Faerunners

Jailbreak

The rest of the gang returned nearly an hour later with the wayward Aragam in tow. Aragam was an older Changeling with skin like the night sky and a pair of short ivory horns pushing up through his salt and pepper hair. The old guy had style too. He was dressed plainly, but Tallis could tell his clothes were well tailored and made from quality fabric. There would be no cheap off the rack attire for him.

"Finally found him, did you?" Setia asked.

"Listen," said Aragram. He set down a wicker basket full of fish next to the cold campfire. "I didn't realize my fishing trip had a time limit, yeah?"

"Lord of thunder," said Valerie, looking skyward. "You guys are testing my nerves." She gave Aragram a hard look. "Simmer down. She didn't mean anything by it."

"Sorry." Aragam pointed towards Tallis. "Who's this?"

For what felt like the fifth time Tallis explained who he was and what he wanted and what the reward would be. When he was finished Aragam nodded and flitted off towards the wagon. He had a bouncing gait, like he was just about to break into a run at all times and he leapt up into the wagon with one long sstride.

He came back down with a pencil and a sheet of paper and spread the page on a tree stump. "Sounds like a straightforward job." He started writing down the basic steps of the operation. "Light opposition. You're saying they'll go down easy. Setia picks the locks. Callan you take the evidence. And Valerie and I will keep the agents from getting too uppity."

Callan nodded down at the points on the page. "I like this plan, it's nice and simple, but what's our exit plan?"

Aragam chewed the end of the pencil, thinking. "There's a train." He tapped the paper with the end of the pencil decisively. "We do this fast. We do this quiet. We buy you lots of time to get the clients to the train and get them away, yeah? Good?"

Everyone nodded. Everyone except Tallis. "There's one problem," he said. "That evidence lockup is a maze." He swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. "If you're going to get in and out in a hurry you'll need me."

Aragam looked up at Valerie. "Can we do that? We can't bring a client with us on a job can we?"

"Hell if I know," she said with a shrug. "It's not like the guild really has rules. Hell with it, if he can help he comes too."

"Perfect," said Aragam. "We move early tomorrow."  He jogged back over to the wagon and withdrew a green bottle. "I say we break open the good shit to seal the contract, yeah?"

A series of blank stares answered him.

"Maybe we can save it," Tallis suggested. "To celebrate when all this is done."

“That’s optimistic,” said Valereie.

Tallis’ face fell. “You don’t think we can do it?”

She shot him a sad smile. “We’ll try. I just don’t want you going in there convinced we’re going to win. We might not. Not saying it’s a sure thing, just saying it’s an option.” With that she turned to the rest of the crew and barked out a series of orders. They all left and Tallis stood alone in the center of the camp.

“Good,” he said to no one. “I guess I’ll just hang around here then and wait for you guys to come back.”

He milled around the camp for a short while but the longer he waited, the worse he felt. A creeping anxiety gnawed at the back of his neck and the trees around him felt as if they were closing in. If another devil decided to jump him, he'd have nothing to use to fight back. Pushing thoughts of monsters and demons from his mind, he crept into the wagon and rummaged through the crates of supplies until he found a set of pans, some spices and a box of matches. For a group of outlaws living on the road they had a surprisingly well stocked pantry. He pulled out some salt, pepper, a fresh lemon, and some potatoes. The spuds were a little iffy and he had to throw a few away before he found any that were okay to eat. If the Faerunners were going to help break his parents out of jail then the least he could do was cook them a nice meal. With a nervous glance towards the treeline he piled some wood into the fire pit and got a fire going. It only took him three tries.