Delver Magic I: Sanctum's Breach by Jeff Inlo (read novels website .TXT) 📕

With strength and grace, she leapt over benches to reach the west wall. She peered out a lone window and shook her head. “This building is isolated. It is in the open and the light of day will not afford us cover. Even now people are gathered at a distance but have their eyes upon us. It seems the cliff behemoth’s entrance has brought great attention. Is there another exit?” she asked of Matthew.

The reader pointed toward a hall to his left. “Down that corridor. There is a door which opens to a smaller set of stairs at the back corner of the building.”

“They watch there as well,” Lauren warned as her eyes fixed upon the direction where Matthew pointed.

Holli cursed but darted down the hall none the less.

“It is best to stay put and let her assess what we face.” Lief spoke out calmly. “We can do nothing but get in her way.”

She returned in mere moments. “It is worse than the front door. The passage is narrow and there are fewer paths for escape. We could be herded into an ambush. If we are to leave, we use this door and we must leave now. We will be seen but that can no longer be avoided. Follow me and move quickly. Ignore everyone and everything else around you. If humans call for you to stop, ignore that as well. Stop only on my command. Lief, take the rear and keep everyone together. Dzeb I will ask you to stay low and in the center of our group.” This last command was spoken with greater diplomacy, as if acknowledging it was truly up to the cliff behemoth.

“I will do as you ask,” Dzeb said as if nothing could trouble him, as if their dilemma presented no true problem.

Holli nodded graciously. “It will help us greatly. Ryson Acumen, your abilities are again needed. Lauren, I will request your help as well. Ryson you must move ahead of us, scout the forward ground, but move no further than three of these human roads ahead of me. Return often with all the information you can obtain. Lauren, I wish you to remain at my side. I do not know if you understand your powers, but you show great ability to cast sight spells. They will be of great service to us.”

“I’m not sure I’m casting any spells,” Lauren revealed with great emotion latching upon her words. “I just see things. I don’t know if I can control it.”

“Then do not try,” Holli said firmly. “Simply tell me what you see as you see it.” She lifted her head to the rest of the group. “We shall waste no more time. We go now.”

With those words, Ryson Acumen bolted from the front door and down the front stone steps. Caring little for the gawking stares of the onlookers that gathered after the arrival of the cliff behemoth, he set about searching for true threats to their advance. His darting eyes flashed upon one road, then another. His ears perked to the wind, he garnered the rhythmic beat of horse hooves in several directions. While the crowd remained scattered about, a collection of men appearing more angry than curious formed across the street. Ryson knew the sight of the cliff behemoth would keep them at bay for a while, but one troublemaker might goad the rest into an assault with rocks from a distance. It would be best to steer the party in another direction.

His first reconnaissance complete, he returned to the front door of the church.

“People are gathering,” he stated plainly to Holli. “I would recommend passage away from the group across the way. I think you should move quickly. We’ll startle them at first, and we can probably take advantage of that.”

“I fully intend to,” Holli stated flatly.

“There are also horses moving in on our position. I can’t tell how many.”

Holli’s expression went grim. “Which way are they coming from? Can we avoid them?”

“They’re as scattered as the crowd. It sounds as if they’re being called in from all over town.”

“It must be Consprite,” Matthew interjected. “He’s the one who suggested he put guards on horseback to help with the escorts. He probably had others on call to prevent us from leaving as well.”

“Fire upon the fool!” Lief spat. He pulled the bow from over his shoulder and took firm grasp with a taut left hand. “Let me go ahead. I will handle Consprite.”

“No,” Ryson and Dzeb responded in unison, although in different tones. Dzeb’s voice was calm, yet forceful, as if such a ploy could not even be considered. Ryson allowed emotion to paint his words, but it was Holli that ended any debate.

“No, Lief. We must stay together. It would be to their advantage to separate us. We will fight only if necessary, but we fight together. Let us first try to outmaneuver them. Ryson, scout passage to the right, away from those you deem most dangerous. Everyone else, follow me.”

Ryson accepted the task with a nod. Without a moment’s more hesitation, he was again down the steps, but now moved quickly out of sight.

Holli took the lead, Lauren at her side. Both trotted quickly down the stairs to the open road. Five algors with the hoods of their cloaks drawn tightly over their heads followed. The cliff behemoth, flanked on each side by Matthew and Stephen, bent his head as he stepped past the door and into the clearing of the open steps.

Gasps of surprise and fright filled the growing crowd. Not a single onlooker stood his ground. Even the angry men shied away from the sight of the giant. Each quickly glimpsed about for a sure path of escape in case the creature decided to turn in their direction. To their relief, Holli guided the group in the opposite direction.

The remaining five algors kept close in behind Dzeb with Jon and Tun following in their wake. The elder dwarf did not appear happy walking so far back in the line. He kept his right hand on his axe and glared with menace at the crowd. He would be more than willing to take out his frustrations upon any human that might try to lay a hand on his royal person. Lief concluded the line with his bow returned to his shoulder. He allowed a slight gap to form between him and the rest of the party, a buffer in case the crowd regained their courage. They never did.

Ryson returned to their ranks and spoke briefly to Holli. He kept his voice to a whisper as they now walked in the open. After another quick report, the delver again raced off to scout on ahead.

Word spread through the streets via shouts and cries. With every passing moment of their travel, more and more townspeople became aware of their presence. Shutters banged open, and then closed with a shiver of anguish. Children ran towards them, gawking, before being herded up and whisked away by cringing parents. The clamor revealed their position as well as if they carried a streaming red banner high over Dzeb’s head.

“This will not do,” Holli muttered. She searched for a quick solution and appeared to find one in the growing cluster of buildings before them.

As they moved away from the church, they found themselves closer to the heart of the town. Homes, taverns and shops were built closer together. Narrow alleys offered passage away from the growing host of prying eyes. With quick instructions to Ryson, Holli took every advantage of such offerings. She led them with twists and turns, mostly down narrow back alleys and away from busy intersections. The din of those that had gathered soon faded in the distance as Holli’s winding path lost any that tried to pursue.

The danger, though, was far from over as total avoidance of detection was nearly impossible in such a busy town. A merchant mindlessly sweeping dirt from his back door, or a townsperson passing behind his house witnessed the group with a start and a scream.

Any dogs, however, remained quiet to their appearance. Those that were loose ran up to Dzeb, licked his hand, and let them pass without the slightest bark or growl. Those animals that stood behind windows of their homes simply watched as the group passed, tails wagging as if a royal welcome. Their stares set happily upon the cliff behemoth.

In the maze of buildings in such a crowded section of town, even Matthew, who spent his entire life in Connel, became temporarily unaware of their exact position. They followed Holli almost blindly as she never lost her bearings. She kept them moving westward, though in round about fashion. To any that watched her, it was clear she never once lost her direction or sight of her ultimate objective. Her grasp over even this most unfamiliar of terrains was awe-inspiring. She moved as if she spent twenty seasons in this town, and spent that time in these very alleys avoiding detection.

Ryson’s ability to relocate them was equally as stunning. He used his speed to move ahead of the group and out of sight. After scouting many directions, he always managed to find them again without the slightest difficulty. With a brief report to Holli, he was on his way only to return even after Holli led them through more twists and turns around several buildings.

In the narrow passages where they moved, his whispered words could now be heard by others in the party as they all clustered together.

“More horses are arriving,” he warned. “They’re staying on the wide roads, but they’re checking the alleys. They’re mostly listening to calls from the townspeople. Most of them are false or confused. They haven’t established a search pattern. They’re simply wandering about recklessly, hoping to stumble over us. If they keep that up, we have a chance.”

On that note of optimism, he again ran off.

As Holli continued to move them further toward the edge of town, she could now also hear the galloping hooves of horses. The most audible of shouts shifted from surprised screams to the barking of orders. The guards were indeed closing on them as their numbers increased. They came from every direction, but their efforts remained uncoordinated as individuals moved randomly toward their position.

She turned her head to the party for a brief moment to issue a single warning. “With so many on horseback, it may be impossible to avoid them completely. Stand ready to defend, but only on my order.” With her words ending in firm command, she turned back to her duty.

Holli now relied as heavily upon her own training as she did upon the continuous reports from the delver. With savvy and skill, she zigzagged through the buildings which stood between them and the open fields to the west. She continuously altered the speed of the party, sometimes stopping them for long moments in a narrow alley as a horsebacked rider trotted past. Her skill was rewarded, the ancient wall was now in sight, but with the wall came greater risk.

The guards were now close enough for them to spot several, but through the grace of benevolent forces and by the talents of Holli, the party remained unseen. When the road ahead was clear, they moved at their best possible speed. When Holli was in doubt about what might lie around the next corner, she slowed them and selected several alternate routes in case retreat was necessary.

As they closed upon the outskirts of the town, movement became tense and laborious. Buildings were smattered about haphazardly. The cover of narrow, dark alleys disappeared into wide vacant lots. One or two elves or delvers