were it not for the early hour.

  ‘Well, don’t you three look cheerful? Did I miss something?’ She asked, as they got closer.

  ‘We had a great breakfast, an early start to the search, and a few old friends have joined our endeavour. I have a good feeling about today.’ Marisa said.

  Selene wasn’t as optimistic, but she wouldn't fault them for their high spirits, and can do attitude. Today might very well be the day, she thought

  . With more people bolstering the ranks, and aiding the cause, plus the early start, they would get through a sizable portion of the district. The mood seemed to be infectious as Gareth also looked to be rearing to go. Even the usual lazy guards within her line of sight, weren’t enough to bring her down.

  ‘Let’s go, shall we? Do we all know where we’re searching today?’ She asked, more to Gareth than the others, as she knew she’d be partnered with him.

  Everyone nodded, said a quick goodbye and headed off in opposite directions.

  ‘Don’t worry, my dear, it won’t be long now, not even Vin’s wrath will be enough to stop us. The thieves that have already joined us are just the beginning. The entire guild is talking about our search now, none of them want to allow these people to get away with what they’re doing.’ Gareth said, leading her west through the district.

  * * *

  Selene’s entire body ached as she sat down for what seemed like the first time that day. Her and Gareth had been searching all day, the closest thing to a break, being a few moments stolen to stop at a street vendor for food. Which they ate while searching. Gareth had been right, if the others had gotten through as much of the district as they had, then the search was going well.

  She pulled a small water skin from her bag they’d been sharing all day and handed it to Gareth. ‘It’s getting late. Do you think the others have covered as much ground as us?’

  ‘I’m sure they have,’ he began, taking a drink. ‘There were three other groups searching today, it won’t take long now, only a matter of days.’

  Days. Selene had

  it would take weeks, when they’d set out on what seemed like a foolish endeavour. She couldn’t help but seem a little happier at the thought of seeing Robert again soon. She had to believe it. Any other outcome was far too difficult for her to accept.

  ‘Do you think we should call it a day? I could do with a proper meal, and gods willing, a hot bath. I haven’t exactly been sleeping lately, I think it’s taking its toll on my body.’ She said, massaging the crook of her neck.

  ‘You know I can help with the massaging, maybe after that hot bath…’

  ‘Yeah, I bet you could. Maybe you’ll be lucky, and I’ll be feeling generous enough to let you do it.’ She said, teasing him.

  Hurried footsteps behind them broke their flirtatious conversation. Two figures darted around the nearest corner, it took a moment to register it was the twins, gasping for breath as they stopped feet from Selene and Gareth.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ She asked, moving in close to Marisa to offer support.

  ‘Guards,’ Marisa panted, ‘guards saw another kidnapping, not minutes ago.’

  ‘Do they have the kidnappers?’ Gareth asked.

  ‘No, but they’re searching for them, they can’t have gotten far.’ Eric said, catching his breath.

  Selene noticed that Tom wasn’t with them, and panic struck. ‘Where’s Tom? Why isn’t he with you?’

  Marisa placed a hand on Selene’s shoulder and said, ‘it’s okay, nothing happened, he stayed behind to trail the guards while we came to get you.’

  There was no need for further words. The four of them took off at a swift pace, the twins leading the way. Selene noticed the twins weren’t using the rooftops as usual, she hoped that meant they weren’t far from the scene of the latest kidnapping. Images flooded her mind. Robert slumped over the shoulder of a figure cloaked in black. Fighting a man with inhuman skill and reflexes. Watching them all vanish while feeling helpless. She quickened her pace, never again, she thought.

  It was only a matter of minutes before they were outside of the house where the latest victims had been taken. A City Guard still stood watch at the entrance. What Selene could only assume were the children's parents, quietly sobbed outside of their home, consoled by neighbours and friends.

  ‘Tom followed them in this direction, come on.’ Eric said, already taking off.

  * * *

  The sterling silver goblet had been topped up with wine for the fourth time that evening. Thyle restrained himself when it came to wine, it gave him terrible headaches the following morning, but it was not the night for restraint. The young woman opposite him was an incredible beauty. This wasn’t unusual when it came to his parents choices for him that much he was thankful for. But only thankful in so much as it presented him with a pretty face to admire while being bored by their lack of intelligence.

  He pushed his food around on his plate, he’d lost all appetite as the evening had progressed. Having reached the third course, he could no longer feign interest in the food, or the conversation going on around him.

  ‘Isn’t that right, Thyle?’ His mother said.

  Realising he hadn’t been paying attention, he nodded politely and emptied another goblet of wine.

  ‘You know we’re fiercely proud of our son. He’s the youngest Commander in the history of the king’s Guard.’ His mother began.

  ‘And friend to the king, don’t you know.’ His father added.

  The young lady whose name he could no longer recall, not that he’d intended to remember it, was currently beaming at him, along with her parents. They didn’t care about him, what he wanted, what his interests were, or if they matched their daughters. They wanted to know he held a position of power, had wealth enough to keep their daughter in the style she was accustomed to, and of course, handsome enough to produce fine heirs.

  It made him sick.

  As Thyle was considering how much longer he would need to stay, so as not to seem rude, a servant entered and whispered something in his father’s ear.

  ‘Show him in,’ Thyle’s father said to the servant, before turning back to Thyle. ‘It would appear a member of the City Guard wishes to speak to you, son. No doubt on important business.’ He finished, winking at the parents of the young lady.

  The City Guard entered the room and saluted Thyle as he stood from the table.

  ‘What is so important that you would visit me at my parent’s home?’ He said, with an air of authority.

  ‘Apologies Commander. The Captain sent me with urgent news, it could not wait.’

  ‘Well? Out with it.’

  ‘There’s been another kidnapping, sir, at the edges of the warehouse district. A ship captain’s child, taken only minutes ago, I rode straight here to get you.’

  Thyle didn’t wait for anymore details, he called for a servant and told him to fetch his horse immediately. This could be the break he needed, and his men were already positioned at the instructed posts around the docks. The kidnappers would have nowhere to run to this time.

  ‘Mother, Father, I’m sorry, but this needs my immediate attention,’ he said, turning to the young woman at the table. ‘Lady, please accept my humble apologies, we shall continue this another time.’

  Thyle bowed to the guests and made his way out of the house to his waiting horse. By tomorrow morning, he could be in front of the king with good news, and making plans to return the children to their families all across the city.

  Don’t get ahead of yourself, Thyle, find them first, celebrate later, he thought, kicking his horse in to a canter.

  NINETEEN

  They had been running through street after street, wondering if they were getting closer at all. The only sign that they were even
on the correct path, were the small groups of people gossiping in the wake of the City Guard giving chase. The trail was leading closer to the docks, Selene worried if perhaps they were heading to a ship, ready to leave Eitane, with their precious cargo in tow. I won’t allow that to happen, she thought, rounding another corner.

  ‘Look, up on the roof, it’s Tom.’ Gareth whispered, so as not to draw attention from anyone on the street.

  Tom must have heard the hurried footsteps of the thieves running towards the building he was atop of, for he turned and signalled them to the roof as they drew close. When they reached the building, the four of them climbed to the roof to meet Tom, Selene praying to the gods that he knew where the kidnappers were.

  ‘Tom,’ she gasped, after sprinting all that way. ‘Are they near?’

  ‘I lost them around here a minute ago. I came up here to get a better view.’ Tom said, straining to see up the streets in the dim evening light.

  The group spread out across the rooftop to survey the streets surrounding them. The darkened streets didn’t help, and even though a lot of the streets were lit by torches within homes and buildings around them, it still left a lot of places cloaked in shadow. Selene saw nothing, save for a few sparse groupings of locals, no doubt wondering what all the commotion was about.

  ‘I can’t see anything unusual, no sign they even came through this way.’ She said, a terrible feeling in the pit of her stomach.

  The group replied having similar luck on all sides of the building and then retreated to Tom on the west side of the rooftop.

  ‘They were heading west when I lost them, that’s the best I’ve got.’ Tom said.

  ‘The docks, just like we thought. Do you think they’ll head for a ship now?’ Asked Marisa.

  No one answered for a few moments, the group appeared to be deep in contemplation. Selene didn’t want to lose hope, but she had witnessed how these people moved, given the speed at which they cleared rooftops the day of the parade. I was able to catch up with them though.

  ‘They’re ahead of us, but we have the advantage.’ She said.

  ‘Advantage?’ Tom asked, puzzled.

  ‘This is our city, no one knows it better, no one moves through it like we do. I say we split up, fan out, but head west.’ The group didn’t seem sure. ‘We can do this, those guards won’t find their own backsides, we’re the only hope those children have.

  That seemed to be enough for the thieves, and without another word spoken, they each descended to the streets below. Tom sprinted off first, west towards the docks, the twins, together as always, went towards the street running parallel to him. Selene nodded to Gareth and turned to move, but noticed he was now right behind her.

  ‘And where are you going?’ She asked.

  ‘With you, obviously.’ He said, confused by her question.

  ‘We don’t have enough people to cover all the streets leading to the docks, Gareth, we need to split up.’

  Gareth didn’t seem to appreciate her request, and she saw he was torn between wanting to protect her, and the need to help the missing children.

  ‘Fine, I’ll take to the roofs, and follow Knott Street. If anything happens, yell as loud as you can, I should be able to hear you from there at this time of night.’

  She nodded in agreement, and took off, not wanting to waste another second of precious time.

  * * *

  His rugged, calloused hands gripped tight on the roof’s edge. Years of training and conditioning, made the leap on to the roof effortless, his landing controlled, silent, flawless. Gareth took a moment to take in the buildings set out before him, and his mind set out a path from rooftop to rooftop. A path that would lead him straight to the docks, but within earshot of Selene, and the twins, not that they would ever call out for help.

  They were so close to their goal, after a week of searching the city from top to bottom, they had their first real lead, and he would not waste a second of it. The idea of leaving Selene, splitting up from her, worried him. He knew she had no problem taking care of herself, he’d spent years training her for situations just like this. But these men, these men weren’t city guards, or random crooks from Eitane, they had real training, training that few people in Eitane had.

  Keep your mind on your task, Gar, one thing at a time, he thought.

  Gareth bolted across the roof, the cool sea air blowing towards him from the docks. He relished every opportunity to race from rooftop to rooftop, being up high was intoxicating for him, even after so many years of doing it. It always filled him with a sense of freedom, he felt at peace being high above the city, being high above his city.

  It wasn’t long before he heard raised voices ahead of him, coming from Knott street below. He came to a silent halt at the edge of the roof closest to the voices. Gareth peered down over the edge, two men were talking loudly and waving their arms here and there. Their tone was panicked, even fearful, so he listened close.

  ‘I couldn’t believe it,’ one man said. ‘Over his shoulder, the kid was.’

  ‘What did you do?’ Asked the other.

  ‘Yelled for the guard. Not one in sight as usual. I hope that kid’s all right, they took off down there in some hurry, so they did.’

  He looked in the direction the man was pointing, south west. Not a straight line to the docks, but a path to throw off followers or suspicious eyes, he supposed. That path will intersect with Selene’s, he thought, not waiting another second. Gareth set off at a speed even he couldn’t believe, rooftop to rooftop, along the path the kidnappers had taken, hoping he would reach them before Selene did.

  * * *

  The hard cobblestones slipped beneath Selene’s feet as she moved at a hurried, but cautious pace. The docks were her target, but she didn’t want to risk missing something as she moved through the streets. Windows, doors, and alleyways, she threw a quick glance to every one of them, ensuring nothing was lost to her. Robert had been taken while she lay there and did nothing, she wouldn’t allow it to happen with someone else.

  A flicker of white light from an alleyway to the right of her, caught her attention. She slowed and came to a halt at the opening of the alley. It was narrow and winding, full of large metal waste containers on each side, it all restricted Selene’s view, preventing her from seeing to the end. The flicker again. Something was moving at the end of the alley, but it was impossible to see from her position. She didn’t want to waste time, but ignoring it could be the height of folly.

  Selene crept, the air close and heavy with the stench of the waste within the containers on all sides of her. She was already regretting the decision to search, it was as if the odour was penetrating every orifice, overpowering her senses. The alley wound softly, to not create any real corners, but before she knew it, she was half way down and could no longer see the street she’d entered from.

  There was a sudden movement in the darkness ahead of her, followed by a sound from someone or something moving behind the containers in front of her. Without a moment to comprehend what the noise was, something leapt, high and fast.

  Dagger out, instinctive defensive stance. ‘A gods damned cat. Really Selene, you’re jumping at cats now…’ She said aloud, placing the dagger back in its sheath.

  The cat moved up close beside her and rubbed the entire length of its body along Selene’s leg, purring. Selene knelt down next to it and scratched behind the cat’s ears, a sudden increase in purring signalling its enjoyment. Its head moved up and back towards Selene, followed by a slight glint of light beneath its chin. A small metal disk was attached to the cat’s collar. So you’re who I’ve been looking for, she mused.

  ‘Sorry, kitty, I gotta go. Places to be, people to save, you know, exciting stuff like that.’

  She had always had an affinity for animals, she loved their company, and no matter the animal, or the mood they were in, they always seemed to love her. Her father had always kept a dog in their home when she was younger. A family pet, friend, and given its wol
f like size, a guard dog, since her father had to be away on the fishing boats a lot. When her father died, and Selene was forced to live on the streets, the dog had been taken from her. She’d loved him and losing him was almost as hard as losing her father. Years later, she knew it had all been for the best. She could barely feed herself during those years, it would have been no life for a dog.

  With a reassuring pat on the cat’s head, Selene turned and made her way back to the main street.

  Straight to the docks, no time to waste, she thought, exiting the alleyway.

  She had barely set foot on the street when she caught a glimpse of a dark figure jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading south across the street she was on. A combination of reflexes and instinct pushed her forward at speed, it wasn’t even a thought. Selene raced to the street intersecting with hers, the street that followed the path of her illusive figure. Gods, they’re fast, she thought, now on the narrower side street.

  The figure was several buildings ahead of her, still too far to make out much, but close enough she knew her advantage of being at ground level would allow her to catch up. Jumping from building to building was always slower, but it offered the protecting of higher ground. Not only did Selene have to catch up to them, but she would need to get far enough ahead, to allow enough time to reach the roof. She closed in fast, two buildings between them as the figure jumped across the narrow street to the buildings on her left.

  ‘Gareth?’ She breathed.

  As the figure leapt from building to building, the light of the moon hit him, she could tell it was him. Given the speed he was travelling at, she knew he had to be in pursuit of someone, and without a moments hesitation, she followed. Gareth turned, heading south west along the rooftops of an alleyway, she turned at the alley before it, hoping to keep pace in the same direction, planning to get ahead before moving to the next alleyway.

  Selene had just reached the end of the second building along the alleyway when she saw them. Two figures, tall, broad, dark. It was as if they cocooned in shadow itself. Her mind flashed back to the rooftop the day of the parade. They were the same men, she could feel it, but she also remembered what it had been like fighting just one of them. I can’t take two, not alone, she thought. One of them removed a curved sword from his back, making to move towards her.